Albia Dominica Albia Dominica ( Also referred to as Dominica , Albia Domnica , Domnica , or Domnica Augusta ; " c . " 337 – after 378 ) was a Roman Augusta , wife to Emperor Valens . Valens , who ruled from 364 - 378 , was emperor of the East and co - emperor with his brother Valentinian I . Family . Dominica was the daughter of the powerful and unpopular praetorian prefect Petronius , who was hated for his greed and cruelty . Her father ' s unpopularity was so great that it led to the rebellion of Procopius , a rival of Valens , in 365 . According to the account of Ammianus Marcellinus : " . . . Many who , since men are always discontented with present conditions , were finding fault with Valens , as being inflamed with a desire of seizing the property of others . To the emperor ' s cruelty deadly incentive was given by his father - in ‑ law Petronius , who from the command of the Martensian legion had by a sudden jump been promoted to the rank of patrician . He was a man ugly in spirit and in appearance , who , burning with an immoderate longing to strip everyone without distinction , condemned guilty and innocent alike , after exquisite tortures , to fourfold indemnities , looking up debts going back to the time of the emperor Aurelian , grieving excessively if he was obliged to let any one escape unscathed . Along with his intolerable character he had this additional incentive to his devastations , that while he was enriching himself through the woes of others , he was inexorable , cruel , savage and fearlessly hard - hearted , never capable of giving or receiving reason , more hated than Cleander , who , as we read , when prefect under the emperor Commodus , in his haughty madness had ruined the fortunes of many men ; more oppressive than Plautianus , also a prefect under Severus , who with superhuman arrogance would have caused general confusion , if he had not perished by the avenging sword . These lamentable occurrences , which under Valens , aided and abetted by Petronius , closed the houses of the poor and the palaces of the rich in great numbers , added to the fear of a still more dreadful future , sank deeply into the minds of the provincials and of the soldiers , who groaned under similar oppression , and with universal sighs everyone prayed ( although darkly and in silence ) for a change in the present condition of affairs with the help of the supreme deity . " Petronius was probably a Pannonian . Her further ancestry is unknown . Various of her relatives held influentials positions . A possible relative is Domnicus , an officer of Valens mentioned in Oration II by Libanius . Procopius , prefect of Constantinople in 377 , is mentioned by Zosimus as a relative of Valens by marriage . Suggesting he was also related to Dominica . According to Nicetas of Serra , Eusebius was her uncle and a praefectus urbi in the Diocese of Pontus . Nicetas was a commentator to the works of Gregory of Nazianzus and identified Eusebius with an otherwise unnamed figure mentioned in the works of Gregory . Eusebius is thus supposedly recorded in the funeral oration in honor of Basil of Caesarea . According to the account of Gregory : " The same mischance is said to have befallen the prefect . He also was obliged by sickness to bow beneath the hands of the Saint , and , in reality , to men of sense a visitation brings instruction , and affliction is often better than prosperity . He fell sick , was in tears , and in pain , he sent for Basil , and en - treated him , crying out , " I own that you were in the right ; only save me ! " His request was granted , as he himself acknowledged , and convinced many who had known nothing of it ; for he never ceased to wonder at and describe the powers of the prelate . Such was his conduct in these cases , such its result . Did he then treat others in a different way , and engage in petty disputes about trifles , or fail to rise to the heights of philosophy in a course of action which merits no praise and is best passed over in silence ? By no means . He who once stirred up the wicked Hadad against Israel , stirred up against him the prefect of the province of Pontus ; nominally , from annoyance connected with some poor creature of a woman , but in reality as a part of the struggle of impiety against the truth . I pass by all his other insults against Basil , or , for it is the same thing , against God ; for it is against Him and on His behalf that the contest was waged . One instance of it , however , which brought special disgrace upon the assailant , and exalted his adversary , if philosophy and eminence for it be a great and lofty thing , I will describe at length . " " The assessor of a judge was attempting to force into a distasteful marriage a lady of high birth whose husband was but recently dead . At a loss to escape from this high - handed treatment , she resorted to a device no less prudent than daring . She fled to the holy table , and placed herself under the protection of God against outrage . What , in the Name of the Trinity Itself , if I may introduce into my panegyric somewhat of the forensic style , ought to have been done , I do not say , by the great Basil , who laid down the law for us all in such matters , but by any one who , though far inferior to him , was a priest ? Ought he not to have allowed her claim , to have taken charge of , and cared for , her ; to have raised his hand in defence of the kindness of God and the law which gives honour to the altar ? Ought he not to have been willing to do and suffer anything , rather than take part in any inhuman design against her , and outrage at once the holy table , and the faith in which she had taken sanctuary ? No ! said the baffled judge , all ought to yield to my authority , and Christians should betray their own laws . The suppliant whom he demanded , was at all hazards retained . Accordingly , in his rage , he at last sent some of the magistrates to search the saint ' s bedchamber , with the purpose of dishonouring him , rather than from any necessity . What ! Search the house of a man so free from passion , whom the angel s revere , at whom women do not venture even to look ? And , not content with this , he summoned him , and put him on his defence ; and that , in no gentle or kindly manner , but as if he were a convict . Upon Basil ' s appearance , standing , like my Jesus , before the judgment seat of Pilate , he presided at the trial , full of wrath and