Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D. 9780520928534

Table of contents :
Contents
List of illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Maps
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Pannonian Emperors
Chapter 2 The Revolt of Procopius
Chapter 3 Valens’s First Gothic War
Chapter 4 Valens and the Eastern Frontier
Chapter 5 Religion under the Valentiniani
Chapter 6 Administration and Finance under Valentinian and Valens
Chapter 7 The Disaster at Adrianople
Epilogue
Appendix A Datable Evidence for Valentinianic Fortifications
Appendix B Shapur’s Administrative Structures in Armenia
Appendix C Natural Disasters and the Reign of Valens
Appendix D Civic Structures Built under Imperial Sponsorship, a.d. 364–378
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Failure of Empire

The Joan Palevsky

Imprint in Classical Literature

In honor of beloved Virgil— “O degli altri poeti onore e lume . . .” —Dante, Inferno

Failure of Empire Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century a.d.

Noel Lenski

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley

Los Angeles

London

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution to this book provided by Joan Palevsky.

University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2002 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lenski, Noel Emmanuel, 1965– Failure of empire : Valens and the Roman state in the fourth century a.d. / Noel Lenski. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–520–23332–8 (alk. paper) 1. Valens, Emperor of the East, ca. 328–378. 2. Byzantine Empire —History—Valens, 364–378. 3. Valentinian I, Emperor of Rome, 321–375. 4. Rome —History—Valentinian I, 364– 375. I. Title. DF559 .L46 2002 949.5'9013—dc21

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The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (TCF ). It meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).8

Ausoniae amoribus meis

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contents

list of illustrations acknowledgments / abbreviations / xiii maps / xv Introduction

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Chapter 1. The Pannonian Emperors The Revival of Illyrian Emperorship / 14 “Pannonia . . . strong in men and prosperous in land” / Pannonian Beginnings / 45 The Imperial Courts: Illyrians and Professionals / 56

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Chapter 2. The Revolt of Procopius Procopius’s Uprising / 68 Valens and the Ideal Emperor / 84 The Long Shadow of Constantin / 97 A Changing of the Guard: Punishment and Concessions

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Chapter 3. Valens’s First Gothic War The Goths in the Fourth Century / 116 The Gothic War of 367–69 / 127 Some Principles of Late Roman Foreign Policy Dynastic Shifts and Roman Provocation /

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Chapter 4. Valens and the Eastern Frontier Romano-Persian Relations, a.d. 298–363 / 153 Valens’s Relations with Persia, Armenia, and Iberia / 167 Festus and Eutropius: Historical Propaganda and the Eastern Frontier Bandits and Barbarians of the East: Valens and the Maratocupreni, Isaurians, and Saracens / 196 vii

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Chapter 5. Religion under the Valentiniani Valentinian, Valens, and the Pagans / 211 The Magic Trials of Rome and Antioch / 218 Chaos and Toleration: The Arian Crisis and Valentinian’s Response Autocracy and Persecution: Valens’s Response to the Arian Crisis /

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Chapter 6. Administration and Finance under Valentinian and Valens The Interrelation of Valentinian’s and Valens’s Legislation / 264 Paramount Concerns: Corruption, Civic Administration, the Masses, and Agriculture / 272 Economics and Finance under the Valentiniani / 286 Recruiting Laws and Military Manpower / 307

Chapter 7. The Disaster at Adrianople The Gothic Immigration of 376 / 320 The Collapse of the Gothic Settlement and the Disaster at Adrianople The Reasons for the Collapse of the Gothic Settlement / 341 The Reasons for the Disaster at Adrianople / 355

Epilogue

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appendix a. datable evidence for valentinianic fortifications / 375 appendix b. shapur’s administrative structures in armenia / 381 appendix c. natural disasters and the reign of valens / 385 appendix d. civic structures built under imperial sponsorship, a.d. 364–378 / 393 bibliography primary sources / 403 secondary sources / 408 index / 443

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illustrations

1. Jovian ensures the secvritas reipvblicae 2. Jovian proclaims victoria romanorvm

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3. Valentinian celebrates his adventus into Milan

