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Carney & Wehofer Family
Genealogy Pages
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 328 - 378 (50 years)
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| Name |
Valens (Emperor Of The Eastern Roman Empire - 364-378) |
| Born |
328 |
| Gender |
Male |
| _UID |
B01201C19A364E89BE4E5FEB81C481F73E7C |
| Died |
378 |
| Person ID |
I8716 |
Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
5 Feb 2012 |
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| Notes |
- Emperor of Rome in the East from 364-378, Valens was chosen by hisbrother Valentinian I to rule in the East when he ascended to the thronein 364. In 367, Valens warred with the Visigoths, and finally in 376 heallowed the Visigoths to live in the Empire. They breached this goodfaith and attacked the Romans at Adrianople in 378. Valens was killed inthe battle.
From "The History Net" - Valens and the Battle of Adrianople(Hadrianopolis):
Bad intelligence gathering and the unwarranted confidence of EmperorValens (A.D. c. 328 - A.D. 378) led to the worst Roman defeat sinceHannibal's victory at the Battle of Cannae. On August 9, A.D. 378, Valenswas killed and his army lost to an army of Goths led by Fritigern, whomValens had given permission only two years earlier to settle in Romanterritory.
In 364, a year after the death of the apostate emperor (Julian), Valenswas made co-emperor with his brother Valentinian. They chose to split theterritory, with Valentinian taking the West and Valens the East -- adivision that was to continue. (Three years later Valentinian conferredthe rank of co-Augustus on his young son Gratian who would take over assole emperor in the West in 375 when his father died.) Valentinian hadhad a successful military career prior to being elected emperor, butValens, who had only joined the military in the 360s, had not.
Since his predecessor had lost eastern territory to the Persians (fiveprovinces on the eastern side of the Tigris, various forts and the citiesof Nisibis, Singara and Castra Maurorum), Valens set out to reclaim it,but revolts within the eastern empire kept him from completing his plans.One of the revolts was caused by Procopius, a relative of Julian's,usurping the throne. Because of a claimed relationship with the family ofthe still popular Constantine, Procopius persuaded many of Valens' troopsto defect, but in 366, Valens defeated Procopius and sent his head to hisbrother Valentinian.
The Tervingi Goths led by Athanaric had planned to attack Valens'territory, but when they learned of Procopius' plans, they became hisallies, instead. Following his defeat of Procopius, Valens intended toattack the Goths, but was prevented, first by their flight, and then by aspring flood the following year. However, Valens persisted and defeatedthe Tervingi (and the Greuthungi) in 369. They concluded a treaty quicklyso Valens could set to work on the still missing eastern territory.
Unfortunately, troubles throughout the empire diverted his attention. In374 he had deployed troops to the west and was faced with a militarymanpower shortage. In 375 the Huns pushed the Goths out of theirhomelands. The Greuthungi and Tervingi Goths appealed to Valens for aplace to live. Valens, seeing this as an opportunity to increase hismilitary, agreed to admit those led by the chieftain Fritigern intoThrace, but not the other groups, including those who had conspiredagainst him before, led by Athanaric. Those excluded followed Fritigern,anyway. Imperial troops, under the leadership of Lupicinus and Maximus,managed the immigration, but badly -- and with corruption.
... (134) Soon famine and want came upon them, as often happens to apeople not yet well settled in a country. Their princes and the leaderswho ruled them in place of kings, that is Fritigern, Alatheus and Safrac,began to lament the plight of their army and begged Lupicinus andMaximus, the Roman commanders, to open a market. But to what will not the"cursed lust for gold" compel men to assent? The generals, swayed byavarice, sold them at a high price not only the flesh of sheep and oxen,but even the carcasses of dogs and unclean animals, so that a slave wouldbe bartered for a loaf of bread or ten pounds of meat. - Jordanes
Driven to revolt, the Goths defeated the Roman military units in Thracein 377.
In May 378, Valens returned from the East to deal with the uprising ofGoths (aided by Huns and Alans), whose number, Valens was assured, was nomore than 10,000.
...when the barbarians ... arrived within fifteen miles from the stationof Nike, ... the emperor, with wanton impetuosity, resolved on attackingthem instantly, because those who had been sent forward to reconnoiter --what led to such a mistake is unknown -- affirmed that their entire bodydid not exceed ten thousand men. - Ammianus Marcellinus: The Battle ofHadrianopolis
By August 9 Valens was outside of Adrianople (now Edirne, in EuropeanTurkey). There he pitched his camp, built palisades and waited for theEmperor Gratian to arrive with the Gallic army. Meanwhile, ambassadorsfrom Fritigern arrived asking for a truce, but Valens suspected them andso, sent them back. Ammianus Marcellinus says some Roman princes adviseda receptive Valens not to wait for Gratian, because if Gratian foughtValens would have to share the glory of victory. So on that day Valens,thinking his troops more than equal to the Goths and their allies, ledthe Roman army into battle.
Roman and Gothic soldiers met each other in a crowded, confused, and verybloody line of battle.
...Our left wing had advanced actually up to the wagons, with the intentto push on still further if they were properly supported; but they weredeserted by the rest of the cavalry, and so pressed upon by the superiornumbers of the enemy, that they were overwhelmed and beaten down.... Andby this time such clouds of dust arose that it was scarcely possible tosee the sky, which resounded with horrible cries; and in consequence, thedarts, which were bearing death on every side, reached their mark, andfell with deadly effect, because no one could see them beforehand so asto guard against them. - - Ammianus Marcellinus: The Battle ofHadrianopolis
Amid the fighting, an additional contingent of Gothic troops arrived, faroutnumbering the distressed Roman troops. Gothic victory was assured.
Two-thirds of the Eastern army were killed. Even the Emperor Valens waswounded in battle, although he escaped to a nearby farm where he wasburned to death by Gothic marauders. So momentous and disastrous was theBattle of Adrianople that Ammianus Marcellinus called it "the beginningof evils for the Roman empire then and thereafter."
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