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"Viroids are the smallest infectious pathogens known. They are composed solely of a short strand of circular, single-stranded RNA that has no protein coating. All known viroids are inhabitants of higher plants, and most cause diseases, whose respective economic importance on humans vary widely. The first discoveries of viroids in the 1970s triggered the historically third major extension of the biosphere—to include smaller lifelike entities —after the discoveries, in 1675 by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (of the "subvisible" microorganisms) and in 1892 by Dmitri Iosifovich Ivanovsky (of the "submicroscopic" viruses). The unique properties of viroids have been recognized by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, in creating a new order of subviral agents.King AMQ, Adams MJ, Carstens EB, Lefkovitz EJ, et al. Virus Taxonomy. Ninth Report of the International Committee for Virus Taxonomy. Burlington, MA, USA: Elsevier Academic Press; 2012. pp. 1221–1259, TN: 949565 The first recognized viroid, the pathogenic agent of the potato spindle tuber disease, was discovered, initially molecularly characterized, and named by Theodor Otto Diener, plant pathologist at the U.S Department of Agriculture's Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, in 1971. This viroid is now called Potato spindle tuber viroid, abbreviated PSTVd. Although viroids are composed of nucleic acid, they do not code for any protein. The viroid's replication mechanism uses RNA polymerase II, a host cell enzyme normally associated with synthesis of messenger RNA from DNA, which instead catalyzes "rolling circle" synthesis of new RNA using the viroid's RNA as a template. Some viroids are ribozymes, having catalytic properties that allow self- cleavage and ligation of unit-size genomes from larger replication intermediates.name="Daròs JA, Elena SF, Flores R 2006 593–8"> With Diener's 1989 hypothesisname="Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA,1989-TOD"> that viroids may represent "living relics" from the widely assumed, ancient, and non-cellular RNA world—extant before the evolution of DNA or proteins—viroids have assumed significance beyond plant pathology to evolutionary science, by representing the most plausible RNAs capable of performing crucial steps in abiogenesis, the evolution of life from inanimate matter. The human pathogen hepatitis D virus is a subviral agent similar to a viroid. Taxonomy *Family Pospiviroidae **Genus Pospiviroid; type species: Potato spindle tuber viroid; 356–361 nucleotides(nt) **Genus Pospiviroid; another species: Citrus exocortis viroid; 368–467 nt **Genus Hostuviroid; type species: Hop stunt viroid; 294–303 nt **Genus Cocadviroid; type species: Coconut cadang-cadang viroid; 246–247 nt **Genus Apscaviroid; type species: Apple scar skin viroid; 329–334 nt **Genus Coleviroid; type species: Coleus blumei viroid 1; 248–251 ntsecondary structure of the PSTVd viroid. The highlighted nucleotides are found in most other viroids. *Family Avsunviroidae **Genus Avsunviroid; type species: Avocado sunblotch viroid; 246–251 nt **Genus Pelamoviroid; type species: Peach latent mosaic viroid; 335–351 nt **Genus Elaviroid; type species: Eggplant latent viroid; 332–335 nt Transmission The reproduction mechanism of a typical viroid. Leaf contact transmits the viroid. The viroid enters the cell via its plasmodesmata. RNA polymerase II catalyzes rolling- circle synthesis of new viroids. Viroid infections can be transmitted by aphids, by cross contamination following mechanical damage to plants as a result of horticultural or agricultural practices, or from plant to plant by leaf contact. Replication Viroids replicate in the nucleus (Pospiviroidae) or chloroplasts (Avsunviroidae) of plant cells in three steps through an RNA- based mechanism. They require RNA polymerase II, a host cell enzyme normally associated with synthesis of messenger RNA from DNA, which instead catalyzes "rolling circle" synthesis of new RNA using the viroid as template.authors = Daròs JA, Elena SF, Flores R title = "Viroids: an Ariadne's thread into the RNA labyrinth." journal = Embo Rep. year = 2006 volume = 7 issue = 6 pages = 593–8" RNA silencing There has long been uncertainty over how viroids induce symptoms in plants without encoding any protein products within their sequences. Evidence suggests that RNA silencing is involved in the process. First, changes to the viroid genome can dramatically alter its virulence. This reflects the fact that any siRNAs produced would have less complementary base pairing with target messenger RNA. Secondly, siRNAs corresponding to sequences from viroid genomes have been isolated from infected plants. Finally, transgenic expression of the noninfectious hpRNA of potato spindle tuber viroid develops all the corresponding viroid-like symptoms. This indicates that when viroids replicate via a double stranded intermediate RNA, they are targeted by a dicer enzyme and cleaved into siRNAs that are then loaded onto the RNA-induced silencing complex. The viroid siRNAs contain sequences capable of complementary base pairing with the plant's own messenger RNAs, and induction of degradation or inhibition of translation causes the classic viroid symptoms. RNA world hypothesis Diener's 1989 hypothesisDiener, T O. "Circular RNAs: relics of precellular evolution?."Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA, 1989;86(23):9370-9374 had proposed that the unique properties of viroids make them more plausible macromolecules than introns, or other RNAs considered in the past as possible "living relics" of a hypothetical, pre-cellular RNA world. If so, viroids have assumed significance beyond plant virology for evolutionary theory, because their properties make them more plausible candidates than other RNAs to perform crucial steps in the evolution of life from inanimate matter (abiogenesis). Diener's hypothesis was mostly forgotten until 2014, when it was resurrected in a review article by Flores et al., in which the authors summarized Diener's evidence supporting his hypothesis as: # Viroids' small size, imposed by error-prone replication. # Their high guanine and cytosine content, which increases stability and replication fidelity. # Their circular structure, which assures complete replication without genomic tags. # Existence of structural periodicity, which permits modular assembly into enlarged genomes. # Their lack of protein-coding ability, consistent with a ribosome-free habitat. # Replication mediated in some by ribozymes—the fingerprint of the RNA world. The presence, in extant cells, of RNAs with molecular properties predicted for RNAs of the RNA World constitutes another powerful argument supporting the RNA World hypothesis. History In the 1920s, symptoms of a previously unknown potato disease were noticed in New York and New Jersey fields. Because tubers on affected plants become elongated and misshapen, they named it the potato spindle tuber disease. The symptoms appeared on plants onto which pieces from affected plants had been budded—indicating that the disease was caused by a transmissible pathogenic agent. A fungus or bacterium could not be found consistently associated with symptom-bearing plants, however, and therefore, it was assumed the disease was caused by a virus. Despite numerous attempts over the years to isolate and purify the assumed virus, using increasingly sophisticated methods, these were unsuccessful when applied to extracts from potato spindle tuber disease-afflicted plants. In 1971 Theodor O. Diener showed that the agent was not a virus, but a totally unexpected novel type of pathogen, 1/80th the size of typical viruses, for which he proposed the term "viroid". Parallel to agriculture-directed studies, more basic scientific research elucidated many of viroids' physical, chemical, and macromolecular properties. Viroids were shown to consist of short stretches (a few hundred nucleobases) of single-stranded RNA and, unlike viruses, did not have a protein coat. Compared with other infectious plant pathogens, viroids are extremely small in size, ranging from 246 to 467 nucleobases; they thus consist of fewer than 10,000 atoms. In comparison, the genomes of the smallest known viruses capable of causing an infection by themselves are around 2,000 nucleobases long. In 1976, Sänger et al. presented evidence that potato spindle tuber viroid is a "single-stranded, covalently closed, circular RNA molecule, existing as a highly base-paired rod-like structure"—believed to be the first such molecule described. Circular RNA, unlike linear RNA, forms a covalently closed continuous loop, in which the 3' and 5' ends present in linear RNA molecules have been joined together. Sänger et al. also provided evidence for the true circularity of viroids by finding that the RNA could not be phosphorylated at the 5' terminus. Then, in other tests, they failed to find even one free 3' end, which ruled out the possibility of the molecule having two 3' ends. Viroids thus are true circular RNAs. The single- strandedness and circularity of viroids was confirmed by electron microscopy, and Gross et al. determined the complete nucleotide sequence of potato spindle tuber viroid in 1978. PSTVd was the first pathogen of a eukaryotic organism for which the complete molecular structure has been established. Over thirty plant diseases have since been identified as viroid-, not virus-caused, as had been assumed. In 2014, New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer published a popularized piece that mistakenly credited Flores et al. with the hypothesis' original conception. See also References External links * Viroids/ATSU "
"Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (; ; – 6 January 1945) was a Russian, UkrainianВолодимир Вернадський– найвидатніший природознавець ХХ століття tr. Volodymyr Vernadsky - The Most Familiar Nature of the XX Century at dspace.snu.edu.ua:8080, accessed 12 October 2020 and Soviet mineralogist and geochemist who is considered one of the founders of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and radiogeology. He is also known as the founder of the Ukrainian Academy of SciencesВерна́дський Володи́мир Іва́нович. Універсальний Словник-Енциклопедія (now National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). He is most noted for his 1926 book The Biosphere in which he inadvertently worked to popularize Eduard Suess' 1885 term biosphere, by hypothesizing that life is the geological force that shapes the earth. In 1943 he was awarded the Stalin Prize. Early life Vladimir Vernadski, Paris 1889 Vernadsky was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, on in family of the native Kiev residents Russian Imperial economist Ivan Vernadsky and music instructor Anna Petrovna Konstantinovich. According to family legend, his father's ancestors were Zaporozhian Cossacks. Ivan Vernadsky had been a professor of political economy in Kiev at the St. Vladimir University before moving to Saint Petersburg; then he was an Active State Councillor and worked in the Governing Senate in St. Petersburg. Vladimir's mother was a Russian noblewoman of Ukrainian Cossack descent.В.В. Томазов. Генеалогія В.