Valentinian II
371 – 392 · Generation V · Emperor (West) (r. 375–392) · Valentinian · Theodosian
Valentinian (AD 371 – 392). Emperor (West) (r. 375–392). Son of Valentinian I by Justina. Acclaimed emperor at the age of four by army commanders – the youngest co-ruler the West had seen – he spent his whole reign in other men’s shadows. He was junior partner to his half-brother Gratian until the usurper Magnus Maximus killed Gratian in 383, after which his court at Milan became a battleground between Nicene and Arian Christians. When Maximus invaded Italy in 387 the family fled to Thessalonica and won the aid of Theodosius, who defeated the usurper and restored him. Ruling thereafter from Gaul, he was in practice controlled by the general Arbogast. In 392, after trying to dismiss the man, he was found dead in his palace – suicide said some contemporaries, murder by Arbogast’s design said others.
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 → Valentinian II.
Parents
- Valentinian I (321 – 375)
- Justina (340 – 388)