Justina (empress)

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

[3][1] According to Socrates of Constantinople, "Justus the father of Justina, who had been governor of Picenum under the reign of Constantius, had a dream in which he seemed to himself to bring forth the imperial purple out of his right side.

When this dream had been told to many persons, it at length came to the knowledge of Constantius, who conjecturing it to be a presage that a descendant of Justus would become emperor, caused him to be assassinated.

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.

[8] David Woods points out that Themistius thanked Constantius II for saving the empire from "bastard and spurious successors", which probably meant the future children of Justina and usurper Magnentius.

[15] The other version, given by Socrates, Jordanes and Theodorus Lector, has no mention of Valentinian's first wife being disgraced, and says that Justina met the emperor when Severa introduced the two.

[2][22] 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.

[23][24] Many church historians influenced by Ambrose's rhetoric wrote negative accounts about her, stating that she persecuted the bishop for selfish reasons.

[25][26] 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.

Justina, Valentinian and Galla fled to Thessaloniki, capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum and at the time chosen residence of Theodosius.

[28] 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.