І. Вернадського: походження та родинні зв'язки tr. V.V. Tomasov. Genealogy V.I. Vernadsky: a voyage of motherland Vernadsky graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 1885. As the position of mineralogist in Saint Petersburg State University was vacant, and Vasily Dokuchaev, a soil scientist, and Alexey Pavlov, a geologist, had been teaching Mineralogy for a while, Vernadsky chose to enter Mineralogy. He wrote to his wife Natasha on 20 June 1888 from Switzerland: While trying to find a topic for his doctorate, he first went to Naples to study under crystallographer Arcangelo Scacchi, who was senile by that time. Scacchi's condition led Vernadsky to go to Germany to study under Paul Groth. Vernadsky learned to use Groth's modern equipment, which included a machine to study the optical, thermal, elastic, magnetic and electrical properties of crystals. He also gained access to the physics lab of Leonhard Sohncke (Direktor, Physikalisches Institut der Universität Jena, 1883–1886; Professor der Physik an der Technischen Hochschule München 1886 -1897), who was studying crystallisation during that period. Political activities Vernadsky participated in the First General Congress of the zemstvos, held in Petersburg on the eve of the 1905 revolution to discuss how best to pressure the government to the needs of the Russian society; became a member of the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party (KD); and served in parliament, resigning to protest the Tsar's proroguing of the Duma. He served as professor and later as vice rector of Moscow University, from which he also resigned in 1911 in protest over the government's reactionary policies. Following the advent of the First World War, his proposal for the establishment of the Commission for the Study of the Natural Productive Forces (KEPS) was adopted by the Imperial Academy of Sciences in February 1915. He published War and the Progress of Science where he stressed the importance of science as regards to its contribution to the war effort: :"After the war of 1914–1915 we will have to make known and accountable the natural productive forces of our country, i.e. first of all to find means for broad scientific investigations of Russia’s nature and for the establishment of a network of well equipped research laboratories, museums and institutions . . . . This is no less necessary than the need for an improvement in the conditions of our civil and political life, which is so acutely perceived by the entire country." After the February revolution of 1917, he served on several commissions of agriculture and education of the provisional government, including as assistant minister of education.Josephson P., Dronin N., Mnatsakanyan R., Cherp A., Efremenko D., Larin A. (2013) An Environmental History of Russia. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–57. . Scientific activities Vernadsky first popularized the concept of the noosphere and deepened the idea of the biosphere to the meaning largely recognized by today's scientific community. The word 'biosphere' was invented by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess, whom Vernadsky met in 1911. In Vernadsky's theory of the Earth's development, the noosphere is the third stage in the earth's development, after the geosphere (inanimate matter) and the biosphere (biological life). Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition will fundamentally transform the biosphere. In this theory, the principles of both life and cognition are essential features of the Earth's evolution, and must have been implicit in the earth all along. This systemic and geological analysis of living systems complements Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, which looks at each individual species, rather than at its relationship to a subsuming principle. Vernadsky's visionary pronouncements were not widely accepted in the West. However, he was one of the first scientists to recognize that the oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere result from biological processes. During the 1920s he published works arguing that living organisms could reshape the planets as surely as any physical force. Vernadsky was an important pioneer of the scientific bases for the environmental sciences.Weart, S.R. (2003) The Discovery of Global Warming, Cambridge, Harvard Press Vernadsky was a member of the Russian and Soviet Academies of Sciences since 1912 and was a founder and first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kyiv, Ukraine (1918). He was a founder of the National Library of Ukrainian State and worked closely with the Tavrida University in Crimea. During the Russian Civil War, he hosted gatherings of the young intellectuals who later founded the émigré Eurasianism movement.See Vernadsky's diaries in the "Works" section, summarized in Sergei Glebov. "Russian and East European Books and Manuscripts in the United States" in Russian and East European Books and Manuscripts in the United States: Proceedings of a Conference in Honor of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Bakhmeteff Archive of Russian and East European History and Culture (Slavic and East European Information Resources, Volume 4, Number 4 2003), eds. Jared S. Ingersoll and Tanya Chebotarev, The Haworth Press, 2003, p. 29 In the late 1930s and early 1940s Vernadsky played an early advisory role in the Soviet atomic bomb project, as one of the most forceful voices arguing for the exploitation of nuclear power, the surveying of Soviet uranium sources, and having nuclear fission research conducted at his Radium Institute. He died, however, before a full project was pursued. On religious views, Vernadsky was an atheist. He was interested in Hinduism and Rig Veda Vernadsky's son George Vernadsky (1887–1973) emigrated to the United States where he published numerous books on medieval and modern Russian history. The