title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: After generations of civil strife in Gwynedd, it was Dafydd ap Gruffydd (David III, 11 July3 October 1283) named Dafydd III, the grandson of Llywelyn the Great who was next to gain the Prince of Wales title. From the offset it was Dafydd III who was immersed in Royal life representing the Welsh royal family. During 1253, Dafydd III attended an event and paid homage to the English court with Queen Eleanor, and Richard of Cornwall, as Henry III was in Gascony. That era however was the starting point for military campaigns against his brother Llywelyn II from 1255, Llywelyn II jailed him for a year after the battle of Bryn Derwin. Dafydd III in 1263 revolted against Llywelyn II once more, this time failing badly enough to flee to England, and a year later was offered the lands of the English rebel Baron Boteler after the battle of Evesham during an English civil war. Dafydd III had joined the English court life with Henry III and was in England until 1267. Again it was another Pope, Ottobuono, Adrian V who negotiated between the Royal families of England and Wales, peace ensued in Wales for another 6 years, when Dafydd III was councillor to his brother, the Prince of Wales. Peace ensues until another coup is formed involving Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn Prince of Powys (whose father was arrested by King John), and falls apart due to severe storms. Dafydd III was forced to flee to England once more, this time pledging allegiance to King Edward I in 1274, and is decorated a knight and considered him a friend. Years later in 1277, Dafydd III returns to haunt Wales accompanying Edward I, and on 16 August an agreement of peace is made as how to share the spoils of war, by 10 November Llywelyn I submits to the English Crown at the Treaty of Aberconwy. The lands of Snowdonia, Anglesey, and Penllyn (cantref) are shared amongst the Princes and a dowry is given to Dafydd III, along with an estate in Cheshire and a consented marriage to the daughter of a former adversary, the Earl of Derby.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Later in his life, after returning to Wales, Dafydd III changes alliance once again and continues to fight against the English Crown at risk of being a traitor. The Welsh courts had kept the support of Goronowy ap Heilin, the seneshal of Gwynedd who also supported his brother Llywelyn II, Goronwy was the Lord of Rhôs. Dafydd III also had the support of Hywel ap Rhys Gryg son of Rhys Gryg, and his brother Rhys Wyndod, the disinherited princes of Deheubarth. Dafydd III had rekindled his ancestors wish for Welsh Independence, however the involvement in rebellion had been against agreements in place the treaty of Aberconwy. The provocation on 22 March, Palm Sunday in 1282 was an attack on Hawarden castle and was the final conlflict of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Dafydd III, like his brothers had incurred the wrath of the English forces, the Norman army encircled Snowdonia and starved the Welsh people, Dafydd III was soon moving desperately from one fort to another as effective resistance was systematically crushed. Dolwyddelan Castle, which was at risk of becoming encircled and trapped, was first castle to be abandoned on 18 January 1283. The next was Dolbadarn Castle, the castle served as a base, but by March that year, this noble site in the heartland of Snowdonia was also under threat from foreign forces and Dafydd III was forced to retreat once again. Finally, Dafydd III moved his headquarters south to Castell y Bere near Llanfihangel-y-pennant. From this point forwards the Prince, royal family, and remaining members of the Welsh government were all fugitives on the run, sleeping outdoors whilst being forced to keep moving from place to place to avoid capture. Castell Y Bere's starving garrison would eventually surrender on 25 April, and then given to William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke. After the fall of Y Bere, Dafydd III's movements are speculative but he is recorded in May 1283 leading raids from the mountains, supportedby his seneshal Goronwy ap Heilyn, and Prince's of Deheubarth, Hywel ap Rhys and Rhys Wyndod.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: "The last months saw inward disintegration as well as submission to superior force. Nevertheless, Goronwy ap Heilin had committed himself to the struggle and died in rebellion, alongside the disinherited princes who stood with Dafydd ap Gruffudd in the last springtime of the principality of Wales, diehards who knew that theirs was not the heroism of a new beginning but the ultimate stand of the very last cohort clutching the figment of the political order that they had once been privileged to know."


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: On 21 June 1283, Dafydd III was captured in the uplands above Abergwyngregyn close to Bera Mawr in a secret hiding place recorded as "Nanhysglain". King Edward I decreed, in , and was caught by "men of his own tongue". The last Royal family of Wales were imprisoned, and Dafydd III was executed by hanging in Shrewsbury for treason, his body was dismembered and he suffered same fate as his brother, Llywelyn II with his head put on a pole for display at the Tower of London, the bard Bleddyn Fardd made his elegy. After the capture of the last true Royal family of Gwynedd, the Princes, including Llywelyn ap Dafydd were imprisoned in Bristol Castle by the English Crown, and daughters became Nuns in Sempringham and other monasteries.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Following the death of Llywelyn II in 1282, and the execution of his brother Dafydd III the following year, eight centuries of independent rule by the house of Gwynedd came to an end, and the kingdom, which had long been one of the final holdouts to total English domination of Wales, was annexed to England. The remaining important members of the ruling house were all arrested and imprisoned for the remainder of their lives. Under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 Wales was broken up and re-organised into six shires. The Snowdonia district in Gwynedd was made into three settlements, creating the counties of Anglesey, Carnarvonshire, Merionethshire, and the rest of Wales split beyond the Rivers Dee and Conwy, making Denbighshire and Flintshire in North Wales, and Cardigan and Carmarthen to the south of Wales.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: The "Pura Walia" was the new defifion for the Welsh marshland. Pura Wallia was effectively the new counties which had been Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and Marchia Wallie were definied through division of lands still held by the Welsh people, and the Norman castles built in the Marchia Wallie. The Pura Walia continued to be within a nominal Principality of Wales ruled by the Council of Wales at Ludlow as a part of the English crown.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: There were many Gwynedd-based rebellions after 1284 with varying degrees of success with most being led by peripheral members of the old royal house. In particular the rebellions of Prince Madoc in 1294, and of Owain Lawgoch (the great-nephew of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd) between 1372 and 1378 are most notable. Because of this the old royal house was purged and any surviving members went into hiding. A final rebellion in 1400 led by Owain Glyndŵr, a member of the rival royal house of Powys, also drew considerable support from within Gwynedd.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: The title "Prince of Wales" was recreated after Llywelyn II, Prince Edward (later Edward II) was conferred in 1301 at Caernarfon castle, beginning the Principality of Wales. The Welsh Marches would be merged with the principality in 1534 under the Council of Wales and the Marches until all separate governance for Wales. The penal system was eventually abolished, and as an administrative entity, the administrative entity the Marches of Wales was abolished by the joint reigns of King William III of England and Mary II of England (monarchs of England and Scotland combined) in 1689.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: According to Sir John Edward Lloyd, the challenges of campaigning in Wales were exposed during the 20-year Norman invasion. If a defender could bar any road, control any river-crossing or mountain pass, and control the coastline around Wales, then the risks of extended campaigning in Wales were too great.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: The Welsh method of warfare during the reign of Henry II is described by Gerald of Wales in his work "Descriptio Cambriae" written c. 1190:


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Their mode of fighting consists in chasing the enemy or in retreating. This light-armed people, relying more on their activity than on their strength, cannot struggle for the field of battle, enter into close engagement, or endure long and severe actions...though defeated and put to flight on one day, they are ready to resume the combat on the next, neither dejected by their loss, nor by their dishonour; and although, perhaps, they do not display great fortitude in open engagements and regular conflicts, yet they harass the enemy by ambuscades and nightly sallies. Hence, neither oppressed by hunger or cold, not fatigued by martial labours, nor despondent in adversity, but ready, after a defeat, to return immediately to action, and again endure the dangers of war.--"The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis translated by Sir Richard Colt-Hoare (1894), p.511"


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: The Welsh were revered for the skills of their bowmen. Additionally, the Welsh learned from their Norman rivals. During the generations of warfare and close contact with the Normans, Gruffudd ap Cynan and other Welsh leaders learned the arts of knighthood and adapted them for Wales. By Gruffudd's death in 1137 Gwynedd could field hundreds of heavy well-armed cavalry as well as their traditional bowmen and infantry.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: They make use of light arms, which do not impede their agility, small coats of mail, bundles of arrows, and long lances, helmets and shields, and more rarely greaves plated with iron. The higher class go to battle mounted on swift and generous steeds, which their country produces; but the greater part of the people fight on foot, on account of the marshy nature and unevenness of the soil. The horsemen, as their situation or occasion requires, willingly serve as infantry, in attacking or retreating; and they either walk bare-footed, or make use of high shoes, roughly constructed with untanned leather. In time of peace, the young men, by penetrating the deep recesses of the woods, and climbing the tops of mountains, learn by practice to endure fatigue through day and night.--"The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis translated by Sir Richard Colt-Hoare (1894), p.491"


