Valentinian II

Valentinian II was proclaimed emperor at four and was found hanged at twenty-one, and never governed anything. Born in 371, he was the son of Valentinian I by his second wife Justina. His father died suddenly in 375, and the army in Pannonia proclaimed the child within days — before consulting his adult half-brother Gratian, who was already emperor and who accepted it rather than start a war. He was given Italy, Illyricum and Africa on paper, and his mother governed for him from Milan. Justina was an Arian in a city whose bishop was Ambrose, and the confrontation that followed is one of the defining episodes in the relationship of church and state. When the court demanded a basilica in Milan for Arian worship in 385 and 386, Ambrose occupied it with his congregation, taught them hymns to sing through the siege, and refused. Troops surrounded the church and would not act. The court gave way. Magnus Maximus, who had usurped in Britain and killed Gratian, invaded Italy in 387 and drove Valentinian to Thessalonica, and Theodosius restored him after defeating Maximus in 388. He was then placed at Vienne in Gaul under the Frankish general Arbogast, who ignored him. When Valentinian handed him a written dismissal, Arbogast read it and said that he had not received his command from him and would not lay it down at his word. He was found hanged in May 392, and both suicide and murder were argued at the time. Arbogast raised a rhetoric teacher to the throne in his place, and Theodosius destroyed both a year later.

• Lived: 371 CE – 392 CE
• Nationality: Roman
• Roles: emperor, head_of_state