National Library of Ukraine, the Tavrida National University in Crimea and many streets and avenues in Ukraine and Russia are named in honor of Vladimir Vernadsky. UNESCO sponsored an international scientific conference, "Globalistics-2013", at Moscow State University on 23–25 October 2013, in honor of Vernadsky's 150th birthday. Family Vernadsky family in Poltava in 1908. Right-left: Vladimir, his daughter Nina, wife Natalia and her brother Pavel, son George * Father – Ivan Vernadsky, Russian Imperial economist * Mother – Аnna Konstantinovich, Russian music instructor * Wife – Nataliya Yegorovna Staritskaya (married in 1887 in St. Petersburg) * Son – George Vernadsky, American Russian historian, an author of numerous books on Russian history and philosophy * Daughter – Nina Toll, Doctor-psychiatrist Legacy hryvnia banknote with Vladimir Vernadsky portret * Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine is the main academic library in Ukraine * Ukrainian Antarctic station Akademik Vernadsky * Tavrida National V.I. Vernadsky University, university in Simferopol * Vernadsky Institute of geochemistry and analytical chemistry, a research institution of the Russian Academy of Sciences * Vernadsky State Geological Museum is the oldest museum in Moscow * Vernadsky Mountain Range is a mountains in Antarctica and is an extension of the Gamburtsev Mountain Range. * Bulvar Akademika Vernadskoho (Academician Vernadsky Boulevard) is a street in Kyiv * Vulytsia Petra Zaporozhtsia (in 1961–1963 vulytsia Akademika Vernadsky) is a street in Kyiv * Vernadskiy (crater), a lunar crater * Vernadsky Medal awarded annually by the International Association of GeoChemistry * 2809 Vernadskij, an asteroid On 25 October 2019 the National Bank of Ukraine put in circulation a 1000 hryvnia banknote with Vernadsky’s portrait.Ukraine starts printing new 1,000-hryvnia banknotes, UNIAN (1 October 2019) Selected works *Geochemistry, published in Russian 1924 *The Biosphere, first published in Russian in 1926. English translations: **Oracle, AZ, Synergetic Press, 1986, , 86 pp. **tr. David B. Langmuir, ed. Mark A. S. McMenamin, New York, Copernicus, 1997, , 192 pp. *Essays on Geochemistry & the Biosphere, tr. Olga Barash, Santa Fe, NM, Synergetic Press, , 2006 =Diaries= *Dnevniki 1917–1921: oktyabr 1917-yanvar 1920 (Diaries 1917–1921), Kyiv, Naukova dumka, 1994, , 269 pp. *Dnevniki. Mart 1921-avgust 1925 (Diaries 1921–1925), Moscow, Nauka, 1998, , 213 pp. *Dnevniki 1926–1934 (Diaries 1926–1934), Moscow, Nauka, 2001, , 455 pp. *Dnevniki 1935–1941 v dvukh knigakh. Kniga 1, 1935–1938 (Diaries 1935–1941 in two volumes. Volume 1, 1935–1938), Moscow, Nauka, 2006,,444 pp. *Dnevniki 1935–1941 v dvukh knigakh. Kniga 2, 1939–1941 (Diaries 1935–1941. Volume 2, 1939–1941), Moscow, Nauka, 2006, , 295 pp. See also *Gaia theory (science) *Noosphere *Pierre Teilhard de Chardin *Russian philosophy References Bibliography * *"Science and Russian Cultures in an Age of Revolutions" * External links * The grave of Vernadsky * Behrends, Thilo, The Renaissance of V.I. Vernadsky, Newsletter of the Geochemical Society, #125, October 2005, http://www.geochemsoc.org/files/4813/4436/8118/gn125.pdf retrieved 27 April 2013 * Vernadsky's biography * Electronic archive of writings from and about Vernadsky (Russian) http://vernadsky.lib.ru/ 1863 births 1945 deaths People from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Russian people of Ukrainian descent Presidents of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Russian Constitutional Democratic Party members Members of the State Council of the Russian Empire Cosmists Soviet geochemists Ukrainian geochemists Russian geochemists Russian philosophers Full Members of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925) Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Ukrainian philosophers Russian atheists Russian biologists Russian mineralogists Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Stalin Prize winners Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Russian expatriates in Ukraine Imperial Russian emigrants to Switzerland "
"Flavius Valens (328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. He was the younger brother of the emperor Valentinian I, who gave Valens the eastern half of the Roman Empire to rule. Before 364, Valens had a largely unremarkable military career, and as emperor he displayed administrative but little military competence. In 378, Valens was defeated and killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the invading Goths, which astonished contemporaries and marked the beginning of barbarian encroachment into Roman territory. As emperor Valens continually faced threats both internal and external. He defeated, after some dithering, the usurper Procopius in 366, and campaigned against the Goths across the Danube in 367 and 369. In the following years, Valens focused on the eastern frontier, where he faced the perennial threat of Persia, particularly in Armenia, as well as additional conflicts with the Saracens and Isaurians. Domestically, he inaugurated the Aqueduct of Valens in Constantinople, which was longer than all the aqueducts of Rome. In 376–77, war broke out with the Goths once again, following a mismanaged attempt to settle them in the Balkans. Valens returned from the east to fight the Goths in person, but lack of coordination with his nephew, the western emperor Gratian (Valentinian I's son), as well as poor battle tactics, led to Valens and much of the eastern Roman army dying at a battle near Adrianople in 378. Although Valens is described as indecisive, impressionable, a mediocre general and overall "utterly undistinguished", he was also a conscientious and capable