Editing Theodosius I (section)

=== 383–384 ===
[[File:Theodosiusi658cng.jpg|thumb|''Solidus'' of Theodosius, showing both him and his co-emperor [[Valentinian II]] ({{Reign|375|392}}) enthroned on the reverse, each crowned by [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]] and together holding an [[Globus cruciger|orb]] {{Smallcaps|victoria {{abbreviation|augg|augusti}}}} ("''the Victory of the Augusti''")]]According to the ''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'', Theodosius celebrated his ''quinquennalia'' on 19 January 383 at Constantinople; on this occasion he raised his eldest son [[Arcadius]] to co-emperor (''augustus'').{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} Sometime in 383, Gratian's wife Constantia died.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=319–320|loc="Gratianus"}} Gratian remarried, wedding [[Laeta]], whose father was a ''[[consularis]]'' of [[Roman Syria]].<ref name=":2">{{Citation|last1=Bond| first1=Sarah|title=Gratian |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2105|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=25 October 2020|last2=Nicholson|first2=Oliver}}</ref> Early 383 saw the acclamation of [[Magnus Maximus]] as emperor in Britain and the appointment of [[Themistius]] as ''[[praefectus urbi]]'' in Constantinople.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} On 25 August 383, according to the ''Consularia Constantinopolitana'', Gratian was killed at [[Lugdunum]] ([[Lyon]]) by [[Andragathius]], the ''[[magister equitum]]'' of the rebel emperor during the rebellion of Magnus Maximus.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=319–320|loc="Gratianus"}} Constantia's body arrived in Constantinople on 12 September that year and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles on 1 December.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=319–320|loc="Gratianus"}} Gratian was deified as {{Langx|la|Divus Gratianus|lit=the Divine Gratian}}.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=319–320|loc="Gratianus"}}

Theodosius, unable to do much about Maximus due to ongoing military inadequacy, opened negotiations with the Persian emperor [[Shapur III]] ({{Reign|383|388}}) of the [[Sasanian Empire]].{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=41}} According to the ''Consularia Constantinopolitana'', Theodosius received in Constantinople an embassy from them in 384.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}}

In an attempt to curb Maximus's ambitions, Theodosius appointed Flavius Neoterius as the [[Praetorian Prefect of Italy]].{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=42}} In the summer of 384, Theodosius met his co-emperor Valentinian II in northern Italy.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=321–322|loc="Valentinianus II"}}{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} Theodosius brokered a peace agreement between Valentinian and Magnus Maximus which endured for several years.<ref name=":7">{{Citation|last=Bond|first=Sarah|title=Valentinian II|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-4928|work=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |year=2018|editor-last=Nicholson|editor-first=Oliver|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-866277-8|access-date=25 October 2020}}</ref>

Theodosius I was based in Constantinople, and according to [[Peter Heather]], wanted, "for his own dynastic reasons (for his two sons each eventually to inherit half of the empire), refused to appoint a recognized counterpart in the west. As a result he was faced with rumbling discontent there, as well as dangerous [[usurper]]s, who found plentiful support among the bureaucrats and military officers who felt they were not getting a fair share of the imperial cake."<ref name="Peter Heather">{{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |title=The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-532541-6 |edition=illustrated, reprint|pages=29–30}}</ref>