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Source: Roman Emperors-Theodosius part II

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Titre	Roman Emperors-Theodosius part II

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Emperor Flavius Theodosius "the Great" of Rome I RE04

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Copyright (C) 1998, David Woods. This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact. List of secondary sources and notes is extensive click on link to view in full

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Civil Wars Theodosius fought two bloody civil wars in quick succession against the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius. Magnus Maximus was a fellow Spaniard who even claimed to be a relative of Theodosius himself.[[29]] Like Theodosius, he was also a pious Catholic. Hence there was no deep ideological differences between the two. Magnus Maximus had been the commander of a field army in Britain in 383 when he had led his troops back to Gaul in an attempt to seize power.[[30]] He forced Gratian to flee from an initial encounter near Paris, but was blamed for Gratian's assassination near Lyons as he made for northern Italy. This was the only charge which Theodosius could seriously have held against him in 383, that he had risen to power through the assassination of a legitimate emperor. War between the two had not been inevitable, and the orator Themistius undoubtedly exaggerates when he claims that Theodosius set out against him in 384 with the intention of avenging Gratian's death.[[31]] The young Valentinian II continued to rule the prefectures of Italy, Illyricum and Africa, which constituted a buffer-ground between the territories of his two more powerful colleagues. An uneasy peace prevailed until the late summer of 387 when Maximus sent his troops into northernItaly and forced Valentinian to retreat to Thessalonica at the eastern extreme of his territory.[[32]] Yet while Maximus may have struck the first formal blow in this renewed bout of civil war, one suspects that he felt compelled to act as he did much because of the growing influence of Theodosius over Valentinian and his ministers. One notes that Theodosius' magister peditum praesentalis Richomer was the uncle of Valentinian's magister equitum praesentalis Arbogast, who was effectively the sole commander of Valentinian's forces at this point.[[33]] More importantly, perhaps, Valentinian had appointed Gildo as his comes Africae ca. 386, and Theodosius had attempted to win Gildo over to his cause by marrying Nebridius, a nephew of the empress Flaccilla, to Gildo's daughter Salvina.[[34]]The fact that Maximus suffered some sort of serious defeat at Sicily during the initial stage of the civil war in 388, and that he committed a large number of men to naval operations off the southern Italian coast under the command of his magister praesentalis Andragathius, suggests that Theodosius was well rewarded for his efforts, that he did at least persuade Gildo to defect to his side and seize Sicily on his behalf.[[35]] Whatever the case, Theodosius joined with Valentinian at Thessalonica during the late summer of 387, at which time he also married Valentinian's sister Galla. They launched a joint expedition against Maximus during the summer of 388, defeating his forces in pitched battles at Siscia, then Poetovio.[[36]] They then forced their way across the Alps and captured Maximus himself at Aquileia. They had him executed three miles outside Aquileia on 28 August 388, and sent Arbogast to do the same to his son Victor in Trier. However, they spared his wife and two daughters. Theodosius spent about three years in Italy until he began his return trip to Constantinople in the summer of 391. Valentinian now ruled the whole of the western empire, but he was increasingly dominated by his magister peditum praesentalis Arbogast, whose own arrogance increased the further Theodosius moved from the scene. Matters came to a head in 392 when Valentinian tried to cashier Arbogast and Arbogast simply refused to accept his command.[[37]] Valentinian secretly wrote to Theodosius for his assistance, but was found dead on 15 May 392. An uneasy peace followed as Arbogast awaited the news of Theodosius' reaction to the death of his brother-in-law Valentinian; Theodosius tried to determine whether Valentinian really had committed suicide as alleged.