administrator,New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Valens" and a notable achievement of his was to significantly relieve the burden of taxation on the population.Oxford Classical Dictionary, 'Valens' At the same time, his suspicious and fearful disposition, and excessive concern for personal safety, resulted in numerous purges and executions, which heavily stained his reputation. Valens was a fanatic Arian Christian – the last Roman emperor to profess this denomination – and discriminated against Catholics while interfering little in the affairs of the pagans.Encyclopædia Britannica, "Valens" Early life Valens and his brother Valentinian were both born in Cibalae in southern Pannonia (now Vinkovci in Croatia) into an Illyrian family in 328 and 321 respectively. They had grown up on estates purchased by their father Gratian the Elder in Africa and Britain. While Valentinian had been distinguished in an active military career prior to his election, Valens, though already 35 years old, had not participated in either the civil or military affairs of the empire previous to his selection as augustus by his brother.Edward Gibbon, The History of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXV., p. 848 Appointment as emperor In February 364, the reigning Emperor Jovian, while hastening to Constantinople to secure his claim to the throne, died in his sleep during a stop at Dadastana, 100 miles east of Ancyra. Valentinian, a tribunus scutariorum, who owed his advancement to the deceased, was elected by the legions to succeed Jovian.Gibbon, pp. 844–847 He was acclaimed augustus on 26 February, 364. It was the general opinion that Valentinian needed help to handle the cumbersome administration, civil and military, of the large and unwieldy empire, and, on 28 March of the same year, at the express demand of the soldiers for a second augustus, he selected his brother Valens as co- emperor at the Hebdomon, before the Walls of Constantinople.Gibbon, p. 847, 848An Encyclopedia Of World History, (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952), chap. II., Ancient History, p. 120 Both emperors were briefly ill, delaying them in Constantinople, but as soon as they recovered, the two augusti travelled together through Adrianople and Naissus to Mediana, where they divided their territories. Valentinian then went on to the West, where the Alemannic wars required his immediate attention.Gibbon, Ibid. 849Noel Emmanuel Lenski, Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D., University of California Press, 2002 Valens obtained the eastern half of the Empire: Greece, the Balkans, Egypt, Anatolia and the Levant as far as the border with the Sasanian Empire. Valens was back in his capital of Constantinople by December 364. Valens inherited the eastern portion of an empire that had recently retreated from most of its holdings in Mesopotamia and Armenia because of a treaty that his predecessor Jovian had made with Shapur II of the Sasanian Empire. Valens's first priority after the winter of 365 was to move east in hopes of shoring up the situation.Victory of Our Augusti"). They hold together the orb, a symbol of power. Revolt of Procopius By the autumn of 365 he had reached Caesarea in Cappadocia when he learned that a usurper – Julian's maternal cousin Procopius – had had himself acclaimed augustus in Constantinople. Procopius had commanded an auxiliary northern contingent of his relative's army during the Persian expedition and had not been present when Jovian was named his successor in the camp beyond the Tigris. Though Jovian, aside from depriving him of his command, took no further measures against this potential rival, Procopius fell immediately under the suspicion of Valentinian upon the latter's election.Gibbon, p. 850 After narrowly escaping arrest, he went into hiding but reemerged some time later at Constantinople where he was able to convince two Gallic legions passing through the capital to proclaim him emperor on 28 September 365. Though his early reception in the city seems to have been lukewarm, Procopius won favor quickly by using propaganda to his advantage: he sealed off the city to outside reports and began spreading rumors that Valentinian had died; he began minting coinage flaunting his connections to the Constantinian dynasty; and he further exploited dynastic claims by using the widow and daughter of Constantius II to act as showpieces for his regime. This program met with some success, particularly among soldiers loyal to the Constantinians and eastern intellectuals who had already begun to feel persecuted by the Valentinians. Valens' dismissal shortly before of Julian's popular minister Sallustius contributed to the general disaffection and to the acceptability of a revolution.Gibbon, pp. 850–852 Valens, meanwhile, faltered. When news arrived that Procopius had revolted, Valens considered abdication and perhaps even suicide. Even after he steadied his resolve to fight, Valens's efforts to forestall Procopius were hampered by the fact that most of his troops had already crossed the Cilician gates into Syria when he learned of the revolt. Procopius quickly gained control of the provinces of Asia and Bithynia, winning increasing support for the insurrection. However, Valens recovered, reappointed Sallustius, and dispatched the available legions under veteran generals, Arinthaeus and Arbetio, to march on Procopius.Gibbon, p. 852, 853 In the spring of 366 Valens' lieutenants encountered and routed Procopius at the battle of Thyatira, and again shortly after at Nacoleia. On both occasions, Procopius was deserted by his own following in fear of their Imperial adversaries' formidable commanders. Procopius was delivered to