 Neither Gratian (then in Trier) nor his uncle Valens (emperor for the East) were consulted by the army commanders on the scene.Instead of merely acknowledging Gratian as his father's successor, Valentinian I's generals acclaimed the four-year-old Valentinian "augustus" on 22 November 375.The army, and its Frankish general Merobaudes, may have been uneasy about Gratian's lack of military ability, and so raised a boy who would not immediately aspire to military command.