Valens
one of the thirty tyrants enumerated by Trebellius Pollio [see AUREOLUS], was nominated proconsul of Achaia by Gallienus in consequence of his high character as a soldier, and a statesman. The usurper Macrianus [MACRIANUS] fearing him as a rival, and hating him as a private foe, despatched an emissary [PISO, No. 33], to put him to death. Valens, upon receiving intelligence of this design, conceived that he might best avoid the threatened danger by assuming the purple. Accordingly he was proclaimed emperor, and was soon after murdered by his soldiers. (Trebell. Poll. Trig. Tyrann. xviii.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.