Flavius Gratianus (18 April/23 May 359 – 25 August
383), known usually by the
anglicised name Gratian, was a
Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.
He favoured the Christian religion against
Roman polytheism, refusing the traditional polytheistic attributes of the
emperors and removing the
Altar of Victory from the
Roman
Senate.
Life
Gratian was the son of Emperor
Valentinian I[1]
by
Marina Severa, and was born at
Sirmium[2]
(now
Sremska Mitrovica,
Serbia) in
Pannonia.
He was named after his grandfather
Gratian the Elder. Gratian was first married to
Flavia Maxima Constantia, daughter of
Constantius II. His second wife was
Laeta. Both
marriages remained childless. His stepmother was Empress
Justina and his paternal half siblings were Emperor
Valentinian II,
Galla and Justa.
On 4 August 367 he received from his father the title of
Augustus. On the death of Valentinian (17 November 375), the troops in
Pannonia proclaimed his infant son (by a second wife Justina) emperor under the
title of
Valentinian II.
Gratian acquiesced in their choice; reserving for himself the
administration of the
Gallic
provinces, he handed over
Italy,
Illyricum and
Africa to Valentinian and his mother, who fixed their residence at
Mediolanum.
The division, however, was merely nominal, and the real authority remained in
the hands of Gratian.
The
Eastern Roman Empire was under the rule of his uncle
Valens. In May,
378 Gratian completely defeated the
Lentienses,
the southernmost branch of the
Alamanni,
at the
Battle of Argentovaria, near the site of the modern
Colmar. Later
that year, Valens met his death in the
Battle of Adrianopole on 9 August. Valens refused to wait for Gratian and
his army to arrive and assist in defeating the host of
Goths,
Alans and
Huns; as a result,
two-thirds of the eastern Roman army were killed as well.
In the same year, the government of the Eastern Empire
devolved upon Gratian, but feeling himself unable to resist unaided the
incursions of the barbarians, he promoted
Theodosius I on 19 January 379 to govern that portion of the empire.
Gratianus and Theodosius then cleared the
Balkans of
barbarians
in the
Gothic War (376-382).
For some years Gratian governed the empire with energy and
success but gradually sank into indolence, occupying himself chiefly with the
pleasures of the chase, and became a tool in the hands of the
Frankish
general
Merobaudes and bishop
St. Ambrose
of Milan.
By taking into his personal service a body of Alans, and
appearing in public in the dress of a
Scythian warrior, after the disaster of the Battle of Adrianopole, he
aroused the contempt and resentment of his
Roman troops. A Roman general named
Magnus Maximus took advantage of this feeling to raise the standard of
revolt in
Britain and invaded
Gaul with a large army. Gratian, who was then in
Paris, being
deserted by his troops, fled to
Lyon. There,
through the treachery of the governor, Gratian was delivered over to one of the
rebel generals, Andragathius, and assassinated on 25 August 383.
Empire
and religion
The reign of Gratian forms an important epoch in
ecclesiastical history, since during that period
Orthodox Christianity for the first time became dominant throughout the
empire.
Under the influence of Ambrosius, Gratian prohibited
Pagan worship
at Rome; refused to
wear the insignia of the
pontifex maximus as unbefitting a
Christian;
removed the
Altar of Victory from the
Senate
House at Rome, despite protests of the pagan members of the Senate, and
confiscated its revenues; forbade legacies of real property to the
Vestals; and abolished other privileges belonging to them and to the
pontiffs. Nevertheless he was still
deified after his death.
Gratian also published an edict that all their subjects
should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria (i.e., the Nicene
faith). The move was mainly thrust at the various beliefs that had arisen out of
Arianism,
but smaller dissident sects, such as the
Macedonians, were also prohibited.