General Notes

1  NAME Flavius /Valentinianus/


Valentinian was one of Rome's last great warrior emperors. There wasapower vacuum after th e death of Julian, last ruler of theNeo-Flavianline. His immediate successor Jovian did no t really survivelong enoughto leave his stamp on late Roman society. In general terms,Valen tinianschallenge was to hold together an empire that hadexperienced sixty yearsof interna l unrest, something which was of majorimport. His provincialorigins and Nicene Christianit y put him at oddswith the senatorialnobility in the west. Furthermore, he had to deal witht he increasingregionalism of the empire, especially in Gaul, Britain,and Africa. EarlyLife Va lentinian, whose full name was FlaviusValentinianus, was born inA.D. 321 at Cibalis (moder n Vinkovci) insouthern Pannonia. His fatherGratian was a soldier renowned for hisstrength a nd wrestling skills.Gratian had an illustrious career in thearmy, rising from staff officert o tribune, to comes Africae, and finallycomes Britanniae. He wassuspected of graft while com es Africae, butnothing was ever proven.After he retired, Constantius II (337-60)confiscate d his estates becausehe was suspected of having been asupporter of Magnentius. Gratiansalle ged affiliation with Magnentiusapparently did not keep Valentinianor his younger brother Val ens frombeing able to enter the military, butit may have contributed to someearly trouble f or Valentinian.Valentinian embarked upon a militarycareer, and, like his father, becamea vic tim of imperial politics. In357 he was tribune of cavalry underJulian, Constantius II's Caes ar inthe west. In the intrigues surroundingJulian and Constantius, Valentinianand a colleag ue were accused ofundermining operations, and Constantiusdismissed them from the service.Val entinian was married twice. His firstwife, Severa, died some timeafter giving birth to Valen tinians first sonGratian in 359, andValentinian married Justina, by whom he had Valentinian II, and twodaughters, Galla and Justa. When Julian died, Valentinianwas recalled tomilitar y service by Jovian. Upon his accession, Joviansent Procopius, anotarius, and Memoridus to G aul and Illyricum toinstall hisfather-in-law Lucillianus, in retirement at Sirmium, as magister equitumet peditum. Lucillianus in turn was to journey to Milan andsecureJovians power i n Italy and Gaul. Jovian supposedly gaveLucillianussecret instructions to handpick a selec t cadre of supporters.Two ofthese men were Valentinian and Seniauchus. One of this groups missionswas to displace Jovinus, Julians magister armorum per Gallias,withMalarichus, a reti red soldier and supporter of Jovian living inItaly. Inaddition they were to visit as many go vernors and militarycommanders aspossible and announce the successful end of the Persian campaign andJovian's succession. Malarichus, however, refused hiscommission, andLucillianus tra veled on to Rheims where he beganexamining the accountsof one of Julians officials. the off icial (notnamed in extant sources)fled to the army in Gaul and spread rumors thatJulian wa s still aliveand that Lucillianus was a rebel. In the riot thatbroke out, Seniauchusand Luci llianus were killed, and Valentinian barelyescaped through thehelp of his friend Primitivus . By this time, Jovianhad sent someadditional soldiers who secured peace in Gaul. As a resul tValentinianwas promoted to command of the second Scutarii division.

Valentinian's Accession Jovian died on 17 February 364, apparentlyofnatural causes, on the b order between Bithynia and Galatia. thearmymarched on to Nicaea, the nearest city of any con sequence, and ameetingof civil and military officials was convened to choose a newemperor . Thenames of Aequitius, a tribune of the first Scutarii, andJanuarius, arelative of Jovian s in charge of military supplies inIllyricum, werebandied about. Both were rejected, Aequiti us as toobrutal, Januariusbecause he was too far away. the assembly finally agreeduponValen tinian, and sent messengers to inform him, as he had beenleftbehind at Ancyra with his unit . While awaiting the arrivalofValentinian, Aequitius and Leo, another Pannonian in charge ofdistributing supplies to the soldiers of Dagalaifus, magisterequitum,managed to keep the fi ckle (mobilitas) soldiers from choosinganotheremperor. Valentinian arrived in Nicaea on 2 4 February 364, thebisextileday. This day was used every four years by the Romans to balance thecalendar much as we use the modern leap year day: the sixth day(countinginclusively) be fore the first of March was counted twice.According toAmmianus, this day was considered an i ll-omened day to beginany newproceedings, so Valentinian put off his official acceptance unt ilthe dayafter the bisextile. Furthermore, the prefect Salutius declaredthat noofficial bus iness could be conducted on the repeated day. theholidaywould have prevented any attempt t o name another emperorbeforeValentinian.

