Харитона (средином 4. века нове ере) је била римска царица, супруга цара Јовијана, римског цара. Неки историчари сумњају у то да ли је Харито добила титулу Августе јер ниједан археолошки доказ то још не потврђује.<ref name="Jovian page 364">Select Works of Emperor Julian (1786), English anthology including a translation of the History of Jovian, p. 364. See also de La Bléterie, J. P., Histoire de Jovien, i. p. 1-238; and Garland, Lynda, Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium, AD 527-1204, Psychology Press, 1999. </ref>
Име Харитино име се не појављује у делу Амијана Марцелина, једном од главних извора владавине њеног мужа. Чини се да је најранији извор који бележи њено име „Хронографикон синтомон“ патријарха Нићифора I од Константинопоља. Најранији латински извор који је то учинио био је превод хронографикона Анастасија Библиотекара. Тимоти Барнс сматра да њено одсуство из Амијановог извештаја одражава њен недостатак политичког утицаја. Барнс примећује да Амијан не именује Албију Доминику, Валенсову жену, чији је утицај такође био ограничен., page 123.
Породица Према Амијану и Зосиму, Харитона је била Луцилијанова ћерка. Луцилијан је био војни заповедник смештен у Сирмијуму током касне владавине цара Констанција II. Служио је као командант у сукобу са Сасанидским царством 350. године. Затим је служио као комес доместикорум под цезаром Констанцијем Галом.
Године 358 -359, Луцилијан и Прокопије су чинили друго посланство које је цар Констанције II послао цару Шапуру II, преговарајући о условима мира и враћајући се без резултата.N. J. E. Austin and N. B. Rankov, , page 224. Луцилијан је касније покушао да се супротстави напредовању Јулијана и његових снага против цара Констанција II. Међутим, он је поражен и отпуштен је из римске војске када се Јулијан попео на престо.According to Ammianus:"Rumour, which with a thousand tongues, as men say, strangely exaggerates the truth, spread herself abroad with many reports throughout all Illyricum, saying that Julian, after overthrowing a great number of kings and nations in Gaul, was on the way with a numerous army and puffed up by sundry successes. Alarmed by this news, the pretorian prefect Taurus speedily retreated, as if avoiding a foreign enemy, and using the rapid changes of the public courier-service, he crossed the Julian Alps, at the same stroke taking away with him Florentius, who was also prefect. Nonetheless, Count Lucillianus, who then commanded the troops stationed in those regions, with headquarters at Sirmium, having some slight intelligence of Julian's move, gathered together such forces as regard for speedy action allowed to be summoned from the neighbouring stations and planned to resist him when he should arrive. But Julian, like a meteor or a blazing dart, hastened with winged speed to his goal; and when he had come to Bononea, distant nineteen miles from Sirmium, as the moon was waning and therefore making dark the greater part of the night, he unexpectedly landed, and at once sent Dagalaifus with a light-armed force to summon Lucillianus, and if he tried to resist, to bring him by force. The prefect was still asleep, and when he was awakened by the noise and confusion and saw himself surrounded by a ring of strangers, he understood the situation and, overcome with fear on hearing the emperor's name, obeyed his command, though most unwillingly. So the commander of the cavalry, just now so haughty and self-confident, following another's behest, was set upon the first horse that could be found and brought before the emperor like a base captive, scarcely keeping his wits through terror. But when at first sight of Julian he saw that the opportunity was given him of bowing down to the purple, taking heart at last and no longer in fear for his life, he said: "Incautiously and rashly, my Emperor, you have trusted yourself with a few followers to another's territory." To which Julian replied with a bitter smile: "Reserve these wise words for Constantius, for I have offered you the emblem of imperial majesty, not as to a counsellor, but that you might cease to fear." - The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, vol. 2, Book 21, chapter 9. 1940 translation
Амијан и Зосим дају два мало различита извештаја о улози царског таста у краткој Јовијановој владавини. Луцилијан је враћен на дужност и добио је наређење да се пресели у Медиоланум. У тајности, Јовијан га је такође замолио да „са собом поведе неке људе одабране због њихове искушане снаге и лојалности, са намером да искористи њихову подршку како би услови представљени лакшим него што су били“."Procopius, a state-secretary, and the military tribune Memoridus were sent to the lands of Illyricum and Gaul, to announce the death of Julianus, and the elevation of Jovian (after Julianus's decease) to Augustan rank. To them the emperor had also given instructions to hand his father-in-law Lucillianus, who after his dismissal from the army had retired to a life of leisure and was then living at Sirmium, the commission as commander of the cavalry and infantry which he had delivered to them, and urge him to hasten to Milan, in order to attend to any difficulties there, or if (as was now rather to be feared) any new dangers should arise, to resist them. To these instructions the emperor had added a secret letter, in which he also directed Lucillianus to take with him some men selected for their tried vigour and loyalty, with the view of making use of their support as the condition of affairs might suggest. And he took the prudent step of appointing Malarichus, who also was even then living in Italy in a private capacity, as