Gratian
Western Roman emperor who in 379 chose Theodosius as his colleague for the East. His name stands first on the edict of 380 that made the Nicene faith law. He was killed near Lyon in 383 by an officer of the usurper Maximus.
Socrates says that Gratian, once in possession of the empire, condemned the policy of his uncle Valens towards the Nicene Christians, recalled the bishops whom Valens had exiled and allowed every Christian group except the Eunomians, Photinians and Manichaeans to meet freely. Then, with the barbarians pressing on the frontiers, he proclaimed Theodosius I emperor at Sirmium in January 379 and divided the war with him (Socrates, Church History 5.2). His name stands first in the heading of the edict issued at Thessalonica in February 380 (Theodosian Code 16.1.2) (see the Edict of Thessalonica).
In 383 Maximus rebelled in Britain and attacked him. Gratian was caught near Lyon by one of Maximus’s generals and killed, in the twenty-fourth year of his age and the fifteenth of his reign (Socrates, Church History 5.11).
In the timeline
- 27 February AD 380, firm dateThe Edict of Thessalonica
By an edict issued at Thessalonica, the emperor Theodosius orders all his peoples to hold the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria in the one deity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christians who believe otherwise are declared heretics.
Primary sources
The Theodosian Code
- Theodosian Code 16.1.2droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr