Gratian Named Co-Augustus

Date: August 24, 367 • Location: Rome, Italy

Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father.

Gratian was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of Augustus as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in 375. He nominally shared the government with his infant half-brother Valentinian II, who was also acclaimed emperor in Pannonia on Valentinian's death. The East was ruled by his uncle Valens, who was later succeeded by Theodosius I.