Gratian
359 – 383 · Generation V · Emperor (West) (r. 367–383) · Valentinian · Theodosian
Gratian (AD 359 – 383). Emperor (West) (r. 367–383). Married Constantia around AD 374. Eldest son of Valentinian I by Marina Severa. Made Augustus while still a child, he inherited the West young and shared it nominally with his infant half-brother. He led a campaign across the Rhine that brought the Lentienses to surrender, and after his uncle Valens fell to the Goths at Adrianople he raised Theodosius to rule the East. His religious policy tilted the empire decisively toward Catholic Christianity: he issued the Edict of Thessalonica, refused the old pagan office of pontifex maximus, and had the Altar of Victory removed from the Senate house. The Gallic town of Cularo was renamed Gratianopolis for him – the ancestor of modern Grenoble. By 383 he had lost the loyalty of his soldiers, who went over to the usurper Magnus Maximus when the two armies met near Paris; Gratian escaped toward Lyon, where his pursuers killed him.
One of 13 people of Valentinian · Theodosian (321–460) in this archive. The emperors who saw the western half fall away while the east held.
Line of descent: Gratian → Valentinian I → Gratian.
Parents
- Valentinian I (321 – 375)
- Marina Severa (326 – ?)
Siblings
- Galla (359 – 394) (half)
- Valentinian II (371 – 392) (half)
Partners
- Married Constantia (361 – 383) in 374
Life
- 359 — Born
- 374 — Married Constantia
- 383 — Died