Empress Justina
For other uses of the name, see Justina (disambiguation)Justina (d. c.
388) was the second wife of the
Roman Emperor Valentinian I (reigned 364-375) and the mother of
Valentinian II (reigned 375-392).
Born into a family of
senatorial rank in
Sicily, she was at first the wife of the usurper
Magnentius (d.
353). Valentinian divorced his first wife on her account and married her not later than
370. She thus became the stepmother of the future emperor
Gratian and of Galla, wife of
Theodosius I, as well as the mother of Valentinian II. During the reign of Gratian she lived in
Sirmium, but during the reign of her son, who succeeded as a child, was effective ruler in his stead and lived with him in
Milan.
For years she fought
Saint Ambrose in the conflict over the
Arian heresy, but was at last defeated. In
388 she fled with her son to Theodosius in
Thessalonika before the invasion of Italy by the usurper Maximus, and seems to have died shortly afterwards.
*Camphausen, Hans v., 1929.
Ambrosius von Mailand als Kirchenpolitiker. Berlin/Leipzig.
*Homes Dudden, A., 1935.
The Life and Times of St. Ambrose. Oxford.
*Jones, A. H. M. et al., 1971.
The Prosopographie of the Later Roman Empire I.. Cambridge.
*Meslin, Michael, 1967.
Les ariens d'occident, pp 335-430. Paris.
*
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