Valens, emperor of the East from 364 to 378, and brother of Valentinian I., was born near Cibalis in Pannonia about 328, and at thirty-six was chosen by his brother as his associate in the empire. He first crushed the formidable revolt of Procopius, next reduced all taxes by one-fourth. Incapable in all things of independent judgment, Valens adopted the views of his Arian councillors, and persecuted the orthodox. After some fighting with the Goths, he concluded a six years' truce with them, the Danube being agreed upon as the frontier. The years 371-377 he spent in Asia Minor, chiefly at Antioch, and conducted with as little vigour as success an indecisive war with Sapor (Shapur II.), king of Persia, closed by a discreditable truce in 376. The prophecy of some fortune-tellers that his successor should be one whose name began with Theod led to the death of their young dupe Theodorus as well as many innocent men who bore names with the unlucky prefix, and to a severe persecution of those who practised magic and necromancy. About 376 the Huns began to press upon the Goths, who craved permission to cross the Danube. Valens allowed them to cross, but the terms of treaty were not kept, and the Goths, under their chief Frithigern, were quickly changed to enemies by the imperial mismanagement and faithlessness. They burned and ravaged the country, and, though driven back for a time, returned reinforced by Huns and Alans, and met the emperor in battle near Adrianople, August 9, 378. The imperial army was totally routed, and two-thirds of it, including Valens himself, left dead on the field. His successor was Theodosius.
See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and Hodgkin's Italy and her Invaders.