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: In the end, Wales was defeated militarily by the improved ability of the English navy to blockade or seize areas essential for agricultural production such as Anglesey. With control of the Menai Strait, an invading army could regroup on Anglesey; without control of the Menai an army could be stranded there; and any occupying force on Anglesey could deny the vast harvest of the island to the Welsh.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Lack of food would force the disbandment of any large Welsh force besieged within the mountains. Following the occupation, Welsh soldiers were conscripted to serve in the English Army. During the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr the Welsh adapted the new skills they had learnt to guerrilla tactics and lightning raids. Owain Glyndŵr reputedly used the mountains with such advantage that many of the exasperated English soldiery suspected him of being a magician able to control the natural elements.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: In early times Gwynedd (or "Venedotia") may have been ruled from Chester, which is shown in the subsidiary title of the current Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester. After the Battle of Chester in 613 when the city fell to the Anglo-Saxons the royal court moved west to the stronghold at Deganwy Castle near modern Conwy. This site was destroyed by lightning in 812, rebuilt and destroyed again by Saxons in 822. Afterwards Aberffraw on Anglesey became the principal power base, with exceptions such as Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's court at Rhuddlan. However, as the English fleet became more powerful and particularly after the Norman colonisation of Ireland began it became indefensible and from about 1200 until 1283, at Abergwyngregyn or simply called just "Aber" (its anglicised shortened form adopted by the Crown of England after the conquest) was the new family home of the 'Lord of Snowdown' on the banks of the menai Strait. Joan, Lady of Wales, died there in 1237; Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1246; Eleanor de Montfort, Lady of Wales, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales ("Tywysog Cymru" in modern Welsh), on 19 June 1282, giving birth to a daughter, Gwenllian. The royal home was occupied and expropriated by the English Crown in early 1283.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: The traditional sphere of Aberffraw's influence in north Wales included Ynys Môn as their early seat of authority, and Gwynedd Uwch Conwy ("Gwynedd above the Conwy", or "upper Gwynedd"), and the Perfeddwlad ("the Middle Country") also known as Gwynedd Is Conwy ("Gwynedd below the Conwy", or "lower Gwynedd"). Additional lands were acquired through vassalage or conquest, and by regaining lands lost to Marcher lords, particularly that of Ceredigion, Powys Fadog, and Powys Wenwynwyn. However these areas were always considered an addition to Gwynedd, never part of it.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: After the Norman conquest the residents of Llanfaes were moved to make way for Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey. The newly built Llys Rhosyr replaced the now abandoned Llys Aberffraw was one of 3 main courts on Anglesey, only due to a sandstorm in 1332 the Llys also became disused and unattended until excavations in the 20th century. The courts () were administrative centres in the Kingdom, the courts were royal residences, but also were to collected taxes, and function the same as a modern government building.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Gwynedd was traditionally divided into using nature as borders, the rivers Conwy and Dee were used to define lands in relation to the counties. Gwynedd Uwch Conwy and Gwynedd Is Conwy (with the River Conwy forming the border), which included Anglesey (Môn). The kingdom of the Princes of Snowdonia was administered under Welsh custom through thirteen "Cantrefi" each containing, in theory, one hundred settlements or "Trefi". Most cantrefs were also divided into cymydau (English commotes). A complete census was created in the Red Book of Hergest during the end of the 14th century.


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Also known as Perfeddwlad, or "the Middle Country" or "Gwynedd Is Conwy" (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower Gwynedd)


title: Kingdom of Gwynedd

text: Following Edward's conquest, the lands of Gwynedd proper were divided among the English counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Merionethshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. The Local Government Act 1972 reformed these, creating a new county (now called a "preserved county") of Gwynedd which comprised Anglesey and Llyn, Arfon, Dunoding, and Meirionydd on the mainland. The modern principal area of Gwynedd established by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 no longer includes Anglesey.


title: New York State Assembly

text: The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.


title: New York State Assembly

text: The Speaker of the Assembly presides over the Assembly. The Speaker is elected by the Majority Conference followed by confirmation of the full Assembly through the passage of an Assembly Resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker also has the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. The minority leader is elected by party caucus. The majority leader of the Assembly is selected by, and serves, the Speaker.


title: New York State Assembly

text: Democrat Carl Heastie of the 83rd Assembly District has served as Speaker of the Assembly since February 2015. Crystal Peoples-Stokes of the 141st Assembly District has served as Assembly Majority Leader since December 2018. Republican Will Barclay of the 120th Assembly District has served as Assembly Minority Leader since January 2020.


title: Hannah Ware

text: Hannah Rose Ware (born 8 December 1982) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Emma Kane in the Starz political drama series "Boss" (2011–2012) and as Sara Hanley in the ABC primetime soap opera "Betrayal" (2013–2014).


title: Hannah Ware

text: Ware was born in Hammersmith and raised in Clapham. She is the daughter of Helena (née Keell), a social worker, and John Ware, a former BBC Panorama reporter, who divorced when she was 12. She is the older sister of musician Jessie Ware. Her mother is Jewish, and both Ware and her sister were raised in the faith. She attended Alleyn's School in Dulwich, then studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.


title: Hannah Ware

text: Ware appeared in the films "Cop Out" (2010) and "Shame" (2011). From 2011 to 2012, she played Emma Kane, the estranged addict daughter of Chicago mayor Tom Kane, in the Starz series "Boss". In 2013, she was cast in ABC drama series "Betrayal" as lead character, and she appeared in Spike Lee's thriller film "Oldboy". In 2015, Ware played the female lead, opposite Rupert Friend, in the action film "".


title: Hannah Ware

text: Ware starred in the Hulu series "The First" in 2018, and played the leading role on the Netflix science fiction series "The One" in 2021.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal allergy — or mammalian meat allergy (MMA) — is a type of meat allergy characterized by a delayed onset of symptoms (3–8 hours) after ingesting mammalian meat and resulting from past exposure to tick bites. It was first reported in 2002. Symptoms of the allergy include rash, hives, nausea or vomiting, difficulty breathing, drop in blood pressure, dizziness or faintness and severe stomach pain.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal allergy is a reaction to the carbohydrate galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose ("alpha-gal"), whereby the body is overloaded with immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies on contact with the carbohydrate. Anti-gal is a human natural antibody that interacts specifically with the mammalian carbohydrate structure gal alpha 1-3Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc-R (the alpha-galactosyl epitope). The alpha-gal molecule is found in all mammals except catarrhines (apes and Old World monkeys), the taxonomic branch that includes humans.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Bites from certain ticks, such as the lone star tick ("Amblyomma americanum)" in the US, and the paralysis tick ("Ixodes holocyclus") in Australia, which can transfer this carbohydrate to a victim, have been implicated in the development of this delayed allergic response to consumption of mammalian meat products (“red meat”). Healthcare providers recommend avoiding food products containing beef, pork, lamb, venison, rabbit and offal to avoid triggering an allergic reaction. Some afflicted individuals are so hypersensitive to alpha-gal that the allergy can cross-react with mammalian gelatin and even some dairy products. Individuals with alpha-gal allergy do not need to become strict vegetarians because reptile meats, poultry and seafood naturally do not contain alpha-gal.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal allergy has been reported in 17 countries on all six continents where humans are bitten by ticks, particularly the United States and Australia. As of November 2019 Australia has the highest rate of mammalian meat allergy and tick anaphylaxis in the world. In the US, the allergy most often occurs in the central and southern regions, which corresponds to the distribution of the lone star tick. In the Southern United States, where the tick is most prevalent, allergy rates are 32% higher than elsewhere. However, as doctors are not required to report the number of patients with alpha-gal allergy, the true number of affected individuals is unknown. Alpha-gal has also been shown to exist in the saliva of "Ixodes scapularis" but not "Amblyomma maculatum".


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal allergies are the first known food allergies that present the possibility of delayed anaphylaxis. It is also the first known food-related allergy associated with a carbohydrate, rather than a protein. Other mammalian products containing alpha-gal other than meat such as milk and gelatin may also trigger an allergic reaction.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: A typical allergic reaction to alpha-gal has a delayed onset, occurring 3–8 hours after the consumption of mammalian meat products, in contrast to the typical rapid onset of most food allergies. After the delayed onset, the allergic response is like most food allergies, and especially an IgE-mediated allergy, including severe whole-body itching, hives, angioedema, gastrointestinal upset, and possible anaphylaxis. In 70% of cases, the reaction is accompanied by respiratory distress and as such is particularly harmful to those with asthma. However, not every exposure to alpha-gal results in allergic reaction for some people with the allergy.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal allergies develop after a person has been bitten by the lone star tick in the United States, the European castor bean tick, the paralysis tick or "Ixodes" ("Endopalpiger") "australiensis" in Australia, "Haemaphysalis longicornis" in Japan, or a currently unknown tick in South Africa, possibly "Amblyomma hebraeum". Alpha-gal is not naturally present in apes, Old World monkeys, or humans, but is in all other mammals. If a tick feeds on another mammal, the alpha-gal remains in its alimentary tract. The tick then injects the alpha-gal into a person's skin, which causes the immune system to release a flood of IgE antibodies to fight the foreign carbohydrate. Researchers still do not know which specific component of tick saliva causes the reaction. Only a small percentage of children and adults will acquire a red meat allergy after receiving a bite from a lone star tick.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: A 2012 preliminary study found unexpectedly high rates of alpha-gal allergy in the Western and North Central parts of the United States. This suggests that unknown tick species may spread the allergy. The study even found alpha-gal allergy cases in Hawaii, where no ticks identified with the allergies live. Human factors were suggested, but no specific examples were provided.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal is present in the anticancer drug cetuximab, as well as the intravenous fluid replacements Gelofusine and Haemaccel. Blood thinners derived from porcine intestine and replacement heart valves derived from porcine tissue may also contain alpha-gal.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: At least one instance of a man with an alpha-gal allergy going into anaphylaxis after receiving a heart valve transplant has been reported. Some researchers have suggested that the alpha-gal in pig's tissue that surgeons use for xenografts might contribute to organ rejection.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Recent research has shown that saliva from the lone star tick contains alpha-gal, and that saliva is injected into the blood stream. The immune system then releases IgE antibodies to fight this foreign sugar. After this reaction, the future intake of mammalian meat with the same alpha-gal causes an allergic reaction. Symptoms of the allergy reaction are caused by too many IgE antibodies attacking the allergen the alpha-gal.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: A traditional skin-prick allergy test for allergy to meat may give a false-negative answer. Determination of specific IgE to alpha-gal testing is commercially available, as well as IgE testing to specific red meats. Skin and basophil activation tests with cetuximab are the most sensitive, but high costs limit their use.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: There is no cure for alpha-gal; the main form of management is abstaining from red meat and other mammalian products if necessary. If an allergic individual who only experiences relatively mild symptoms consumes a food containing alpha-gal then treatment with over-the-counter antihistamines may be acceptable. Unlike most food allergies, in some people, the alpha-gal allergy may recede over time, as long as the person is not bitten by another tick. The recovery period can take 8 months to 5 years.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: So far, only two successful desensitizations have been performed on patients with an alpha-gal allergy.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Tick bites can be prevented by treating clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin and by avoiding areas inhabited by ticks.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Debate exists around the best method of tick removal although recent consensus is to freeze them with an ether-containing spray (available at pharmacies and used for warts).


