Valens

:For Valens briefly usurper under Gallienus see Gallienus usurpers.

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Flavius Julius Valens (Latin: IMP?CAESAR?FLAVIVS?IVLIVS?VALENS?AVGVSTVS) (328 – August 9, 378) was Roman emperor from 364 until his death, after he was given the Eastern part of the empire by his brother Valentinian I. His father was the general Gratian the Elder. Valens was known as the Last True Roman.

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Flavius Valens and his brother Flavius Valentinianus were both born 48 miles east of Sirmium, in the town of Cibalae in 328 and 321, respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father, Gratian the Elder, in Africa and Britain. While Valentinian had enjoyed a successful military career prior to his appointment as emperor, Valens apparently had not. He had spent much of his youth on the family's estate and only joined the army in the 360s.

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