Valentinian II , AD 375-392 AE3 Nummus : The Dominate. Western Roman Empire .NGC. Shipped with USPS First Class Package.Valentinian II(Latin:Valentinianus; 371 15 May 392) was aRoman emperorin thewesternpart of theRoman empirebetween AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his brother, was then sidelined by a usurper, and only after 388 sole ruler, albeit with limitedde factopowers.A son of emperorValentinian Iand empressJustina, he was raised to the imperial office at the age of 4 by military commanders upon his father's death. Until 383, Valentinian II remained a junior partner to his older half-brotherGratianin ruling the Western empire, while the East was governed by his uncleValensuntil 378 andTheodosius Ifrom 379. When Gratian was killed by the usurper emperorMagnus Maximusin 383, the court of Valentinian inMilanbecame the center ofItalywhere several religious debates took place. In 387, Maximus invaded Italy, spurring Valentinian and his family to escape toThessalonicawhere they successfully sought Theodosius' aid. Theodosius defeated Maximus in battle and re-installed Valentinian in the West. However, Valentinian soon found himself struggling to break free from the control of generalArbogast. In 392, Valentinian was discovered hanged in his room under unknown circumstances. Early life and accession (371375) Valentinianus was born to EmperorValentinian Iand his second wife,Justina. He was the half-brother of Valentinian's other son,Gratian, who had shared the imperial title with his father since 367. He had three sisters:Galla, Grata and Justa. The elder Valentinian died on campaign in Pannonia in 375. Neither Gratian (then inTrier) nor his uncleValens(emperor for the East) were consulted by the army commanders on the scene. Instead of merely acknowledging Gratian as his father's successor, Valentinian I's leading generals and officials, includingMerobaudes,Petronius Probus, and Cerealis, Valentinian II's maternal uncle and Justina's brother, acclaimed the four-year-old Valentinianaugustuson 22 November 375 atAquincum. The army, and its Frankish general Merobaudes, may have been uneasy about Gratian's lack of military ability, and to prevent a split of the army, so raised a boy who would not immediately aspire to military command. Also, he may have wanted to prevent more successful military commanders and officials, such asSebastianusandCount Theodosius, from becoming emperors or gaining independent power, as Sebastianus was removed to a distant posting and Theodosius was executed within a year of Valentinian's elevation. Reign from Milan (375387) Gratian was forced to accommodate the generals who supported his half-brother into his realm, though he purportedly took a liking to educating his brother.According toZosimus, Gratian governed the trans-alpine provinces (includingGaul,Hispania, andBritain), whileItaly, part ofIllyricum, andNorth Africawere under the rule of Valentinian. However, Gratian and his court was essentially in charge of the whole Western empire, including Illyricum, and Valentinian did not issue any laws and was marginalized in textual sources. In 378, their uncle, the EmperorValens, was killed in battle with theGothsatAdrianople, and Gratian invited the generalTheodosiusto be emperor in theEast. As a child, Valentinian II was under the pro-Arianinfluence of his mother, empress Justina, and the courtiers atMilan, an influence contested by theNicenebishopof Milan,Ambrose. In 383,Magnus Maximus, commander of the armies in Britain, declared himself Emperor and established himself in Gaul and Hispania. Gratian was killed while fleeing him. As a lesser partner to Gratian in the West, Valentinian and his court in Milan had remained ineffectual and obscure until his brother's tragedy finally brought them to the forefront.For a time the court of Valentinian, through the mediation of Ambrose, came to an accommodation with the usurper, and Theodosius recognized Maximus as co-emperor of theWest. Valentinian tried to restrain the despoiling of pagan temples inRome. Buoyed by this instruction, the pagansenators, led byAurelius Symmachus, thePrefect of Rome, petitioned in 384 for the restoration of theAltar of Victoryin theSenate House, which had been removed by Gratian in 382. Valentinian refused the request and, in so doing, rejected the traditions and rituals of pagan Rome to which Symmachus had appealed. While Ambrose participated in the campaign against the reinstatement of Altar of Victory, he admitted he was not the cause of the decision to remove the altar in the first place. In 385 Ambrose refused an imperial request to hand over the Portian basilica for the celebration of Easter by the Imperial court, angering Justina, Valentinian, high-ranking officials, and other Arians at the court, including Goths. Ambrose argued in his letter that Justina used her influence