Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome

Not many Roman Emperors are mentioned in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, but one who does is an early 3^rd century Emperor who crops up in the patter song of Major-General Stanley in “The Pirates of Penzance” when he boasts that he can “quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus”. The name is more usually given as Elagabalus, but even so it is unlikely that many hearers of the song would know to whom the Major-General was referring. So who was Elagabalus and just how criminal was he?

Comparisons can be made between Elagabalus and some other Roman Emperors, such as Caligula and Commodus, in that they had short and disreputable reigns that ended by being murdered when their activities could no longer be endured. Elagabalus shared with Caligula the distinction of being known to history by a nickname rather than the name he was given at birth.

Elagabalus started life in around the year 203 as Varius Avitus Bassianus, his birthplace being Emesa in Syria. His father was Sextus Varius Marcellus, a politician based in the Roman province of Syria, and his mother was Julia Soemias Bassiana, a member of the powerful Severan clan that had already produced the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla, the latter being Julia’s cousin.

As a young man, Varius Avitus became the chief priest of a religious cult dedicated to the Syrian sun-god Elagabal. However, Julia and her mother (Julia Maesa) saw the boy as their way to regain power for the Severan clan, which had been sidelined by the accession as Emperor in 217 of an outsider, Macrinus, who may have been responsible for the murder of Caracalla. They therefore started a rumour to the effect that Varius Avitus was the illegitimate son of Caracalla, to whom he did bear a passing resemblance.

They persuaded the local legion to accept Varius as Emperor, at the age of 14, which naturally led to Macrinus declaring war on him. The Severans won the ensuing battle and Macrinus was captured and executed, leaving Varius as Emperor with the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

The new Emperor, together with his mother and grandmother, spent a year at Nicomedia (in what is now northern Turkey) then proceeded to make their way to Rome, but they also took with them a large conical black stone that had been the centrepiece of the Elagabal cult at Emesa. Convinced that this Semitic former mountain god was the supreme deity, young Marcus was determined to convert Rome to this view and he intended to do so by moving the large black stone, and hence the the worship of Elagabal, to Rome. That is why he is known to history as Elagabalus.

Once in Rome, Elagabalus enlarged a temple on the Palatine Hill (formerly dedicated to Jupiter) in lieu of building one dedicated solely to Elagabal. The new supreme god clearly needed a partner, so he moved the image of Vesta from her temple in the Forum. The Emperor followed suit by marrying a Vestal Virgin, but this marriage ended in divorce. Elagabal therefore also had to take a new wife, this being the sky god Urania.

Eventually the purpose-built temple of Elagabal was completed on the Capitoline Hill and an elaborate ceremony took place in which the sun god appeared to drive a chariot to his new home, with the Emperor walking backwards in front of it.

Despite Elagabalus’s obsession with religion, the government of the Empire was not neglected, because his mother and grandmother made sure that things ran smoothly. They were clearly the real rulers of Rome, and they were the only two women in the history of the Empire ever to attend meetings of the Senate.

So what were the “crimes of Heliogabalus”? The main one, in the eyes of the people of Rome, was his upsetting of the religious status quo, coupled with the terrible offence of marrying a Vestal Virgin. He also appears to have indulged in a particularly lascivious lifestyle, carrying on with many women apart from his various wives (he may have been married as many as five times during his short reign) and indulging in orgiastic ceremonies, same-sex relationships and transvestisim. However, it is always possible that some of the stories grew in the telling, especially if related by his enemies.

Elagabalus’s failure to produce an heir was almost certainly not the result of any failings on the part of his various wives, but it was clearly a problem. There was also a serious rift between the two women who were the real power behind the throne. His grandmother, Julia Maesa, could sense that the Roman Senate and people could not tolerate the Emperor’s eccentricities for ever and that a violent end to his reign was possible if not probable. She therefore persuaded him that he should adopt as his successor his cousin Alexander Severus who, at the time of this move, was probably around ten years old. The older Julia would thus cement her own position should events turn out as she feared, in that one grandson might die but another become emperor in his place.

