AE Follis AE3, A.D. 367-375, Thessalonica, 17.5mm, 2.62g, 0°, RIC IX 27(c).xxxii.
Obv: D N GRATIANVS AVG. Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: SECVRITAS REIPVBLICAE. Victory advancing left holding wreath and palm; • over P left, A right, TES in ex.
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Flavius Gratianus, commonly known as Gratian, was Roman Emperor from 375 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. Gratian gained a decisive victory over the Alamanni in 378 at the Battle of Argentovaria. That same year, his uncle Valens was killed in the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths - making Gratian essentially ruler of the entire empire.

The reign of Gratian forms an important epoch in ecclesiastical history, since during that period Orthodox Christianity for the first time became dominant throughout the empire. Under the influence of Ambrosius, Gratian prohibited Pagan worship at Rome; refused to wear the insignia of the Pontifex Maximus as unbefitting a Christian; removed the Altar of Victory from the Senate House at Rome, despite protests of the pagan members of the Senate, and confiscated its revenues. He also forbade legacies of real property to the Vestals; and abolished other privileges belonging to them and to the pontiffs. Nevertheless he was still deified after his death.

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 Adrianopole, 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.