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AFTER Jovian had reigned about eight months, he died suddenly at
Dadastana, a town of Bithynia, while on his road to
Constantinople. Some say that his death was occasioned by eating too
plentiful a supper; others attribute it to the dampness of the chamber
in which he slept; for it had been recently plastered with unslaked
lime, and quantities of coals had been burnt in it during the winter
for a preventive; the walls had become damp and were exceedingly
moist.
On the arrival of the troops at Nicaea in Bithynia, they proclaimed
Valentinian emperor. He was a good man and capable of holding the
reins of the empire. He had not long returned from banishment; for it
is said that Julian, immediately on his accession to the empire,
erased the name of Valentinian from the Jovian legions, as they were
called, and condemned him to perpetual banishment, under the pretext
that he had failed in his duty of leading out the soldiers under his
command against the enemy. The true reason of his condemnation,
however, was the following: When Julian was in Gaul, he went one
day to a temple to offer incense. Valentinian accompanied him,
according to an ancient Roman law, which still prevails, and which
enacted that the leader of the Jovians and the Herculeans (that is to
say, the legions of soldiers who have received this appellation in
honor of Jupiter and of Hercules) should always attend the emperor as
his body-guard. When they were about to enter the temple, the
priest, in accordance with the pagan custom, sprinkled water upon them
with the branch of a tree. A drop fell upon the robe of Valentinian;
he scarcely could restrain himself, for he was a Christian, and he
rebuked his asperser; it is even said that he cut off, in view of the
emperor, the portion of the garment on which the water had fallen, and
flung it from him. From that moment Julian entertained inimical
feelings against him, and soon after banished him to Melitine in
Armenia, under the plea of misconduct in military affairs; for he
would not have religion regarded as the cause of the decree, lest
Valentinian should be accounted a martyr or a confessor. Julian
treated other Christians, as we have already stated, in the same
manner; for, as was said before, he perceived that to subject them to
hazards only added to their reputation, and tended to the consolidation
of their religion. As soon as Jovian succeeded to the throne,
Valentinian was recalled from banishment to Nicaea; but the death of
the emperor in the meantime took place, and Valentinian, by the
unanimous consent of the troops and those who held the chief positions
in the government, was appointed his successor. When he was invested
with the symbols of imperial power, the soldiers cried out that it was
necessary to elect some one to share the burden of government. To this
proposition, Valentinian made the following reply: "It depended on
you alone, O soldiers to proclaim me emperor; but now that you have
elected me, it depends not upon you, but upon me, to perform what you
demand. Remain quiet, as subjects ought to do, and leave me to act
as an emperor in attending to the public affairs."
Not long after this refusal to comply with the demand of the soldiery,
he repaired to Constantinople, and proclaimed his brother emperor.
He gave him the East as his share of the empire, and reserved to
himself the regions along the Western Ocean, from Illyria to the
furthest coasts of Libya. Both the brothers were Christians, but
they differed in opinion and disposition. For Valens, when he was
baptized, employed Eudoxius as his initiator, and was zealously
attached to the doctrines of Arius, and would readily have compelled
all mankind by force to yield to them. Valentinian, on the other
hand, maintained the faith of the council of Nicaea, and favored
those who upheld the same sentiments, without molesting those who
entertained other opinions.
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