On 26 February 364, Valentinian accepted the office offered to him. Asheprepared to make hi s accession speech, the soldiers threatened toriot,apparently uncertain as to where his loya lties lay. Valentinianreassuredthem that the army was his greatest priority. Furthermore, t oprevent acrisis of succession if he should die prematurely, he agreed topick aco-Augustus . According to Ammianus, the soldiers were astoundedbyValentinians bold demeanor and his wi llingness to assume theimperialauthority. His decision to elect a fellow-emperor could als o beconstruedas a move to appease any opposition among the civilian officialsin theeaster n portion of the empire. By agreeing to appoint a co-ruler,heassured the eastern officials t hat someone with imperial authoritywouldremain in the east to protect their interests.

After promoting his brother Valens to the rank of tribune and puttinghimin charge of the roy al stables on March 1, Valentinian selectedValens asco-Augustus at Constantinople on 28 Marc h 364, though this wasdone overthe objections of Dagalaifus. Ammianus makes it clear, howeve r,thatValens was clearly subordinate to his brother. the remainder of 364wasspent dividin g up administrative duties and militarycommands.Valentinian retained the services of Jovinu s and Dagalaifus,and promotedAequitius to comes Illyricum. In addition, he promotedSerenian us, aretired soldier and fellow Pannonian, to command of thedomesticorumscholae. Several sou rces mention the division ofadministrative spheresbetween the two brothers, but Ammianus i s the mostspecific. According toAmmianus, Valens was given the Prefecture of theOrient, gov erned bySalutius, while Valentinian gained control of thePrefecture of the Gaulsand the Pref ecture of Italy, Africa, andIllyricum. These latter threeareas were put together as one administrative unit under control of theprefect Mamertinus. Valens resided inConstantinople, whi le Valentinianscourt was at Milan.

Roman Society under Valentinian Ammianus and Zosimus as well asmodernscholars praise Valenti nian for his military accomplishments. Heisgenerally credited with keeping the Roman empir e from crumbling awayby. . . reversing the generally waning confidence in the army and imperialdefense . . .. Several other aspects of Valentinian's reign also setthecourse of Roma n history for the next century. Valentiniandeliberatelypolarized Roman society, subordinatin g the civilianpopulation to themilitary. the military order took over the old prestigeof th e senatorialnobility. the imperial court, which was becoming moreand more of amilitary court , became a vehicle for social mobility. Therewere newideas of nobility, which was increasing ly provincial incharacter. Bythis it is meant that the imperial court, not the Senate,was t he seat ofnobility, and most of these new nobles came from theprovinces. With theerosion o f the old nobility, the stage was set forthe ascendancy ofChristianity. At the same time, th e empire was becomingmore and more ofa bureaucracy, with the emperor delegating authority t oa chain ofofficials. These officials did not always perform their jobwell and, asa result , the provincial populations became increasinglyalienated fromthe imperial government. the y were crushed under theincreasing burden oftaxation, and often the emperor, through his delegates, failed to providethe security for which the provincials' tributewas paying. Valentin ian,Christianity, and Legislation Unlike his brotherValens, Valentinianrefused to become emb roiled in the religiouscontroversies of the time.Ammianus praised Valentinian for his religi ousneutrality. Valentinianrefused to get involved in the Arian controversyof the east, dism issinga deputation of eastern Nicene bishops whoappealed to him to controlValens. Valentinia n did, however, take a harshstand against two of theheretical movements that had grown durin g thepast century in the west.In 372 he forbade gatherings of Manichees in thecity of Rome . Suchassemblies were to result in the death of the leaders,the exile of theothers, and conf iscation of the property of allinvolved. In addition heofficially condemned Donatist bishop s in Africain 373. Theecclesiastical sources for this period generally have afavorable opin ionof Valentinian. Jerome speaks in glowing terms, sayingValentinian wasan excellent empero r in most cases and similar incharacter to Aurelian,save only that certain people interprete d hisexcessive strictness andparsimony as cruelty and greed. Socrates andOrosius took th e story ofhis dismissal from the military by ConstantiusII and turned him into amartyr of so rts. According to Sozomen,Valentinian was dismissed from themilitary by Julian, instead of Constantius II, for refusing to perform apagan ritual at a pagan shrine.Less accurately, Theo deret, Sozomen, andSocrates praised Valentinian forinstalling Ambrose as bishop of Milan.Amb roses predecessor, Auxentius,had been an Arian.

