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Valens (328-378) was the brother of Valentinian, and lived in his brother's shadow for many years. When his brother was appointed emperor in 364 CE, he chose Valens to serve as co-emperor, obtaining the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. Valens made Constantinople his capital.<br/><br/> Valens was soon presented with a usurper named Procopius in 365, a surviving relative of Emperor Julian who proclaimed himself emperor in Constantinople while Valens was away. He managed to defeat Procopius in the spring of 366, executing the usurper. He then warred against the revolting Goths, before heading back east to face the Sassanid Empire. A resurgent Gothic presence, alongside Huns and Alans, led to the commencement of the Gothic War, after an attempted resettlement of Goths had resulted in them revolting in 377.<br/><br/> Rather than wait for his nephew and co-emperor Gratian to arrive with reinforcements as advised by many, Valens marched out on his own. Valens was struck down during the decisive but avoidable Battle of Adrianople. He was known by some as the 'Last True Roman', and the battle that resulted in his death was considered the beginning of the collapse of the decaying Western Roman Empire.
Septimius Severus (145-211 CE) was born in the Roman province of Africa, and advanced steadily through the customary succession of offices (the 'cursus honorum') during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. He was governor of Pannonia Superior when word of Pertniax's murder and Didius Julianus' accession reached him in 193 CE.<br/><br/> In response to Julianus' controversial accession through buying the emperorship in an auction, many rivals rose up and declared themselves emperor, with Severus being one of them, beginning what was known as the Year of the Five Emperors. Hurrying to Rome, Severus executed Julianus, and then fought his rival claimants for control of the Empire. By 197 CE, he was the sole power in the Empire, and began once more waging war to expand the borders of the Empire.<br/><br/> Severus fell ill in late 210 CE, fatally so, and died in early 211 CE. He was succeeded by his sons Caracalla and Geta, founding the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the Roman Empire before the Crisis of the Third Century.
Pertinax (126-193 CE) was born the son of a freed slave, and worked as a teacher before becoming an officer in the army. Successful campaigns against the Parthians saw him rise in rank and prestige, with Pertinax eventually rising to become a member of the Senate.<br/><br/> Pertinax was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after the death of Commodus, where he immediately tried to institute several sweeping reforms. One of these reforms was the restoration of discipline amongst the pampered Praetorian Guard, making enemies that ultimately resulted in Pertinax's assassination by members of the Guard just under three months into his reign. After his death, the Praetorians acutioned off the imperial title, resulting in a brief civil war and the year 193 CE becoming known as the Year of the Five Emperors.<br/><br/> Pertinax was later deified by Septimius Severus, the emperor after Pertinax's successor, Didius Julianus. His reputation throughout history has largely been a positive one, though his short reign has made it difficult to dertermine what his rule would have truly been like.
Noah (or Noe, Noach; Hebrew: נֹחַ, נוֹחַ, Modern Noaẖ Tiberian Nōăḥ; Arabic: نُوح Nūḥ; Greek: Νωέ; Macedonian: Ноа) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs.<br/><br/> The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark. He is also mentioned as the 'first husbandman' and in the story of the Curse of Ham.<br/><br/> Noah is the subject of much elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions. Noah is also mentioned several times in the Qur'an.