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: The allergy was first formally identified as originating from tick bites in the United States in 2002 by Thomas Platts-Mills, and independently by Sheryl van Nunen in Australia in 2007.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Platts-Mills and Scott Commins were attempting to discover why some people were reacting negatively to the carbohydrate in the cancer drug cetuximab. They had previously hypothesized that a fungal infection or parasite could lead to the allergy. When Platts-Mills was bitten by a tick and developed alpha-gal allergies, his team came to the conclusion that a link existed between tick bites and the allergy. They found that the IgE antibody response to the mammalian oligosaccharide epitope, alpha-gal, was associated with both the immediate-onset anaphylaxis during first exposure to intravenous cetuximab and the delayed-onset anaphylaxis 3 to 6 hours after ingestion of mammalian food products, such as beef or pork.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: In 2021 University of Tennessee's Entomologist Becky Trout Fryxell reported that more cases of Alpha-Gal syndrome are occurring from those who encounter the Lonestar Tick: " "She likes to feed on dogs, deer and seems to always find people as well," said Fryxell "It has the ability to transmit a lot of pathogens too. And it's also associated with a tick meat allergy which unfortunately is becoming pretty common." "


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Van Nunen, an immunologist specialising in allergies, had been practicing in a tick-prone area of Sydney, when 25 patients reported having allergic reactions to red meat after being bitten by ticks. She later concluded that the relatively sudden rise in cases was the result of a local fox baiting program which began in 2003. Foxes were introduced to Australia and had decimated the local indigenous bandicoot population, hence the fox baiting program. However an unforeseen effect of the subsequent rise in the bandicoot population was the rise in ticks, as bandicoots are a major host for ticks, and thus the number of humans suffering tick bites.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: Alpha-gal allergies are similar to pork–cat syndrome, hence mis-identification can occur. Pork–cat syndrome usually elicits an immediate allergic response, while a true alpha-gal allergy typically features a delayed allergic reaction of 3 to 8 hours after ingestion of the allergen.


title: Alpha-gal allergy

text: In 2020 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved genetic modification of pigs so they do not produce alpha-gal sugars. Pigs developed with the trademarked name GalSafe may be able to be eaten safely by people with alpha-gal allergy. They may also produce alpha-gal-safe drugs, and their organs can also be used for xenotransplantation.


title: Bram Cohen

text: Bram Cohen is an American computer programmer, best known as the author of the peer-to-peer (P2P) BitTorrent protocol in 2001, as well as the first file sharing program to use the protocol, also known as BitTorrent. He is also the co-founder of CodeCon and organizer of the San Francisco Bay Area P2P-hackers meeting, was the co-author of Codeville and creator of the Chia cryptocurrency which implements the proof of space-time consensus algorithm.


title: Bram Cohen

text: Cohen grew up in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, as the son of a teacher and computer scientist. He claims he learned the BASIC programming language at the age of 5 on his family's Timex Sinclair computer. Cohen passed the American Invitational Mathematics Examination to qualify for the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad while he attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City. He is also an alumnus of the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics program. He graduated from Stuyvesant in 1993 and attended SUNY Buffalo. He later dropped out of college to work for several dot com companies throughout the mid to late 1990s, the last being MojoNation, an ambitious but ill-fated project he worked on with Jim McCoy.


title: Bram Cohen

text: MojoNation allowed people to break up confidential files into encrypted chunks and distribute those pieces on computers also running the software. If someone wanted to download a copy of this encrypted file, they would have to download it simultaneously from many computers. This concept, Cohen thought, was perfect for a file sharing program, since programs like KaZaA take a long time to download a large file because the file is (usually) coming from one source (or "peer"). Cohen designed BitTorrent to be able to download files from many sources, thus


title: Bram Cohen

text: speeding up the download time, especially for users with faster download than upload speeds. Thus, the more popular a file is, the faster a user will be able to download it, since many people will be downloading it at the same time, and these people will also be uploading the data to other users.


title: Bram Cohen

text: In April 2001, Cohen quit MojoNation and began work on BitTorrent. Cohen unveiled his ideas at the first CodeCon conference, which he and his roommate Len Sassaman created as a showcase event for novel technology projects after becoming disillusioned with the state of technology conferences.


title: Bram Cohen

text: Cohen wrote the first BitTorrent client implementation in Python, and many other programs have since implemented the protocol.


title: Bram Cohen

text: In the summer of 2002, Cohen collected free pornography to lure beta testers to use the program. BitTorrent gained its fame for its ability to quickly share large music and movie files online. Cohen has claimed he has never violated copyright law using his software. Regardless, he is outspoken in his belief that the current media business was doomed to being outmoded despite the RIAA and MPAA's legal or technical tactics, such as digital rights management. In May 2005, Cohen released a trackerless beta version of BitTorrent.


title: Bram Cohen

text: In late 2003, Cohen had a short career at Valve working on Steam, their digital distribution system introduced for "Half-Life 2".


title: Bram Cohen

text: By 2004, he had left Valve and formed BitTorrent, Inc. with his brother Ross Cohen and business partner Ashwin Navin. In 2012 he announced a beta-version of BitTorrent Live for TV broadcasting through the Internet. Cohen left BitTorrent, Inc. in a day to day capacity to co-found Chia Network in the fall of 2017.


title: Bram Cohen

text: By mid-2005, BitTorrent, Inc. was funded by venture capitalist David Chao from Doll Capital Management, and in late 2005 Cohen and Navin made a deal with the MPAA to remove links to illegal content on the official BitTorrent website. The deal was with the seven largest studios in America. The agreement means the site will comply with procedures outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.


title: Bram Cohen

text: Chia Network is a company founded by Cohen in 2017 that has implemented a proof of space-time cryptocurrency called Chia. Chia is intended to avoid the waste of energy involved in proof-of-work based cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and the vulnerability to state actors of proof-of-stake systems.


title: Bram Cohen

text: Chia Network has raised seed money from investors including Andreessen Horowitz. The use of storage media (hard disk and solid-state drives) as the cryptocurrency's mining medium has raised concerns over potential price surges and shortage of high-capacity storage devices, as well as radically shortening the lifetime of drives.


title: Bram Cohen

text: As of 2008, Cohen lives in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States, with his wife Jenna and their three children.


title: Bram Cohen

text: Cohen's hobbies include original origami and juggling up to five balls, but his main interest is in recreational mathematics. Cohen maintains a blog where he frequently discusses trust metrics with Raph Levien, as well as money systems, games of skill, and other math-related topics. He is also an assembly puzzle enthusiast. He has designed several puzzles including some in conjunction with Oskar van Deventer including several gear-based puzzles such as Gear Shift and a multiple Rubik's Cube variant called Bram's Fortress. Some of Bram's puzzle designs are available for 3-D printing via Shapeways.


title: Snap election

text: Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to decide a pressing issue, under circumstances when an election is not required by law or convention. A snap election differs from a recall election in that it is initiated by politicians (usually the head of government or ruling party) rather than voters, and from a by-election in that a completely new parliament is chosen as opposed to merely filling vacancies in an already established assembly. Early elections can also be called in certain jurisdictions after a ruling coalition is dissolved if a replacement coalition cannot be formed within a constitutionally set time limit.


title: Snap election

text: Since the power to call snap elections (the dissolution of parliament) usually lies with the incumbent, they often result in increased majorities for the party already in power provided they have been called at an advantageous time. However, snap elections can also backfire on the incumbent resulting in a decreased majority or in some cases the opposition winning or gaining power. As a result of the latter cases, there have been occasions in which the consequence has been the implementation of fixed-term elections.


title: Snap election

text: According to Section 84 of the Constitution of Belize, the National Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by the governor-general upon the advice of the prime minister.


title: Snap election

text: Since Belize gained independence from the British Empire in September 1981, snap elections have been called twice, in 1993 and 2012. In March 2015, Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow ruled out the possibility of a snap election later in the year. In the November 2015 general election, Prime Minister Barrow's United Democratic Party increased its majority by 9 percent as it made Belizean history, forming its third consecutive government.


title: Snap election

text: In Canada, snap elections at the federal level are very common. Section 50 of the "Constitution Act, 1867" and section 4 of the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms" limits the maximum life of a federal parliament to five years following the return of the last writs of election. A law was passed to set the election date on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, although courts found it effectively legally unenforceable and not binding on the prime minister. Any election that occurs before the schedule is a snap election.


title: Snap election

text: During his 10 years as prime minister, Jean Chrétien recommended to the governor general to call two snap elections, in 1997 and 2000, winning both times. Wilfrid Laurier and John Turner, meanwhile, both lost their premierships in snap elections they themselves had called (in 1911 and 1984, respectively). The most notable federal snap election is that of 1958, where Prime Minister John Diefenbaker called an election just nine months after the previous one and transformed his minority government into the largest majority in the history of Canada up to that date.


