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Gratian (Flavius Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was Roman emperor from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and was raised to the rank of augustus in 367. Upon the death of Valentinian in 375, Gratian took over government of the west while his half-brother Valentinian II was also acclaimed emperor in Pannonia. Gratian governed the western provinces of the empire, while his uncle Valens was already the emperor over the east.

Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, attacked the Lentienses, and forced the tribe to surrender. That same year, the eastern emperor Valens was killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople, which led to Gratian elevating Theodosius to replace him in 379. Gratian favoured Nicene Christianity over traditional Roman religion, issuing the Edict of Thessalonica, refusing the office of pontifex maximus, and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate's Curia Julia. The city of Cularo on the Isère river in Roman Gaul was renamed after him, becoming Grenoble from Gratianopolis.

In 383, faced with rebellion by the usurper Magnus Maximus, Gratian marched his army towards Lutetia (Paris). His army deserted him, he fled to Lyons, and was later murdered.

Emperor
Gratian was the only child of Valentinian by Marina Severa and was born 18 April 359 at Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica) in Pannonia. At the time of his birth Gratian's father was living in exile. Gratian was named after his grandfather Gratian the Elder, who was a tribune and later comes of Britannia for Constantine the Great.

On 26 February 364, Valentinian was proclaimed augustus (emperor). Within a month, motivated by senior officers, he proclaimed his brother Valens, Gratian's uncle, augustus of the Eastern empire. Valentinian later divorced Gratian's mother, married Justina and they had Gratian's half-brother Valentinian.

Gratian was given the title of consul in 366 by his father. When Gratian was seven he was titled nobilissimus puer, indicating he was to be proclaimed augustus. On 24 August 367 Gratian received from his father Valentinian the title of augustus. Valentinian, concerned with Gratian's age and inexperience, stated his son would assist commanders with upcoming campaigns. The magister peditum Merobaudes, together with the comes rei militaris Sebastianus, was sent by Valentinian to campaign against the Quadi.

When his father died on 17 November 375, Gratian's inherited the administration of the western empire. Days later, Gratian's half-brother Valentinian was acclaimed augustus by troops in Pannonia. Despite Valentinian being given nominal authority over Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, Gratian ruled the western Roman empire himself.

Gratian married a daughter of Constantius II, Flavia Maxima Constantia, in 375; she died in early 383. He later married Laeta. Both marriages remained childless.

Gratian's uncle Valens, returning from a campaign against the Sasanian Empire, had sent a request for reinforcements against the Goths. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Valens also requested that Sebastianus be sent to him for the war, though according to Zosimus Sebastianus went to Constantinople of his own accord as a result of intrigues by eunuchs at the western court. The forces Gratian sent never reached Valens due to its commander feigning illness. Weeks later, Gratian had arrived in Castra Martis with a few thousand men, by which time Valens was at Adrianople. Aware that Gratian's forces were not going to arrive, Valens attacked the Gothic army and as a result thousands of Romans died in the Battle of Adrianople along with Sebastianus and the emperor himself.

Following the battle of Adrianople, the Goths raided from Thrace in 378 to Illyricum the following year. By 380, the Greuthungi tribe of Goths moved into Pannonia, only to be defeated by Gratian. Consequently, the Vandals and Alemanni were threatening to cross the Rhine, now that Gratian had departed from the region. Convinced that one emperor alone was incapable of repelling the inundation of foes on several different fronts, Gratian, now senior augustus following Valens's death, appointed Theodosius I augustus on 19 January 379 to govern the east.



Empire and Christianity
Under the tutorage of Ausonius, Gratian issued an edict of tolerance at Sirmium in 378. The edict restored bishops exiled by Valens and ensured religious freedoms to all religions. Under the influence of Ambrose, bishop of Mediolanum (Milan), took active steps against pagan worship. On 27 February 380, Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica. This edict made Nicene Christianity the only legal form of Christianity and outlawed all other forms of religion. This brought to an end a period of widespread religious tolerance that had existed since the death of Julian.

In 382, Gratian issued edicts that removed the statue of the winged goddess Victory from the Senate floor, removed the privileges of Vestal Virgins, and confiscated money designated for sacrifices and ceremonies. Gratian declared that all of the pagan temples and shrines were to be confiscated by the government and that their revenues were to be joined to the property of the treasury. This resulted in protests from the Roman Senate led by Symmachus, which in turn was counter-protested by Christian senators led by Pope Damasus.

Revolt and death
Gratian alienated the army by his favouritism towards his Alan deserters whom he made his body-guard and to whom he gave military commands. This favouritism of former enemies and the paganism of the Alans angered his Christian army. By 383 the Roman general Magnus Maximus had raised the standard of revolt in Britain and invaded Gaul with a large army. Gratian, in the midst of campaigning against the Alemanni, marched his army toward Paris. Gratian's troops deserted and he fled to Lyon. Maximus sent Andragathius, who hunted Gratian down and killed him on 25 August 383.

It would not be until 387, possibly even after the death of Magnus Maximus, that Gratian's remains were interred at Mediolanum in the imperial mausoleum.