VALENTINIAN
255
VALENTINIAN
ns; lif made his headquarters at Bregetio, where
ring the negotiations with the Quadi he died from
iplexy. He was buried at Constantinople.
Phough a sineoro Christian, Valentinian generally
itained from hiterfernig in religious questions, un-
s public interests forced him to act ; probably in his
leavours to observe imi)artialit.v, he bestowed more
ours on the Arians and heathens; his conduct con-
sted strongly with that of Valens who ardently
jporled the Arians. Valentinian revoked Julian's
ct, which forbade Christians to teach. He pro-
lited nocturnal sacrificial practices and magic, prob-
- y because they were causes of public disorder, for
the re(iuest of Prsetextatus, proconsul of Achaia, tolerated the mysteries of Eleusis and in 371 de- icd hnruspici/i legal. Constantius had formerly )lied the property of the pagan temples to Chris- n churches, and juUan had given the church prop- y to the temples, but Valentinian claimed all this nsferred property, po.ssibly from a desire of wealth, well as from a wish to be impartial to all reUgions 1 al.so to reduce public taxation. He restored the iss and the name of Christ to the labarum from ich .lulian had removed them, supported Pope masus against Ursinus in the flispute concerning ■ papal election, forbade judicial proceedings on ndays, exempted Christian soldiers from guarding jan temples, or Christians from being made glad- ors. On the other hand, he increased the privileges the provincial jiriests of paganism (as the old man religion now began to be called), restricted the ht of asylum, forbade the Christian clergy to re- ve legacies from Christian women unless they were •ir heirs; though no corresponding restriction was .ced on pagan priests. Moreover, lest the wealthy )uld become clerics to enjoy clerical immunity, he )hibited them from receiving orders unless they it renounced their patrimony; but he ordered hops to be tried by their peers. The Manichaeans considered political disturbers and in 372 forbade ■ir meetings at Rome, confiscated their houses, and nished their teachers. He supported the Arian shop of Milan, Auxentius, when excommunicated, ieving him to be orthodox; however, he confirmed ! decrees of the Synod of Illyria (375) against the eumatomachians and addressed a special letter to
- bishops of Asia, ordering the homousian doctrine
the Trinity to be taught, notwithstanding, as he d, the example and practice of Valens; but his un- lely end prevented him from enforcing his instruc- ns on this point. Valentinian was affable and id, but vain; he was a courageous, skilful soldier, and s ready to profess his faith openly when called on; he wished to restore matters to the condition in ich Constantino had left them, but in doing so ab- ined from emphasizing his own views; his legisla- e activity was very great, not the least interesting his edicts being one in 36S, by which he appointed irteen physicians at Rome to care for the poor at > public expense.
kLLARu. Le chrislianisme et Vempire romain (Pang, 1897); de ^oi.iE, LVglUe et t'f.mpire romain; Tillemont, Hist, des emper- s, V; HoDOKlN. Italy and her Invaders, 1 (London. 1880);
- rate3. Hist. eccL, IV.
^^ALENTINIAN II (FlaVIUS VaLENTINIANDs), 375-
2, b. in Gaul about 371, murdered atVienne, Dau- iny, Gaul, 15 May, 392, son of Valentinian I and I second wife Justina. He was never much more in a merely nominal ruler, for while Gratian ruled the East, most of the West was under the control -Magnus Maximus, Italy was all that was left to
n, and even there the real ruler was his mother stina, with whom he resided at Milan. In 387 aximus, who had usurped the northern provinces in
3, invaded Italy and Justina and Valentinian fled Thc.ssalonica to seek the aid of Theodosius, Em- ror of the East. Maximus was defeated, but
Justina soon died, and Valentinian fell under the evil
influence of Arbogast, who had him assassinated later.
Valentinian was weak, but just, and loved peace.
Justina was opposed to the orthodox party; she en-
deavoured to set up an Arian bishop at Milan and to
procure a church for his followers, but was thwarted
by St. Ambrose, who protested that the churches be-
longed to the bishop not to the emperor. And when
the Roman senate attempted in 3S4 and 391 to restore
the altar of victory and the pagan rites, it was St.
Ambrose again who triumphed. On 23 January, 386,
Valentinian published an edict protecting the Arian
supporters of the Council of Ariminum, but this was
overruled by Theodosius. On the other hand he
supported Po])!' Dainasus against his enemy Ursinus.
With (!rati:in he reaftirnied the exemption of the
clergy from the juri.sdiction of the civil tribunals in
religious matters. In 386 he issued an edict for the
erection of the Basihca of St. Paul and directed Sal-
lust, the prefect of Rome, to co-operate with Pope
Siricus in this matter. The basilica was consecrated
in 390. After Justina's death Valentinian abandoned
Arianism, became a catechumen, and invited St. Am-
brose to come to Gaul to administer baptism to him,
but was not spared to receive it. His body was
brought to Milan, where the saint delivered his funeral
oration, "De obitu Valentiniani con.solatio", in which
he dwells on the efficacy of baptism of desire (P. L.,
XVI).
SozoMEN, Hist. eccL, VII; DE Brogue, L'eglise et Vempire, III; Tillemont, Hist, des empereurs, V.
Valentinian III, 425-55, b. at Ravenna, 3 July, 419; d. at Rome, 16 March, 455; son of Constantius III and Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius, suc- ceeded Emperor Honorius. In 437 he married his cousin Eudoxia at Const antinople. Duringhisreign t he Western Empire hastened to decay. Britain was aban- doned in 4 4 6, Mtins failed to hold Gaul again.'^l the Franks, Bur- gun dians, and Huns, while Africa was lost in 439 by Boniface, who was defeated by the Vandals under Huneric, later married to Valentinian's daughter Eudoxia. On 17 July, 425, all schismatics were ordered to leave Rome; in the same year the immunity of the clergy from civil jurisdiction was re- affirmed, though Valentinian abrogated this privilege later in 452; on S Ajiril, 126, the Jews were forbidden to disinherit their cluldrcn who became Christians. Valentinian was a strong adversary of the Mani- chajans and in 445 declared them guilty of sacrilege, forbade them to reside in cities, and pronounced them incapable of performing any judicial acts. When ap- pealed to by Leo I in the dispute with St. Hilary of Poitiers concerning the latter's metropolitan rights, he addressed a constitution to yEtius, Governor of Gaul, strongly supporting Leo. In it he emphasized the papal .supremacy, founded on the position of St. Peter as head of the episcopacy, and pointed out the necessity of one supreme head for the spiritual king- dom, and ordered the civil authorities to bring to Rome any bishop who refu.sed to come there when called by the pope. In 447 he issued an edict to pre- vent the violation of sepulchres. He was at Rome, with his wife and mother, in February, 4.50, for the celebration of the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and after consultation with Pope Leo took active steps for
