page_title: Valens
section_title: War against the Goths
hierarchical_section_title: Valens / Life / War against the Goths
caption_attribution_description: Obverse (front) of a solidus of w:Valens, showing head right, diademed, cuirassed, draped. Graffiti on bust
context_page_description: Flavius Valens was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne. Valens was defeated and killed by the Goths in the Battle of Adrianople, which marked the beginning of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
context_section_description: 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. In the spring of 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, Athanaric and his forces were able to withdraw in good order and pleaded for peace. Fortunately for the Goths, Valens expected a new war with the Sasanid Empire in the Middle East and was therfore 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.
caption: A Solidus of Valens
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