Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/315

Rh GRATA. merited his loss. It is doubtful if they were at Vienna in Gaul, where he was killed, at the time of his death (a. d. 392), and accompanied his body to Milan, or whether they were at Milan. (Socrat. //. E. iv. 31 ; Ambros. de Ohitu Valentiniani, MO, &c., Epist. 53, ed. Benedict. ; Tillemont, Hist, des Emv. vol. v.) 2. JusTA Grata Honoria, was the daughter of Constantius III., emperor of the West [ Const an- Tius III.], and Galla Placidia [Galla, No. 2], and daughter of Theodosius the Great. The time of her birth is not known, but it may be estimated approximately by the marriage of her parents, which took place on Jan. 1, 417, and the birth of her brother, Valentinian I IT., younger than her- self, which occurred in a. D. 419. She fled into the eastern empire, with her mother and brother, upon the death of Honorius (a. D. 424) and the usurpation of Joannes ; and shared in the danger from the sea and the deliverance therefrom, which are recorded in an inscription now in the wall of St. John's Church at Ravenna [Galla, No. 2]. In that inscription she is termed Augusta, which title was probably given her after the restoration of Valentinian III. to the western empire ; and, it is conjectured, in order to prevent her marrying, by raising her above the rank of a subject. Impa- tient at being restricted from marriage, she secretly communicated, by one of her eunuchs, whom she sent on the mission, with Attila, who had lately become king of the Huns, inviting him to come into Italy and to marry her. There is some doubt as to the time of this mission ; but we prefer, on the whole, to follow Jornandes, who fixes it before her connection with Eugenins. It was probably at this time that she sent her ring to Attila as a pledge of her faith ; but Attila did not attend to her invitation, and Honoria's imbridled appetite led her into an illicit connection with her own steward, Eugenius, by whom she became pregnant. On the discover}' of her condition, she was con- fined, but not in the palace, and then sent (a. d. 434) to Theodosius II. at Constantinople. Vale- sius has affirmed that Eugenius was put to death, but this assertion appears to be unsupported by testimony. In A. D. 450, after the death of Theo- dosius, she appears to have been sent back to her brother, Valentinian ; for in that year Attila, anxious to find a cause of quarrel with the west- ern empire, sent an embassy to Valentinian com- plaining of the wrongs of Honoria, claiming her as betrothed to him, and, with her, that portion of the empire to which she was entitled. Valen- tinian replied that she could not marry Attila, as she had a husband already ; that women had no part in the succession to the empire, and that, con- sequently, his sister had no claim. This assertion that Honoria had a husband has led to the con- jecture that she was forced at this time to marry some obscure person, and that this enforced mar- riage was one occasion of a second embassy of Attila, reiterating his claim to her, and sending her ring as an assurance that she had engaged her- self to him. Valentinian sent a similar reply to his former one ; and the invasion of Gaul by Attila soon followed [Attila]. Of the subsequent his- tory of Honoria nothing appears to be known ; Gibbon states, but apparently without authority, that she was condemned to perpetual imprison- ment. (Marcellin. Gironicon ; Priscus, de Legation. i. 7, 8, ii. 1 ; Jornand. de Reb. Get. c. 42, de Regn. GRATIANUS. 301 Success, c. 97 ; Olympiod. apud Phot. Bihl. cod. 80 ; Theophan. Chronog. vol. i. p. 16'2, ed. Bonn ; Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. vols. v. and vi. ; Gibbon, c. 35 ; Eckhel, vol. viii. p. 189 ; Gruter, Inscript. mxlviii. 1.) [J. C. M.] GRA'TIAE. [Charites.] GRATIA'NUS. 1. Gratianus Funarius, father of the emperors Valentinian I. and Valens, was bom at Cibalae or Cibalis, in Pannonia, of an obscure family. He obtained the name of Funariiis (" the rope-man") because, when carrying about some rope (funis) for sale, he successfully resisted the efforts of five soldiers to wrest it from him. This circumstance led to his enlisting in the army, and he became distinguished for bodily strength and for skill in military wrestling. He rose through the rank of Protector and Tribunus to be Comes, and, as we understand Ammianus Marcellinus, Magister Militura in Africa ; but lost that appoint- ment through being suspected of peculation. How- ever, after a long interval, he obtained the same rank in Britain ; and at last returned, with a good reputation, to his birth-place, to end his days in privacy. He suflfered the confiscation of all his property by the emperor Constantius II., " because he was said to have hospitably entertained Mag- nentius, who was hastening through the place of his residence to the fulfilment of his purpose " (Amm. Marc. XXX. 7), i. e. apparently when hastening to encounter Constantius in the battle of Mursa, a.d. 351. He is thought to have held the office of prae- fectus praetorio, but this is not certain. He was very popular with the soldiers, whose regard for him, even after his death, is said to have contributed to the elevation of his son Valentinian to the empire. The senate of Constantinople decreed to him a statue of brass about the time of the accession of Valens, A. D. 364. (Amm. Marc. xxx. 7 ; Aurel. Vict. Epit. c. 45 ; Paulus Diaconus, de Gest. Roman, lib. xi ; Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. vol. v.) 2. Gratianus Aug., son of the emperor Valen- tinian, by his first wife Severa (or perhaps Valeria Severa), was born at Sirmium, in Pannonia, 19th April, A. D. 359, about five years before his father's accession to the empire. In A. d. 366, while yet nobilissimus puer, or heir apparent, he was made consul, and on 24th Aug. 367, he was raised by his father to the rank of Augustus, at Ambiani or Amiens, in Gaul. This elevation is ascribed by Aurelius Victor to the influence of his mother, Severa, and his maternal grandmother. In the following year he accompanied his father in the campaign against the Alamanni, in their own country, though he was not, on account of his tender age, exposed to the full hardships and dan- gers of the war. Great care was bestowed on his education ; and the poet Ausonius [Ausonius], whom, in gratitude for his instruction, he after- wards (a. d. 379) raised to the consulship, was his tutor. On the sudden death of Valentinian, at Bregitio or Bergentio, now Bregenz, on the lake of Con- stance (17 Nov. A. D. 375), the troops there, at the instigation of some of their officers, elevated Valen- tinian II., a child of four years, half brother of Gratian, to a share in the empire. The writers of best authority tell us that the good disposition and prudence of Gratian, or his advisers, prevented that prince from taking umbrage at this intrusion upon him of a partner in his power ; but Theophanes and Zonaras say that he pmiished the authors of his