Valerius Valens
| Valerius Valens | |
|---|---|
| Roman Emperor | |
 Piece bearing the effigy of Valerius Valens | |
| Reign | |
| end 316 - 1March 317 In the West | |
| Period | Tetrastich |
| Predecessor (s) | Licinus |
| Co-emperor (s) | Licinus |
| Successor (s) | Licinus |
| Biography | |
| Birth | ? |
| Original Name | Gaius Aurelius Valerius Valens |
| Deaths | 317 |
| List of Roman Emperors | |
Gaius Aurelius Valerius Valens (died 317 ) was a Roman emperor who co-reigned with Licinus the end of 316 to 1 March 317. Nothing is known of his biography before he became co-emperor if he had been dux limits .
Biographical Elements
Valerius Valens biography is largely unknown. It appears in the context of civil war between the two co-emperors Licinus and Constantine I , when Licinius, who lost ground in the Balkans after his defeat at Cibalae in Pannonia in October 316 , and folds into Dacia Valerius Valens which defends the borders. Around the month of December, it is a new army Hadrianopolis in Thrace with the aid of Valens he calls Augustus to the East instead of Constantine it was officially filed.
A second battle between Constantine and Licinius in the plain of Mardia in early 317 and, although the outcome will be indecisive, concluded a peace treaty by which Licinius lost the western territories (Greece, Macedonia and the Danube countries), to exception of Lower Moesia and Thrace. Licinus must file Valens - deprived of his dignity as the author of their division in October 316 -, recognize as Augustus Constantine - Licinius and higher in the government - his children as Caesar while a treaty Peace is signed at Sardis March 1, whose terms have not been preserved; Valens is executed - sacrificed - by Licinius soon after at an unknown date.
References
- senior officer commanding the troops from a border province
- AHM Jones, JR Martindale, J. Morris, The Prosopography Of The Later Roman Empire, Cambridge University Press, 1971, p.1119
- Zosimus , New History, II, 18, 2-5, online text on the site remacle.org
- There is now a consensus historian around this new date when it was long considered that this battle took place in 314, cf. DS Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180-395, ed. Routledge, 2004, p.378; C. ODahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, ed. Routledge, 2004, p.164; W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford University Press, 1997, p.34, AS Christensen, L. Baerentzen, Lactantius The Historian, Museum Tusculanum Press, 1980, p.23
- Literary sources kept talking about it to Caesar but the numismatic evidence contradicts this version, see Samuel NC Lieu, Dominic Montserrat, From Constantine to Julian: A Source History, ed. Routledge, 1996 578 extract online
- Zosimus , New History, II, 18, online text on the site remacle.org
- C. ODahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, ed. Routledge, 2004, p.165
- Aurelius Victor , Epitome, 40, 9, text online at Remacle.org
Bibliography
- Anonymus Valesianus. Origo Constantini Imperatori on The Latin Library Latin text online
- (In) Michael DiMaio, Jrn Zeuge, and Jane Bethune, The Proelium Cibalense and Proelium Campi Ardiensis: The First Civil War of Constantine I and Licinius I. in Ancient World No. 21, 1990, pp. 67-91
- (In) Samuel NC Lieu, Dominic Montserrat, From Constantine to Julian: A Source History, ed. Routledge, 1996
- (In) Charles M. ODahl, Constantine and the Christian Empire, Routledge, 2004
- (As) David S. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180-395, Routledge, 2004
See also
Sources partial
- Michael DiMaio, Article Valens (316 AD), on the site emperors.org novel, 15/11/1996, online article
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