Her daughter, Julia Soemias, did not see things in the same light. Naming Alexander as successor to her son would, in her view, only increase the threat to Elagabalus, given that the former did not share his cousin’s extreme views on religion and would clearly be seen as a more acceptable alternative. The younger Julia therefore had a perfect motive for getting Alexander out of the way.

In March 222, Elagabalus and Julia Soemias went to the camp of the Praetorian Guard and ordered them to murder Alexander Severus. However, things took a very different course because the guards promptly murdered the young Emperor (still aged only about 19) and his mother and threw their bodies in the River Tiber. It is always possible that Julia Maesa had foreseen such an event and bribed the guards to do precisely what they did.

The net result was that Alexander Severus became Emperor and the cult of Elagabal was sent packing back to Emesa.

© John Welford

The spread of culture in the Hellenistic Period

The word “Hellenistic” means “of or pertaining to things Greek”, and particularly to Greek culture.

The Hellenistic period is generally taken to be from the death of Alexander the Great (in 323 BC) to the first century BC, when the whole of the Greek world had been subsumed within the Roman Empire. It is therefore a relatively short interim period between classical Greece and the might of Rome. However, that connection was of vital importance in the development of European culture.

The ancient Greeks of the mainland and islands were very cultured in many ways, and were highly advanced in the fields of poetry, drama, art, music, architecture, education, politics, philosophy and religion. However, Greek culture was largely based on the city state, and the Greek people were not naturally outward looking, either in terms of trade or conquest. This all changed when Alexander the Great got going.

Alexander was not a native Greek but a Macedonian, but he received an education that was very much in the Greek model, being tutored by Aristotle at one stage. In cultural terms he was a virtual Greek. His conquests of Persia and Egypt therefore took Greek influences with him, and the cities he founded (usually called “Alexandria”) were Greek colonies in all but name.

However, there is no evidence that Alexander had a conscious wish to export Greek culture eastwards. The Hellenization of the east was more accidental than deliberate, and occurred mainly because Alexander’s empire allowed trade routes to flourish throughout the region.

The most famous Alexandria was undoubtedly that on the coast of Egypt, and this became, in the Hellenistic period, a major centre of Greek culture. Apart from its architecture, including the lighthouse that was one of the “Seven Wonders”, its library became the largest in the world until its final destruction in the 7^th century AD. It was reportedly founded by another of Aristotle’s pupils.

However, the main reason why Greek culture spread far beyond its own borders was the expansion of the Roman Empire. Whereas the Greeks were masters of culture but reluctant conquerors, the Romans were the opposite. Having no notable cultural background of their own, they were more than happy to absorb and adapt the culture of the people they took into their Empire.

Rome’s first encounter with the Greek world would have been via its colonies, such as Syracuse which was conquered in 212 BC. However, in this case the import of culture got off to a bad start, in that one of the victims of the taking of Syracuse was Archimedes, the mathematician.

Mainland Greece started to come under Roman control from 146 BC onwards, that being the date of the Battle of Corinth, although the total destruction of that city was hardly a highlight of cultural enrichment.

Later conquests were conducted less violently, so that cultural life in Greece was able to continue under Roman rule. Many Greeks also travelled to Rome and other parts of the Empire, taking their language and culture with them.

That high-born Romans were greatly impressed by what they found is evident from the cultural conquest referred to by the Roman poet Horace, when he wrote: “Captive Greece took her fierce conqueror captive, and introduced the arts to rustic Latium”. This was especially so in the realm of education, in that the somewhat haphazard methods of instruction used by Romans were brought face to face with organised Greek schools. Greek teachers came to Rome and the Romans willingly sat at their feet.

Indeed, so popular were the Greek teachers, who taught in their own language, that many upper-class Romans came to regard Greek as a superior language to Latin, which was relegated to being the language of the common people. It took the efforts of poets such as Horace, Virgil and Ovid to rescue Latin as a literary language, although it is notable that Virgil’s “Aeneid”, his greatest work, took Greek myth as its subject matter, extending the story of the Trojan War to tell how Rome was founded by one of its heroes. Virgil was also the master of the “eclogue”, a form of pastoral poetry first developed in Hellenistic Greece.

