Editing Valentinian I (section)

=== Campaigns in Gaul and Germania ===
[[File:INC-3035-r Солид. Валентиниан I. Ок. 367—375 гг. (реверс).png|alt=|thumb|Reverse of a ''solidus'' of Valentinian marked: {{Smallcaps|restitutor reipublicae}} ("''restitutor of the Republic''")]]

In 365 the [[Alemanni]] crossed the Rhine and invaded Gaul. Simultaneously, [[Procopius (usurper)|Procopius]] began his revolt against Valens in the east. According to Ammianus, Valentinian received news of both crises on 1 November while on his way to [[Lutetia]]. He initially sent [[Dagalaifus (magister equitum)|Dagalaifus]] to fight the Alemanni<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVI.5.9</ref> while he himself made preparations to march east and help Valens. After receiving counsel from his court and deputations from the leading Gallic cities begging him to stay and protect Gaul, he decided to remain and fight the Alemanni.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVI.5.12</ref><ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVI.5.13</ref>
Valentinian advanced to [[Durocortorum]] and sent two generals, Charietto and Severianus, against the invaders.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.1.2</ref> Both generals were promptly defeated and killed;<ref name="ReferenceA">Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.1.4</ref> Dagalaifus took their place in 366, but he was also ineffective.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.2.1</ref> Late in the campaigning season Dagalaifus was replaced by [[Jovinus (consul)|Jovinus]], a general from the court of Valentinian. After several victories along the [[Meuse]] river, Jovinus fought and won a pitched battle with the Alemanni near Chalôn.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.2.1–7</ref> After his victory he pushed the Alemanni out of Gaul and was awarded the consulate the following year for his efforts.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.2.10</ref>

In early 367, [[Great Conspiracy|crises in Britain and northern Gaul]] postponed Valentinian's punitive expedition against the Alemanni, who promptly re-crossed the Rhine and plundered [[Moguntiacum]]. Valentinian succeeded in arranging the assassination of [[Vithicabius]], an Alemannic leader, but wanted to decisively end the conflict by bringing the Alemanni under Roman hegemony. Valentinian spent the entire winter of 367 gathering a massive army for a spring offensive. He summoned the ''Comes Italiae'' Sebastianus,{{sfn|Hughes|2013}} with the Italian and Illyrian legions, to join Jovinus and Severus, the ''[[magister peditum]]''. In the spring of 368 Valentinian, his eight-year-old son Gratian and the army crossed the Rhine and [[Main (river)|Main]] rivers into Alemannic territory. Initially they encountered no resistance, burning any dwellings or food stores they found along the way. Finally, Valentinian fought the Alemanni in the [[Battle of Solicinium]]; the Romans were victorious<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.10.15</ref> but suffered heavy casualties.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.10.16</ref> A temporary peace was reached and Valentinian returned to [[Trier]] for the winter.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVII.10.17</ref> During 369, Valentinian ordered new defensive works to be constructed and old structures refurbished along the length of the Rhine's west bank.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVIII.2.1</ref> Boldly, he ordered the construction of a fortress across the Rhine in the mountains near modern [[Heidelberg]].<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVIII.2.2</ref> The Alemanni sent envoys to protest, but they were dismissed. The Alemanni attacked the fortress while it was still under construction and destroyed it.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'' XXVIII.2.8</ref>
[[File:Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (32212815186).jpg|alt=Portrait head of Valentinian or Valens on a modern bust.|thumb|Life-size portrait head of Valentinian or Valens on a modern bust, [[Uffizi|Uffizi Gallery]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>[http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk/database/discussion.php?id=954 http://laststatues.classics.ox.ac.uk, LSA-582 (J. Lenaghan)]</ref>]]
In 370 the [[Saxons]] renewed their attacks on northern Gaul. Nannienus, the ''comes'' in charge of the troops in northern Gaul, urged Severus to come to his aid. After several modest successes, a truce was called and the Saxons handed over young men fit for duty in the Roman military, in exchange for free passage back to their homeland. The Romans ambushed them and destroyed the entire invading force.<ref>Rike, R.L., ''Apex Omnium: Religion in the Res Gestae of Ammianus'' (1987), p.. 91; Jones, Martindale and Morris, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' Vol. I (1971), pp. 615–616</ref>

Valentinian meanwhile tried to persuade the [[Burgundians]] – bitter enemies of the Alemanni – to attack [[Macrian]], a powerful Alemannic chieftain. If the Alamanni tried to flee, Valentinian would be waiting for them with his army. Negotiations with the Burgundians broke down when Valentinian, in his usual high-handed manner, refused to meet with the Burgundian envoys and personally assure them of Roman support. Nevertheless, rumors of a Roman alliance with the Burgundians did have the effect of scattering the Alemanni through fear of an imminent attack from their enemies. This event allowed the ''[[magister equitum]]'' [[Count Theodosius|Theodosius]] to attack the Alemanni{{sfn|Hughes|2013}} through Raetia. The many prisoners he took were settled in the [[Po river]] valley in Italy, where they still resided at the time Ammianus wrote his history.

Valentinian campaigned unsuccessfully for four more years to defeat Macrian, who in 372 barely escaped capture by Theodosius. Meanwhile, Valentinian continued to recruit heavily from Alemanni friendly to Rome. The Alemannic king [[Fraomar]] was given the rank of [[Military tribune|tribune]] and sent to Britain in 372–373 with an army of reinforcements, and the noblemen Bitheridius and [[Hortarius]] became commanders in Valentinian's army, although Hortarius was soon executed for conspiring with Macrian. The campaigns against hostile Alemanni were hampered by troubles first in Africa, and later on the Danube river. In 374 Valentinian was forced to make peace with Macrian because the Emperor's presence was needed to counter an invasion of Illyricum by the [[Quadi]] and [[Sarmatians]].