Justina (empress)

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For other uses, see
Justina (disambiguation)
.
Justina
Arian Christianity[2]

Justina (

Latin: Iustina; c. 340 – c. 388) was a Roman empress. She was initially the wife of the rebel emperor Magnentius and was then married to Valentinian I, with whom she had four children, including the emperor Valentinian II and the empress Galla
.

Possibly a relative of the

Thessalonica
. Afterwards, Theodosius attacked and defeated Magnus Maximus, ending the civil war, during which time Justina herself died.

Family

Justina was a daughter of Justus, governor of Picenum under Constantius II.[1] She had two known brothers, Constantianus and Cerealis.[2] In La Pseudobigamie de Valentinien I (1958), J. Rougé argues all three names were representative of their descent from the Neratii, an aristocratic family connected to the Constantinian dynasty through marriage.[3] According to the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire the names Justus and Justina may also indicate a relation to the Vettius family.[1]

The Prosopography mentions a theory that Justus was a son of

Praetorian prefect of Italy from 365 to his death in 368.[4]

Several modern scholars have theorized that Justina was a member of the Constantinian dynasty. While

Valentinianic (and later Theodosian) dynasties.[5]

Marriage to Magnentius

Justina was first married to Magnentius, a Roman usurper, from 350 to 353.[6] However, both Zosimus and the fragmentary chronicle of John of Antioch reported that Justina was too young at the time of her first marriage to have children.[3]

Empress and marriage to Valentinian I

Solidus of Valentinian I

In c. 370, Justina became the second wife of Valentinian I after his divorce. Barnes observed that Christian writers appeared to be embarrassed by his act, as few sources name his first wife.[7] There are two different reports of the exact circumstances. The one given by John Malalas, the Chronicon Paschale and John of Nikiû say Marina committed fraud and was exiled,[8] though Barnes considers it to be an attempt to justify the divorce of Valentinian I without blaming the emperor.[9] The other version given by Socrates, Jordanes and Theodorus Lector do not say Valentinian’s first wife was disgraced, and explain how Justina came to know the emperor by saying that Severa introduced her to him.[9][10][11]

Justina became the stepmother of Gratian, Valentinian’s son from his previous marriage. The couple had four children. Their only son was

Galla, Grata and Justa.[12] According to Socrates, Grata and Justa remained unmarried. They were still alive in 392 but not mentioned afterwards.[13]

Widowhood and the reign of Valentinian II

Valentinian I died in 375.[14] According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Zosimus and Philostorgius, Justina was living near Sirmium by the time she was widowed. During the reign of Valentinian II, she moved with him to Mediolanum (Milan). She assisted her young son Valentinian II's rule.

In 383, Gratian had died while facing a major revolt under

Italia, ruling from Mediolanum (modern Milan).[12]

Justina was an Arian though unable to act in favor of her religious faction until after the death of her husband. She maintained a long struggle against Ambrose, leader of the Nicene faction in Milan.[2][16] The dispute started in 385 when Ambrose refused the imperial court's demand for the Arian usage of a basilica for Easter, a cause which Justina championed.[17][18] Many church historians influenced by Ambrose's rhetoric wrote negative accounts about her, stating that she persecuted the bishop for selfish reasons.[19][20] However, Justina was not the only person in the court pursuing the Arian worship, since Gothic soldiers and some high-ranking civilian and military officials under Valentinian also had a stake in it.[21]

In 387, the truce between Valentinian II and Maximus ended. The latter crossed the Alps into the Po Valley and threatened Milan. Justina and her children Valentinian and Galla fled their capital for Thessaloniki, capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and at the time chosen residence of Theodosius. Theodosius was at the time a widower, his first wife Aelia Flaccilla having died in 386.

Theodosius granted refuge to the fugitives. After Justina involved herself in negotiations with him, he agreed to reinstall her son, and her daughter Galla was married to Theodosius.[22]

In July–August, 388, the combined troops of Theodosius I and Valentinian II invaded the territory of Maximus under the leadership of Richomeres, Arbogast, Promotus and Timasius. Maximus suffered a series of losses and surrendered in Aquileia. He was executed on 28 August 388. Theodosius sent Valentinian to the West, and though Justina was believed by Zosimus to have intended to go with him, she died within the same year.[2]

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 490.
  2. ^ a b c d Jones, Martindale & Morris, pp. 488–489.
  3. ^ a b c Lenski 2003, p. 103.
  4. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 382.
  5. ^ François Chausson, "Stemmata aurea: Constantin, Justine, Théodose. Revendications généalogiques et idéologie impériale au IVe s. ap. J.-C." (2007)
  6. ^ Michael DiMaio, Jr., "Magnentius (350-353 A.D) and Decentius (351-353 A.D.)"
  7. ^ Barnes 1998, p. 123.
  8. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 828.
  9. ^ a b Barnes 1998, p. 124.
  10. ^ Jordanes, Romana 310
  11. ^ Theodorus Lector, Epitome 212, p. 74.9-17
  12. ^ a b Walter E. Roberts , "Valentinian II (375-92 A.D.)"
  13. ^ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 400, 488.
  14. ^ Walter E. Roberts, "Valentinian I (364-375 A.D)"
  15. ^ Walter E. Roberts, "Magnus Maximus (383-388 A.D.)"
  16. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 43.
  17. ^ Ambrose, Epistolae 20
  18. ^ McLynn 1994, p. 187.
  19. ^ Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History 11.15-16
  20. ^ Augustine, Confessions 9.7.15
  21. ^ McLynn 1994, pp. 170–174.
  22. ^ Williams & Friell 1994, p. 62.

Sources

  • Barnes, Timothy D. (1998). Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality (Cornell Studies in Classical Philology). Cornell University Press.
    ISBN 080143526-9
    .
  • ISBN 9781889758879
    .
  • Camphausen, Hans v., 1929. Ambrosius von Mailand als Kirchenpolitiker. Berlin/Leipzig.
  • Homes Dudden, A., 1935. The Life and Times of St. Ambrose. Oxford.
  • ISBN 0-521-07233-6
    .
  • Lenski, Noel (2003). Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D. Berkeley: University of California Press.
    ISBN 0-520-23332-8
    .
  • McLynn, Neil B. (1994), Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital, The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, vol. 22, Berkeley: University of California Press,
    ISBN 978-0-520-08461-2
  • Williams, Stephen; Friell, Gerard (1994). Theodosius: The Empire at Bay. Yale University Press.
    ISBN 978-0-300-07447-5
    .

External links

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