pride . Yet the thunderbolts did not fall , and the sword of God still glittered , and waited , while His bow , though bent , was restrained . Such indeed is the custom of God . " Consider another struggle between our champion and his persecutor . His ragged pallium having been ordered to be torn away , " I will also , if you wish it , strip off my coat , " said he . His fleshless form was threatened with blows , and he offered to submit to be torn with combs , and he said , " By such laceration you will cure my liver , which , as you see , is wearing me away . " Such was their argument . But when the city perceived the outrage and the common danger of all — for each one considered this insolence a danger to himself , it became all on fire with rage ; and , like a hive roused by smoke , one after another was stirred and arose , every race ' and every age , but especially the men from the - small - arms factory and from the imperial weaving - sheds . For men at work in these trades are specially hot - tempered and daring , because of the liberty allowed them . Each man was armed with the tool he was using , or with whatever else came to hand at the moment . Torch in hand , amid showers of stones , with cudgel ' s ready , all ran and shouted together in their united zeal . Anger makes a terrible soldier or general . Nor were the women weaponless , when roused by such an occasion . Their pins were their spears , and no longer remaining women , they were by the strength of their eagerness endowed with masculine courage . It is a short story . They thought that they would share among themselves the piety of destroying him , and held him to be most pious who first laid hands on one who had dared such deeds . What then was the conduct of this haughty and daring judge ? He begged for mercy in a pitiable state of distress , cringing before them to an unparalleled extent , until the arrival of the martyr without bloodshed , who had won his crown without blows , and now restrained the people by the force of his personal influence , and delivered the man who had insulted him and now sought his protection . This was the doing of the God of Saints , Who worketh and changeth all things for the best , who resisteth the proud , but giveth grace to the humble . And why should not He , Who divided the sea and stayed the river , and ruled the elements , and by stretching out set up a trophy , to save His exiled people , why should not He have also rescued this man from his perils ? " The names Anastasia , Domnicus , Eusebius , Petronius and Procopius used by various family members are thought to be Greek in origin . Various scholars have suggested this could indicate the descent of Dominica and her relatives from Greek - speaking families of Sirmium , the initial capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum . Marriage into a Greek family could have helped solididy Valens ' rule over the Hellenized Eastern Roman Empire . Marriage . She married Valens ( " c . " 354 ) and bore two daughters , Anastasia and Carosa , before she bore a son and heir , Valentinianus Galates ( 366 - 370 ) . According to Socrates of Constantinople and Sozomen both daughters were educated by Marcian , a former palatinus ( paladin ) . Marcian had become a Novatianist presbyter . His continued service at court supposedly ensured that Valens held a more tolerant stance regarding Novatianists . Religious Scandals and the Death of Galates . The history of the Christian Church in the early 4th century was marked by the Trinitarian controversy . The First Council of Nicaea in 325 had established the Nicene Creed , which declared that the Father , Son , and Holy Spirit were all equal to each other and of the same substance . The theologian Arius , founder of Arianism , disagreed with this and believed that the three parts of the Trinity were materially separate from each other and that the Father created the Son . Dominica was already an Arian and is rumored to have persuaded her husband Valens to convert to the Arian sect . In about 367 , according to Theodoret , Domnica convinced Valens to seek baptism from Eudoxius of Antioch , Archbishop of Constantinople . Eudoxius was one of the most influential Arians . Valens was one of the few emperors of the century to favor the Arians . The empress is accused , with no proof , of having urged her husband to persecute the Trinitarian sect , including persecting many prominent bishops . Persecution was common throughout his reign . Valens imposed a series of “ witch hunts ” in 371 - 372 , in which nearly all of the pagan philosophers in the Eastern empire were killed . The young Valentinianus ' s early death was a great blow to his parents , surrounded by religious scandal and quarrels . According to Socrates , Dominica told her husband that she had been having visions that their son ’ s illness was a punishment for ill treatment of the bishop Basil of Caesarea . Basil was a prominent orthodox leader who opposed the emperor ' s semi - Arian beliefs . When asked to pray for the child , known as Galates , Basil is said to have responded by giving Valens ’ commitment to orthodoxy as the condition for the boy ’ s survival . Valens refused to comply and baptize Galates Catholic . He instead gave his son an Arian baptism . Basil replied by saying that God ’ s will would be done , and Galates died soon after . Defeat at Adrianople and the Death of Valens . Valens perished in battle against the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople on August 9 , 378 . The exact circumstances of his death are unknown . The Goths then continued to move east and attacked Constantinople . Because there was no emperor to lead the forces , the empress Dominica was forced to organize a counterattack . Dominica paid soldiers ’ wages out of the imperial treasury to any civilian volunteers who were willing to arm themselves against the invaders . After the death of her husband she ruled as de facto regent and defended Constantinople against the attacking Goths until his successor , Theodosius I arrived . The date and circumstances of her death remain unknown . According to Socrates and Sozomen , Dominica recruited civilian volunteers to defend Constantinople from the Goths . She issued orders for their payment to equal that of a regular soldier . The expense was paid by the imperial treasury which she administered . References . J . McCabe , " The Empresses of Rome " ( 1911 ) .