Valentinian I - Roman Emperor: 364-375 A.D. -
Bronze AE1 27mm Struck at the mint of Nicomedia 364-365 A.D.
Reference: RIC 7a(var.) (Nicomedia), LRBC 2321
DNVALENTINIANVSPFAVG - Diademed (rosettes), draped and cuirassed bust right.
RESTITVTORREIPVBLICAE Exe: SMNB - Valentinian I standing, facing, holding
labarum and Victory on globe.
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Flavius Valentinianus, known in English as
Valentinian I, (321
-
November
17, 375)
was
Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as
the "last great western emperor".[1]
Both he and his brother Emperor
Valens were
born at
Cibalae (modern days
Vinkovci,
Croatia), in
Pannonia,
the sons of a successful general,
Gratian the Elder.
Life
He had been an officer who served under the emperors
Julian and
Jovian, and had risen high in the imperial service. Of robust frame and
distinguished appearance, he possessed great courage and military capacity.
After the death of Jovian, he was chosen emperor in his forty-third year by the
officers of the army at
Nicaea in
Bithynia on
February
26, 364, and shortly afterwards named his brother
Valens
colleague with him in the empire.
The two brothers, after passing through the chief cities of
the neighbouring district, arranged the partition of the empire at
Naissus (Nissa) in Upper
Moesia. As
Western Roman Emperor, Valentinian took
Italia,
Illyricum,
Hispania, the Gauls,
Britain and
Africa, leaving to
Eastern Roman Emperor Valens the eastern half of the
Balkan peninsula,
Greece,
Aegyptus,
Syria and
Asia Minor as far as
Persia. They were immediately confronted by the revolt of
Procopius, a relative of the deceased Julian. Valens defeated his army at
Thyatira in Lydia
in 366, and Procopius was executed shortly afterwards.
During the short reign of Valentinian there were wars in
Africa, in
Germany, and in Britain, and
Rome came into
collision with
barbarian
peoples, specifically the
Burgundians and the
Saxons.
Valentinian's chief work was guarding the frontiers and
establishing military positions.
Milan was at
first his headquarters for settling the affairs of northern Italy. The following
year (365) Valentinian was at
Paris, and then
at
Reims, to direct the operations of his generals against the
Alamanni.
These people, defeated at Scarpona (Charpeigne) and Catelauni (Châlons-en-Champagne)
by Jovinus, were driven back to the German bank of the
Rhine, and
checked for a while by a chain of military posts and fortresses. At the close of
367, however, they suddenly crossed the Rhine, attacked Moguntiacum (Mainz)
and plundered the city. Valentinian attacked them at Solicinium (Sulz
am Neckar, in the
Neckar
valley, or
Schwetzingen) with a large army, and defeated them with great slaughter. But
his own losses were so considerable that Valentinian abandoned the idea of
following up his success.
Later, in 371, Valentinian made peace with their king,
Macrian, who
from that time remained a true friend of the
Romans.
The next three years he spent at
Trier, which he
chiefly made his headquarters, organizing the defence of the Rhine frontier, and
personally superintending the construction of numerous forts.
During his reign the coasts of Gaul were harassed by the
Saxon pirates, with whom the
Picts and
Scots of northern Britain joined hands, and ravaged the island from the
Antonine Wall to the shores of
Kent. In 368
Count Theodosius was sent to drive back the invaders; in this he was
completely successful, and established a new British province, called
Valentia in honour of the emperor.
In Africa,
Firmus raised the standard of revolt, being joined by the provincials, who
had been rendered desperate by the cruelty and extortions of
Comes Romanus,
the military governor. The services of Theodosius were again requisitioned. He
landed in Africa with a small band of veterans, and Firmus, to avoid being taken
prisoner, committed suicide.
In 374, the
Quadi, a
Germanic tribe in what is now
Moravia and
Slovakia,
resenting the erection of Roman forts to the north of the
Danube in what
they considered to be their own territory, and further exasperated by the
treacherous murder of their king,
Gabinius,
crossed the river and laid waste the province of Pannonia. The emperor in April,
375 entered Illyricum with a powerful army. But during an audience to an embassy
from the Quadi at
Brigetio on the Danube (near today Komárno in Slovakia), Valentinian
suffered a burst
blood
vessel in the skull while angrily yelling at the people gathered. This
injury resulted in his death on November 17, 375.
Reputation
A.H.M. Jones writes that though he was "less of a boor" than his chief rival
for election to the imperial throne, "he was of a violent and brutal temper, and
not only uncultivated himself, but hostile to cultivated persons", as
Ammianus tells us, 'he hated the well-dressed and educated and wealthy and
well-born'. He was, however, an able soldier and a conscientious administrator,
and took an interest in the welfare of the humbler classes, from which his
father had risen. Unfortunately his good intentions were often frustrated by a
bad choice of ministers, and an obstinate belief in their merits despite all
evidence to the contrary."[2]
According to the
Encyclopædia Britannica 1911, he was a founder of schools, and provided
medical attendance for the poor of
Rome, by appointing
a physician for each of the fourteen districts of the city.
Valentinian was a
Christian
but permitted liberal religious freedom to all his subjects, proscribing only
some forms of rituals such as particular types of sacrifices, and banning the
practice of magic. Against all abuses, both civil and ecclesiastical (excepting,
of course, his own excesses), Valentinian steadily set his face, even against
the increasing wealth and worldliness of the clergy. His chief flaw was his
temper, which at times was frightful, and showed itself in its full fierceness
in the punishment of persons accused of witchcraft, some kinds of
fortune-telling or magical practices."[3
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