Aurelius Valerius Valens (died 317), rarely Valens I, was briefly Roman emperor from late 316 to early 317. He was proclaimed emperor by

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

, emperor of the East, during his war against

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

, emperor of the West.

Biography

In 316 Valens held the position of '' dux limitis'' ("duke of the frontier") in

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

. On October 8,

, who controlled the west, won a overwhelming victory at the Battle of Cibalae against

, his co-emperor in the East. The battle is sometimes dated to 314, but contemporary sources indicate that it occurred in 317. Licinius fled to

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyria ...

where, with the help of Valens, he gathered a second army. He gave Valens the rank of ''augustus'' (emperor), probably to replace Constantine in the West. Literary sources refer to Valens only as '' caesar'' (heir apparent), but numismatic evidence clearly indicates that he was ''augustus''. Valens adopted the name "Valerius", as was customary among the Tetrarchs. According to Petrus Patricius, Constantine was infuriated by the news of Valens' promotion:

"The emperor made clear the extent of his rage by his facial expression and by the contortion of his body. Almost unable to speak, he said, "We have not come to this present state of affairs, nor have we fought and triumphed from the ocean till where we have now arrived, just so that we should refuse to have our own brother-in-law as joint ruler because of his abominable behaviour, and so that we should deny his close kinship, but accept that vile slave .e. Valenswith him into imperial college".

After Licinius's indecisive defeat at the Battle of Mardia in later 316 or early 317, Constantine was still in the dominant position; from which he was able to force Licinius to recognize him as the senior emperor. According to the '' Origo Constantini Imperatoris'', "Valens was ordered to return again to his former private station; when that was done, peace was concluded by both emperors, with the stipulation that Licinius should hold the Orient, Asia, Thrace, Moesia, and Lesser Scythia." The peace treaty was finalized at Serdica shortly before 1 March 317, the date in which Constantine's sons Constantine II and Constans I were made caesares alongside Licinius' son

Licinius II Licinius II, also called Licinius Junior or Licinius Caesar (Latin: ''Valerius Licinianus Licinius''; – ), was the son of the Roman emperor Licinius I. He held the imperial rank of '' caesar'' between March 317 and September 324, while his fat ...

. Whether it was part of the agreement is unknown, but Licinius also had Valens executed (something not mentioned by the ''Origo''). Zosimus, Book II, 20. Much later, Licinius would try to elevate another general, Martinian, as co-emperor. However, this had just as little success, resulting in Licinius' defeat and execution.

Citations

References

* Sextus Aurelius Victor (4th century),
Epitome de Caesaribus
' *

Anonymus Valesianus ''Anonymus Valesianus'' (or ''Excerpta Valesiana'') is the conventional title of a compilation of two fragmentary vulgar Latin chronicles, named for its modern editor, Henricus Valesius, who published the texts for the first time in 1636, together ...

''Origo Constantini Imperatoris''
* * * (includes an translation of ''Origo Constantini'') * * * Zosimus (5th century)
''New History'', Book II, 20.
h1>

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valens, Valerius 317 deaths 4th-century Roman emperors 4th-century murdered monarchs Executed Roman emperors Aurelii Valerii Tetrarchy Year of birth unknown