VALENS Vetttius
1. Vectius Valens, one of the paramours of Messallina, who was put to death, A. D. 48. (Tac. Ann. 11.30, 31, 35; Sen. Apocol. 100.13.) He is said by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 29.5) to have given some attention to the study of eloquence, and to have founded a new sect. Haller (Bibl. Medic. Pract. vol. i.) and Sprengel (Hist. de la Méd. vol. ii.) state that he was one of the followers of Themison, but they give no authority for this assertion.
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.