of the Rhone, below the confluence of the Isère (Map: France, L 7). The Cathedral of Saint Appolinaire, in the odd Auvergnat-Romanesque style, consecrated in 1095, contains ar apse with colonnade. The Maison des Têtes (sixteenth century), with its beautifully decorated windows and its front sculptured with heads of Homer, Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Hippocrates, and the fine paintings of the Church of Saint Jean Bap tiste are worthy of mention. There is a fine suspension bridge over the Rhone. Across the river lie the interesting ruins of the Crussol, a twelfth-century castle. The printing of linen and cotton fabrics, the manufacture of flour and tinned foods, and agriculture are important industries. The vineyards are of great extent. Population, in 1891, 19,970; in 1901, 26,946. Valence is the Valencia of the Romans. VALEN'CIA, Span. pron. vå-lân'thê-a. The name of a former kingdom of Spain, comprising the present provinces of Valencia, Alicante, and Castellon de la Plana. The region is bounded on the north by Aragon and Catalonia, on the east by the Mediterranean, on the south by Murcia, and on the west by Murcia, New Castile, and Aragon. Area, 8830 square miles. The surface is of a broken mountainous character, with some small plains scattered along the coast and in the uplands of the southwest. The plains bordering the Mediterranean abound in lagoons, from many of which salt is derived in large quantities. There are few good harbors. The most important rivers are the Segura, Guadalaviar, Júcar, and Mijares. The rainfall varies greatly, and the cold north winds and the hot southwest winds are very dry. The temperature varies from the extreme summer heat of the lower coast plains and valleys to the

In

extreme winter cold of the inland mountain regions. With this variation in temperature and rainfall there is a wide variety of agricultural products. Wheat and other cereals are grown in fairly large quantities, but their yield is surpassed by that of the vine, rice, sugar, and fruits, among which the exports of oranges and figs have the lead. The stock-raising interests of the section are important. The mining industry is not very large, lignite, iron, lead, and zine being produced in small quantities. manufactures Valencia ranks next to Catalonia and has extensive textile establishments, iron and copper foundries, distilleries, sugar mills, and potteries. The fisheries and the curing of salt fish also employ a considerable portion of the population. The inhabitants, who preserve many traits of the Moorish admixture, in 1900 numbered 1,587,533. Upon the dissolution of the Caliphate of Cordova in the early part of the eleventh century, Valencia became an independent kingdom. Toward the close of the century it passed under the rule of the Almoravides, who were supplanted half a century later by the Almohades. In 1238 the city of Valencia was taken by James I. of Aragon, who soon became master of the region.

VALENCIA. A Mediterranean seaport of Spain, capital of the Province of Valencia, 185 miles east-southeast of Madrid, on the right bank of the Guadalaviar, two and a half miles from its mouth (Map: Spain, E 3). As the former capital of the Kingdom of Valencia it retains many traces of Moorish occupancy. The surrounding

huerta resembles a vast shady orchard and bears magnificent groves of citron, orange, and mulberry. The city itself is picturesque in the crowded, narrow, and winding streets of the older portion and charming in the broader streets and luxuriant plazas and paseos of the newer part. Its climate is mild and very dry. The public buildings are numerous and interesting architecturally and because of their historical significance. Among the important churches the Cathedral La Seo occupies first place. This structure was begun in 1262 and completed in 1482. The Church of San Andrés contains some beautiful frescoes and paintings of Juanes, Ribalta, and Vergara. The former Convento del Cármen is now utilized for the Provincial Museum of Paintings, with a very complete collection representing the Valencian school and some notable foreign works. La Lonja (the silk exchange), the centre of the commercial life of the city, is a beautiful Gothic structure, built on the site of the Moorish Alcázar. The Aduana, a superb structure erected for a custom house by Charles IV., is now occupied as a tobacco factory, employing 4000 operatives. The provincial hospital, housed in a fifteenth-century structure, accommodates 6000 patients annually. The ornamental Plaza de Toros, or bull ring, reputed the del Mercado is the largest of the public squares best in Spain, seats 17,000 spectators. The Plaza of the city; others of note are the Plaza del

Príncipe Alfonso, the Plaza de Tetuán, the site of

the old Citadel, and the Plaza de la Reina, a busy

shopping and café centre. Modern improvements include the introduction of tramways, of gas and electricity, an adequate water supply, and a sewerage system. The harbor of Valencia is one of the most secure on the Mediterranean coast. The chief exports are rice, melons, oranges, and other fruits, green and dried, wines, silks, raw and spun, and an excellent quality of olive oil. In 1898 more than 1200 vessels entered and cleared. The industries of the city include toand linen weaving. There are also manufactures bacco manufacturing, silk spinning, and hemp of velvet, hat plush, felt, gloves, fans (a special product), iron and bronze ware, leather goods, and pottery ware, especially the mosaic bricks known as azulejos, for which there are more than twenty establishments in the environs of the city. The agricultural industries of the vicinity are also important. Valencia is the seat of one of the foremost universities of Spain. (See VALENCIA, UNIVERSITY OF.) The population, illustrating in character and physical traits the early Moorish admixture, numbered, in 1900, 215,687. Valencia first appears in history in B.C. 138, when it was given the Jus Latinum. It was destroyed by Pompey, captured by the Visigoths in 413, and by the Moors in 714. In 1021 it became the capital of an independent Moorish kingdom. In 1095 it was captured by the Cid, but the Moors subsequently assumed control, until its final capture by James I. of Aragon in 1238. The expulsion of the Moriscoes at the beginning of the seventeenth century greatly crippled its prosperity, and by espousing the Austrian side during the War of Spanish Succession, it lost many of its ancient privileges. In 1812 it was captured by Suchet and remained in the possession of the French until the following year.

VALENCIA. The capital of the State of Carabobo, Venezuela, situated 24 miles south of Puerto Cabello, with which it has railway connection, near the western end of Lake Valencia or Tacarigua (Map: Venezuela, D 2). Valencia is the second city of the Republic, and is well constructed with broad streets, well-kept plazas, a beautiful market and alameda. Valencia con

tains a notable cathedral erected during the first half of the nineteenth century. The city is on the banks of the Aragua River. The chief exports are coffee, sugar, cacao, and hides. Popu lation, in 1894, 38,654. Valencia was founded in 1555. During the struggle for independence it was the scene of battles fought by Bolivar in 1814 and 1821, the latter of which gained the freedom of Venezuela from Spain. On account

of the various sieges from 1810 to 1821 and the great earthquake of 1812, there are many ruins in the vicinity.

VALENCIA, UNIVERSITY OF. A Spanish university, founded by the union of an episcopal foundation for theology and a municipal school of arts, medicine, and civil and canon law, both dating from the middle of the fourteenth century. These were combined about 1500. Several colleges were founded in the sixteenth century, the period of the greatest prosperity of the institution. From that century it sank in numbers and reputation. It was reorganized in the decade 1848-58, and has since grown to be one of the leading universities in the kingdom. It has the three faculties of law, physics-chemistry, and medicine, and in 1901 had 1728 students.

VALENCIENNES, vå'läN'syen'. The capital of an arrondissement in the Department of Nord, France, and a fortress of the second class, at the junction of the Rhondelle and the Scheldt, 30 miles by rail southeast of Lille (Map: France, K 1). Broad boulevards are laid out on the site of the old fortifications, which were demolished in 1892. There are many houses of the seventeenth century, which give the streets a medieval apearance. The handsome Hôtel de Ville, pure seventeenth century except the façade, contains a large collection of paintings, especially of the Flemish school (including splendid specimens of Rubens), and a collection of sculptures. The Gothic Church of Saint Géry, dating from the thirteenth century, with a modern tower, and the Church of Notre Dame du Saint Cordon, a modern structure in thirteenth-century style, with beautiful stained glass windows by Lévêque, are worthy of notice. In the old Jesuit College is the municipal library of more than 25,000 volumes, containing much valuable Romance literature.

There are an academy for sculpture and painting, a museum of natural history, an immense hospital, a lycée, and an arsenal. The famous Valenciennes lace is no longer manufactured. The extensive coal fields amid which

Valenciennes lies have made it a metallurgical centre. Glass, sugar (from beets), chemicals, cambrics, and lawns are also manufactured.

Chicory coffee is shipped in large quantities. Population, in 1901, 309,460. Valenciennes is the Roman Valentiana. It came to France by the Treaty of Nimeguen in 1678.

VALENCIENNES, ACHILLE (1794-1865). A French zoologist, born in Paris and educated

He

there. In 1836 he became professor of ichthyology at the Museum of Natural History. shared in Cuvier's Histoire naturelle des poissons, which he continued (22 vols., 1829-49). Valenciennes wrote Histoire naturelle des mollusques, des annélides et des zoophytes (1833).

VALENCY (Lat. valentia, strength, from valere, to be strong, able; connected with Olr. flaith, power, Lith. galeti, to be able, Goth. waldan, OHG. waltan, Ger. walten, AS. wealdan, Eng. wield), VALENCE, or ATOMICITY. In chemistry, the combining capacity of an atom, with reference to the number of other atoms with which it can be directly combined. The concepmolecular theories. These theories led to a knowltion of valency is an offspring of the atomic and edge of the numbers of different atoms making up the molecules of compounds; but as in many cases very different compounds were found to have the same composition and the same molecular weight, it became clear that differences in the chemical and physical properties of compounds must often be caused by differences in the manner of combination of their atoms. Those differences of combination had to be investigated, and thus arose the question, In what manner does affinity act in holding together the atoms of compounds? In considering various compounds with a view to obtaining some light on this question, chemists were gradually led to a series of assumptions, the incorporation of which in atomic chemistry has proved exceedingly fruitful.

First of all it was observed that, in compounds atom of hydrogen can hold in combination only of hydrogen with some one other element, one one atom of the other element; this was shown by such compounds as hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrobromic acid (HBr), hydriodic acid (HI), etc., and the fact was expressed by saying that hydrogen is univalent or monad. The valencies of certain other elements were then hydrogen, on the principle that by every unit found by considering their compounds with of their combining capacities the atoms of those elements can hold one atom of hydrogen; for hydrogen itself is univalent, i.e. has unit combining capacity. From the compounds already mentioned it may be seen that the atoms of chlorine, bromine, and iodine are, like hydrogen, univalent; for each atom of these elements can be combined with only one atom of hydrogen. Similarly, compounds like water (HO), sulphureted hydrogen (SH2), ammonia (NH1), sulphur are di-valent, that nitrogen is tri-valent, and marsh-gas (CH) show that oxygen and and that carbon is quadri-valent. The valencies peculiar to some of the elements being thus established by an inspection of their compounds with hydrogen, the valencies of the other elements can be found by studying their com pounds not necessarily with hydrogen, but with like sodium chloride (Na CI), postassium chloride any element of known valency. Thus compounds potassium are univalent; for they can hold in (KC1), etc., show that the atoms of sodium and combination only one atom of another univalent element. The same thing is shown by the fact that sodium or potassium takes the place of one atom of hydrogen in acids; for example, in hydrochloric acid:

and therefore the element calcium, or rather an atom of this element, is considered di-valent.

Thus a few simple compounds and a few simple reactions led to a knowledge of the valencies peculiar to all of the elements. The conception of valency has proved especially useful in the domain of organic chemistry, i.e. the chemistry of the compounds of carbon. Our modern ‘structural theory' is based entirely on the assumption that an atom of carbon is invariably quadrivalent; and the usefulness of the structural theory can hardly be overestimated. For it exhibits in a clear and simple manner the relations between similar as well as different compounds, and, above all, it permits of determining the exact number of different compounds that may have the same composition and the same molecular weight, and thus permits of foretelling the existence of compounds before they have been actually obtained.

Graphically each unit of combining capacity of an atom is represented by a dash added to its symbol. The valencies of different elements are thus denoted as follows:

Hydrochloric acid

Water

Ammonia

H

d

H-C-H

H Marsh-gas The graphic representation of valency suggests an important question, viz.: Are the valencies of an atom forces acting only in certain directions, or do they act, like gravity, in all directions? A further question naturally suggests itself in the case of atoms having more than unit valency, viz. Are the several affinities equal to one another in power? To answer these questions is a matter not of idle speculation, but of necessity in the case-again-of the compounds of carbon. The study of these compounds has led chemists to make the following assumptions: (1) the four valencies of carbon are in all respects equal; (2) they act in four different directions which are perfectly symmetrical with respect to the carbon atom. The carbon atom is, namely, imagined to be placed at the centre of a regular tetrahedron, and four equal forces are assumed to act in the directions of the four vertices of the tetrahedron. A further assumption that thrusts itself upon the organic chemist is that in every

VOL. XVII.-14

compound capable of independent existence all the valencies of the constituent atoms are satisfied by combination, and that no valency is 'free.' Without these assumptions organic chemistry can make no progress. These assumptions made, there is hardly a general fact that remains unaccounted for. The assumptions, though hypothetical in character, are therefore incorporated as principles of science, and thus in connection with the compounds of carbon chemistry answers in a sense the question stated at the beginning of this article, viz.: In what manner does affinity act in holding together the atoms of compounds?

one

In the case of other elements than carbon, the application of the idea of valency has been much less useful and much less successful. In fact, the obstacles in the way of consistently applying the idea to the several elements are so great that the idea would probably have been abandoned long ago, were it not for its great usefulness in the case of carbon. The chief obstacles are as follows: Firstly, the valencies of most elements are found to be variable and hence unreliable as a basis for predicting the constitution of unknown substances. Thus, while in ammonia (NH) the atom of nitrogen is tri-valent (because combined with three univalent atoms of hydrogen), in nitric oxide (NO) it is di-valent (because combined with one di-valent atom of oxygen), and in ammonium chloride (NH,Cl) it is penta-valent (because combined with five univalent atoms, viz. four hydrogens and chlorine). In other compounds nitrogen seems to have still other valencies. Turning to iron, we find it di-valent in ferrous chloride (FeCl2) and tri-valent in ferric chloride (FeCl3). Chlorine is univalent when combined with hydrogen, and quinqui-valent when combined with oxygen. Sulphur is di-valent when combined with hydrogen, and hexa-valent when combined with oxygen. Phosphorus is tri-valent when combined with hydrogen, and quinqui-valent when combined with oxygen. Oxygen is di-valent in nearly all of its compounds; yet in di-methyl ether hydrochloride oxygen must be assumed to be quadri-valent. Even in the case of carbon an exception is known: in ordinary carbonic oxide (CO) the carbon atom is apparently di-valent (because combined with one di-valent atom of we assume that the oxygen oxygen)-unless atom in this compound is quadri-valent, and hence that the compound is an exception to the rule according to which oxygen is di-valent. Further, it has been stated above that the atoms of hydrogen, chlorine, iodine, and sodium were primarily assumed to be uni-valent. One might therefore expect that in all combinations of any two or three elements one atom of one would combine with one, and only one atom of the other. Yet the compound called tri-chloride of iodine has the formula IC. Is iodine tri-valent in this compound? Another compound, a hydride of sodium, has the formula HNa,. Is hydrogen in this compound di-valent? And is, therefore, the valency even of hydrogen variable? Again when we find the molecule of hydrogen gas to be made up of two hydrogen atoms, we conclude that the affinity of each of these atoms is satisfied by that of the other atom. But the molecules of certain uni-valent elements (the vapors of sodium, potassium, iodine, at high temperatures, etc.) are known to be made up each of a single

atom. Are the affinities of these single atoms 'free? Or shall we accept the verdict of organic chemistry, acording to which the molecule of a substance capable of independent existence can contain no 'free' affinities? But then how can a single atom form a molecule? While we thus search in vain for an explanation as to what becomes of affinities in certain compounds, we find that other compounds seem to involve the use of more valencies than those possessed by the constituent atoms. Examples of such compounds are presented by crystallo-hydrates, like NaCl. 210, made up of several molecules within each of which all the available valencies should be expected to be satisfied. Other examples of this kind are presented by many of the minerals found in nature. Do atoms, then, possess additional valencies which sometimes do and sometimes do not come into play?

All of these questions remain, as yet, unanswered. And hence while the conception of valency serves as an excellent working principle for the correlation of the compounds of carbon, many important facts remain for the present beyond its reach. See CHEMISTRY; CARBON COMPOUNDS; STEREO-CHEMISTRY.

VAʼLENS (c.328-378 A.D.). Roman Emperor of the East (A.D. 364-378). He was the brother of Valentinian I. (q.v.), was born near Cibalis, in Pannonia, about A.D. 328, and was associated with his brother in the Imperial authority, receiving as his share of the Roman world Asia, Egypt, and Thrace, in 364. His sovereignty was, however, disputed by Procopius, a supposed scion of the race of Constantine, who raised his standard in Thrace, was crowned at Constantinople, and for two years maintained his ground with skill and courage, till the defeat of his troops at Thyatira and Nacosia, followed by his capture and death in 366. The first prominent act of Valens's reign was a reduction of 25 per cent, in the taxes. The prolonged imprisonment of 3000 Ostrogoths, who had been sent to aid Procopius, led to a war which lasted from 367 to 369. The contest was carried on in the country of the Goths and was throughout in favor of the Romans. Difficulties arose immediately afterwards (370) with the Persians, who sought to occupy Armenia, although war was not declared till the end of 372, when the Romans were victorious.

