Valens
328 – 378 · Generation IV · Emperor (r. 364–378) · Valentinian · Theodosian
Valens (AD 328 – 378). Emperor (r. 364–378). Eastern emperor; died at Adrianople; younger brother of Valentinian I. Raised to the purple by his brother after a career of no particular distinction, he proved a conscientious administrator who eased the weight of taxation, and he gave Constantinople the aqueduct that bears his name – longer than all the aqueducts of Rome. He put down the usurper Procopius, campaigned across the Danube against the Goths, and wrestled with Persia over Armenia while fending off Saracen and Isaurian revolts. In religion he sought a middle way between Nicene and non-trinitarian Christians and left the pagans largely alone. But he was fearful and quick to suspect plots, and executions for treason stained his reign; when a botched attempt to settle Gothic refugees in the Balkans turned to war, he attacked without waiting for his nephew Gratian and fell near Adrianople with much of the eastern army.
One of 13 people of Valentinian · Theodosian (321–460) in this archive. The emperors who saw the western half fall away while the east held.
Parents
- Gratian (283 – 350)
Siblings
- Valentinian I (321 – 375)