What did Flavius Iulius Valens do?

Question

What did Flavius Iulius Valens do? Specifically, what did he do to rome? Don't tell me when was he born, who was his brother or whatever. Don't alo give me a long copy paste paragraph. A summary outline would be nice though.

Answer 1

Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor, as appointed by his brother Valentinian I. The main points of his rule were a revolt by the previous emperor's cousin, a war with the Goths, constant conflict with the neighboring Persians, and most importantly, the influx, revolt, and his death to the Goths.

The pivotal moment in Roman History that involves him was from the Gothic revolt in the late 370's. The Goths were fleeing the Huns, and wanted asylum. Valens assented, but the number of Goths that came to resettle were far more than anyone expected. He didn't have enough troops nearby to adequately manage the resettlement with all the new people showing up, and unfortunately, some of his units abused the Goths. This caused them to revolt.

The Goths managed to run wild throughout Thrace before Valens could respond. Rather than wait for his nephew (Gratian, the Western emperor) as his councilors suggested, he wanted glory for himself and attacked the Goths prematurely. The battle was a complete disaster from the Romans: they lost 2/3rds of their army along with most of the military leadership and their officers, and Valens was killed.

Worse, the Goths (and everyone else) realized that they could beat the Romans, who hadn't suffered a crushing defeat to anyone but other Romans in centuries. The eastern empire was left headless and short on military power - something that would plague it for years afterwards.

Answer 2

he was a star in the early days of rock music whos life was cut short in a tragic plane crash that also killed rock and roll icon buddy holly and a lesser known performer known as the "big bopper". his stage name was richie valens and he is remembered for his one big hit record entitled "La Bamba", which was also the title of the hollywood film dramatization of his life starring lou diamond phillips.