Editing Valentinian II (section)

==Reign from Milan (375–387)==
[[File:INC-2965-a Солид. Валентиниан II. Ок. 388—392 гг. (аверс).png|thumb|upright|left|Solidus of Valentinian II]]

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.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus ''Res Gestae'' XXX 10.6</ref> According to [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], Gratian governed the trans-alpine provinces (including [[Gaul]], [[Hispania]], and [[Roman Britain|Britain]]), while [[Italy]], part of [[Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum|Illyricum]], and [[North Africa]] were 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.<ref>Errington, R.M. "The Accession of Theodosius I." Klio 78 (1996) pp. 440–442</ref>{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|pp=61–64}}{{sfn|Lenski|2003|pp=357–361}} In 378, their uncle, the Emperor [[Valens]], was killed in battle with the [[Goths]] at [[Battle of Adrianople|Adrianople]], and Gratian invited the general [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]] to be emperor in the [[Eastern Roman Empire|East]]. As a child, Valentinian II was under the pro-[[Arianism|Arian]] influence of his mother, empress Justina, and the courtiers at [[Milan]], an influence contested by the [[Nicene Christianity|Nicene]] [[bishop]] of Milan, [[Ambrose]].<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Valentinian I.|display=Valentinian I. s.v. Valetinian II.|volume=27|pages=851–852}}</ref>{{Sfn|Williams|Friell|1994|p=43}}<ref name="Valentinian"/>

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.{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|pp=61–64}} 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 the [[Western Roman Empire|West]].{{Sfn|Williams|Friell|1994|pp=39–40}}

Valentinian tried to restrain the despoiling of pagan temples in [[Rome]]. Buoyed by this instruction, the pagan [[Roman Senate|senators]], led by [[Quintus Aurelius Symmachus|Aurelius Symmachus]], the [[Praefectus urbi|Prefect of Rome]], petitioned in 384 for the restoration of the [[Altar of Victory]] in the [[Curia Julia|Senate 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.{{Sfn|Curran|1998|p=106}} While Ambrose participated in the campaign against the reinstatement of Altar of Victory,<ref>Ambrose, ''Epistolae'' 17–18</ref> he admitted he was not the cause of the decision to remove the altar in the first place.<ref>Ambrose ''Epistolae'' 57.2</ref>

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.{{Sfn|Curran|1998|p=106}} 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.<ref name="Ambrose, Epistolae 20">Ambrose, ''Epistolae'' 20</ref> 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.<ref name="Ambrose, Epistolae 20"/>{{sfn|McLynn|1994|pp=170–174}} 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. [[Tyrannius Rufinus|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.<ref>Rufinus, ''Ecclesiastical History'' 11.15–16</ref> Maximus indeed wrote a scathing letter attacking Valentinian for plotting against God.<ref>''Collectio Avellana'' 39</ref>

In 386 to 387, Maximus crossed the [[Alps]] into the [[Po River|Po]] valley and threatened Milan. Valentinian II and Justina fled to Theodosius in [[Thessalonica]]. The latter came to an agreement, cemented by his marriage to Valentinian's sister [[Galla (wife of Theodosius)|Galla]], to restore the young emperor in the West.<ref name="EB1911"/>{{Sfn|Williams|Friell|1994|p=62}} In 388, Theodosius marched west and defeated Maximus.{{Sfn|Williams|Friell|1994|p=63}}{{sfn|McLynn|1994|p=293}}{{sfn|McEvoy|2013|p=91}}