Failure of EmpireValens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Historical monograph and narrative synthesis; Level 5 by design analogy, not clinical CEBM.
OpenAlex W2588322745 · doi:10.1525/california/9780520233324.001.0001
What was done
This historical monograph provides a biography and institutional analysis of the Roman emperor Valens and his reign from A.D. 364 to 378. The study synthesizes archaeological evidence alongside historical, Gothic, and Armenian textual sources to examine the social, cultural, religious, economic, administrative, and military structures of the fourth-century Roman state.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data. The qualitative analysis concludes that while Valens' reign ended in military collapse at Adrianople alongside economic disarray and religious persecution, he maintained effective frontier defense and administration, ultimately failing due to structural mismatches between imperial capacity and external pressures.
Why it matters
It offers a reassessment of fourth-century Roman governance by contextualizing Valens' political and military decisions within broader structural crises rather than attributing imperial decline solely to personal failure.
Limits
As a qualitative historical biography, findings depend on the interpretation of fragmented and surviving ancient textual and archaeological sources. The abstract reports no quantitative measurements or formal comparative controls.
Cited by
- supports The Goths crossed the Danube in a major migration in 376 AD, and at the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD, Emperor Valens was killed and approximately one and a half Roman field armies were destroyed.