Valentinian, however, was not uniformly friendly towards Christianity.Forexample, he ordere d Symmachus, praefectus urbi of Rome in 365, to puttodeath and confiscate the property of an y Christians who becamecustodiansof temples. It seems, however, that much of his legislation concerningChristians was driven by fiscal motives, rather than any realconcern withreligiou s doctrine. Any Manichees caught under the lawcontributed theirproperty to the fisc, and th e condemnation of theDonatists could reallybe seen as a condemnation of those who inhibitedt he collection of taxesfrom the African provinces. In other examples,Valentinian addresse d alaw to Damasus, Pope of Rome in 370, whichforbade ecclesiastics to marrywidows or femal e wards of the state. Thepurpose of this law was to stopchurchmen from obtaining the wealt h ofsuch women through inheritance. Onthe other hand, Valentinian appears tohave given Chris tians specialprivileges. For example, in 370 he upheld alaw of Constantius II thatexempte d professed Nicene Christians in theAfrican provinces fromobligatory municipal duties. Simil arly, a law waspassed in 371 thatthose in the city of Rome who could prove that theywere ecc lesiasticsbefore the accession of Valentinian were exempt frommunicipal services.

Revenues lost by these measures had to be made up from other sources,andValentinian sought t hem from the senatorial order. In a lawpromulgatedon 18 October 365 in Paris and reaching Ca rthage on 18January 366,Valentinian ordered Dracontius, vicarius Africae, to send outmen to collect taxes from those African estates which were owned byRomansenators. This law was in k eeping with Valentinians generalhostility tothe senatorial order.

Initially, it seemed that Valentinian actively sought to pacify thepaganaristocracy at Rom e by retaining the title pontifex maximus andbypassing legislation confirming toleration o f the pagan practiceofdivination. In 371, however, he sanctioned a purge of the nobility b ythepraefectus annonae Maximinus, whom he temporarily elevated to theofficeof urban prefec t for this purpose. Members of the aristocracywerebrought before Maximinus and Valentinian s old friend Leo on chargessuchas using magic, using poison, and adultery. Punishments range d fromexileto death. Ammianus cites many such cases, including those of thesenatorsCethegus , killed for adultery, and Paphius and Cornelius,prosecuted andexecuted for using poison. Th e scale of Maximinusprosecutions was suchthat even children were tried. One Alypius, whom Ammianus describes asnobilis adulescens, was exiled for an offenseAmmianus does not specify(a nd thus implies was trumped up), whileLollianus, son of the ex-prefectLampadius, was sentenc ed to exile forwriting a book concerning thedestructive use of magic (noxiarum artium).Lamp adius appealed toValentinian, who turned the case over toPhalangius, governor of Baetica,wh o sentenced Lollianus to death.

Ammianus makes it clear that actions such as these were part ofasystematic plan by Valentini an to erode the power and prestige ofthesenatorial aristocracy. It was at the request of Max iminusthatValentinian abrogated the right of persons of senatorial rank toappealcases to th e emperor, a right that had already been strictlycurtailedduring the reign of Ampelius, Maxi minus predecessor as urbanprefect. Hedid this by treating as treasonous such acts as adulte ry, useof magic,and poisoning. He also empowered Maximinus to use torture toextractconfessi ons from the accused. As with Lollianus, the appeals thatwereheard often resulted in a harsh er punishment than the originalsentence.