The Roman theatre was heavily influenced by that of Greece. Indeed, many plays performed on Roman stages were direct translations of Greek plays. Roman theatre design copied that of the Greeks, based on the semi-circular arena, and the Roman circus, for chariot racing, developed from the Greek hippodrome.

Greek music was also extensively copied and imitated, even down to the notation method used for writing and playing.

In philosophy, the two schools of thought that had most influence on Romans were both Greek in origin, namely Stoicism and Epicureanism. The former, with its emphasis on virtue as its own reward, an afterlife of sorts, and resolution in the face of adversity, spoke to the Roman mind, and continued to be developed well into the 2^nd century AD.

Greek religion also found a ready audience among the Romans, who adopted not only some Greek religious practices, such as divination, but also some of their gods and heroes, including Apollo and Heracles (renamed Hercules). Other Roman gods were identified with Greek equivalents, such as Jupiter/Zeus, Neptune/Poseidon and Minerva/Athena. The Greeks had a whole host of stories about their gods, which the Romans did not. Greek mythology therefore became the foundation for Roman mythology.

In the realm of architecture, Greek ideas were also exported to the world via the Romans. In particular, examples of the three Greek orders of architecture, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, are found in countless buildings throughout the Empire, although later architects refined and adapted Greek ideas to suit their own needs.

The Greeks were great town planners, and their ideas of creating substantial public buildings and open spaces found their way into Roman thinking. For example, the “agora” of the Greek city became the “forum” in Roman hands, where the populace could gather in one place to exercise democracy or, in the Roman world, be harangued by orators.

In virtually every aspect of Greek culture, the Hellenistic period saw its wholesale exportation to the civilized world via the Romans. Because the Roman Empire was so extensive, Greek influence therefore spread throughout western Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. After the fall of Rome, the influence continued in the succeeding Byzantine Empire, and in many of the languages of Europe.

Today, we can still see many signs of Greek culture in our cultural life, such as the words we use for theatrical concepts, including “scene”, “orchestra” and, indeed, “theatre”, and even in names of American honour societies that comprise (usually) three Greek letters.

It can therefore be seen that the Hellenistic Period, despite not contributing much that was culturally original in its own time, was crucially important in the spread of Greek culture throughout the civilised world.

© John Welford

Was ancient Athenian democracy a model to follow?

When people argue that democracy is the best possible form of government they often cite ancient Athens as the prime example of “pure” democracy and the ultimate exemplum that other civilized communities and nations should seek to follow.

However, there are a number of reasons why the Athenian model may not be as desirable as we are sometimes led to believe.

For one thing, there is a world of difference between governing a city of a few thousand people and a country of many millions. In the latter case, democracy can only be representative, in that the citizens have to vote for people who will represent their interests, and this usually takes the form of voting for a member of a political party that incorporates a wide range of viewpoints concerning a spectrum of issues that are of more or less concern to the individual voter.

In the Athenian model people voted directly on specific issues. When the Assembly (known as the Ekklesia) met, the voters gathered at a hill known as the Pnyx and listened to the arguments for and against the propositions under debate and their votes decided whether or not these would be put into effect.

The Ekklesia was administered by a council (the Boule) that was not an elected body in that its 500 members were decided by lot, 50 coming from each of the ten Athenian tribes, with each tribe leading the council for a tenth of the year. The ruling tribe was led by a chairman who was also chosen by lot rather than voting and who could only serve for one day and one night before another chairman took office.

Athenian democracy was therefore based more on participation than voting. In itself this was not a bad thing, because any citizen might find themselves thrust into the spotlight as the leading official in the city, albeit only for a short time. The voters at the Ekklesia also knew that they were voting for actions in which they were often directly involved, such as mounting a military expedition against another city in which they would take part – or their near relatives would if they were themselves not fit for military service.