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4. Valentinian and Valens enthroned in equal glory

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5. Valentinian’s Victoria seated in honor

/ 34 6. Valens’s Victoria standing in deference / 34 7. Solidus of Constantinople with both emperors raising their mappae / 35 8. Solidus of Trier with only the left emperor raising his mappa

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9. Gratian, the spes r(ei) p(ublicae), between Valentinian and Valens / 91 10. A bearded Procopius proclaims the reparatio fel(icium) temp(orum) / 97 11. Bearded Julian

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12. Aes of Procopius holding a labarum with Chi-Rho in field 13. Aes of Constantius proclaiming fel(icium) temp(orum) reparatio / 101 14. Valens advertises one of his fortification towers

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15. restitvtor rei pvblicae solidus from Antioch

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/ 292 16. Emperor dragging a captive barbarian by the hair / 327 ix

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illustrations

17. Nimbate emperor approaches turreted female (Antioch?) 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

/ 348 – 49 Large Valens between smaller Gratian and Valentinian II / 359 dn valens max(imus) avgvstvs rides a six-horse chariot / 360 –61 dn valens max(imus) avgvstvs with Rome on the reverse / 362 Large Valens beside diminutive Valentinian II / 363 Datable evidence for forts, a.d. 364–378 / 379

acknowledgments

By some turn of fate, I was inspired to work on Valens while watching Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at the Metropolitan Opera. Valens would not have approved. After all, he and his brother killed people for dabbling in love philters. Of course, I am well aware that Valens is not a person to whom many would choose to be wedded for eight years. Indeed, I did not begin my study believing that our relationship would last so long, nor did I pursue it because my feelings for the man grew as I worked. Even so, I hardly regret my choice to investigate his life and times in such lavish detail. I have always found misfits fascinating, and I find Valens’s peculiarities and peccadilloes particularly attractive for their complexity and pathos. His humanity has not been entirely obscured by the thick shroud of rhetoric that envelops so many late Roman rulers. Though the shroud is certainly present, Valens’s failures have left a large rent in its fabric, giving us a fairly clear picture of the man underneath. For this reason, Valens makes an excellent case study in how an ordinary man confronted an extraordinary challenge —the challenge of empire —and ultimately failed to meet it. This book grew out of a Princeton dissertation, which I completed in 1995. That work, which included the material found here in chapters 1 through 4 and chapter 7, was substantially rewritten. To it were added chapters 5 and 6 and the appendices. As this book owes much to its previous incarnation, I owe much to my dissertation advisors, Peter Brown, Ted Champlin, and Bob Lamberton. Each has fostered my work and my career with incomparable generosity and intellect. The numismatic work in the book was done on fellowship at the American Numismatic Society under the direction of Bill Metcalf, whose graciousness and acumen merit the highest praise. Much of the dissertation was written while I held a Donald and Mary Hyde Foundation Fellowship at Oxford in 1993–94. There Peter Heather, Roger Tomlin, and xi

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acknowledgments

Charlotte Roueché were especially generous in sharing their time and knowledge. Above all, however, John Matthews offered unstinting support and advice. I owe a heavy debt not just to his encouragement but also to his scholarship, which has, more than anyone’s, influenced my own work. As I began to revise, Craige Champion read and commented on the entire dissertation with admirable care. Individual chapters and sections were read by Jacques Bailly, Tim Barnes, Glen Bowersock, Garth Fowden, Mike Gaddis, Cathy King, John Ma, and Brent Shaw. My learned wife Alison Orlebeke patiently read at least one draft of everything I wrote and proved to be my best critic of style and logic. Eventually, Hal Drake and Peter Heather read the manuscript I sent to Berkeley and helped me clear away several hurdles I had left standing. I am particularly grateful to Heather, who has been involved in this project since 1993 and who has treated me and my work with the utmost respect, despite our differences on matters Gothic. The University of Colorado granted me a teaching release in the spring of 1998, and Dumbarton Oaks awarded me a fellowship for that summer, part of which I used for this book. CU also funded two undergraduate research assistants, Joanna Koutsis, who helped me assemble Theodosian Code laws, and Leanne Smoot, who prepared the maps. Jim Robb of CU cartography did final revisions on those maps, Dave Underwood in CU graphics did much of the work for my images, and the CU interlibrary loan staff have been amazingly efficient in helping me find resources. As editor, Kate Toll has combined equal measures of patience and pressure into a remarkably effective elixir, which has finally helped me break the spell of Valens. More than anyone, however, I must thank my family: my parents and brothers, who have always supported my endeavors with encouragement; my children Paul and Helen, who have had to share daddy with a long-dead emperor since they were born; and above all my true love Alison, whose charms offer the only real antidote for my labors.

