The Limits of Delta

A historical example of the fatal mistake of failing to apply the SSH

In the course of serializing THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY Volume I for the last three months over at the Castalia Library substack, we’ve been delving daily into various aspects of Roman and Byzantine history. And, in doing so, we’ve come across more than a few examples of how the Socio-Sexual Hierarchy has observably played a significant role in how various historical events took place. Such as, for example, the destruction of the Roman legions at the hands of the Goths in 378 AD at the Battle of Hadrianople.

In 364 AD, the Roman Emperor Valentinian I elevated his brother to the purple, giving him co-imperial status with responsibility for the Eastern half of the empire. He had good reason for doing so; the Constantinian dynasty had only recently failed, his predecessor had ruled for only a few months, and the late Emperor’s Julian’s cousin Procopius was a potential threat to his new throne.

His younger brother Valens, though late come to the legions and of undistinguished accomplishment in them, was a good, diligent, and loyal man whom he knew he could trust. The problem, however, is that the very character that made Valens trustworthy and reliable in the eyes of his older brother rendered him entirely unsuitable for the very challenging responsibilities that befell even a Roman co-emperor in the 4th Century AD.

In the face of hostile criticism Valentinian had chosen Valens as his co-Augustus, intending that he should carry out in the East the same policy which he himself had planned for the West. His judgment was not at fault, for in the sphere of religion alone did the two Emperors pursue different ends. Like an orderly, with unfailing loyalty Valens obeyed his brother's instructions. He too strengthened the frontier with fortresses and lightened the burden of taxation, while under his care magnificent public buildings rose throughout the eastern provinces.

But Valentinian's masterful decision of character was alien to Valens: his was a weaker nature which under adversity easily yielded to despair. Severity, anxiously assumed, tended towards ferocity, and a consciousness of insecurity rendered him tyrannical when his life or throne was threatened. His subjects could neither forget nor forgive the horrible excesses which marked the suppression of the rebellion of Procopius or of the conspiracy of Theodorus. He was hated by the orthodox as an Arian heretic and by the Pagans as a Christian zealot, while it was upon the Emperor that men laid the responsibility for the overwhelming disaster of Hadrianople. Thus there were few to judge him with impartial justice, and it is probable that even later historians have been unduly influenced by the invectives of his enemies. His imperious brother had made of an excellent civil servant an Emperor who was no match for the crisis which he was fated to meet.

We can’t be certain that Valens was a Delta, but everything we know of him points directly to that idea. He lacked the indomitable vision of his older brother, still considered one of the great emperors of Roman history, and he lacked confidence in his own abilities to rule over other men. The elevation of Valens may have been one of the most spectacular and disastrous examples of the Peter Principle at work; both Valens’s lack of judgment and his failure to execute properly not only cost him his life, but led directly to the eventual sacking of Rome 32 years after his fall at the Battle of Hadrianople.

This is why a solid understanding of the SSH and an ability to apply it is absolutely vital to anyone running any organization. The consequences of failing to do so are not only significant, but can be catastrophically, even historically, disastrous.

It’s also an important lesson to Deltas of the necessity of limiting their ambitions to their abilities. When failure becomes not only an option, but a probability, then the additional responsibilities offered are best declined.

Fortunately, not every mistaken promotion of a Delta goes quite this awry.