Although there is much to admire about the notion of all the citizens being directly involved in what the community did, there were severe limitations as to who counted as a citizen.

Perhaps not surprisingly, government in Athens was an all-male affair and women were not able to vote. The lack of surprise comes from the fact that female emancipation is a very late development in world history and “votes for women” have been around for less than a century in many western countries.

However, citizenship was also denied to anyone who had not been born in Athens and did not have Athenian parents. That rule would disenfranchise a vast number of people were the equivalent to be applied in modern Britain, for example.

It must also be remembered that the Athenian economy depended on slavery and citizens who exercised their democratic rights and duties could often only do so because they could delegate their work to slaves.

There was also the problem that the decisions made by democratic vote were not always the wisest ones. There was no “second chamber” that could challenge what the Ekklesia decided, and several cases were recorded in which actions were decided upon that turned out to be far from desirable. In one case, in 427 BCE, the voters approved a motion to punish the people of Mytilene, an Athenian colony on the island of Lesbos that had revolted against the rule of Athens, by slaughtering the entire male population and enslaving all the women and children. The following day the Athenians thought better of it and rescinded their earlier vote. A trireme had already set sail with troops who were to carry out the massacre, but a second one was now dispatched that fortunately caught up with the first and was able to prevent a terrible injustice.

It is therefore a mistake to equate Athenian democracy with anything that could work in the modern world, and it is probably unwise to accord it as much admiration as is sometimes pushed in its direction.

© John Welford

Valentinian II, Emperor of Rome

Valentinian II was the younger son of Valentinian I and half-brother of Gratian. He was born in 371 and was therefore far too young to be Emperor in anything but name when his father died on 17^th November 375. Gratian took over as Western Emperor (Valens continued to rule in the east) but there was opposition to him having sole control. The commander in the Balkans, Merobaudes, in collusion with the elder Valentinian’s widow, Justina, ensured that the younger Valentinian was proclaimed Augustus within five days of the elder Valentinian’s death.

Valentinian therefore became the nominal emperor of Illyricum, Italy and Africa at the age of four, with the real power being held by Merobaudes and his mother. His life as Emperor was merely that of a figurehead, being used by those around him as a political pawn.

In 383 Magnus Maximus invaded Gaul from Britain and succeeded in deposing Gratian and replacing him as Emperor of Britain, Gaul and Spain. In 386 he moved into Italy, causing Valentinian and his mother to flee to Thessalonica to seek the help of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius, who promptly invaded Maximus’s part of the Empire and captured and executed him.

Valentinian, now aged 15, was thus restored to his throne, with the Frankish general Arbogast left in effective charge when Theodosius returned to Thessalonica. Valentinian found himself under virtual house arrest in Vienne in Gaul. He clearly hated this arrangement and sent messages to Theodosius to complain about his treatment, although his protests fell on deaf ears.

Valentinian died on 15^th May 392, possibly from suicide or perhaps he was murdered by Arbogast. Whatever the cause, it was a sad end for a young man who never had a chance to prove himself or to lead a life that was at all fulfilling.

It does however appear that he played a part in the controversy within the Christian Church over Arianism. His mother Justina was an Arian (i.e. a follower of the doctrine propounded by Arius to the effect that Jesus did not exist before his physical birth, as opposed to the official Church view that God the Father and God the Son had existed for all time). By taking the side of his mother, Valentinian incurred the wrath not only of Bishop Ambrose and Magnus Maximus but also Theodosius. The latter took the view that Valentinian had brought his misfortunes on himself by denying the true faith.

© John Welford

The priests of Diana at Nemi

Some job offers require candidates to undergo the most extraordinary tests and trials before the right person is selected. Anyone who has tried to become a NASA astronaut will attest to just how difficult that is. However, gaining the job of “Priest of Diana” in ancient times had one particular requirement that might have held one back from applying!