[[38]] Unfortunately for all concerned, Theodosius was still married to Galla, who refused to accept that her brother had committed suicide. Worse still, Arbogast's strongest advocate at Theodosius' court, his uncle Richomer, was mortally ill. As a hostile judgement seemed increasingly likely, Arbogast struck first. He hailed Valentinian's magister scrinii as emperor on 22 August 392 and quickly secured Italy for his cause. In contrast to his acceptance of Maximus for several years, Theodosius refused to recognise Eugenius as emperor right from the start. He publicly indicated this by his refusal to accept Eugenius' nominees for the consulship of 393 and by his coronation of his second son Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. The war did not begin until the summer of 394 when Theodosius finally began his march from Constantinople. The war was decided by one decisive battle on the banks of the river Frigidus in the foothills of the Alps on 6 September 394.[[39]] While Christian sources delight to recount how God assisted Theodosius by sending a wind to blow his enemies' weapons back into their faces,[[40]] the crucial factor was surely the decision by a key section of Maximus' army under the comes Arbitio to defect from his side to that of Theodosius.[[41]] So Theodosius triumphed and had Eugenius executed, while Arbogast committed suicide. Religious Policy Theodosius was Catholic and received baptism at the hands of bishop Acholius of Thessalonica during the autumn of 380 when serious illness threatened his life.[[42]] Two days after his first arrival in Constantinople on 24 November 380, Theodosius expelled the "Arian" bishop Demophilus of Constantinople from the churches of that city and surrendered them to Gregory of Naziaznus who happened to be the leader of the small Catholic or "Nicene" community there at the time. This was greatly resented and may even have resulted in an attempt to assassinate the emperor.[[43]] He also called a synod of 150 Catholic bishops who assembled at Constantinople in May 381. An early meeting of this synod, when all the bishops had not yet arrived, elected Gregory of Nazianzus as the new Bishop of Constantinople, but he was quickly forced to resign. The synod then elected the senator Nectarius, who obviously enjoyed the strong backing of the emperor himself, in his stead. Theodosius' early reign witnessed the gradual expulsion of all heretical bishops from the towns and cities of the East and the transfer of all church buildings and property to their Catholic rivals. The depth of resentment which such policies caused can best be judged by the fact that in 388 "Arian" mobs at Constantinople rioted and caused widespread damage in reponse to the false rumour that Magnus Maximus had inflicted a severe defeat upon Theodosius.[[44]] Theodosius continued to tolerate the traditional pagan practices and rituals which had enjoyed toleration from successive Christian emperors throughout the fourth century, i.e., almost anything which did not include blood-sacrifice or did not smack of treason against the emperor, until 391 at least. He then issued a series of laws which seemed effectively to prohibit all pagan worship by forbidding visits to pagan sites of worship or even the adornment in any manner of the images of the gods.[[45]] This apparent change of policy on his part has often been credited to the increased influence of bishop Ambrose of Milan.[[46]] For in 390 Ambrose had excommunicated Theodosius because he had ordered the execution of several thousand of the inhabitants of Thessalonica in response to the murder there of his "general" Butherichus. Theodosius accepted his excommunication and even performed several months of public penance, so it is all too easy too imagine how he might have taken the time to review his other "failings" also, including his continued toleration of paganism.[[47]] However, the importance of these laws has been greatly exaggerated.[[48]] They were limited in scope, specific measures in response to various petitions and accusations and tell us less about Theodosius than the private agenda of many of the increasingly militant Christians who could be found throughout his administration. Although he had voiced his support earlier for the preservation of temples or pagan statues as useful public buildings or as works of art, in 391 he officially sanctioned the destruction of the most famous of the temples in the East, the Serapeum at Alexandria.[[49]] Bands of monks and Christian officials had long been accustomed to take the law into their own hands and destroy various centres of pagan worship, but the destruction of the Serapeum seemed to confirm that such actions had often enjoyed the emperor's tacit approval at least, and served to encourage such action in the future also. Again, however, Theodosius had been effectively manipulated into sanctioning the destruction of the Serapeum by local officials who had essentially engineered the crisis there for this very purpose. Family and Succession Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla.[[50]] She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II.[[51]] She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John.[[52]] Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder si