over her young son to oppose the Nicean party which was championed by Ambrose, framing her motivation as selfish. However, not only Justina, but the wider imperial court also opposed Ambrose's claim, since the praetorian prefect and the emperor's counsellors met him and demanded that he turn over the basilica. When Ambrose was summoned to be punished to the Imperial palace, the orthodox populace rioted, and Gothic troops were prevented by the arch-bishop himself, standing in the doorway, from entering the Basilica.Rufinus, influenced by Ambrose's writing, claimed that when Ambrose was found to have determinedly infracted the new laws, Justina persuaded Valentinian to have him banished, and Ambrose was forced to barricade himself, with the enthusiastic backing of the people, within the walls of the Basilica. Rufinus continues that the imperial troops besieged him, but Ambrose held on, reinforcing the resolution of his followers by allegedly unearthing, beneath the foundations of the church, the bodies of two ancient martyrs. Later, Magnus Maximus was purported to have used the emperor's heterodoxy against him.Maximus indeed wrote a scathing letter attacking Valentinian for plotting against God. In 386 to 387, Maximus crossed theAlpsinto thePovalley and threatened Milan. Valentinian II and Justina fled to Theodosius inThessalonica. The latter came to an agreement, cemented by his marriage to Valentinian's sisterGalla, to restore the young emperor in the West.In 388, Theodosius marched west and defeated Maximus. Although he was to appoint both of his sons emperor (Arcadiusin 383,Honoriusin 393), Theodosius tolerated Valentinian, and made him a subordinate ruler to him. Reign from Vienne (388392) After the defeat of Maximus, Theodosius remained in Milan until 391. Valentinian took no part in Theodosius'striumphal celebrationsover Maximus. Valentinian and his court were installed atViennein Gaul, while Theodosius appointed key administrators in the West and had coins minted, which implied his guardianship over the 17-year-old.Justina had already died, and Vienne was far away from the influence of Ambrose. Theodosius's trusted general, theFrankArbogast, was appointedmagister militumfor the Western provinces (bar Africa) and guardian of Valentinian. Acting in the name of Valentinian, Arbogast was actually subordinate only to Theodosius.While the general campaigned successfully on the Rhine, the young emperor remained at Vienne, in contrast to his warrior father and his older brother, who had campaigned at his age. Arbogast's domination over the emperor was considerable, and the general even murderedHarmonius, a friend of Valentinian suspected of taking bribes, in the emperor's presence. The crisis reached a peak when Arbogast prohibited the emperor from leading the Gallic armies into Italy to oppose a barbarian threat. Valentinian, in response, formally dismissed Arbogast. The latter ignored the order, publicly tearing it up and arguing that Valentinian had not appointed him in the first place. The reality of where the power lay was openly displayed. Valentinian wrote to Theodosius and Ambrose complaining of his subordination to his general. In explicit rejection of his earlier Arianism, he invited Ambrose to come to Vienne tobaptizehim. Death On 15 May 392, Valentinian was found hanged in his residence in Vienne. Arbogast maintained that the emperor's death was suicide. Many sources believe, however, that Arbogast murdered him with his own hands, or paid the Praetorians.Zosimuswriting in the early sixth century from Constantinople, states that Arbogast had Valentinian murdered;ancient authorities are divided in their opinion. Some modern scholars lean toward suicide.][pageneeded]Ambrose's eulogy is the only contemporary Western source for Valentinian's death.It is ambiguous on the question of the emperor's death, which is not surprising, as Ambrose represents him as a model of Christian virtue. Suicide, not murder, would make the bishop dissemble on this key question. The young man's body was conveyed in ceremony to Milan for burial by Ambrose, mourned by his sisters Justa and Grata. He was laid in aporphyrysarcophagusnext to his brother Gratian, most probably in the Chapel of Sant'Aquilino attached toSan Lorenzo. He was deified with theconsecratio:Divae Memoriae Valentinianus,lit.'the Divine Memory of Valentinian'. At first Arbogast recognized Theodosius's son Arcadius as emperor in the West, seemingly surprised by his charge's death. After three months, during which he had no communication from Theodosius, Arbogast selected an imperial official,Eugenius, as emperor. Theodosius initially tolerated this regime but, in January 393, elevated the eight-year-old Honorius asaugustusto succeed Valentinian II. Civil war ensued and, in 394, Theodosius defeated Eugenius and Arbogast at theBattle of the Frigidus.