title: Snap election

text: A snap election was also called in the province of Ontario in 1990, three years into Premier David Peterson's term. Peterson was polling at 54%, lower than his peak popularity but still well above the opposition party leaders, and expected to be re-elected with comfortable majority. However, the 1990 Ontario general election backfired since it was interpreted as a sign of arrogance, with some cynically viewing it as an attempt to win another mandate before an anticipated economic recession. In the biggest upset in Ontario history, the Ontario New Democratic Party led by Bob Rae won an unprecedented majority government while Peterson lost his own seat to a rookie NDP candidate. A similar result occurred in Alberta in 2015 when Premier Jim Prentice of the governing Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta called a snap election. A few months before, 11 MLAs including their leader from the official opposition Wildrose Party had crossed the floor to sit with the government. However, the province was entering an economic recession due to the abrupt 2010s oil glut, and Prentice's budget was not well received by either the political left or right. The resulting Alberta New Democratic Party majority victory unseated 13 cabinet ministers and ended 44 years of Progressive Conservative government in Alberta.


title: Snap election

text: In 2021, sitting Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election in an attempt to win a majority, up from his previous minority government. He justified the snap election as a way for Canadians to choose which government leads them through Canada's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Trudeau was widely criticized for calling the snap election while the country was in the midst of a 4th wave of Covid. Following the election Trudeau managed to remain Prime Minister, but the Liberal Party failed to win a majority government.


title: Snap election

text: The Constitution of Peru allows for the dissolution of Congress by the President if a vote of no-confidence is passed two times by the legislative body, and has four months to call for new parliamentary elections or faces impeachment. The 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election parliamentary election were declared after President Martín Vizcarra dissolved Congress.


title: Snap election

text: After Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party five-year term ended in January 1996, the country went to the polls on 15 February 1996, where elections were boycotted by all major opposition parties including BNP'S arch-rival Sheikh Hasina's Awami League. The opposition had demanded a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls, but it was rejected by the incumbent government and the election went on as scheduled. The BNP won by default, grabbing all the 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad and assumed power. The Awami League and its allies did not accept the results and called a month-long general strike and blockades to overthrow the BNP government. The general strike was marred by bloody violence including a grenade attack on Awami League's headquarters which killed scores of people. On the other hand, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh annulled the election results which forced the BNP government to amend the constitution in a special parliamentary session by introducing the Caretaker government system as a part of the electoral reform. Eventually the BNP government was toppled and ousted when they resigned on 31 March 1996, and handed over power to the caretaker government. The caretaker government stayed in power for 90 days before new elections could be held. Finally a snap election was held on 12 June 1996, where Awami-League won a simple majority by beating its bitter rival BNP and stayed in power for the next five years.


title: Snap election

text: On 17 April 1999, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee failed a to win a confidence vote in the Lok Sabha (India's lower house), falling short a single vote due to the withdrawal of one of the government's coalition partners – the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The leader of the AIADMK, J. Jayalalitha, had consistently threatened to withdraw support from the ruling coalition if certain demands were not met, in particular the sacking of the Tamil Nadu government, control of which she had lost three years prior. The BJP accused Jayalalitha of making the demands in order to avoid standing trial for a series of corruption charges, and no agreement between the parties could be reached leading to the government's defeat.


title: Snap election

text: Sonia Gandhi, as leader of the opposition and largest opposition party (Indian National Congress) was unable to form a coalition of parties large enough to secure a working majority in the Lok Sabha. Thus shortly after the no confidence motion, President K. R. Narayanan dissolved the Parliament and called fresh elections. Atal Bihari Vajpayee remained caretaker prime minister till the elections were held later that year.


title: Snap election

text: After the legislative election in April 2019 resulted in a political stalemate after Yisrael Beiteinu refused to join a Likud-led governing coalition, on the day transitional prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's mandate for coalition formation ended, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself (preventing president Reuven Rivlin from transferring the mandate for coalition formation to the second-largest party Blue and White's leader, Benny Gantz, with respect to the process defined by the law). Thus, a snap legislative election was called, which resulted in a similar stalemate. After both Likud and Blue and White failed to form a coalition, a third consecutive snap election resulted in yet another stalemate. Progress has been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and consequently the thirty-fifth government of Israel was formed. However, another snap election was held in 2021 after collapse of the coalition government.


title: Snap election

text: In Japan, a snap election is called when a prime minister dissolves the lower house of the Diet of Japan. The act is based on Article 7 of the Constitution of Japan, which can be interpreted as saying that the prime minister has the power to dissolve the lower house after so advising the Emperor. Almost all general elections of the lower house have been snap elections since 1947, when the current constitution was enacted. The only exception was 1976 election, when the Prime Minister Takeo Miki was isolated within his own Liberal Democratic Party. The majority of LDP politicians opposed Miki's decision not to dissolve the lower house until the end of its 4-year term.


title: Snap election

text: Nationally, general elections in Kazakhstan are held every five years. According to the Constitutional Law, the President may call a snap election both for parliamentary and presidential races and must held no later than two months respectively after which they are called.


title: Snap election

text: New Zealand elections must be held every three years, and the date is determined by the prime minister. There have been three snap elections, in 1951, 1984 and 2002.


title: Snap election

text: Khan and Sharif then began to battle for control of Pakistan for the next two months. They both attempted to secure control over the regional assemblies and in particular, Punjab. In Punjab this saw a staged kidnapping and the moving of 130 members of the Punjab Assembly to the capital to ensure they stayed loyal to Sharif. Meanwhile, the leader of the main opposition party Benazir Bhutto threatened to lead a march on Islamabad unless new elections were called.


title: Snap election

text: Finally on 18 July, under pressure from the army to resolve the power struggle, Sharif and Khan resigned as prime minister and president respectively. Elections for the National Assembly were called for 6 October with elections for the regional assemblies set to follow shortly afterwards.


title: Snap election

text: A former speaker and member of the PPP Miraj Khalid was appointed interim prime minister. The National Assembly and provincial assemblies were dissolved and elections called for 3 February 1997. Bhutto denied all the charges against herself and petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse her dismissal. However, the court ruled in January that there was sufficient evidence for the dismissal to be justified legally.


title: Snap election

text: The Philippines has used the presidential system with fixed terms more much of its history. This means that Congress cannot be dissolved, and that "snap elections" as understood under the parliamentary system cannot be invoked. However, during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, the constitution starting from 1973, and first applied in 1978, placed the country under the semi-presidential system of government, where the Batasang Pambansa (parliament) can be dissolved. During the operation of that constitution, the parliament was not dissolved, but Marcos, who had earlier been elected in 1981 for a six-year term, asked parliament to move the 1987 presidential election to 1986, in response to growing social unrest, political and economic crises, political instability, and deteriorating peace and public order.


title: Snap election

text: In the Philippines, the term "snap election" often refers to the 1986 presidential election. Marcos was self declared the official winner of the election but was eventually ousted when allegations of fraud marred the election. A new constitution approved in 1987 reverted to the presidential system, which made future snap elections unlikely. Fixed presidential elections are held every six years, with legislative elections held every three years.


title: Snap election

text: Snap parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in the National Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for prime minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. They were the first elections following the 2018 revolution and the country's first-ever snap elections.


title: Snap election

text: Snap general elections were held in the Czech Republic on 25 and 26 October 2013, seven months before the constitutional expiry of the elected parliament's four year legislative term.


title: Snap election

text: The government elected in May 2010 led by Prime Minister Petr Nečas was forced to resign on 17 June 2013, after a corruption and bribery scandal. A caretaker government led by Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok was then appointed by the President, but narrowly lost a vote of confidence on 7 August, leading to its resignation six days later. The Chamber of Deputies then passed a motion dissolving itself on 20 August, with a call for new elections within 60 days after presidential assent. The President gave his assent on 28 August, scheduling the elections for 25 and 26 October 2013.


title: Snap election

text: In Denmark, Parliamentary elections take place every fourth year (Danish Constitution art. 32, sec. 1); however, the prime minister can choose to call an early election at any time, provided that any elected parliament has already been called into session at least once.(Danish Constitution art. 32, sec. 2). If a government loses its majority in the Folketing, this is not automatically a vote of confidence, but such a vote may be called, and – if lost – the government calls a new election. Denmark has a history of coalition minority governments, and due to this system, a party normally providing parliamentary support for the sitting government while not being part of it, can choose to deprive the government of a parliamentary majority regarding a specific vote, but at the same time avoid calling new elections since any vote of no confidence takes place as a separate procedure.


title: Snap election

text: Notably, Denmark faced a number of very short parliaments in the 1970s and the 1980s. Prime Minister Poul Schlüter lead a series of coalition minority governments calling elections in both 1984, 1987, 1988 and 1990. Likewise, his predecessors called elections in 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1981. For more than 40 years, no Danish parliament has sat its full four-year term, in all cases, the prime minister has called elections at an earlier date.


title: Snap election

text: The President of Finland can call for an early election. As per the version of the 2000 constitution currently in use, the president can do this only upon proposal by the prime minister and after consultations with the parliamentary groups, while the Parliament is in session. In prior versions of the constitution, the President had the power to do this unilaterally.


title: Snap election

text: In France, under the Fifth Republic, while the National Assembly is elected for a five-year term, the President has the authority to dissolve the National Assembly and call an early election, provided the Assembly hasn't been dissolved in the preceding twelve months. Since the synchronization of the presidential and parliamentary terms to five years in 2002, reducing the risk of a cohabitation, an early election has not been called.


title: Snap election

text: In the Federal Republic of Germany, elections to the Bundestag must take place within 46–48 months (every four year) after the first sitting of the previous chamber. The Federal President may dissolve the chamber prematurely if the government loses a confidence motion (at the request of the Chancellor), or if no majority government can be formed.