Priests of Diana

Anyone who sought to become the priest of Diana at her sacred grove at Nemi, near Rome, could only do so by killing the incumbent, and they would then know that the next candidate waiting in the wings had their death in mind. There are many reasons why somebody might commit a murder, but to do so in the certain knowledge that one had signed one’s own death warrant by so doing does sound a bit extreme.

The story of the priest of Diana, who carried the title of “King of Nemi” was told by Sir James Frazer in his famous book “The Golden Bough”, and he used the legend as his starting point for a very long investigation into the development of religion, especially as it concerned the recurrent themes of death and rebirth across many civilisations.

The cult of Diana in ancient Italy (it lasted until the first century of the Imperial era) seems to have been imported from Greece, and it originally involved the human sacrifice of any stranger who approached too close to the shrine of the goddess.

However, the cult at Nemi was not quite so bloodthirsty, in that only one death was required from time to time. Within the sacred grove was a tree from which only a runaway slave was allowed to break off a branch. If he did so, he was then allowed to challenge the priest in single combat and, should he succeed in killing the priest, take over his role.

That might explain the reason why someone might seek the job. The life of a runaway slave would be very unpleasant should he be caught – he would probably be branded or even executed or forced to fight for his life as a gladiator – so becoming the “King of Nemi” was an alternative to putting off the inevitable. At least he would be fighting someone just like himself as opposed to a trained gladiator.

Even so, would you have taken this choice, or just kept running?

© John Welford

Gratian, Emperor of Rome

During the later history of the Roman Empire the top job became too much for one man to handle, with the result that the Empire was governed at various times by two or more Emperors. Gratian, who reigned from 375 to 383, was one of many such joint Emperors.

Flavius Gratianus was born on 18^th April 359 at Sirmium in Pannonia (a Roman province that covered parts of modern Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and several former Yugoslav republics). His father was Emperor Valentinian I and his mother Marina Severa, who was later divorced by Valentinian, probably in 370.

On his elevation to Emperor, Valentinian had requested that his brother Valens should rule jointly with him, the latter taking control of the eastern part of the Empire while Valentinian ruled in the west. This arrangement, which had also been made by Diocletian in the previous century, was to become a familiar pattern until the eventual collapse of the Western Empire in the 5^th century.

Gratian’s early years

Gratian’s first public office was that of consul in 366. Two (sometimes more) consuls were appointed for one-year terms, this being an office that had its origins in Republican Rome but had long been merely an honorary position. As Gratian was aged seven at the time this was simply an acknowledgment of his high status as the Emperor’s son. 

He accompanied his father on campaign in Gaul in 367, and it was on this campaign that Valentinian fell seriously ill and there was concern among his courtiers about who would succeed him if he died. Discussions were held without either Valentinian or his brother being consulted, which many Emperors would have regarded as treasonable behaviour. However, when Valentinian recovered, his only action was to appoint his son Gratian as “Augustus” (i.e. Emperor-in-waiting), thus indicating who his successor would be.

Despite the boldness of this move, there were many people who doubted whether this was the best thing to do. Had the young Gratian shown signs of being suited for high office, possibly to be attained within only a few years, the senior officials might have had their fears assuaged, but this was not the case. Gratian appeared to have little interest in military matters and his father had great difficultly in persuading the army that his son had the qualities of a potential Emperor. He took steps to educate Gratian for his future role by appointing the poet and rhetorician Ausonius as his tutor, although this seems a strange choice given that a military-style education would have been more appropriate. Gratian clearly found Ausonius to be a tutor he could get on with, as he appointed the poet to the consulship when he became Emperor.

Gratian married in 374, his wife Constantia being the daughter of a former Emperor (Constantius II). She died in 383, shortly before Gratian himself.

Gratian as Emperor

When Valentinian died on 17^th November 375, Gratian was declared Emperor as his father had decreed, but this did not please everyone, and particularly not the army commanders in the Balkan region. They sought a leader, albeit only a nominal one, who would allow them to be the real force in the part of the empire that they controlled, namely the eastern part of the Western Empire. Within five days of Valentinian’s death, his son (by his second wife Justina), also called Valentinian, was declared Emperor by the army of that region.

