24 August 367 – 25 August 383 (senior from 17 November 375)
Predecessor
Valentinian I
Successor
Magnus Maximus
Co-rulers
Valentinian I (367–375)
Valens (East, 367–378)
Valentinian II (375–383)
Theodosius I (East, 379–383)
Arcadius (East, 383)
Born
(359-04-18)18 April 359 Sirmium, Pannonia Secunda (present-day Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia)
Died
25 August 383(383-08-25) (aged 24) Lugdunum, Gallia Lugdunensis (present-day Lyon, France)
Burial
Imperial mausoleum at Mediolanum (now Sant'Aquilino, Basilica of San Lorenzo, Milan)
Spouse
Constantia
Laeta
Regnal name
Imperator Caesar Flavius Gratianus Augustus
Dynasty
Valentinianic
Father
Valentinian I
Mother
Marina Severa
Religion
Nicene Christianity
Gratian (Latin: Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of Augustus as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in 375. He nominally shared the government with his infant half-brother Valentinian II, who was also acclaimed emperor in Pannonia on Valentinian's death. The East was ruled by his uncle Valens, who was later succeeded by Theodosius I.
Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, attacked the Lentienses, and forced the tribe to surrender. That same year, the eastern emperor Valens was killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople, which led to Gratian elevating Theodosius to replace him in 379. Gratian favoured Nicene Christianity over traditional Roman religion, issuing the Edict of Thessalonica, refusing the office of pontifex maximus, and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate's Curia Julia. The city of Cularo on the Isère river in Roman Gaul was renamed Gratianopolis after him, which later evolved to Grenoble. In 383, faced with rebellion by the usurper Magnus Maximus, Gratian marched his army towards Lutetia (Paris). His army deserted him. He fled to Lugdunum and was later murdered.
^Cite error: The named reference W was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Lenaghan, J. (2012). "Portrait head of emperor with sideburns (Gratian or Honorius?). Augusta Treverorum (Belgica II). Late fourth to early fifth century". Last Statues of Antiquity. LSA-584.
Gratian (Latin: Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian...
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scholarship indicates Gratian's religious policies do not evidence capitulation to Ambrose more than they evidence Gratian's own views. Gratian's devotion did...
Valens were both made Roman emperors in 364. Valentinian I's two sons, Gratian and Valentinian II both became emperors. Valentinian I's daughter Galla...
half-brother Gratian in ruling the Western empire, while the East was governed by his uncle Valens until 378 and Theodosius I from 379. When Gratian was killed...
at Emperor Gratian's court. In 379, after the eastern Roman emperor Valens perished at the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths, Gratian appointed Theodosius...
person, but lack of coordination with his nephew, the western emperor Gratian (Valentinian I's son), as well as poor battle tactics, led to Valens and...
Saints Felinus and Gratian(us) (sometimes Gratinian(us)) (d. 250 AD) are venerated as martyrs by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. They are...
and Saxons. Valentinian founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire. Valentinian...
Gratian Goldstein is an American bridge player. North American Bridge Championships (8) Marcus Cup (1) 1950 Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (2) 1955, 1958...
pontifex maximus well into Late Antiquity, including Gratian (r. 367–383), but during Gratian's reign the phrase was replaced in imperial titulature with...
unsuccessfully tried to suppress Christianity. On 27 February 380, Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II established Nicene Christianity as the State church...
(now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future Emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. His best-known poems are...
calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Emperor Gratian moves the capital to Mediolanum (modern-day Milan). Because of his Christian...
(376–382) led to favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian and Theodosius I in 382. Fritigern appears in the Latinized form Fritigernus...
Valentinian II. Valens and Gratian acquiesced in their choice. While the senior augustus administered the eastern empire, Gratian governed the praetorian...
Argentovaria: Emperor Gratian is forced to recall the army he has sent East. The Lentienses are defeated by Mallobaudes near Colmar (France). Gratian gains the title...
time, leading some to think Gratianus could have been stationed there. Gratian's first independent command was as a tribune, probably in the mobile field...
in the Balkans as military allies (foederati). Gratian refuses the title of Eastern Emperor. Gratian renounces the title Pontifex Maximus. Britain is...
to it as a preventative measure for "sexual immorality." Scholars like Gratian of Bologna were quick to posit their theories on marriage. His 12th century...
Merobaudes (Magister militum), which gives them land to settle on the Danube. Gratian, age 16, takes over the government at Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier)...
Laeta was a Roman empress as the second wife of the emperor Gratian. Gratian was first married to Constantia, who died at the age of 21. The Chronicon...
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