abbreviations

Abbreviations for ancient sources follow the conventions of either The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. 1: a.d 260–395, ed. A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris (Cambridge, 1971), or The Oxford Classical Dictionary3, ed. S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (New York, 1996). Abbreviations for periodical titles follow L’Année philologique. Note also the following: AM ASX BP

Chron. Edes. CSCO DRB Ephrem Epit. Exc. Val. Exp. tot. mun. Fest. Ind. Gnecchi GNO

Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum gestarum libri qui supersunt, ed. C. U. Clark (Berlin, 1910) The Geography of Ananias of Sirak (Asxarhac’oyc’), trans. R. H. Hewsen (Wiesbaden, 1992) Buzandaran Patmut’iwnk’, Epic Histories attributed to P’awstos Buzand, trans. N. Garsoïan (Cambridge, Mass., 1989) Chronicon Edessenum, ed. I. Guidi (Paris, 1903) Corpus scriptorum Christianorum orientalium (Paris, 1903–) De rebus bellicis, ed. R. I. Ireland (Leipzig, 1984) Ephrem Syrus (CJ = Contra Iulianum; CN = Carmina Nisibena) Epitome de Caesaribus, ed. F. Pichlmayr (Leipzig, 1966) Excerpta Valesiana, ed. J. Moreau (Leipzig, 1968) Expositio totius mundi et gentium, ed. J. Rougé (Paris, 1966) Festal Index, eds. A. Martin and M. Albert (Paris, 1985) I medaglioni romani, ed. R. Gnecchi (Milan, 1912) Gregorii Nyseni opera, ed. W. Jaeger et al. (Leiden, 1952–) xiii

Itin. Eg. Josh. Styl. MX Nagl “Val.” Nagl “Vt.” Paschoud Pass. Artemii Pass. S. Sabae Philostorg. RGDS RRMAM Seeck, Briefe Seeck, Regesten Seeck, Untergang VM Thecla

Itinerarium Egeriae, eds. A. Franceschini and R. Weber (Turnhout, Belgium, 1965) The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, trans. and comm. F. R. Trombley and J. W. Watt (Liverpool, 2000) Moses Khorenats’i History of the Armenians, trans. R. W. Thomson (Cambridge, Mass., 1978) A. Nagl “Valens 3” RE II.7.2 (Stuttgart, 1948) A. Nagl “Valentinianus 1” RE II.7.2 (Stuttgart, 1948) Histoire nouvelle, ed., trans. and comm. F. Paschoud (Paris, 1971–89) Passio Artemii, in Philostorgius Kirchengeschichte, ed. J. Bidez and F. Winkelmann (Berlin, 1972) Passio Sancti Sabae, ed. H. Delehaye (Paris, 1912) Philostorgius, Historia Ecclesiastica: Kirchengeschichte, ed. J. Bidez and F. Winkelmann (Berlin, 1972) Res gestae Divi Saporis, ed. E. Honigmann and J. Maricq (Brussels, 1953) Roman Roads and Milestones of Asia Minor, ed. D. French (Oxford, 1988) O. Seeck, Die Briefe des Libanius zeitlich geordnet (Stuttgart, 1906) O. Seeck, Regesten der Kaiser und Päpste (Stuttgart, 1919) O. Seeck, Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt, vol. 5 (Stuttgart, 1913) Vie et miracles de Sainte Thecle, ed. G. Dagron (Brussels, 1978)

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