justice by members of his own escort, and executed on 27 May.Gibbon, p. 853, 854 His head was sent to Valentinian in Trier for inspection.Honorius War against the Goths During Procopius's insurrection, the Gothic king Ermanaric, who ruled a powerful kingdom north of the Danube from the Euxine to the Baltic Sea,Gibbon, p. 890, 891 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.Gibbon, p. 892 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.Gibbon, Ibid. p. 892, 893 In spring 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 therefore willing to come to terms.Hughes, Ian, Imperial Brothers, pp. 86–88. In early 370 Valens and Athanaric met in the middle of the Danube and agreed to a treaty that ended the war.Hughes, Ian, Imperial Brothers, p. 95. The treaty seems to have largely cut off relations between Goths and Romans, confining trade and the exchange of troops for tribute.Gibbon, p. 893, 894 Conflict with the Sassanids As mentioned before, among Valens' reasons for contracting a hasty and not entirely favorable peace in 369 was the deteriorating state of affairs in the East. Jovian had surrendered Rome's much disputed claim to control over Armenia in 363, and Shapur II was eager to make good on this new opportunity. The Persian emperor began enticing Armenian lords over to his camp and eventually forced the defection of the Arsacid Armenian king, Arshak II (Arsaces II), whom he quickly arrested and incarcerated. The Armenian nobility responded by asking Valens to return Arshak's son, Papas (Pap).Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 27.12.9. Valens agreed and sent Pap back to Armenia, but as these events took place during the war with the Goths he could not support him militarily. In response to the return of Pap, Shapur personally led an invasion force to seize control of Armenia.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 27.12.10–11. Pap and his followers took refuge in the mountains while Artaxata, the Armenian capital, and the city of Artogerassa along with several strongholds and castles were destroyed. Shapur sent a second invasion force to Caucasian Iberia to drive out the pro- Roman king Sauromaces II, and put his own appointee, Sauromaces's uncle Aspacures II on the throne. In the summer following his Gothic settlement, Valens sent his magister peditum (Master of Foot) Arinthaeus to support Pap.Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, 27.12.13. The following spring a force of twelve legions were sent under Terentius to regain Iberia and to garrison Armenia near Mount Npat. When Shapur counterattacked into Armenia in 371, his forces were bested by Valens' generals Traianus and Vadomarius and the Armenian sparapet (general) Mushegh Mamikonian at Bagavan and Gandzak.Hughes, Ian, Imperial Brothers, pp 102–106. Valens had overstepped the 363 treaty and then successfully defended his transgression. A truce settled after the 371 victory held as a quasi-peace for the next five years while Shapur was forced to deal with a Kushan invasion on his eastern frontier. Meanwhile, troubles broke out with the boy-king Papas, who began acting in high-handed fashion, even executing the Armenian bishop Narses and demanding control of a number of Roman cities, including Edessa. Pressed by his generals and fearing that Papas would defect to the Persians, Valens made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the prince and later had him executed inside Armenia. In his stead, Valens imposed another Arsacid, Varasdates (Varazdat), who ruled under the regency of the sparapet Mushegh Mamikonian, a friend of Rome. None of this sat well with the Persians, who began agitating again for compliance with the 363 treaty. As the eastern frontier heated up in 375, Valens began preparations for a major expedition. Meanwhile, trouble was brewing elsewhere. In Isauria, the mountainous region of western Cilicia, a major revolt had broken out in 375 which diverted troops formerly stationed in the East. Furthermore, by 377, the Saracens under Queen Mavia had broken into revolt and devastated a swath of territory stretching from Phoenicia and Palestine as far as the Sinai. Though Valens successfully brought both uprisings under control, the opportunities for action on the eastern frontier were limited by these skirmishes closer to home. On 17 November 375, Valens' older brother Valentinian died of a burst blood vessel in his skull in Pannonia. Gratian, Valentinian's son and Valens' nephew, had already been associated with his father in the imperial dignity and was joined by his half-brother Valentinian II who was elevated, on their father's death, to augustus by the imperial troops in Pannonia. Gothic War alt=Valens' plans for an eastern campaign were never realized. A transfer of troops to the Western Empire in 374 had left gaps in Valens' mobile forces. In preparation for an eastern war, Valens initiated an ambitious recruitment program designed to fill those gaps. It was thus not entirely unwelcome news when Valens heard of Ermanaric's death and the disintegration of his kingdom before an invasion of hordes of barbaric Huns from the far east. After failing to hold the Dniester or the Prut rivers against the Huns, the Goths retreated southward in a massive emigration, seeking new settlements and shelter south of the Danube, which they thought could be held against the enemy. In 376, the Visigoths under their leader Fritigern advanced to the far shores of the lower Danube and sent an ambassador to Valens who had set up his capital in Antioch, and requested asylum. Gibbon, chap. XXVI., pp. 920–923 As Valens' advisers were quick to point out, these Goths could supply troops who would at once swell Valens' ranks and decrease