Editing Valentinian II (section)

==Significance==
[[Constantine I]] and his sons re-established the practice of hereditary succession, a system that Valentinian I continued to maintain. However, from the [[Crisis of the Third Century]] the empire had been ruled by campaigning emperors. This trend came to a break with the reign of Valentinian II, a child.{{Sfn|Williams|Friell|1994|p=42}} Valentinian seems to have lacked authority as a figurehead for various interests: his mother, his co-emperors, and powerful generals. His reign was a harbinger of the fifth century, when young emperors were controlled by powerful generals and officials until mid-century ([[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]], [[Arcadius]], [[Theodosius II]], [[Valentinian III]] and [[Romulus Augustulus]]).