title: Snap election

text: In 2012, Greece held snap elections in two consecutive months. The government of George Papandreou, elected in the 2009 legislative election, had resigned in November 2011. Instead of triggering an immediate snap election, the government was replaced by a national unity government which had a remit to ratify and implement decisions taken with other Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a month earlier. This government served for six months.


title: Snap election

text: The May 2012 legislative election produced a deadlocked parliament and attempts to form a government were unsuccessful. The constitution directs the president to dissolve a newly elected parliament that is unable to form a government. Ten days after the election, the president announced that a second election would be held. The June 2012 legislative election resulted in the formation of a coalition government.


title: Snap election

text: In Italy, national snap elections have been quite frequent in modern history, both under the Monarchy and in the current republican phase. After the foundation of the Italian Republic in 1946, the first snap election occurred in 1972 and the latest one in 2022. After significant changes in the election system (in 1992–93), the frequency of snap elections has been slightly reduced since new regulations granted completion of two of four parliamentary terms. Nonetheless, snap elections still play a role in the political debate as tools considered by political parties and the Executive branch to promote their agenda or to seize political momentum. No recall election is codified in electoral regulations.


title: Snap election

text: The Italian President is not required to call for a snap election, even if the prime minister asks for it, provided that the Parliament is able to form a new working majority (President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro denied snap election to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after the loss of confidence in 1994).


title: Snap election

text: Early general elections were held in Luxembourg on 20 October 2013. The elections were called after Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, at the time the longest serving head of government in the European Union, announced his resignation over a spy scandal involving the Service de Renseignement de l'Etat (SREL). The review found Juncker deficient in his control over the service.


title: Snap election

text: After a spy scandal involving the SREL illegally wiretapping politicians, the Grand Duke and his family, and allegations of paying for favours in exchange for access to government ministers and officials leaked through the press, Prime Minister Juncker submitted his resignation to the Grand Duke on 11 July 2013, upon knowledge of the withdrawal of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party from the government and thereby losing its confidence and supply in the Chamber of Deputies. Juncker urged the Grand Duke for the immediate dissolution of parliament and the calling of a snap election.


title: Snap election

text: In Romania, under the 1993 constitution, according the article 89, the President of Romania can dissolve the Parliament of Romania if a government has not been formed in 60 days and two proposals for Prime Minister have been refused.


title: Snap election

text: In Russia, under the 1993 constitution, according the article 109, while the State Duma (lower house of the Federal Assembly) is elected for a five-year term, but the president has the authority to dissolve the State Duma and call a snap election. However, this possibility of the president is limited, and he can use it only in two cases: if the State Duma three times in a row refused to approve the prime minister, or twice in three months pass a motion of no confidence against the Government of Russia.


title: Snap election

text: A snap general election took place in Slovakia on 10 March 2012 to elect 150 members of the "Národná rada". The election followed the fall of Prime Minister Iveta Radičová's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party-led coalition in October 2011 over a no confidence vote her government had lost because of its support for the European Financial Stability Fund. Amidst a major corruption scandal involving local center-right politicians, former Prime Minister Robert Fico's Direction – Social Democracy won an absolute majority of seats.


title: Snap election

text: A parliamentary election for the 90 deputies to the National Assembly of Slovenia was held on 4 December 2011. This was the first early election in Slovenia's history. 65.60% of voters cast their vote. The election was surprisingly won by the center-left Positive Slovenia party, led by Zoran Janković. However, he failed to be elected as the new prime minister in the National Assembly, and the new government was formed by a right-leaning coalition of five parties, led by Janez Janša, the president of the second-placed Slovenian Democratic Party.


title: Snap election

text: the National Assembly consists of 90 members, elected for a four-year term, 88 members elected by the party-list proportional representation system with D'Hondt method and 2 members elected by ethnic minorities (Italians and Hungarians) using the Borda count.


title: Snap election

text: The election was previously scheduled to take place in 2012, four years after the 2008 election. However, on 20 September 2011, the government led by Borut Pahor fell after a vote of no confidence.


title: Snap election

text: As stated in the Constitution, the National Assembly has to elect a new prime minister within 30 days and a candidate has to be proposed by either members of the Assembly or the President of the country within seven days after the fall of a government. If this does not happen, the president dissolves the Assembly and calls for a snap election. The leaders of most parliamentary political parties expressed opinion that they preferred an early election instead of forming a new government.


title: Snap election

text: As no candidates were proposed by the deadline, the President Danilo Türk announced that he would dissolve the Assembly on 21 October and that the election would take place on 4 December. The question arose as to whether the President could dissolve the Assembly after the seven days, in the event that no candidate was proposed. However, since this situation is not covered in the constitution, the decision of the President to wait the full 30 days was welcomed by the political parties. The dissolution of the Assembly, a first in independent Slovenia, took place on October 21, a minute after midnight.


title: Snap election

text: The Instrument of Government (Regeringsformen) in the Constitution of Sweden allows an "extra election" (""extra val"" in Swedish). The wording is used to make clear it does not change the period to the next ordinary election, and the Members of Parliament elected merely serve out what remains of the four-year parliamentary term.


title: Snap election

text: Elections are called by the government. Elections are also to be held if the parliament fails four times to elect a prime minister.


title: Snap election

text: Elections may not otherwise be called during the first three months of the Riksdag's first session after a general election. Elections may not be called by a prime minister who has resigned or been discharged.


title: Snap election

text: In Ukraine a snap poll must have a voter turnout higher than 50%. A snap election was most recently held with the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election held after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved the Verkhovna Rada shortly after his inauguration to win a parliamentary majority for his Servant of the People party.


title: Snap election

text: The prime minister of the United Kingdom has the de facto power to call an election at will by requesting a dissolution from the monarch – the limited circumstances where this would not be granted are set out in the Lascelles Principles.


title: Snap election

text: From 2011 to 2022, the conditions for when a snap election could be called were significantly restricted by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) to occasions when the government loses a confidence motion or when a two-thirds supermajority of MPs vote in favour. During autumn 2019 there were three attempts to trigger an election through the FTPA's provision for a two-thirds majority: all failed. Then the FTPA was bypassed entirely by Parliament enacting the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 stipulating a set date for the next election: the 2019 United Kingdom general election. This required only a simple majority, because of the doctrine of parliamentary supremacy: Parliament cannot pass a law that cannot be changed or reversed by a future Parliament. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed on March 24, 2022 by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, which restored the Monarch's power to dissolve parliament on request by the Prime Minister. This is thought to have revived the Lascelles Principles as well.


title: Snap election

text: The following elections were called by a voluntary decision of the government less than four years after the previous election:


title: Snap election

text: Gordon Brown came very close to calling a snap election in the autumn of 2007; after he failed to do this, his popularity and authority greatly declined and he lost power in 2010.


title: Snap election

text: The following election was called by a vote in the House of Commons resulting in a two-thirds majority of MPs, under the terms of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011:


title: Snap election

text: The devolved UK administrations (the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament, and Welsh Assembly; established in 1998, 1999, and 1998 respectively) are also elected for fixed terms of government (four years prior to 2011, five years thereafter), but snap elections can still be called in the event of a motion of no confidence, or other special circumstances.


title: Hydrometer

text: A hydrometer or lactometer is an instrument used for measuring density or relative density of liquids based on the concept of buoyancy. They are typically calibrated and graduated with one or more scales such as specific gravity.


title: Hydrometer

text: A hydrometer usually consists of a sealed hollow glass tube with a wider bottom portion for buoyancy, a ballast such as lead or mercury for stability, and a narrow stem with graduations for measuring. The liquid to test is poured into a tall container, often a graduated cylinder, and the hydrometer is gently lowered into the liquid until it floats freely. The point at which the surface of the liquid touches the stem of the hydrometer correlates to relative density. Hydrometers can contain any number of scales along the stem corresponding to properties correlating to the density.


title: Hydrometer

text: Hydrometers are calibrated for different uses, such as a lactometer for measuring the density (creaminess) of milk, a saccharometer for measuring the density of sugar in a liquid, or an alcoholometer for measuring higher levels of alcohol in spirits.


title: Hydrometer

text: The hydrometer makes use of Archimedes' principle: a solid suspended in a fluid is buoyed by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the submerged part of the suspended solid. The lower the density of the fluid, the deeper a hydrometer of a given weight sinks; the stem is calibrated to give a numerical reading.


title: Hydrometer

text: The hydrometer probably dates back to the Greek philosopher Archimedes (3rd century BC) who used its principles to find the density of various liquids. An early description of a hydrometer comes from a Latin poem, written in the 2nd century AD by Remnius, who compared the use of a hydrometer to the method of fluid displacement used by Archimedes to determine the gold content of Hiero II's crown.


title: Hydrometer

text: Hypatia of Alexandria (4th-5th century AD), an important female Greek mathematician, is the first person traditionally associated with the hydrometer. In a letter, Synesius of Cyrene asks Hypatia, his teacher, to make a hydrometer for him:


title: Hydrometer

text: The instrument in question is a cylindrical tube, which has the shape of a flute and is about the same size. It has notches in a perpendicular line, by means of which we are able to test the weight of the waters. A cone forms a lid at one of the extremities, closely fitted to the tube. The cone and the tube have one base only. This is called the baryllium. Whenever you place the tube in water, it remains erect. You can then count the notches at your ease, and in this way ascertain the weight of the water.


title: Hydrometer

text: According to the "Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science", it was used by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī in the 11th century and described by Al-Khazini in the 12th century. It was rediscovered in 1612 by Galileo and his circle of friends, and used in experiments especially at the Accademia del Cimento. It appeared again in the 1675 work of Robert Boyle (who coined the name ""hydrometer""), with types devised by Antoine Baumé (the Baumé scale), William Nicholson, and Jacques Alexandre César Charles in the late 18th century, more or less contemporarily with Benjamin Sikes' discovery of the device by which the alcoholic content of a liquid can be automatically determined. The use of the Sikes device was made obligatory by British law in 1818.


