After his death, there was again the same difficulty about the election of his successor. His son being an infant, the consulship was then for the first time profaned by a child being inscribed in the Fasti. Sallustius again declined to be elected, and so Valentinian, an Illyrian, who had greatly distinguished himself in the Persian war, came to the throne (365). It is remarkable that in all these appointments we meet no more with any trace of donations: in the case of Probus, they had already been lowered to a tenth (twenty _aurei_ = 100 dollars); now in the fourth century, we no longer find any at all. Valentinian, a few weeks after his accession, took Valens, his brother, as his colleague: in this he gratified the wishes of the public, who, however, would have looked for an able man, such a one, for instance, as Dagalaiphus. Valentinian is a remarkable being, one of those characters of which it is difficult to give a brief opinion. Distinguished as a general, he raised up the state again when it was rapidly sinking; and he won splendid trophies in a war with the Alemanni and Franks, and also in a war with the Sarmatians. He also kept order in his realm. Many praiseworthy laws and decrees of his are still extant; and although he was himself an uneducated man, he did what he could for science and learning: he also severely punished tyrannical governors and reckless judges. But he was cruel; and whenever he was offended, or suspected a conspiracy, he gave free vent to his rage. It may therefore be supposed that the higher classes did not feel comfortable under his rule, whilst the common people, on the other hand, were fond of him. His brother Valens was not bloodthirsty, but implacable and cruel; and the more implacable, the more cowardly he was. His government was far from doing the good which that of Valentinian did; besides which, he was a fanatical Arian, and exerted all his power to crush the Homoousians or Athanasians. For this reason, the memory of his reign is deservedly hateful with the writers of the Church. Valentinian was also an Arian; but he always allowed a just liberty in matters of faith, oppressing neither heathens nor Athanasians. From year to year, the Christians went on increasing; and Manichæism also spread, though not at the expense of orthodoxy, but of the old gnostic sects, which daily dwindled more and more. Against the foreigner, the empire was powerful: with Persia, it was at peace, and old Sapor remained quiet. Valentinian had two sons: by his first wife he had Gratian, and by his second Valentinian II., an infant. Gratian was an amiable boy, and great care was bestowed upon his education. Valentinian, who had much good sense, had keenly felt his own want of learning; but it is not to be wondered at, that owing to this deficiency he erred in the choice of a master. He thought that he had found in Ausonius an excellent tutor for Gratian; just as Antoninus had been mistaken in Fronto.