Gratian

Gratian ruled the western empire for eight years, made Theodosius emperor, and was murdered at twenty-four. Born in 359, he was the son of Valentinian I and was made co-emperor at eight. He succeeded in the west on his father's death in 375, aged sixteen, alongside his infant half-brother Valentinian II, whom the Danube army had proclaimed without asking. The crisis came three years later. His uncle Valens was destroyed by the Goths at Adrianople in August 378, losing an eastern field army and his own life; Gratian had been marching to join him and Valens had attacked without waiting, partly out of jealousy of his nephew's recent victory over the Alamanni at Argentovaria. Gratian's response was the most consequential thing he did. He appointed Theodosius, the son of a general his own father's regime had executed, to the eastern throne in January 379 — a choice made on merit in a dynasty that had no other candidate. He fell heavily under the influence of Ambrose of Milan, and his religious policy hardened accordingly: he refused the title of pontifex maximus that every emperor since Augustus had held, withdrew state funding from the Roman priesthoods, and in 382 removed the Altar of Victory from the Senate house, which the pagan senator Symmachus petitioned against and Ambrose answered. He alienated his own army by favouring Alan cavalry. Magnus Maximus was proclaimed in Britain in 383, and Gratian's troops deserted him near Paris. He was killed at Lyon. Theodosius, the emperor he had made, avenged him and became the last ruler of a united empire.

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