successor to Jovinus, commander of the cavalry in Gaul, sending him the insignia of that rank. Thereby he aimed at a double advantage: first, in getting rid of a general of distinguished service and therefore an object of suspicion; and, second, the hope that a man of slight expectations, when raised to a high rank, might show great zeal in supporting the position of his benefactor, which was still uncertain. Also the men who were commissioned to carry out these plans were ordered to set the course of events in a favourable light, and wherever they went, to agree with each other in spreading the report that the Parthian campaign had been brought to a successful end. They were to hasten their journey by adding night to day, to put into the hands of the governors and the military commanders of the provinces the messages of the new emperor, to secretly sound the sentiments of all of them, and to return steadily with their replies, in order that as soon as it was learned how matters stood in the distant provinces, timely and careful plans might be made for safeguarding the imperial power." - The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, vol. 2, Book 25, chapter 8. 1940 translation
Повратак Луцилијана у акцију довешће до његове смрти нешто касније. Убили су га његови људи након што је проширена лажна гласина по да је цар Јулијан још увек жив."After this the emperor left Tarsus, and making long marches arrived at Tyana, a town of Cappadocia, where on their return the secretary Procopius and the tribune Memoridus met him. They gave him an account of their missions, beginning (as order demanded) with the entry of Lucillianus with the tribunes Seniauchus and Valentinianus, whom he had taken with him, into Mediolanum; but on learning that Malarichus had refused to accept the position he had gone at full speed to Rheims. Then, as if that nation were in profound peace, he ran off the track (as the saying is), and quite out of season, since everything was not yet secure, devoted his attention to examining the accounts of a former actuary. This man, being conscious of deceit and wrongdoing, fled for refuge to the army and falsely asserted that Julianus was still alive and that a man of no distinction had raised a rebellion; in consequence of his falsehoods a veritable storm broke out among the soldiery, and Lucillianus and Seniauchus were killed. For Valentinianus, who was shortly afterwards emperor, in terror and not knowing where to turn, was safely gotten out of the way by Primitivus, his guest-friend. This sad news was followed by another message, this time a happy one, namely, that soldiers sent by Jovinus, heads of the divisions, as camp parlance termed them, were on the way, reporting that the Gallic army embraced with favour the rule of Jovian - The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, vol. 2, Book 25, chapter 10. 1940 translation
Према Зосиму, Луцилијан је убијен зато што је носио лошу вест о Јулијановој смрти."Jovian now turning his attention to the affairs of government, made various arrangements, and sent Lucilianus his father-in-law, Procopius, and Valentinian, who was afterwards emperor, to the armies in Pannonia, to inform them of the death of Julian, and of his being chosen emperor. The Batavians who were at Sirmium, and were left there for its protection, as soon as they received the news, put to death Lucilianus who brought such unwelcome intelligence, without regard to his relationship to the emperor. Such was the respect they had to Jovian's relations, that Valentinian himself only escaped from the death they intended to inflict on him." Zosimus, New History, Book 3. 1814 translation. Ова два извештаја се разликују по локацији смрти, Ремсу или Сирмијуму, и о томе које су јединице биле одговорне. Амијан га оставља нејасним, док Зосим указује на одређене јединице.Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Царица Харито се удала за Јовијана, Варонијановог сина. Њен свекар је био трибун Јовијана и постаје доместикорум. Варонијан се повукао у приватни живот за време Јулијанове владавине. Јовијан је такође наставио војну каријеру, служећи као примикериус доместикорум под царем Јулијаном. Имали су најмање једног сина, такође по имену Варонијан. Филосторгије тврди да је Варонијан био један од два сина. Други син није именован.Philostorgius: Church History; translation by Philip R. Amidon. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. ; Book 8, chapter 8,. Међутим, ово кратко помињање је једини извор који помиње или сугерише постојање другог сина.
Цар Јулијан је 26. јуна 363. смртно рањен у бици код Самаре. Умро је неколико сати након завршетка сукоба. Био је без деце и никада није одредио наследника. Дана 27. јуна, преостали официри кампање су наставили да бирају новог цара, бирајући Јовијана из нејасних разлога. Харитона је постала нова царица.According to Ammianus: "It was said that his father, Varronianus, learned what would happen long beforehand from the suggestion of a dream, and trusted the information to two of his confidential friends, adding the remark that the consular robe would be conferred also on himself. But although one prophecy was fulfilled, he could not attain the other prediction. For after learning of the elevation of his son, he was overtaken by death before seeing him again. And since it was foretold to the old man in a dream that the highest magistracy awaited one of that name, his grandson Varronianus, then still a child, was ... made consul together with his father Jovianus." - The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, vol. 2, Book 25, chapter 10. 1940 translation