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<p>[QUOTE="Sallent, post: 3210143, member: 76194"]I think you all probably remember my thread on how Valens was the emperor most responsible for the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. After all, after the collapse of the Eastern Roman army at Adrianople, the Visigoths and other barbarian tribes were able to pierce the fronteers of the empire permanently and eventually make their way west, where they would bring about the total collapse of the much poorer western half of the empire in less than 100 years.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]833276[/ATTACH]</p><p>Valens, AD 364-378.</p><p>AR Siliqua, Treveri, 367-378.</p><p>Obv.: D N VALEN-S P F AVG; Pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.</p><p>Rev.: VRBS ROMA; Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory set on globe in her right hand and spear in her left // TRPS•</p><p>Reference: RIC IX 27b and 45a.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you don't rememner the thread or want to re-read it, here is a link for you to review it at your own leisure: <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/crisis-of-376-ce-battle-of-adrianople-and-roots-of-the-collapse-of-the-western-roman-empire.295027/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/crisis-of-376-ce-battle-of-adrianople-and-roots-of-the-collapse-of-the-western-roman-empire.295027/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/crisis-of-376-ce-battle-of-adrianople-and-roots-of-the-collapse-of-the-western-roman-empire.295027/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>However, if Valens was the Dumber of this story, with his bad battlefield tactics and poor leadership decisions which turned a relatively easy to win battle into an empire crippling dissaster the Romans would never recover from, then his Dumb counterpart in this whole tragedy is definitely Gratian.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is my new Urbs Roma matching coin of Gratian, from JA's auction.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]833283[/ATTACH]</p><p>Gratian, AD 367-383. AR Siliqua, 16mm, 2.2g, 12h; Trier mint, 367-378. <i>Obv</i>.: DN GRATIANVS P F AVG; Pearl diademed draped cuirassed bust right. <i>Rev</i>.: VRBS - ROMA; Roma seated left, holding Victory on globe and sceptre // TRPS•<i>Reference</i>: RIC IX 27f Trier.</p><p><br /></p><p>So what exactly did Gratian do to deserve the title of dumb? When he received Valens' pleas for help, Gratian headed instead for Gaul to deal with a Germanic incursion of his own, telling Valens to wait a few months for assistance from the west before engaging in battle. This in itself was not a bad decision as Gratian really did have a terrible problem in Gaul that needed urgent attention. The dumb decision came later.....after wiping the invading Germanic forces, Gratian decided not to stop at the fronteer and go help Valens in the east, but instead launched a questionable invasion of Germania which in all honestly could have waited a year or two. This left Valens desperate to deal with the Goths, and not seeing the much promised help from the western empire that Gratian had promised for months would be arriving any day now.... Seeing that the pledged help was not arriving despite Gratian's promises, and finding himself pressured to engage in battle, Valens took the field at Adrianople and started the downward slide that would end with the western half of the empire collapsing in less than 100 years, with the eastern half barely surviving to eventually become the Greek-centered Byzantine Empire.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Sallent, post: 3210143, member: 76194"]I think you all probably remember my thread on how Valens was the emperor most responsible for the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. After all, after the collapse of the Eastern Roman army at Adrianople, the Visigoths and other barbarian tribes were able to pierce the fronteers of the empire permanently and eventually make their way west, where they would bring about the total collapse of the much poorer western half of the empire in less than 100 years. [ATTACH=full]833276[/ATTACH] Valens, AD 364-378. AR Siliqua, Treveri, 367-378. Obv.: D N VALEN-S P F AVG; Pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right. Rev.: VRBS ROMA; Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory set on globe in her right hand and spear in her left // TRPS• Reference: RIC IX 27b and 45a. If you don't rememner the thread or want to re-read it, here is a link for you to review it at your own leisure: [url]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/crisis-of-376-ce-battle-of-adrianople-and-roots-of-the-collapse-of-the-western-roman-empire.295027/[/url] However, if Valens was the Dumber of this story, with his bad battlefield tactics and poor leadership decisions which turned a relatively easy to win battle into an empire crippling dissaster the Romans would never recover from, then his Dumb counterpart in this whole tragedy is definitely Gratian. Here is my new Urbs Roma matching coin of Gratian, from JA's auction. [ATTACH=full]833283[/ATTACH] Gratian, AD 367-383. AR Siliqua, 16mm, 2.2g, 12h; Trier mint, 367-378. [I]Obv[/I].: DN GRATIANVS P F AVG; Pearl diademed draped cuirassed bust right. [I]Rev[/I].: VRBS - ROMA; Roma seated left, holding Victory on globe and sceptre // TRPS•[I]Reference[/I]: RIC IX 27f Trier. So what exactly did Gratian do to deserve the title of dumb? When he received Valens' pleas for help, Gratian headed instead for Gaul to deal with a Germanic incursion of his own, telling Valens to wait a few months for assistance from the west before engaging in battle. This in itself was not a bad decision as Gratian really did have a terrible problem in Gaul that needed urgent attention. The dumb decision came later.....after wiping the invading Germanic forces, Gratian decided not to stop at the fronteer and go help Valens in the east, but instead launched a questionable invasion of Germania which in all honestly could have waited a year or two. This left Valens desperate to deal with the Goths, and not seeing the much promised help from the western empire that Gratian had promised for months would be arriving any day now.... Seeing that the pledged help was not arriving despite Gratian's promises, and finding himself pressured to engage in battle, Valens took the field at Adrianople and started the downward slide that would end with the western half of the empire collapsing in less than 100 years, with the eastern half barely surviving to eventually become the Greek-centered Byzantine Empire.[/QUOTE]
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