VALENTINIA'NUS, the name of three Roman emperors of the same family; the first and most famous of whom, VALENTINIANCTS, I., was the son of a Gratianus (a rope maker who had enlisted in the army, and risen to the grade of comes militum), and was born at Cibalis, in Pannonia, 321 A.D. Valentinianus entered the army at an early age, and, aided by the military renown of his father, rapidly rose in rank under the emperors Constantius and Julian, only, however, to fall more rapidly; for he was de graded by Constantius in 357, and, for his publicly expressed contempt for paganism, banished by Julian in 362. Restored to favor in the following year, he distinguished himself in the e., and on the death of Jovian, was unanimously chosen as his successor, Feb. 26, 364. A month after his accession, he chose as his colleague his brother, Valens (q.v.), to whom he resigned the government of the e., reserving for himself Illyricum, Italy, the Gauls, Britain, Spain, and Africa. During VALENTINIANUS'S reign, the utmost vigilance was required to preserve the frontier districts of the empire from the ravages of the swarms of barbarians who, like vultures, had gathered round their prey, watching with greedy eagerness the rapid decay of its strength, and ready at the first opportunity to hasten its impending doom. The Alemanni repeatedly (366-68) ravaged the e., and the Saxons (370) the north-east of Gaul; Illyricum was wasted (370) by the Quadi, and Africa by the southern desert tribes; and though these invasions were mostly repelled and revenged in a manner becoming the warriors of the queen of nations, the auxiliary means often had recourse to (e.g., the assassination of two powerful and able opponents, the kings of the Alemanni and Quadi, and the treacherous attack on the Saxons while under the fancied security of a treaty), surely indicated that the sturdy virtue which formerly imbued the soldiers of the empire was rapidly disappearing. The internal administration was excellent, for the emperor added to his ability, prudence, and firmness of character, the less common imperial qualities of vigilance and i tnpar tiality; and his cognizance of any abuse or injustice by whomsoever perpetrated, was the signal for its speedy rectification, and the severe punishment of the offender. Though himself a zealous Catholic, he repelled the solicitations of the bishops who wished him to interfere in the religious disputes of the time, permitted his subjects to adopt whatever religion they chose, and strictly forbade all persecution or annoyance on account of religious belief, even retaining the " pontifices" of the provinces in the privileges which they had possessed under Julian. On account of the scandalous abuse by ecclesiastics of their influence over their penitents, he excluded priests and monks from the right of succession to property; judicial proceedings were forbidden to be held in private; the extreme license of speech hitherto allowed to advocates was judi ciously restrained; gratuitous medical attendance was provided for the poor of Rome; and schools were established throughout the empire. The success of VALENTLNIANUS'S administration was doubtless much owing to his fortunate choice of officers: Theodosius the elder in Africa and Britain, Jovinus in Gaul, and Theodosius the younger (after ward emperor) in Illyricum, form a trio distinguished by an unswerving loyalty, ad ministrative ability, and miltary talent, rarely found in any age; and contrast strongly with their predecessors in office. VALENTMIANTS'S private life was a model of moral ity and economy; and according to the summation of the accurate and trustworthy Ammianus, "he had so many good qualities, that if everything had been equal in him, he would have been another Trajan or Marcus Aurelius." But the one and grievous fault which marred his character was an ungovernable temper, which led him into the occasional commission of excessive cruelties, and ultimately caused his death; for while giving audience to the deputies of the Quadi, with whom he was then at war, he worked himself into such an access of passion as to rupture a blood-vessel in his chest, and fell back dead into the arms of his guards, Nov. 17, 375. By his first wife he had one son, Gratianus (q.v.); and by the second, Justina, another son, Valentinian, and three daughters, one of whom, Galla, became the wife of the emperor Theodosius I.—VAL
ENincLucts II., the younger son of the preceding, was born 372 A.n., and received from his elder brother, Gratianus (q.v.), the provinces of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, as his share of the western empire. During his long minority, the empress Justina, administered the government; and about three years after her death, Valentinianus, who had given promise of gbod administrative qualities, was murdered by the Frank, Arbo gastes, the commander-in-chief of his army, May 15, 392.—VALENTINIAN III., the grand-nephew of the preceding, being the son of Constantius III. by Placidia, the daughter of Theodosius the great and Galla, was born about 419 A.D. and was seated on the throne of the west by Theodosius II., emperor of the east, 425 A.D. Valentinian was a weak and contemptible prince, nevertheless his reign is one of the most inter esting epochs of Roman history, exhibiting, as it does to the full, the internal weakness and corruption of the empire, the gradual closing with it of its irresistible barbarian foes; the sad picture being momentarily lightened from time to time with a flash of the warrior-spirit of old Rome. Valentinian may be said never to have ruled during the 30 years that he sat disesteemed and unhonored on the imperial throne; his mother, Placidia, governed till her death in 450, and was succeeded by the eunuch, Heraclius, one of those malignant fribbles who swarmed around the throne of the falling empire. The regulations enacted for the internal administration were credit able, and especially so when ecclesiastical interests were involved, as in almost all cases, the ambitious and persecuting tendencies of the now preponderant orthodox party, were firmly restrained; while, on the other hand, the fierce vindictiveness of its more bigoted rivals was kept within bounds. But the utter corruption of manners, the complete extinction of "public spirit," the oppressive exactions of the tax collectors, and equally of the commissioners who were appointed to prevent these exactions; the general employment of the powers of the executive in the avenging of private quarrels, and the utter impossibility of obtaining redress for injuries, too plainly showed that the empire had fallen far beyond remedy, and that if not destroyed by assailants from without, it would speedly crumble to pieces of itself. The early part of Valentinianus's reign was disturbed by the contests between the "comites " Boniface and /Wins, the former of whom had suppdrted, and the latter resisted Valentinianus's claims to the throne; but not withstanding this, the vile and groundless calumnies of Attius prevailed upon the empress to declare the gallant and upright governor of Africa a public enemy; and the latter, in the first flush of resentment, called to his aid the Vandals under Generic (q.v.). Thus Africa was lost to the empire. But Aetius, notwithstanding, proved himself the invincible bulwark of the Roman power in Europe; the Franks, Goths, Burgundians, and other German nations who had encroached ou the empire, were successively defeated and repelled, and the destructive career of the formidable Huns brought nigh to a close on the field of Chalons. Yet the labor of defending an extensive empire from attack on all sides was too much for one man; and consequently, much of Spain and Gaul was ultimately seized by the Suevi and Visigoths, the n. of Italy was ravaged by the Huns, Sicily and Sardinia by the Vandals, and even Rome repeatedly besieged, while Britain was abandoned to the wild Picts and Scots. Atttius seems to have committed the same error as his more upright and noble, though not more able, predecessor Stilicho (q.v.), in attempting, by the marriage of his son to Valeutiniaaus's daughter, to transfer the imperial dignity to his own family, and like him also, undermined in influence and reputation by the machinations of a eunuch, lie was assassinated, though by the sword of his master (454). In the following year, Valentinianus, who had ravished the wife of his intimate friend Maximus, was conspired against by the friends of the latter, and the faithful adherents of Aetius, and murdered in the midst of his guards, March 16, 455.