Gratian was therefore left as one of three Emperors, having jurisdiction over

Gaul, Spain and Britain. The provinces in Italy, Africa and Illyricum were nominally governed by Emperor Valentinian II, although he was not yet five years old at the time of his accession. The Eastern Empire continued to be ruled by Valens, who was fully occupied in repelling invasions by the Goths.

Despite the fact that the decision to appoint his half-brother as co-Emperor was taken without his consent, Gratian appears to have accepted it without too much fuss, and even took steps to help the young Emperor with his education.

Gratian had problems of his own to contend with, namely incursions by the Alamanni tribe into what is now southern Germany. Although the situation was peaceful at the time of his accession, the Alamanni needed to be watched, which presented a problem when a request came from Valens in 376 for help to repel the Goths in the east. Gratian was willing to help, but his chief general, Merobaudes (who had also been mainly responsible for the appointment of Valentinian II), disobeyed Gratian’s orders and held some of the legions back in order to guard the border against the Alamanni. The fact that Merobaudes could get away with this shows that Gratian was not strong-willed enough for the job of Emperor, although the actions of Merobaudes were probably correct under the circumstances.

In late 377 Gratian prepared to set off east to help his uncle against the Goths, but this was the signal the Alamanni had been waiting for. They invaded in February 378 but the legions left in place by Merobaudes were able to deal with the threat, with some 30,000 Alamanni being killed in battle at Argentovaria (near Colmar, France).

With his own borders secure, Gratian could now provide the assistance that Valens had asked for, but the latter seems to have changed his mind and decided to take on the Goths without waiting for his young nephew (still only 19 in 378) to arrive. The result was a devastating defeat at Adrianople at which two-thirds of the Roman army, and Valens himself, were killed.

Gratian was now left as the senior Emperor in the whole of the Roman Empire. However, he clearly needed help and he called on a Spanish general, Theodosius, to assist him. This was an interesting choice, because Theodosius’s father, also called Theodosius, had fallen foul of Merobaudes during the reign of Valentinian I and had been executed following a trumped-up charge of treason. The appointment may have been partly a move by Gratian to assert himself against Merobaudes.

Theodosius allowed himself to be declared Eastern Emperor by his troops, and Gratian did not oppose this move. It at least allowed him to carry on with the more peaceful life of being Western Emperor.

Gratian, who like all the Emperors since Constantine was nominally Christian, now interested himself in Church affairs.  In 381 he moved his capital from Trier (in Gaul) to Milan, where Ambrose had earlier been appointed bishop with the Emperor’s help. Gratian involved himself in the debate between orthodox Christians and the “heretics” who followed the teachings of Arius. He was persuaded by Ambrose to call a council of bishops to debate the matter, and this convened at Aquileia (in northern Italy) in September 381. Ambrose made sure that the decision that was made favoured his position and had the Emperor’s backing.

Gratian continued to support Theodosius in the east, by sending troops when needed, but the support was not reciprocated. In 383 the commander of the British garrison, Magnus Maximus, revolted against Gratian and invaded Gaul, where he was supported by Merobaudes. Theodosius indicated that he would not oppose the revolt, and Gratian was subsequently defeated and forced to flee. His pursuers caught up with him at Lyons and he was killed on 25^th August 383, aged 24.

Gratian’s career as Emperor was not a particularly distinguished one as he simply did not have the qualities needed to be a strong Emperor. In his defence it could be pointed out that, during the turbulent times of the later Roman Empire, there were very few men who did.

© John Welford

Valens, Emperor of Rome

Flavius Julius Valens was born in 328 at Cibalae, which is now Vinkovci in eastern Croatia. He was the second son of Gratian the Elder (so called to distinguish him from his grandson who became Emperor Gratian) and the younger brother of Valentinian by about seven years.

His early life

Although Valentinian held important military commands under Emperors Julian and Jovian, Valens stayed mainly on the family estate although he did accompany his brother on Julian’s ill-fated foray into Persia in 363-4.

