 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2024) |
| Battle of Thyatira | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Procopius' Rebellion | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Roman Empire | Procopius | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Valens | Gomoarius | ||||||
The Battle of Thyatira was fought in 366 at Thyatira, Lydia (modern Turkey), between the army of the Roman Emperor Valens and the army of the usurper Procopius, led by his general Gomoarius.
After the death of the emperor Julian in his campaign against Persia in 363, his distant relative Procopius was the last surviving descendant of Constantine I. [1] This link to the revered Constantinian dynasty made Procopius dangerous as a potential usurper, but the emperor Jovian allowed him to retire peacefully to his estates in Cappadocia. [1] Jovian's successor Valens was less trusting, and tried to have Procopius killed. Procopius escaped from the imperial executioners and spent an interval hiding in the Tauric Chersonese. In 365, while Valens was absent from Constantinople, Procopius emerged from exile, seizing control of the capital city and the adjoining provinces of Thrace and Bithynia. [2] His Constantinian heritage, and promises of money, won a strong force of imperial soldiers to his cause. [3]
Valens reacted to the usurpation with despair, and the situation was saved by his generals, Salutius, Arintheus and Arbitio. An army intended for campaigns in the east was redirected against Procopius, who confronted it at Thyatira. Valens's officers spoke to the rebellious soldiers, many of whom they had commanded in prior wars, and encouraged them to rejoin the legitimate emperor. Procopius lost the battle after a large part of his army defected to Valens; a subsequent action at Nacolia ended in a similar manner, and Procopius was captured and killed. [4]
Valens was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of the Roman Empire to rule. 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.
Year 366 (CCCLXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gratianus and Dagalaifus. The denomination 366 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The 360s decade ran from January 1, 360, to December 31, 369.
Valentinian I, sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the East. During his reign, he fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians, strengthening the border fortifications and conducting campaigns across the Rhine and Danube. His general Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scoti, and Saxons. Valentinian founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire.
Valentinian II was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his half-brother, then was sidelined by a usurper, and finally became sole ruler after 388, albeit with limited de facto powers.
Jovian was Roman emperor from June 363 to February 364. As part of the imperial bodyguard, he accompanied Julian on his campaign against the Sasanian Empire. Julian was killed in battle, and the exhausted and ill-provisioned army declared Jovian his successor. Unable to cross the Tigris, Jovian made peace with the Sasanids on humiliating terms. He spent the rest of his seven-month reign traveling back to Constantinople. After his arrival at Edessa, Jovian was petitioned by bishops over doctrinal issues concerning Christianity. Albeit the last emperor to rule the whole Empire during his entire reign, he died at Dadastana, never having reached the capital.
Procopius was a Roman usurper against Valens.
The Valentinian dynasty was a ruling house of five generations of dynasts, including five Roman emperors during late antiquity, lasting nearly a hundred years from the mid fourth to the mid fifth century. They succeeded the Constantinian dynasty and reigned over the Roman Empire from 364 to 392 and from 425 to 455, with an interregnum (392–423), during which the Theodosian dynasty ruled and eventually succeeded them. The Theodosians, who intermarried into the Valentinian house, ruled concurrently in the east after 379.
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Marcellus was an officer of the Roman Empire, supporter of usurper Procopius and briefly an usurper himself.
Byzantine Empire under the Constantinian and Valentinianic dynasties was the earliest period of the Byzantine history that saw a shift in government from Rome in the West to Constantinople in the East within the Roman Empire under emperor Constantine the Great and his successors. Constantinople, formally named Nova Roma, was founded in the city of Byzantium, which is the origin of the historiographical name for the Eastern Empire, which self-identified simply as the "Roman Empire".
Flavius Arintheus was a Roman army officer who started his career in the middle ranks and rose to senior political and military positions. He served the emperors Constantius II, Julian, Jovian and Valens. In 372 he was appointed consul, alongside Domitius Modestus.
Victor was a Roman military officer and politician, who served the emperors Constantius II, Julian, Jovian and Valens. He was appointed consul in AD 369, alongside Valentinianus Galates.
Julian's Persian expedition began in March 363 AD and was the final military campaign of the Roman emperor Julian. The Romans fought against the Sasanian Empire, ruled at the time by Shapur II.
Flavius Lupicinus was a Roman military commander in the 4th century AD. He was appointed magister equitum in 357, but fell out of favour when he refused to side with Julian when the army declared him Augustus. After Julian's death, he was appointed magister equitum per orientes in 363. In 365, he was the senior commander in the emperor Valens' campaign against the usurper Procopius, and following the defeat of Procopius was made consul in 367.
Flavius Jovinus was a Roman general and consul of the Western Roman Empire. He was of Gallic or Germanic origin and was both born and buried in Durocortorum, modern day Reims.
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