Several pieces of extant legislation seem to confirm Ammianusallegationsthat Valentinian wa s eroding senatorial prestige. In a law of364,Valentinian decreed that the equites now ranke d in prestige onlybehindthe senatorial order. In addition, these equites were exempt fromth emore onerous forms of compulsory service and senatorialtaxes.Furthermore, a second law iss ued in 367 gave members of theimperialcourt the same privileges as senators. This law also e stablishedthatdischarged comites and tribunes could become senators.

In July of 372, Valentinian sent several pieces of legislationtoAmpelius, praefectus urbi o f Rome, putting members of the imperialcourtand the military on equal footing with those wh o occupied places inthecivil administration. First, magistri peditum and magistri equitum wereto be of equal social prestige to praetorian prefects. Inaddition,quaestors, magistri offi ciorum, the comes sacrarum largitionum,the comesrerum privatarum, comites rei militaris, an d magistri equitumoutrankedproconsular governors. Finally, any member of the imperialcourto utranked vicarii.

Ammianus also observes that Valentinians main goal was to raisetheprestige of the military . Zosimus confirms this by statingthatValentinian promoted many officers, and modified the s ystem oftaxcollection so that the army got its supplies more quickly.Valentinianissued seve ral laws expressly intended to make the collectionof taxeseasier. In 367, Valentinian instru cted Probus that tax paymentsin kindcould now be made in three installments per annum or al l at once.Inaddition, Valentinian raised the standard exactions. This increaseintaxation al ienated the provincials.

the African provinces illustrate this effect of Valentinians taxpolicies.When Romanus, as t he military representative of the imperialgovernment,came to power in 363, he began exploiti ng the provincials inthe Africandiocese. When they refused to meet his exorbitant demands, h eleft themto the vagaries of such peoples as the Austoriani. In addition,whenValentinian se nt Palladius, a tribune and notarius, toinvestigate,Romanus split the stolen tax revenue wit h him to preventPalladius fromreporting his misconduct to Valentinian. As a result ofRomanu s actions,the provincials balked at paying any taxes. the factthat Valentinian hadto resen d the law directly to Dracontius, thevicarius of Africa in 367,confirms that the governmen t was having a hardtime in collecting itstribute. Valentinian was very distressed by the situation, dispatchingthe notarius Neoterius, the protector domesticusMasaucio, andGaudentius , a tribune of the Scutarii, to Africa in 365.Theodosius tooksteps to ameliorate the situati on upon his arrival,declaring that theprovincials did not have to supply his army. He woul dtake any supplieshe needed from the supporters of Firmus.

In addition, when Valentinian came to Pannonia in 375, theprovincialstook the opportunity t o complain bitterly about theoppression they hadsuffered under Probus, praetorian prefect fo r theregion. According toAmmianus, the taxation was so onerous in Pannoniathat many of thel eading nobles fled, were imprisoned for debt, or killedthemselves.There may have been simila r unrest in Gaul, for Ammianusreported thatthere was an outbreak of civil unrest among the p rovincialsthere in 369,although he gives no details. Scholars such as Raymond VanDam see su chprovincial outbreaks as signs that the imperial system wasdevolving tothe local level.

Assessment of Valentinian's Reign Valentinian's reign affordsvaluableinsights into late Roma n society, civilian as well as military.First,there was a growing fracture between the easte rn and westernportions ofthe empire. Valentinian was the last emperor to reallyconcentrat e hisresources on the west. Valens was clearly in an inferiorposition in thepartnership. Sec ond, there was a growing polarization ofsociety, bothChristian versus pagan, and civil versu s military. Finallythere was agrowing regionalism in the west, driven by heavy taxation an dtheinability of Valentinian to fully exercise military authority inallareas of the west. A ll of these trends would continue over thenextcentury, profoundly reshaping the Roman empir e and western Europe.


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