Chapters
| Name | Flavius Valentinianus |
|---|---|
| Ruled as | |
| Reign | 25 February 364 – 18 November 375 CE |
| Born | 3 July 321 CE |
| Died | 18 November 375 CE |
Valentinian came from Pannonia. He was the son of Gratian, most likely from the lower ranks of a military commander. Gratian served as the emperor’s bodyguard and rose to the rank of tribune. Then he was given the title of comes and the position of commander of the troops of the diocese of Africa. After falling out of favour for a short time, he left the scene, then returned as the commander of the troops in Britain. He was deprived of all his property for hosting the usurper Magnentius in his home in Pannonia.
Valentinian, Gratian’s eldest son, following his father’s example, joined the army, where, at least in the initial period, he benefited from his father’s protection. During Caesar’s Gallic campaigns, Julian was already a tribune in the legion of choice. In 357, a major operation was conducted against the Alamans, with Julian in command in the north and Barbacj in the south. Julian sent Valentinian and a second officer to the area of the Barbatio’s troops to find out what was the reason for the inactivity of the latter, enabling the barbarians to sneak out of the prepared cauldron. However, the officers were driven out, and Barbacjan himself accused them before Constantius II of inciting his soldiers. The emperor relieved both of them from service.
Valentinian was restored to service with his former rank in two years and transferred to Mesopotamia, which had been disturbed by the Persians. Soon he was given the title of comes, and then the rank of tribune in the troops of Constantius II. He served in the army even after the death of Constantius, certainly enjoying at least initially Julian’s favours, but as part of removing Christians from the emperor’s immediate entourage, he was most likely sent to Egypt. Some Christian historians have claimed in their accounts that he has left the service, but it seems unlikely.
After Julian’s death and the election of Jovian as Augustinian, Valentinian returned to favour and, together with the Emperor’s father-in-law Lucylian, set off for Milan, from where they headed for Gaul, where they were to guard the peace. Soon there was a revolt of soldiers in the Durocortorum Remorum, during which Lucylian was killed. Valentinian managed to escape, which allowed him to enter Jovian’s court in Asia Minor. The emperor, in gratitude for his loyalty, appointed Valentinian schola secunda scutatorum (commander of the second formation of shield bearers).
Reign
When Emperor Jovian died on February 17, 364, the army marched to Nicaea. There, during a conference of commanders and civil dignitaries, it was decided to entrust the purple to the absent Valentinian. He was in Ancyra at that time but arrived immediately – on February 22nd. However, he did not reveal himself immediately, since the beginning of his reign would be on February 23, and the year 364 was a leap year in Rome, and that day was counted twice. Valentinian, despite the fact that a Christian was a very superstitious person, and the twenty-third days of February in leap years were considered unhappy, therefore he wanted to avoid bad omen at the beginning of his reign and finally took the reign only on February 25.
He reigned as Emperor Caesar Flavius Valentynianus Augustus. At the time of his election to the throne, he was married to Marina Severa and had a son, Gratian, born in 359.
The first day of the reign of the new emperor began with hailing him as August, handing out a purple cloak and putting on a diadem on the podium, in front of the troops. Then, like Julian the Great four years earlier, he was raised on a shield. When the emperor was about to deliver the speech, the assembled troops drowned him out, demanding that a co-regent be chosen right away. Such behaviour was explained by the experiences of recent years, when the death of Julian, and later Jovianus, put the Empire in a state of danger. It seems, however, that this speech was not accidental, and was inspired to prepare the ground for the appointment of Valens as co-ordinator. Meanwhile, Augustus criticized the soldiers for their lack of discipline and announced that he would soon appoint the appropriate person as co-ruler. Ammianus Marcellinus in his work recalled the words in which the new Augustus thanked him for entrusting him with this honour, “I am glad, bravest defenders of the province, and I am proud and will always be proud that it was thanks to your courageous attitude that I received the helm of power over the Roman world as the most suitable person, although I neither expected nor pursued it”.
Valentinian called a council of civil and military dignitaries and asked them who he should choose as co-ruler. Everyone was prudently silent, and only Dagalaiphus, the chief of the cavalry, dared to say, “If you love your own, best emperor, you have a brother, if you love the state, look for someone to wear purple”. We know these words thanks to Ammianus Marcellinus. Thanks to his message, we also know that the emperor did not respond to this opinion, but whether he loved the state or his family more was shown by subsequent events.
On March 1, 364 in Nicomedia, Valentinian appointed his brother Valens as the tribune of the stable. Then, a month later in Constantinople, a military rally was called, during which the emperor proclaimed his brother Augustus, covered him with purple, and put a tiara on his head. However, it was not until April 364, during a meeting in Naissus, that the rulers divided the empire and the army between them. Valentinian took the west, along with the African and Balkan provinces (excluding Thrace), and Valens east, with Thrace and Egypt. The court and the civil administration were also divided, after which the brothers split up in