Valens, would, in all probability, have been one of the greatest critics of modern times, had he lived longer to perfect those talents which nature had given him. He was born at Witstock, in Brandenburg; and having visited several academies in Germany, Italy, and other countries, where he was greatly esteemed, he afterwards took up his residence at Breslau, the metropolis of Silesia. Thusius tells us, that his excessive application to study was the occasion of his untimely death. He died on the 25th of May 1595, having just completed his 28th year. He wrote a Commentary on Quintus Curtius; also, Notes on Tacitus, on the twelve Panegyrics, besides speeches, letters, and poems. His poetical pieces are inserted in the Deliciae of the German poets, and consist of epic verses, odes, and epigrams. M. Baillet has given him a place among his Enfans Célèbres; and says, that he wrote a comment upon Plautus when he was but 17 or 18 years old, and composed several Latin poems at the same age.

a fountain near Orchomenus, a city of Boeotia, in which the Graces, who are sacred to Venus, bathed. Hence the epithet Acidalia, given to Venus.