Valens, who had removed to Antioch

at the beginning of the war, now occupied himself with the religious quarrels between the Arians and the orthodox party, which at that time raged

with much violence over the whole Eastern Empire. Affairs on the eastern frontier again assumed a threatening aspect; but the Romans were disinclined any longer to interfere with the designs of the Persians on Armenia, and concluded a somewhat discreditable treaty in 376. In the meantime the Goths, who had for some time been peacefully settled in Dacia, were assailed by the advancing hordes of the Huns. The Ostrogoths, who first felt the shock, were partly incorporated, and the remainder forced to retreat; the Visigoths next attempted to stem the torrent, but without success, and crowds of fugitives crowded to the north bank of the Danube. Valens accorded permission to a large body of Goths under Fritigern to cross into Masia and Thrace, and take possession of the waste lands in

these provinces; the fugitive Ostrogoths soon afterwards crossed the river without permission; and the alarm which the numbers and turbulence of his new subjects speedily aroused led Valens to the adoption of such impolitic measures that the gratitude of the Goths for shelter afforded was turned to bitter resentment. Valens at last resolved on war, and engaged the Goths near Adrianople, August 9, 378. His army was totally routed, and two-thirds of it, including Valens himself and most of his chief officers, left dead on the field.

VALENTIA, vâ-lěnʼshĩ-å, or VALENCIA. A small island off the southwestern coast of Ireland noted as the eastern terminus of the submarine cables between Great Britain and America (Map: Ireland, A 5).

VALENTIA. One of the five provinces into which Britain was divided under Diocletian,

covering the portion of Scotland south of the

wall of Antoninus.

VAL'ENTINE. A little-known saint and martyr of the third century, whose day is kept on February 14th. He is said to have cured the blind daughter of a certain Asterius who had been charged by the Emperor Claudius to win him back to paganism, but who was thus converted to Christianity. Valentine was accordingly imprisoned, tortured, and finally beheaded. It is impossible to trace any connection between his story and the celebration afterwards connected with his day. It has been suggested that this may be a survival, with a Christian sanction, of the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia, celebrated in the month of February, at which it was customary to put the names of young women into a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed. A custom exactly similar to this was common in England and France for centuries, and for a time very popular among the upper classes, and at many European courts. From Pepys's Diary we learn that in the reign of Charles II. married as well as unmarried persons could be chosen. At one time it was customary for both sexes to make presents to each other, but afterwards the obligation was stricted to young men, who were supposed to remain faithful for the entire year to the service of their Valentines.'

VALENTINE.

re

(1) A character in Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona, one of the two whose humorous adventures give the play its of Congreve's Love for Love, a rôle which the title. (2) The extravagant and ingenious hero actor Betterton has made famous. (3) The extravagant hero of Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit Without Money. (4) The brother of Gretchen in Goethe's Faust. He is killed by the title character while trying to avenge the family honor.

VALENTINE AND ORʼSON. A Carolingian romance, written in the second half of the fifteenth century and printed at Lyons in 1495. It narrates the history of the two title characters, who are twin brothers, sons of the Emperor of Constantinople. They are born in a wood. Örson is carried off by a bear and grows up as a savage denizen of the forest, but Valentine is found by his uncle, King Pepin, and is trained at the palace to be a finished courtier. In 1589 Hathaway and Munday wrote a play founded upon the story, and six years later an interlude bearing the same title was produced.

VALENTINE VOX, THE VENTRILOQUIST. A lengthy and once popular novel by Henry Cockton (1840), abounding in farcical situations produced by the hero's use of his gift. It is said to have influenced a change in the English lunacy laws through its description of a sane man driven to madness by incarceration in a lunatic asylum.

VALENTINIAN. A highly rhetorical romantic drama by Fletcher produced before March, 1618-19, but not printed until 1647. It contains some quite simple and very beautiful songs.

