Valens
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Valens
(vä`lənz), c.328–378, Roman emperor of the East (364–78). Brother and coregent of Valentinian IValentinian I, 321–75, Roman emperor of the West (364–75). He held high military rank under Julian and Jovian. After the death of Jovian, Valentinian was proclaimed emperor; he appointed his brother Valens coregent in the East.
..... Click the link for more information. , Valens followed in most respects his brother's policies but, unlike him, embraced Arian Christianity (see ArianismArianism
, Christian heresy founded by Arius in the 4th cent. It was one of the most widespread and divisive heresies in the history of Christianity. As a priest in Alexandria, Arius taught (c.
..... Click the link for more information. ). An intolerant man, he sporadically persecuted orthodox Christians. At the beginning of his reign he put down the revolt of Procopius. He initiated warfare against the VisigothsVisigoths
(West Goths), division of the Goths, one of the most important groups of Germans. Having settled in the region W of the Black Sea in the 3d cent. A.D., the Goths soon split into two divisions, the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths.
..... Click the link for more information. under Athanaric and defeated them in 369. His attitude toward the Persian threat to Armenia was indecisive, but in 376 peace was made. He admitted the Visigoths under Fritigern into the empire. Dissatisfied with the Romans, they rebelled, and in 378, Valens was killed in the battle of Adrianople, in which two thirds of the Roman army was destroyed, leaving the Eastern Empire virtually defenseless. He was succeeded by Theodosius ITheodosius I
or Theodosius the Great,
346?–395, Roman emperor of the East (379–95) and emperor of the West (394–95), son of Theodosius, the general of Valentinian I.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Valens
?328--378 ad, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (364--378); appointed by his elder brother Valentinian I, emperor of the Western Empire