VALENTINIAN II

born 371, Treveri, Belgica died May 15, 392, Vienna [modern Vienne], Viennensis Latin in full Flavius Valentinianus Roman emperor from 375 to 392. Valentinian was the son of the emperor Valentinian I and his second wife, Justina. On Nov. 22, 375, five days after the death of his father, the four-year-old Valentinian was proclaimed emperor at Aquincum (modern Budapest). The declaration was made without the knowledge or consent of the two reigning emperors, Valens and Gratian, but they later accepted Valentinian and allowed him to rule (through his mother) Italy, Africa, and Illyricum. In 383 Gratian was put to death by the usurper Magnus Maximus, and in 387 Maximus invaded Italy. Valentinian and his mother fled to Thessalonica, Greece, to the dominions of the new Eastern emperor, Theodosius I. After the overthrow of Maximus by Theodosius in 388, Valentinian was restored to his rule. But in 392 the young emperor was found dead in his palace at Vienna, perhaps murdered by agents of Arbogast, whom he had sought to dismiss from the regency of Gaul.