Valens only came to public notice when his brother was unexpectedly elected Emperor by the troops after the sudden death of Jovian. Valentinian, quite wisely, decided that the job was too big for one man to do and asked that Valens should share it with him. Valens therefore became Emperor of the eastern half of the Roman Empire on 28^th March 364. Based in Constantinople he had jurisdiction over the provinces bordering the eastern Mediterranean and extending towards Persia. The eastern Balkans, as far north as the Danube River, were also part of the Eastern Empire.

The two halves of the Empire were run as separate units to all intents and purposes, with very little contact between the governments in Rome (or wherever the Emperor and his officials chose to base themselves) and Constantinople. When Valentinian fell dangerously ill in 367, the discussions over a possible successor did not involve Valens, and when Valentinian died in 375 and his son Gratian succeeded him, the subsequent proclamation of his much younger brother as co-Emperor was carried out without Valens being asked to agree to it.

Dealing with the Goths

The main issue to face Valens during his reign was the threat of an invasion from Goths who lived north of the Danube but who were threatening to cross over into the Empire. After a number of battles against the Gothic tribes a truce was concluded in 369 according to which the Goths agreed to stay north of the Danube, but they then came under severe pressure from the Huns and sought refuge within the Empire.

The Gothic tribes in question were the Tervingi and the Greuthingi. Many of the Tervingi had abandoned their lands and sought refuge among the Greuthingi. When the Greuthingi also sought to escape from the Huns by moving across the Danube, their numbers were therefore greatly swelled by the neighbouring Tervingi who were incorporated with them.

In principle, Valens was not against allowing the Goths to cross the Danube, as he saw them as a potential source of recruits for the Roman army. However, he hoped to regulate their numbers by only allowing the Greuthingi to settle in the Empire, which might have worked had it been possible to control the situation by assigning enough troops to separate the two tribes and monitor their entry.

As it was, most of Valens’s troops were stationed on the eastern borders where the Persians were a constant threat, so it was impossible to prevent far more people crossing the Danube than had been intended. The situation was made worse by the food supply network being totally inadequate to cope with a sudden influx of so many hungry Goths.

Relations between the Romans and the immigrants broke down completely. Instead of the expected 30,000 to 40,000 people, around double that number were now swarming across into a relatively small area south of the Danube. If the Goths could not be contained, they would have to be countered on the battlefield.

Valens sought in vain for help from his western colleagues. Merobaudes, the military commander in the western Balkans region that was nominally ruled by Valentinian II, was more interested in securing his own borders against any incursions by the Goths. Gratian, Valens’s nephew, might have been willing to send troops east but had problems of his own in the form of an insurrection on the lower Rhine.

  

It was not until 378 that Gratian was able to help, but by the time he could advance eastwards Valens had taken action on his own behalf, with disastrous consequences.

The Battle of Adrianople

By August 378 the Goths had advanced into Roman territory as far as Thrace (modern Turkey-in-Europe). An army of some 30,000 men encamped at Adrianople, which is where Valens’s force of 30,000 to 40,000 men met them on 9^th August after an eight mile march from their camp. The Roman left advanced and was routed by the Gothic cavalry, which then encircled and destroyed the Roman centre. The defeat was total, with up to two-thirds of the Roman army being killed.

Valens died along with his troops, although his body was never found. There was a story that he was wounded and taken to a farmhouse which was later set on fire, thus cremating his remains. Whatever the truth of this story, the Battle of Adrianople was certainly one of the worst defeats ever suffered by a Roman army.

The Arian Emperor

Valens is also notable for having been a proponent of Arian Christianity, as opposed to the Trinitarian Catholicism that had been sanctioned by the Council of Nicaea in 325. In this he had differed from his brother Valentinian, but unlike his brother had been less tolerant of opposing views. There was therefore a degree of persecution of Catholic bishops in the Eastern Empire during Valens’s reign. However, Theodosius, his successor in the east, was a Catholic, so Arianism in the Eastern Empire died with Valens.

© John Welford