Valentinian I, sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the East. During his reign, he fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians, strengthening the border fortifications and conducting campaigns across the Rhine and Danube. His general Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scoti, and Saxons. Valentinian founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire.
Solidus of Valentinian marked: d·n· valentinianus p·f· aug·
Mutilated bust of an emperor, most likely Valentinian I, or perhaps his brother, Valens.
The Colossus of Barletta: Statue of a Roman emperor sometimes identified as Valentinian I. It probably depicts Leo I instead.
Portrait head of Valentinian or Valens on a modern bust.
Valens was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of the Roman Empire to rule. In 378, Valens was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the invading Goths, which astonished contemporaries and marked the beginning of barbarian encroachment into Roman territory.
Marble bust possibly representing Valens or Honorius (Capitoline Museums)
A solidus of Valens with a pearl diadem and a roseate fibula
Reverse of a solidus of Valens, marked: restitutor reipublicae ("the restitutor of the Republic") and showing the emperor holding a vexillum and a globe supporting a Victory, who crowns him with a laurel wreath
Coin of Valens after his quinquennalia on 25 February 369, showing the three reigning emperors on the reverse marked: spes r p ("the hope of the Republic")