title: Hydrometer

text: The hydrometer sinks deeper in low-density liquids such as kerosene, gasoline, and alcohol, and less deep in high-density liquids such as brine, milk, and acids. It is usual for hydrometers to be used with dense liquids to have the mark 1.000 (for water) near the top of the stem, and those for use with lighter liquids to have 1.000 near the bottom. In many industries a set of hydrometers is used (1.0–0.95, 0.95–.) to have instruments covering the range of specific gravities that may be encountered.


title: Hydrometer

text: Modern hydrometers usually measure specific gravity but different scales were (and sometimes still are) used in certain industries. Examples include:


title: Hydrometer

text: Specialized hydrometers are frequently named for their use: a lactometer, for example, is a hydrometer designed especially for use with dairy products. They are sometimes referred to by this specific name, sometimes as hydrometers.


title: Hydrometer

text: An alcoholmeter is a hydrometer that indicates the alcoholic strength of liquids which are essentially a mixture of alcohol and water. It is also known as a "proof and Tralles hydrometer" (after Johann Georg Tralles, but commonly misspelled as traille and tralle). It measures the density of the fluid. Where no sugar or other dissolved substances are present, the specific gravity of a solution of ethanol in water can be directly correlated to the concentration of alcohol. Saccharometers for measuring sugar-water mixtures measure densities greater than water. Many have scales marked with volume percents of "potential alcohol", based on a pre-calculated specific gravity. A higher "potential alcohol" reading on this scale is caused by a greater specific gravity, assumed to be caused by the introduction of dissolved sugars or carbohydrate based material. A reading is taken before and after fermentation and approximate alcohol content is determined by subtracting the post fermentation reading from the pre-fermentation reading.


title: Hydrometer

text: A lactometer is used to check purity of cow's milk. The specific gravity of milk does not give a conclusive indication of its composition since milk contains a variety of substances that are either heavier or lighter than water. Additional tests for fat content are necessary to determine overall composition. The instrument is graduated into a hundred parts. Milk is poured in and allowed to stand until the cream has formed, then the depth of the cream deposit in degrees determines the quality of the milk. If the milk sample is pure, the lactometer floats; if it is adulterated or impure, the lactometer sinks.


title: Hydrometer

text: A saccharometer is a hydrometer used for determining the amount of sugar in a solution, invented by Thomas Thomson. It is used primarily by winemakers and brewers, and it can also be used in making sorbets and ice-creams. The first brewers' saccharometer was constructed by Benjamin Martin (with distillation in mind), and initially used for brewing by James Baverstock Sr in 1770. Henry Thrale adopted its use and it was later popularized by John Richardson in 1784.


title: Hydrometer

text: It consists of a large weighted glass bulb with a thin stem rising from the top with calibrated markings. The sugar level can be determined by reading the value where the surface of the liquid crosses the scale. The higher the sugar content, the denser the solution, and thus the higher the bulb will float.


title: Hydrometer

text: A thermohydrometer is a hydrometer that has a thermometer enclosed in the float section. For measuring the density of petroleum products, such as fuel oils, the specimen is usually heated in a temperature jacket with a thermometer placed behind it since density is dependent on temperature. Light oils are placed in cooling jackets, typically at 15 °C.


title: Hydrometer

text: Very light oils with many volatile components are measured in a variable volume container using a floating piston sampling device to minimize light end losses.


title: Hydrometer

text: The state of charge of a lead-acid battery can be estimated from the density of the sulfuric acid solution used as electrolyte. A hydrometer calibrated to read specific gravity relative to water at is a standard tool for servicing automobile batteries. Tables are used to correct the reading to the standard temperature. Hydrometers are also used for maintenance of wet-cell nickel-cadmium batteries to ensure the electrolyte is of the proper strength for the application; for this battery chemistry the specific gravity of the electrolyte is not related to the state of charge of the battery.


title: Hydrometer

text: A battery hydrometer with thermometer (thermohydrometer) measures the temperature-compensated specific gravity and electrolyte temperature.


title: Hydrometer

text: Another automotive use of hydrometers is testing the quality of the antifreeze solution used for engine cooling. The degree of freeze protection can be related to the density (and so concentration) of the antifreeze; different types of antifreeze have different relations between measured density and freezing point.


title: Hydrometer

text: An acidometer (sometimes spelled acidimeter) is a hydrometer used to measure the specific gravity of an acid.


title: Hydrometer

text: A salinometer is a hydrometer used to measure the salt content of the feed water to a marine steam boiler.


title: Hydrometer

text: A urinometer is a medical hydrometer designed for urinalysis. As urine's specific gravity is dictated by its ratio of solutes (wastes) to water, a urinometer makes it possible to quickly assess a patient's overall level of hydration.


title: Hydrometer

text: A hydrometer analysis is the process by which fine-grained soils, silts and clays, are graded. Hydrometer analysis is performed if the grain sizes are too small for sieve analysis. The basis for this test is Stoke's Law for falling spheres in a viscous fluid in which the terminal velocity of fall depends on the grain diameter and the densities of the grain in suspension and of the fluid. The grain diameter thus can be calculated from a knowledge of the distance and time of fall. The hydrometer also determines the specific gravity (or density) of the suspension, and this enables the percentage of particles of a certain equivalent particle diameter to be calculated.


title: Valens

text: Valens (; 328 – 9 August 378) 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.


title: Valens

text: As emperor, Valens continually faced threats both internal and external. He defeated, after some dithering, the usurper Procopius in 366, and campaigned against the Goths across the Danube in 367 and 369. In the following years, Valens focused on the eastern frontier, where he faced the perennial threat of Persia, particularly in Armenia, as well as additional conflicts with the Saracens and Isaurians. Domestically, he inaugurated the Aqueduct of Valens in Constantinople, which was longer than all the aqueducts of Rome. In 376–77, the Gothic War broke out, following a mismanaged attempt to settle the Goths in the Balkans. Valens returned from the east to fight the Goths in person, but lack of coordination with his nephew, the western emperor Gratian (Valentinian I's son), as well as poor battle tactics, led to Valens and much of the eastern Roman army dying at a battle near Adrianople in 378.


title: Valens

text: Although Valens is described as indecisive, impressionable, a mediocre general and overall "utterly undistinguished", he was also a conscientious and capable administrator, and a notable achievement of his was to significantly relieve the burden of taxation on the population. At the same time, his suspicious and fearful disposition, and excessive concern for personal safety, resulted in numerous treason trials and executions, which heavily stained his reputation. In religious matters, Valens favored a compromise between Nicene Christianity and the various non-trinitarian Christian sects, and interfered little in the affairs of the pagans.


title: Valens

text: Valens and his brother Valentinian were born, in 328 and 321 respectively, to an Illyrian family resident in Cibalae (Vinkovci) in Pannonia Secunda. Their father Gratianus Funarius, a native of Cibalae, had served as a senior officer in the Roman army and as "comes Africae". The brothers grew up on estates purchased by Gratianus in Africa and Britain. Both were Christians, but favored different sects: Valentinian was a Nicene Christian and Valens was an Arian Christian (a "Homoean"). In adulthood, Valens served in the "protectores domestici" under the emperors Julian () and Jovian (). According to the 5th-century Greek historian Socrates Scholasticus, Valens refused pressure to offer pagan sacrifices during the reign of the polytheist emperor Julian.


title: Valens

text: Valens's elder brother Valentinian also joined the "protectores", rising to "tribunus" in 357; he served in Gaul and in Mesopotamia during the reign of Constantius II (). According to the "Chronicle" of Jerome and the "Chronicon Paschale", Valens's eldest nephew Gratian was born in 359 at Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) to Valentinian's wife Marina Severa.


title: Valens

text: Julian was killed in battle against the Persians in June 363, and his successor Jovian hastened towards Constantinople to secure his claim to the purple. Before reaching the capital, Jovian died unexpectedly at Dadastana in February 364. During his brief reign, he had given Valentinian the rank of "tribunus scholae secundiae scutariorum".


title: Valens

text: The Latin historian Ammianus Marcellinus relates that Valentinian was summoned to Nicaea by a council of military and civil officials, who acclaimed him "augustus". According to the "Consularia Constantinopolitana" and the "Chronicon Paschale", the date of his elevation was 25 February 364.


title: Valens

text: Valentinian appointed his brother Valens "tribunus stabulorum" (or "stabuli") on 1 March 364 and both brothers became Roman consul for the first time. It was the general opinion that Valentinian needed help to handle the administration, civil and military, of the large and unwieldy empire, and, on 28 March of the same year, at the express demand of the soldiers for a second "augustus", he selected his brother Valens as co-emperor at the Hebdomon, before the Constantinian Walls.


title: Valens

text: Both emperors were briefly ill, delaying them in Constantinople. As soon as they recovered, the two "augusti" travelled together through Adrianople and Naissus to Mediana, where they divided their territories. Valens obtained the eastern half of the Empire: Greece, the Balkans, Egypt, Anatolia and the Levant as far as the border with the Sasanian Empire. Valentinian took the western half, where the Alemannic wars required his immediate attention. The brothers began their consulships in their respective capitals, Constantinople and Mediolanum (Milan). Valens's wife Domnica may have become "augusta" in 364.


title: Valens

text: In the summer of 365, the 365 Crete earthquake and ensuing tsunami caused destruction around the Eastern Mediterranean.


title: Valens

text: The empire had recently retreated from most of its holdings in Mesopotamia and Armenia, because of a treaty that Jovian had made with Shapur II of the Sasanian Empire. Valens's first priority after the winter of 365 was to move east in hopes of shoring up the situation.