his dependence on provincial troop levies—thereby increasing revenues from the recruitment tax. However, it would mean hiring them and paying in gold or silver for their services. Fritigern had enjoyed contact with Valens in the 370s when Valens supported him in a struggle against Athanaric stemming from Athanaric's persecution of Gothic Christians. Though a number of Gothic groups apparently requested entry, Valens granted admission only to Fritigern and his followers. Others would soon follow, however.Gibbon, p. 925 When Fritigern and his Goths, to the number of 200,000 warriors and almost a million all told, crossed the Danube, Valens's mobile forces were tied down in the east, on the Persian frontier (Valens was attempting to withdraw from the harsh terms imposed by Shapur and was meeting some resistance on the latter's part). This meant that only limitanei units were present to oversee the Goths' settlement. The small number of imperial troops present prevented the Romans from stopping a Danube crossing by a group of Ostrogoths and yet later on by Huns and Alans. What started out as a controlled resettlement might any moment turn into a major invasion. But the situation was worsened by corruption in the Roman administration, as Valens' generals accepted bribes rather than depriving the Goths of their weapons as Valens had stipulated and then proceeded to enrage them by such exorbitant prices for food that they were soon driven to the last extremity. Gibbon, p. 925 Meanwhile the Romans failed to prevent the crossing of other barbarians who were not included in the treaty.Gibbon, Ibid.. p. 926 In early 377 the Goths revolted after a commotion with the people of Marcianopolis, and defeated the corrupt Roman governor Lupicinus near the city at the Battle of Marcianople.Gibbon, p. 927, 928 After joining forces with the Ostrogoths under Alatheus and Saphrax who had crossed without Valens' consent, the combined barbarian group spread out to devastate the country before combining to meet Roman advance forces under Traianus and Richomeres. In a sanguinary battle at Ad Salices, the Goths were momentarily checked,Gibbon, p. 931, 932 and Saturninus, now Valens' lieutenant in the province, undertook a strategy of hemming them in between the lower Danube and the Euxine, hoping to starve them into surrender. However, Fritigern forced him to retreat by inviting some of the Huns to cross the river in the rear of Saturninus's ranged defenses. The Romans then fell back, incapable of containing the irruption, though with an elite force of his best soldiers the general Sebastian was able to fall upon and destroy several of the smaller predatory bands.Gibbon, p. 935 By 378, Valens himself was ready to march west from his eastern base in Antioch. He withdrew all but a skeletal force—some of them Goths—from the east and moved west, reaching Constantinople by 30 May, 378. Valens' councillors, comes Richomeres, and his generals Frigeridus and Victor cautioned Valens to wait for the arrival of Gratian with his troops from Gaul, fresh from defeating the Alemanni, and Gratian himself strenuously urged this prudent course in his letters. But meanwhile the citizens of Constantinople were clamouring for the emperor to march against the enemy whom he had himself introduced into the Empire, and jeering the contrast between himself and his co-augustus.Gibbon, p. 934, 935 Valens decided to advance at once and win a victory on his own.Gibbon, p. 935, 936 Battle of Adrianople and death of Valens Medal of Valens, Vienna After a brief stay aimed at building his troop strength and gaining a toehold in Thrace, Valens moved out to Adrianople. From there, he marched against the confederated barbarian army on 9 August 378 in what would become known as the Battle of Adrianople. Although negotiations were attempted, these broke down when a Roman unit sallied forth and carried both sides into battle. The Romans held their own early on but were crushed by the surprise arrival of Visigoth cavalry which split their ranks. The primary source for the battle is Ammianus Marcellinus.Historiae, 31.12–13. Valens had left a sizeable guard with his baggage and treasures depleting his force. His right cavalry wing arrived at the Gothic camp sometime before the left wing arrived. It was a very hot day and the Roman cavalry was engaged without strategic support, wasting its efforts while they suffered in the heat. Meanwhile, Fritigern once again sent an emissary of peace in his continued manipulation of the situation. The resultant delay meant that the Romans present on the field began to succumb to the heat. The army's resources were further diminished when an ill-timed attack by the Roman archers made it necessary to recall Valens' emissary, comes Richomeres. The archers were beaten and retreated in humiliation. Returning from foraging to find the battle in full swing, Gothic cavalry under the command of Alatheus and Saphrax now struck and, in what was probably the most decisive event of the battle, the Roman cavalry fled. From here, Ammianus gives two accounts of Valens' demise. In the first account, Ammianus states that Valens was "mortally wounded by an arrow, and presently breathed his last breath" (XXXI.12). His body was never found or given a proper burial. In the second account, Ammianus states the Roman infantry was abandoned, surrounded and cut to pieces. Valens was wounded and carried to a small wooden hut. The hut was surrounded by the Goths who put it to the torch, evidently unaware of the prize within. According to Ammianus, this is how Valens perished (XXXI.13.14–6). A third, apocryphal, account states that Valens was struck in the face by a Gothic dart and then perished while leading