Valens and the Battle of Mursa

But when the Arians saw that their scheme was not succeeding, they decided to use force. For people who were backed by the favor of the ruler could easily attempt and carry out anything, and they had won him over completely by wicked flattery. Besides, by common consent no one could defeat them; for nearly all the bishops of the two Pannonias, many of the Eastern bishops, and those throughout all Asia had joined in their faithlessness. The chief men in that evil company were Ursacius of Singidunum, Valens of Mursa, Theodore of Heraclea, Stephen of Antioch, Acacius of Caesarea, Menophantus of Ephesus, George of Laodicea, and Narcissus of Neronias. These men had gained such a hold on the palace that the emperor did nothing without their agreement. [a]

He was at the beck and call of all of them, but he was especially under the influence of Valens. For at the time when the battle against Magnentius was fought at Mursa, Constantius did not have the courage to go down and watch the fighting for himself. He stayed in a church of the martyrs that stood outside the town, and Valens, who was then bishop of the place, was with him to keep up his courage. But Valens had cunningly arranged through his agents to be the first to learn the outcome of the battle. He did this either to win the emperor’s favor by being the first to bring him good news, or to save his own life, since he would gain time to escape if the battle went badly. So while the few people with the emperor were in a state of alarm, and the emperor himself was consumed with anxiety, Valens was the first to announce to them that the enemy had fled. When Constantius asked for the man who had brought the news to be brought before him, Valens, to increase the reverence people felt for him, said that the messenger who had come to him was an angel. The emperor, who was easily persuaded, used afterward to declare openly that he had won the victory through the merits of Valens, and not by the courage of his army.