title: Valens

text: With Valens absent from the imperial city, Procopius, a maternal cousin of Julian, declared himself "augustus" on 28 September 365. Procopius had held office under Constantius II and Julian, and, according to Zosimus, may have been Julian's intended successor. Jovian, aside from depriving him of his command, took no measures against this potential rival, but Valentinian regarded Procopius with hostility. Procopius met the danger from the new emperors with his own bid for power, emphasizing his connection to the revered Constantinian Dynasty: during his public appearances he was always accompanied by Constantia, the posthumous daughter of Constantius II, and her mother Faustina, the dowager empress. Recent tax increases, and Valens' dismissal of Julian's popular minister Salutius, contributed to a general disaffection and to the acceptability of a revolution.


title: Valens

text: News of the revolt reached Valens at Caesarea in Cappadocia (Kayseri), after most of his troops had already crossed the Cilician Gates into Syria. His first reaction was despair, and he considered abdication and perhaps even suicide. Procopius quickly gained control of the provinces of Asia and Bithynia, winning increasing support for his insurrection. Valens recovered his nerve and sent an army to Constantinople; according to Ammianus Marcellinus, the soldiers defected to Procopius, whose use of his Constantinian hostages had met with some success.


title: Valens

text: Having reappointed Salutius, Valens dispatched more troops under veteran generals, Arinthaeus and Arbitio, to march on Procopius. According to Ammianus Marcellinus and the later Greek historians Socrates Scholasticus and Sozomen, the forces of Valens eventually prevailed after eight months, defeating Procopius in battles at Thyatira and Nacoleia. On both occasions, Procopius was deserted by his own following in fear of their adversaries' formidable commanders. Put on trial by members of his own escort, Procopius was executed on 27 May 366. Ammianus Marcellinus relates that Procopius's relative Marcellus was proclaimed emperor in his place, but according to Zosimus he was swiftly captured and executed. Valens could turn his attention back to external enemies, the Sasanian Empire and the Goths.


title: Valens

text: According to the "Consularia Constantinopolitana", Valens's son Valentinianus Galates was born on 18 January 366. The same year, Valens's nephew Gratian was appointed consul and given the title "nobilissimus puer". A severe illness in 367 encouraged Valentinian to appoint a successor, and he named the eight-year-old Gratian his co-"augustus" on 24 August. In 368 Valentinian and Valens were consuls for the second time.


title: Valens

text: Beginning between 365 and 368, Valentinian and Valens reformed the precious metal coins of the Roman currency, decreeing that all bullion be melted down in the central imperial treasury before minting. Such coins were inscribed (gold) and (silver). Valentinian improved tax collection and was frugal in spending.


title: Valens

text: During Procopius's insurrection, the Gothic king Ermanaric, who ruled a powerful kingdom north of the Danube from the Euxine to the Baltic Sea, had engaged to supply him with troops for the struggle against Valens. The Gothic army, reportedly numbering 30,000 men, arrived too late to help Procopius, but nevertheless invaded Thrace and began plundering the farms and vineyards of the province. Valens, marching north after defeating Procopius, surrounded them with a superior force and forced them to surrender. Ermanaric protested, and when Valens, encouraged by Valentinian, refused to make atonement to the Goths for his conduct, war was declared.


title: Valens

text: In spring 367, Valens crossed the Danube and attacked the Visigoths under Athanaric, Ermanaric's tributary. The Goths fled into the Carpathian Mountains, and the campaign ended with no decisive conclusion. The following spring, a Danube flood prevented Valens from crossing; instead the Emperor occupied his troops with the construction of fortifications. In 369, Valens crossed again, from Noviodunum, and by devastating the country forced Athanaric into giving battle. Valens was victorious, and took the title "Gothicus Maximus" in time for the celebration of his "quinquennalia". Athanaric and his forces were able to withdraw in good order and pleaded for peace.


title: Valens

text: Fortunately for the Goths, Valens expected a new war with the Sasanid Empire in the Middle East and was therefore willing to come to terms. In early 370 Valens and Athanaric met in the middle of the Danube and agreed to a treaty that ended the war. The treaty seems to have largely cut off relations between Goths and Romans, confining trade and the exchange of troops for tribute.


title: Valens

text: In 369, Valentinianus Galates was made consul for the first time; he is also known to have been titled "nobilissimus puer". Around 370 Galates died of illness, in Caesarea in Cappadocia (Kayseri).


title: Valens

text: Valentinian and Valens were consuls for the third time in 370. On 9 April 370, according to the "Consularia Constantinopolitana" and the "Chronicon Paschale", the Church of the Holy Apostles adjoining the Mausoleum of Constantine in Constantinople was inaugurated.


title: Valens

text: Valens's sister-in-law Marina Severa died in the same year, and Valentinian married Justina in her place. In autumn 371, Valens's second nephew, also called Valentinian, was born to Justina, possibly at Augusta Treverorum (Trier). Gratian, who was then 15, was married in 374 to Constantius II's 13-year-old daughter Constantia at Trier. Constantia and Justina were both related to the house of Constantine, and the marriages linked the Valentinianic and Constantinian dynasties.


title: Valens

text: Valens celebrated his "decennalia" on 29 March 374. In 375, the Baths of Carosa () – named for Valens's daughter Carosa – were inaugurated in Constantinople. Valens headed east after defeating the Goths, and began to prepare an attack on Persia, which threatened Armenia, in 375. Valens was distracted from his campaign against the Sasanians by wars against the Saracens and the Isaurians.


title: Valens

text: As mentioned before, among Valens' reasons for contracting a hasty and not entirely favorable peace in 369 was the deteriorating state of affairs in the East. Jovian had surrendered Rome's much disputed claim to control over Armenia in 363, and Shapur II was eager to make good on this new opportunity. The Persian emperor began enticing Armenian lords over to his camp and eventually forced the defection of the Arsacid Armenian king, Arshak II (Arsaces II), whom he quickly arrested and incarcerated. The Armenian nobility responded by asking Valens to return Arshak's son, Pap. Valens agreed and sent Pap back to Armenia, but as these events took place during the war with the Goths he could not support him militarily. In response to the return of Pap, Shapur personally led an invasion force to seize control of Armenia. Pap and his followers took refuge in the mountains while Artaxata, the Armenian capital, and the city of Artogerassa along with several strongholds and castles were destroyed. Shapur sent a second invasion force to Caucasian Iberia to drive out the pro-Roman king Sauromaces II, and put his own appointee, Sauromaces's uncle Aspacures II on the throne.


title: Valens

text: In the summer following his Gothic settlement, Valens sent his "magister peditum" (Master of Foot) Arinthaeus to support Pap. The following spring a force of twelve legions were sent under Terentius to regain Iberia and to garrison Armenia near Mount Npat. When Shapur counterattacked into Armenia in 371, his forces were bested by Valens' generals Traianus and Vadomarius and the Armenian "sparapet" (general) Mushegh Mamikonian at Bagavan and Gandzak. Valens had overstepped the 363 treaty and then successfully defended his transgression. A truce settled after the 371 victory held as a quasi-peace for the next five years while Shapur was forced to deal with a Kushan invasion on his eastern frontier.


title: Valens

text: Meanwhile, troubles broke out with the boy-king Pap, who purportedly had the Armenian patriarch Nerses assassinated and demanded control of a number of Roman cities, including Edessa. Controversy also ensued over the issue of the appointment of a new patriarch of Armenia, with Pap appointing a candidate without the traditional approval from Caesarea. Pressed by his generals and fearing that Pap would defect to the Persians, Valens made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the prince and later had him executed inside Armenia. In his stead, Valens imposed another Arsacid, Varazdat, who ruled under the regency of the "sparapet" Mushegh Mamikonian, a friend of Rome.


title: Valens

text: None of this sat well with the Persians, who began agitating again for compliance with the 363 treaty. As the eastern frontier heated up in 375, Valens began preparations for a major expedition. Meanwhile, trouble was brewing elsewhere. In Isauria, the mountainous region of western Cilicia, a major revolt had broken out in 375 which diverted troops formerly stationed in the East. Furthermore, by 377, the Saracens under Queen Mavia had broken into revolt and devastated a swath of territory stretching from Phoenicia and Palestine as far as the Sinai. Though Valens successfully brought both uprisings under control, the opportunities for action on the eastern frontier were limited by these skirmishes closer to home.


title: Valens

text: Valens became the senior "augustus" when his older brother Valentinian died at Brigetio (Szőny) on 17 November 375 while on campaign against the Quadi in Pannonia. He may have died of stroke. His body was prepared for burial and started its journey to Constantinople, where it arrived the following year. Gratian was then the only "augustus" in the western empire, though certain among Valentinian's generals promoted his four-year-old second son Valentinian II, whom the army on the Danube acclaimed "augustus" at Aquincum (Budapest), despite Gratian's existing prerogatives. Valentinian's courtiers and his Arian Christian widow Justina still had been holding great influence. Valens and Valentinian II were consuls for the year 376, Valens's fifth consulship.


title: Valens

text: The late "augustus" Valentinian's body arrived in Constantinople on 28 December 376, but was not yet buried.


title: Valens

text: Migrations of the Huns began to displace the Goths, who sought Roman protection. Valens allowed the Goths led by Fritigern to cross the Danube, but the Gothic settlers were abused by Roman officials and revolted in 377, seeking help from the Huns and the Alans and beginning the Gothic War (376–382).


title: Valens

text: Valens's sixth consulship was in 378, again jointly with Valentinian II. Valens returned from the east to campaign against the Goths. Gratian fought a war with the Alamanni in early summer 378. Valens asked for assistance from his nephew and co-emperor Gratian against the Goths in Thrace, and Gratian set out eastwards, though Valens did not wait for the western armies to arrive before taking the offensive.