a charge. He wore no helmet, in order to encourage his men. This action turned the tide of the battle which resulted in a tactical victory but a strategic loss. The church historian Socrates likewise gives two accounts for the death of Valens. > Some have asserted that he was burnt to death in a village whither he had > retired, which the barbarians assaulted and set on fire. But others affirm > that having put off his imperial robe he ran into the midst of the main body > of infantry; and that when the cavalry revolted and refused to engage, the > infantry were surrounded by the barbarians, and completely destroyed in a > body. Among these it is said the Emperor fell, but could not be > distinguished, in consequence of his not having on his imperial habit.The > Ecclesiastical History, VI.38, > http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.vii.xxxviii.html When the battle was over, two-thirds of the eastern army lay dead. Many of their best officers had also perished. What was left of the army of Valens was led from the field under the cover of night by comes Richomeres and general Victor. J. B. Bury, a noted historian of the period, provides a specific interpretation on the significance of the battle: it was "a disaster and disgrace that need not have occurred."http://rbedrosian.com/Ref/Bury/ieb4.htm For Rome, the battle incapacitated the government. Emperor Gratian, nineteen years old, was overcome by the debacle, and, until he appointed Theodosius I, unable to deal with the catastrophe, which spread out of control. Legacy Aqueduct of Valens in Constantinople, capital of the eastern Roman Empire "Valens was utterly undistinguished, still only a protector, and possessed no military ability: he betrayed his consciousness of inferiority by his nervous suspicion of plots and savage punishment of alleged traitors," writes A. H. M. Jones. But Jones admits that "he was a conscientious administrator, careful of the interests of the humble. Like his brother, he was an earnest Christian."Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602: A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1986), p. 139. He diminished the oppressive burden of the taxes which had been instituted by Constantine and his sons, and was humbly deferential to his brother in the latter's edicts of reform, as the institution of Defensors (a sort of substitute for the ancient Tribunes, guardians of the lower classes).Gibbon, chap. XXV., p. 859 His moderation and chastity in his private life were everywhere celebrated.Gibbon, p. 858 At the same time, continuous proscriptions and executions, originating in his weak and fearful disposition, disgraced the dozen years of his reign. "An anxious regard to his personal safety was the ruling principle of the administration of Valens", writes Gibbon.Gibbon, p. 857 To have died in so inglorious a battle has thus come to be regarded as the nadir of an unfortunate career. This is especially true because of the profound consequences of Valens' defeat. Adrianople spelled the beginning of the end for Roman territorial integrity in the late Empire and this fact was recognized even by contemporaries. Ammianus understood that it was the worst defeat in Roman history since the Battle of Edessa, and Rufinus called it "the beginning of evils for the Roman empire then and thereafter." Valens is also credited with the commission of a short history of the Roman State. This work, produced by Valens' secretary Eutropius, and known by the name Breviarium ab Urbe condita, tells the story of Rome from its founding. According to some historians, Valens was motivated by the necessity of learning Roman history, that he, the royal family, and their appointees might better mix with the Roman senatorial class.Eutropius, Breviarium, ed. H. W. Bird, Liverpool University Press, 1993, p. xix. =Struggles with the religious nature of the Empire= During his reign, Valens had to confront the theological diversity that was beginning to create division in the Empire. Julian (361–363), had tried to revive the pagan religions. His reactionary attempt took advantage of the dissensions among the different Christian factions, and a largely Pagan rank and file military. However, in spite of broad support, his actions were often viewed as excessive, and before he died in a campaign against the Persians, he was often treated with disdain. His death was considered a sign from God. Valens was baptised by the Arian bishop of Constantinople before he set out on his first war against the Goths. While the Nicene Christian writers of his time identified Valens with the Arian faction and accused him of persecuting Nicene Christians, modern historians have described both Valens and Valentinian I as primarily interested in maintaining social order and have minimized their theological concerns. Although Athanasius was impelled, under his reign, to briefly go into hiding, Valens maintained a close dependency on his brother Valentinian and treated St. Basil mildly, both of whom supported the Nicene position.Gibbon, pp. 861–864 Not long after Valens died the cause of Arianism in the Roman East was to come to an end. His successor Theodosius I would favor the Nicene Creed and suppress the Arians. See also * List of Byzantine emperors * List of people who disappeared mysteriously Notes References External links Laws of Valens * This list of Roman laws of the fourth century shows laws passed by Valens relating to Christianity. 328 births 378 deaths 4th-century Byzantine emperors 4th-century Christians 4th-century Roman emperors Arian Christians Flavii Gothic War (376–382) Illyrian people Imperial Roman consuls Last of the Romans Roman emperors killed in battle Valentinianic dynasty "