Valens

Valens (328 – 9 August 378), fully Flavius Julius Valens Augustus (Latin: FLAVIVS IVLIVS VALENS AVGVSTVS), was Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne. Valens, sometimes known as the Last True Roman, was defeated and killed in the Battle of Adrianople, which marked the beginning of the collapse of the decaying Western Roman Empire.

Life

Appointment as emperor

Valens and his brother Valentinian were both born in Cibalae (in present-day Croatia) into an Illyrian family in 328 and 321 respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father Gratian the Elder in Africa and Britain. While Valentinian had enjoyed a successful military career prior to his appointment as emperor, Valens apparently had not. He had spent much of his youth on the family's estate and only joined the army in the 360s, participating with his brother in the Persian campaign of Emperor Julian.

Valens (disambiguation)

Valens was a Roman Emperor (364–378).

Valens may also refer to:

People with the name

Fabius Valens

Fabius Valens of Anagnia (d. 69) was a Roman commander favoured by Nero. In 69 he was commander of Legio I Germanica based in Germania Inferior. When the troops refused to endorse the new emperor Galba after Nero's death, he had them proclaim Vitellius, the governor of Germania Inferior, as emperor.

The forces supporting Vitellius were divided into two armies for the march on Rome, one of them commanded by Valens. Valens' troops took a route through Gaul, probably to recruit additional soldiers, before eventually joining with the other Vitellian army, led by Caecina, at Cremona. By then Galba had been killed and Otho had been proclaimed emperor at Rome. Otho's forces met the combined Vitellian armies at the first Battle of Bedriacum. Valens and Caecina won a decisive victory, and Otho committed suicide when he heard the news of his army's defeat. Vitellius was able to make a triumphant entry into Rome.

However, the armies in the east had proclaimed Vespasian as emperor, and two armies supporting Vespasian marched on Rome. The first to reach Italy was composed of five legions from Pannonia and Moesia, commanded by Antonius Primus. Valens was ill at the time, so that the force that Vitellius despatched from Rome to counter this threat was commanded by Caecina. Caecina tried to betray Vitellius and proclaim Vespasian as emperor, but his army refused to follow his lead, and put him in chains. By this time Valens had recovered from his illness and was on his way to join the army, but before he could arrive, the second Battle of Bedriacum had been fought and the Vitellian forces defeated by Antonius.