title: Valens

text: Valens' plans for an eastern campaign were never realized. A transfer of troops to the Western Empire in 374 had left gaps in Valens' mobile forces. In preparation for an eastern war, Valens initiated an ambitious recruitment program designed to fill those gaps. It was thus not entirely unwelcome news when Valens heard of Ermanaric's death and the disintegration of his kingdom before an invasion of hordes of barbaric Huns from the far east. After failing to hold the Dniester or the Prut rivers against the Huns, the Goths retreated southward in a massive emigration, seeking new settlements and shelter south of the Danube, i.e. Roman lands, which they may have thought could be held against the enemy. In 376, the Visigoths under their leader Fritigern advanced to the far shores of the lower Danube and sent an ambassador to Valens who had set up his capital in Antioch, and requested asylum.


title: Valens

text: As Valens' advisers were quick to point out, these Goths could supply troops who would at once swell Valens' ranks and decrease his dependence on conscription from provinces—thereby increasing revenues from the recruitment tax. However, it would mean hiring them and paying in gold or silver for their services. Fritigern had enjoyed contact with Valens in the 370s when Valens supported him in a struggle against Athanaric stemming from Athanaric's persecution of Gothic Christians. Though a number of Gothic groups apparently requested entry, Valens granted admission only to Fritigern and his followers. Others would soon follow, however.


title: Valens

text: When Fritigern and his Goths, to the number of 200,000 warriors and almost a million all told, crossed the Danube, Valens's mobile forces were tied down in the east, on the Persian frontier (Valens was attempting to withdraw from the harsh terms imposed by Shapur and was meeting some resistance on the latter's part). This meant that only "limitanei" units were present to oversee the Goths' settlement. The small number of imperial troops present prevented the Romans from stopping a Danube crossing by a group of Ostrogoths and yet later on by Huns and Alans. What started out as a controlled resettlement might any moment turn into a major invasion. But the situation was worsened by corruption in the Roman administration, as Valens' generals accepted bribes rather than depriving the Goths of their weapons as Valens had stipulated and then proceeded to enrage them by such exorbitant prices for food that they were soon driven to the last extremity. Meanwhile, the Romans failed to prevent the crossing of other barbarians who were not included in the treaty. In early 377 the Goths revolted after a commotion with the people of Marcianopolis, and defeated the corrupt Roman governor Lupicinus near the city at the Battle of Marcianople.


title: Valens

text: After joining forces with the Ostrogoths under Alatheus and Saphrax who had crossed without Valens' consent, the combined barbarian group spread out to devastate the country before combining to meet Roman advance forces under Traianus and Richomeres. In a sanguinary battle at "Ad Salices", the Goths were momentarily checked, and Saturninus, now Valens' lieutenant in the province, undertook a strategy of hemming them in between the lower Danube and the Euxine, hoping to starve them into surrender. However, Fritigern forced him to retreat by inviting some of the Huns to cross the river in the rear of Saturninus's ranged defenses. The Romans then fell back, incapable of containing the irruption, though with an elite force of his best soldiers the general Sebastian was able to fall upon and destroy several of the smaller predatory bands. By 378, Valens himself was ready to march west from his eastern base in Antioch. He withdrew all but a skeletal force—some of them Goths—from the east and moved west, reaching Constantinople by 30 May, 378. Valens' councillors, "comes" Richomeres, and his generals Frigeridus and Victor cautioned Valens to wait for the arrival of Gratian with his troops from Roman Gaul, fresh from defeating the Alemanni, and Gratian himself strenuously urged this prudent course in his letters. But meanwhile the citizens of Constantinople were clamouring for the emperor to march against the enemy whom he had himself introduced into the Empire, and jeering the contrast between himself and his co-"augustus". Valens decided to advance at once and win a victory on his own.


title: Valens

text: According to the Latin historians Ammianus Marcellinus and Paulus Orosius, on 9 August 378, Valens and most of his army were killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople, near Hadrianopolis in Thrace (Adrianople, Edirne).


title: Valens

text: After a brief stay aimed at building his troop strength and gaining a toehold in Thrace, Valens moved out to Adrianople. From there, he marched against the confederated barbarian army on 9 August 378 in what would become known as the Battle of Adrianople. Although negotiations were attempted, these broke down when a Roman unit sallied forth and carried both sides into battle. The Romans held their own early on but were crushed by the surprise arrival of Visigoth cavalry which split their ranks.


title: Valens

text: The primary source for the battle is Ammianus Marcellinus. Valens had left a sizeable guard with his baggage and treasures depleting his force. His right cavalry wing arrived at the Gothic camp sometime before the left wing arrived. It was a very hot day and the Roman cavalry was engaged without strategic support, wasting its efforts while they suffered in the heat.


title: Valens

text: Meanwhile, Fritigern once again sent an emissary of peace in his continued manipulation of the situation. The resultant delay meant that the Romans present on the field began to succumb to the heat. The army's resources were further diminished when an ill-timed attack by the Roman archers made it necessary to recall Valens' emissary, "comes" Richomeres. The archers were beaten and retreated in humiliation. Returning from foraging to find the battle in full swing, Gothic cavalry under the command of Alatheus and Saphrax now struck and, in what was probably the most decisive event of the battle, the Roman cavalry fled.


title: Valens

text: From here, Ammianus gives two accounts of Valens' demise. In the first account, Ammianus states that Valens was "mortally wounded by an arrow, and presently breathed his last breath" (XXXI.12). His body was never found or given a proper burial. In the second account, Ammianus states the Roman infantry was abandoned, surrounded and cut to pieces. Valens was wounded and carried to a small wooden hut. The hut was surrounded by the Goths who put it to the torch, evidently unaware of the prize within. According to Ammianus, this is how Valens perished (XXXI.13.14–6).


title: Valens

text: A third, apocryphal, account states that Valens was struck in the face by a Gothic dart and then perished while leading a charge. He wore no helmet, in order to encourage his men. This action turned the tide of the battle which resulted in a tactical victory but a strategic loss.


title: Valens

text: Some have asserted that he was burnt to death in a village whither he had retired, which the barbarians assaulted and set on fire. But others affirm that having put off his imperial robe he ran into the midst of the main body of infantry; and that when the cavalry revolted and refused to engage, the infantry were surrounded by the barbarians, and completely destroyed in a body. Among these it is said the Emperor fell, but could not be distinguished, in consequence of his not having on his imperial habit.


title: Valens

text: When the battle was over, two-thirds of the eastern army lay dead. Many of their best officers had also perished. What was left of the army of Valens was led from the field under the cover of night by "comes" Richomeres and general Victor.


title: Valens

text: J. B. Bury, a noted historian of the period, provides a specific interpretation on the significance of the battle: it was "a disaster and disgrace that need not have occurred."


title: Valens

text: For Rome, the battle incapacitated the government. Emperor Gratian, nineteen years old, was overcome by the debacle, and, until he appointed Theodosius I, unable to deal with the catastrophe, which spread out of control.


title: Valens

text: The total defeat lost the administration important precious metal resources, as bullion had been centralized with the imperial court. Valens was deified by "consecratio" as .


title: Valens

text: "Valens was utterly undistinguished, still only a "protector", and possessed no military ability: he betrayed his consciousness of inferiority by his nervous suspicion of plots and savage punishment of alleged traitors," writes A. H. M. Jones. But Jones admits that "he was a conscientious administrator, careful of the interests of the humble. Like his brother, he was an earnest Christian." He diminished the oppressive burden of the taxes which had been instituted by Constantine and his sons, and was humbly deferential to his brother in the latter's edicts of reform, as the institution of "Defensors" (a sort of substitute for the ancient Tribunes, guardians of the lower classes). His moderation and chastity in his private life were everywhere celebrated. At the same time, continuous proscriptions and executions, originating in his weak and fearful disposition, disgraced the dozen years of his reign. "An anxious regard to his personal safety was the ruling principle of the administration of Valens", writes Gibbon. To have died in so inglorious a battle has thus come to be regarded as the nadir of an unfortunate career. This is especially true because of the profound consequences of Valens' defeat. Adrianople spelled the beginning of the end for Roman territorial integrity in the late Empire and this fact was recognized even by contemporaries. Ammianus understood that it was the worst defeat in Roman history since the Battle of Edessa, and Rufinus called it "the beginning of evils for the Roman empire then and thereafter."


title: Valens

text: Valens is also credited with the commission of a short history of the Roman State. This work, produced by Valens' secretary Eutropius, and known by the name "Breviarium ab Urbe condita", tells the story of Rome from its founding. According to some historians, Valens was motivated by the necessity of learning Roman history, that he, the royal family, and their appointees might better mix with the Roman senatorial class.


title: Valens

text: During his reign, Valens had to confront the theological diversity that was beginning to create division in the Empire. Julian (361–363), had tried to revive the pagan religions. His reactionary attempt took advantage of the dissensions among the different Christian factions, and a largely Pagan rank and file military. However, in spite of broad support, his actions were often viewed as excessive, and before he died in a campaign against the Persians, he was often treated with disdain. His death was considered a sign from Christian God.


title: Valens

text: Valens was baptised by the Arian bishop of Constantinople before he set out on his first war against the Goths. While the Nicene Christian writers of his time identified Valens with the Arian faction and accused him of persecuting Nicene Christians, modern historians have described both Valens and Valentinian I as primarily interested in maintaining social order and have minimized their theological concerns. Although Athanasius was impelled, under his reign, to briefly go into hiding, Valens maintained a close dependency on his brother Valentinian and treated St. Basil mildly, both of whom supported the Nicene position. Not long after Valens died the cause of Arianism in the Roman East was to come to an end. His successor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity the state religion of Rome and suppressed the Arians.