Item: i104275

Authentic Ancient Coin of:

Gratian – Roman Emperor: 367-383 A.D.
Bronze AE3 17mm (2.90 grams) Siscia mint,  struck circa 367-375 A.D.
Reference: RIC 14c, xxxvii; LRBC 1431
D N GRATIANVS P F AVG,  pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
GLORIA RO-MANORVM /H/(Star)/F/ΓSISC, Emperor in military dress, walking right, head left,  holding labarum topped with the Christian Chi-Rho symbol and dragging  captive behind him.

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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.