What is "gratian"

Gratian (; ; 18 April/23 May 359 – 25 August 383) was Roman emperor from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, during his youth Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian's brother Valentinian II was declared emperor by his father's soldiers. In 378, Gratian's generals won a decisive victory over the Lentienses, a branch of the Alamanni, at the Battle of Argentovaria. Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, the last emperor to do so, and attacked the Lentienses, forcing the tribe to surrender. That same year, his uncle Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths – making Gratian essentially ruler of the entire Roman Empire. He favoured Christianity over traditional Roman religion, refusing the divine attributes of the Emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate.

Gratian or Gratianus (died 407) was a Roman usurper (407) in Roman Britain.

Gratian can refer to:

• Felinus and Gratian (d. 250 AD), martyrs and saints
• Gratian the Elder, a 4th-century Roman soldier. Father of the emperors Valens and Valentinian and grandfather of:
  • Gratian the later fourth century Roman Emperor
• Gratian, a 5th-century Romano-British usurper and emperor
• Pope Gregory VI (died 1047), whose name was John Gratian before he assumed the papacy
• the author of the 12th-century Decretum Gratiani
• Gratian of Tours (Gatian), bishop of Tours

Gratian was a mediaeval Roman noble, and son in law of Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum.