Item: i89712

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Gratian –
Roman Emperor: 367-383 A.D.
Bronze AE3 17mm Siscia mint, 
struck circa 367-375 A.D.
Reference: RIC 14c, xxxvii; LRBC 1431

Certification:
NGC Ancients Ch VF 4936036-049
D N GRATIANVS P F AVG, 
pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
GLORIA RO-MANORVM / 
S-C/•-CA/SISCE, Emperor in military dress, walking right, head left, 
holding labarum topped with the Christian Chi-Rho symbol and dragging 
captive behind him.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate 
of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

The
labarum was a vexillum (military standard) that displayed the 
“Chi-Rho” symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek 
letters of the word “Christ” (Greek: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) – Chi 
(χ) and Rho (ρ). It was first used by the Roman emperor 
Constantine I. Since the vexillum consisted of a flag suspended from the 
crossbar of a cross, it was ideally suited to symbolize the crucifixion 
of Christ.

Ancient sources draw an unambiguous distinction between 
the two terms “labarum” and “Chi-Rho”, even though later usage sometimes 
regards the two as synonyms. The name labarum was applied both to the 
original standard used by Constantine the Great and to the many 
standards produced in imitation of it in the Late Antique world, and 
subsequently.

The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of christogram, and is 
used by some Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two 
(capital) letters chi and rho (ΧΡ) of the Greek word “ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ”
= KRistos = Christ in such a way to produce the 
monogram. Although not technically a Christian cross, the Chi-Rho 
invokes the authority of Jesus, as well as symbolizing his status as the 
Christ.

The Chi-Rho symbol was also used by pagan Greek scribes 
to mark, in the margin, a particularly valuable or relevant passage; the 
combined letters Chi and Rho standing for chrēston, meaning 
“good.” Some coins of Ptolemy III Euergetes (r. 246-222 BC) were marked 
with a Chi-Rho.

The Chi-Rho symbol was used by the Roman emperor 
Constantine I (r. 306-337) as part of a military standard (vexillum), 
Constantine’s standard was known as the Labarum. Early symbols similar 
to the Chi Rho were the Staurogram () 
and the IX monogram ().

Gratian –
Roman Emperor: 367-383 A.D.

367-375 A.D. 
Junior Augustus with
Valentinian I
375-385 A.D. Senior Augustus with
Valentinian II
Ruling in the East:
Valens (364-378 A.D.),
Theodosius I (379-395 A.D.) and
Arcadius (379-395 A.D.)

| Son of
Valentinian I and Severa | Husband of Constantia (daughter of
Constantius II) | Nephew of
Valens | Half-brother of
Valentinian II and Galla (wife of
Theodosius I) |

Gratian (Latin: Flavius Gratianus 
Augustus; 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.

Life

Gratian was the son of Emperor 
Valentinian I by Marina Severa, and was born at Sirmium (now Sremska 
Mitrovica, Serbia) in Pannonia. He was named after his grandfather 
Gratian the Elder. Gratian was first married to Flavia Maxima 
Constantia, daughter of Constantius II. His second wife was Laeta. Both 
marriages remained childless. His stepmother was Empress Justina and his 
paternal half siblings were Emperor Valentinian II, Galla and Justa.

On 24 August 367 he received from his father the title of Augustus. 
On the death of Valentinian (17 November 375), the troops in Pannonia 
proclaimed his infant son (by a second wife Justina) emperor under the 
title of Valentinian II.

Gratian acquiesced in their choice; 
reserving for himself the administration of the Gallic provinces, he 
handed over Italy, Illyricum and Africa to Valentinian and his mother, 
who fixed their residence at Mediolanum. The division, however, was 
merely nominal, and the real authority remained in the hands of Gratian.

Gratian’s general Mallobaudes, a king of the Franks, and Naniemus, 
completely defeated the Lentienses, the southernmost branch of the 
Alamanni, in May 378 at the Battle of Argentovaria. Upon receiving news 
of the victory, Gratian personally led a campaign across the Upper Rhine 
into the territory of the Lentienses. After initial trouble facing the 
Lentienses on high ground, Gratian blockaded the enemy instead and 
received their surrender. The Lentienses were forced to supply young men 
to be levied into the Roman army, while the remainder were allowed to 
return home. Later that year, Valens met his death in the Battle of 
Adrianople on 9 August. Valens refused to wait for Gratian and his army 
to arrive and assist in defeating the host of Goths, Alans and Huns; as 
a result, two-thirds of the eastern Roman army were killed as well.

In the same year, the government of the Eastern Empire devolved upon 
Gratian, but feeling himself unable to resist unaided the incursions of 
the barbarians, he promoted Theodosius I on 19 January 379 to govern 
that portion of the Empire. Gratianus and Theodosius then cleared the 
Illyricum of barbarians in the Gothic War (376-382).

For some 
years Gratian governed the Empire with energy and success but gradually 
sank into indolence, occupying himself chiefly with the pleasures of the 
chase, and became a tool in the hands of the Frankish general Merobaudes 
and bishop St. Ambrose of Milan.

By taking into his personal 
service a body of Alans, and appearing in public in the dress of a 
Scythian warrior, after the disaster of the Battle of Adrianople, he 
aroused the contempt and resentment of his Roman troops. A Roman general 
named Magnus Maximus took advantage of this feeling to raise the 
standard of revolt in Britain and invaded Gaul with a large army. 
Gratian, who was then in Paris, being deserted by his troops, fled to 
Lyon. There, through the treachery of the governor, Gratian was 
delivered over to one of the rebel generals, Andragathius, and 
assassinated on 25 August 383.

Empire and Orthodox Christianity

The reign of Gratian forms an important epoch in ecclesiastical history, 
since during that period Nicene Christianity for the first time became 
dominant throughout the empire.

Gratian also published an edict 
that all their subjects should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome 
and Alexandria (i.e., the Nicene faith). The move was mainly thrust at 
the various beliefs that had arisen out of Arianism, but smaller 
dissident sects, such as the Macedonians, were also prohibited.

Suppression of paganism

Gratian, under the influence of his chief 
advisor the Bishop of Milan Ambrose, took active steps to repress pagan 
worship. This brought to an end a period of widespread, if unofficial, 
religious tolerance that had existed since the time of Julian. “In the 
long truce between the hostile camps”, writes historian Samuel Dill “the 
pagan, the sceptic, even the formal, the lukewarm Christian, may have 
come to dream of a mutual toleration which would leave the ancient forms 
undisturbed but such men, living in a world of literary and antiquarian 
illusions, know little of the inner forces of the new Christian 
movement.”

In 382, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan 
priests and Vestal Virgins, forbade legacies of real property to them 
and abolished other privileges belonging to the Vestals and to the 
pontiffs. He confiscated the personal possessions of the colleges of 
Pagan priests, which also lost all their privileges and immunities. 
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 royal treasury.

He ordered another removal 
of the Altar of Victory from the Senate House at Rome, despite protests 
of the pagan members of the Senate, and confiscated its revenues. Pagan 
Senators responded by sending an appeal to Gratian, reminding him that 
he was still the Pontifex Maximus and that it was his duty to see that 
the ancestral Pagan rites were properly performed. They appealed to 
Gratian to restore the Altar of Victory and the rights and privileges of 
the Vestal Virgins and priestly colleges. Gratian, at the urging of 
Ambrose, did not grant an audience to the Pagan Senators. Moreover, he 
further renounced the title, office, and insignia of the Pontifex 
Maximus. Notwithstanding his actions, Gratian was still deified 
after his death.