Valentinian I

Born in 321 in Pannonia to a military family, Valentinian climbed the officer ranks under three emperors before the army proclaimed him Augustus in 364 after Jovian's sudden death. Within weeks he appointed his brother Valens co-emperor for the East and turned his attention to the collapsing northern frontiers. He won hard campaigns against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians, shored up border forts, and sent his general Theodosius the Elder to crush a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy—a synchronized attack on Roman Britain by Picts, Scoti, and Saxons. On 17 November 375, meeting Quadi…