VAL'ENTINIAN (VALENTINIANUS). The name of three Roman emperors of the same family. The most famous, VALENTINIAN I. (A.D. 364-375), was the son of humble parents, and was born at Cibalis, in Pannonia, in 321. Valentinian entered the army at an early age, and rose rapidly in rank under the emperors Constantius and Julian, only, however, to fall more rapidly; for he was degraded by Constantius in 357, and banished by Julian in 362. Restored to favor in the following year, he distinguished himself in the East, and on the death of Jovian was unanimously chosen as his successor (February 25, 364). A month after his accession he chose as his colleague his brother, Valens (q.v.), to whom he resigned the government of the East, reserving for himself Illyricum, Italy, the Gauls, Britain, Spain, and Africa. During Valentinian's reign the Alemanni repeatedly (366-368) ravaged the east, and the Saxons (370) the northeast of Gaul; Illyricum was wasted (370) by the Quadi, and Africa by the southern desert tribes, though these invasions were mostly repelled and revenged. The internal administration, on the other hand, was excellent, for the Emperor added to his ability prudence and firmness, vigilance and impartiality. Though himself a zealous Catholic, he permitted his subjects to adopt whatever religion they chose, and strictly forbade all persecution or annoyance on account of religious belief. On account of the abuse of ecclesiastical influence, he excluded priests and monks from the right of succession to property; judicial proceedings were forbidden to be held in private; the extreme license of speech hitherto allowed to advocates was restrained; gratuitous medical attendance was provided for the poor of Rome; and schools were established throughout the Empire. The success of his administration was doubtless much owing to his fortunate choice of officers: Theodosius the Elder in Africa and Britain, Jovinus in Gaul, and Theodosius the Younger (afterwards Emperor) in Illyricum. In private life Valentinian was above reproach, but his violent temper ultimately caused his

death, for while giving audience to the deputies of the Quadi, with whom he was then at war, he worked himself into such an excess of passion as to rupture a blood-vessel in his chest, and fell back dead into the arms of his guards (November 17, 375). By his first wife he had one son, Gratianus (q.v.); and by the second, Justina, another son, Valentinian, and three daughters, one of whom, Galla, became the wife of the Emperor Theodosius I.

VALENTINIAN II. (A.D. 375-392) the younger son of the preceding, was born A.D. 372, and received from his elder brother, Gratianus (q.v.), the provinces of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, as his share of the Western Empire. During his long minority the Empress Justina administered the government; and about three years after her death Valentinian, who had given promise of good administrative qualities, was murdered at the instigation of the Frank Arbogastes, the commander-in-chief of his army (May 15, 392).

VALENTINIAN III. (A.D. 425-455), the grandnephew of the preceding, was born about A.D. 419 and was seated on the throne of the West by Theodosius II., Emperor of the East, in 425. Valentinian was a weak and contemptible prince and may be said never to have ruled during the thirty years that he sat on the Imperial throne; his mother, Placidia, governed till her death in 450, and she was succeeded by the eunuch Heraclius. The regulations enacted for the internal administration were creditable, and especially so when ecclesiastical interests were involved, but the utter corruption of manners, the complete extinction of 'public spirit,' the exactions of the tax collectors and commissioners, the employment of the powers of the executive in the avenging of private quarrels, and the impossibility of obtaining redress for injuries, showed that the Empire had fallen far beyond remedy. The early part of Valentinian's reign was disturbed by the contests between the 'comites' Boniface and Aëtius, the former of whom had supported, and the latter resisted Valentinian's claims to the throne; but notwithstanding this, Aëtius prevailed upon the Empress to declare his rival, the Governor of Africa, a public enemy; and the latter called to his aid the Vandals under Genseric (q.v.). Thus Africa was lost to the Empire. But Aëtius, notwithstanding, proved himself the bulwark of the Roman power in Europe; the Franks, Goths, Burgundians, and other German nations who had encroached on the Empire were successively defeated and repelled, and the advance of the Huns was stayed on the field of Châlons. Yet the labor of defending an extensive empire from attack on all sides was too much for one man; and much of Spain and Gaul was seized by the Suevi and Visigoths, the north of Italy was ravaged by the Huns, Sicily and Sardinia by the Vandals, and even Rome was repeatedly besieged, while Britain was abandoned to the Picts and Scots. Aëtius seems to have committed the same error as his predecessor Stilicho (q.v.) in attempting, by the marriage of his son to Valentinian's daughter, to transfer the Imperial dignity to his own family, and, like him also, he was assassinated, though by the sword of his master (454). In the following year Valentinian was conspired against by the friends of Petronius Maximus and the adherents of Aëtius, and murdered, March 16th.