Civil Wars

Theodosius fought two bloody civil wars in quick succession against the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius. Magnus Maximus was a fellow Spaniard who even claimed to be a relative of Theodosius himself.[[29]] Like Theodosius, he was also a pious Catholic. Hence there was no deep ideological differences between the two. Magnus Maximus had been the commander of a field army in Britain in 383 when he had led his troops back to Gaul in an attempt to seize power.[[30]] He forced Gratian to flee from an initial encounter near Paris, but was blamed for Gratian's assassination near Lyons as he made for northern Italy. This was the only charge which Theodosius could seriously have held against him in 383, that he had risen to power through the assassination of a legitimate emperor. War between the two had not been inevitable, and the orator Themistius undoubtedly exaggerates when he claims that Theodosius set out against him in 384 with the intention of avenging Gratian's death.[[31]] The young Valentinian II continued to rule the prefectures of Italy, Illyricum and Africa, which constituted a buffer-ground between the territories of his two more powerful colleagues. An uneasy peace prevailed until the late summer of 387 when Maximus sent his troops into northernItaly and forced Valentinian to retreat to Thessalonica at the eastern extreme of his territory.[[32]] Yet while Maximus may have struck the first formal blow in this renewed bout of civil war, one suspects that he felt compelled to act as he did much because of the growing influence of Theodosius over Valentinian and his ministers. One notes that Theodosius' magister peditum praesentalis Richomer was the uncle of Valentinian's magister equitum praesentalis Arbogast, who was effectively the sole commander of Valentinian's forces at this point.[[33]] More importantly, perhaps, Valentinian had appointed Gildo as his comes Africae ca. 386, and Theodosius had attempted to win Gildo over to his cause by marrying Nebridius, a nephew of the empress Flaccilla, to Gildo's daughter Salvina.[[34]]The fact that Maximus suffered some sort of serious defeat at Sicily during the initial stage of the civil war in 388, and that he committed a large number of men to naval operations off the southern Italian coast under the command of his magister praesentalis Andragathius, suggests that Theodosius was well rewarded for his efforts, that he did at least persuade Gildo to defect to his side and seize Sicily on his behalf.[[35]] Whatever the case, Theodosius joined with Valentinian at Thessalonica during the late summer of 387, at which time he also married Valentinian's sister Galla. They launched a joint expedition against Maximus during the summer of 388, defeating his forces in pitched battles at Siscia, then Poetovio.[[36]] They then forced their way across the Alps and captured Maximus himself at Aquileia. They had him executed three miles outside Aquileia on 28 August 388, and sent Arbogast to do the same to his son Victor in Trier. However, they spared his wife and two daughters.
Theodosius spent about three years in Italy until he began his return trip to Constantinople in the summer of 391. Valentinian now ruled the whole of the western empire, but he was increasingly dominated by his magister peditum praesentalis Arbogast, whose own arrogance increased the further Theodosius moved from the scene. Matters came to a head in 392 when Valentinian tried to cashier Arbogast and Arbogast simply refused to accept his command.[[37]] Valentinian secretly wrote to Theodosius for his assistance, but was found dead on 15 May 392. An uneasy peace followed as Arbogast awaited the news of Theodosius' reaction to the death of his brother-in-law Valentinian; Theodosius tried to determine whether Valentinian really had committed suicide as alleged.[[38]] Unfortunately for all concerned, Theodosius was still married to Galla, who refused to accept that her brother had committed suicide. Worse still, Arbogast's strongest advocate at Theodosius' court, his uncle Richomer, was mortally ill. As a hostile judgement seemed increasingly likely, Arbogast struck first. He hailed Valentinian's magister scrinii as emperor on 22 August 392 and quickly secured Italy for his cause. In contrast to his acceptance of Maximus for several years, Theodosius refused to recognise Eugenius as emperor right from the start. He publicly indicated this by his refusal to accept Eugenius' nominees for the consulship of 393 and by his coronation of his second son Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. The war did not begin until the summer of 394 when Theodosius finally began his march from Constantinople. The war was decided by one decisive battle on the banks of the river Frigidus in the foothills of the Alps on 6 September 394.[[39]] While Christian sources delight to recount how God assisted Theodosius by sending a wind to blow his enemies' weapons back into their faces,[[40]] the crucial factor was surely the decision by a key section of Maximus' army under the comes Arbitio to defect from his side to that of Theodosius.[[41]] So Theodosius triumphed and had Eugenius executed, while Arbogast committed suicide.

Religious Policy

Theodosius was Catholic and received baptism at the hands of bishop Acholius of Thessalonica during the autumn of 380 when serious illness threatened his life.[[42]] Two days after his first arrival in Constantinople on 24 November 380, Theodosius expelled the "Arian" bishop Demophilus of Constantinople from the churches of that city and surrendered them to Gregory of Naziaznus who happened to be the leader of the small Catholic or "Nicene" community there at the time. This was greatly resented and may even have resulted in an attempt to assassinate the emperor.[[43]] He also called a synod of 150 Catholic bishops who assembled at Constantinople in May 381. An early meeting of this synod, when all the bishops had not yet arrived, elected Gregory of Nazianzus as the new Bishop of Constantinople, but he was quickly forced to resign. The synod then elected the senator Nectarius, who obviously enjoyed the strong backing of the emperor himself, in his stead. Theodosius' early reign witnessed the gradual expulsion of all heretical bishops from the towns and cities of the East and the transfer of all church buildings and property to their Catholic rivals. The depth of resentment which such policies caused can best be judged by the fact that in 388 "Arian" mobs at Constantinople rioted and caused widespread damage in reponse to the false rumour that Magnus Maximus had inflicted a severe defeat upon Theodosius.[[44]]
Theodosius continued to tolerate the traditional pagan practices and rituals which had enjoyed toleration from successive Christian emperors throughout the fourth century, i.e., almost anything which did not include blood-sacrifice or did not smack of treason against the emperor, until 391 at least. He then issued a series of laws which seemed effectively to prohibit all pagan worship by forbidding visits to pagan sites of worship or even the adornment in any manner of the images of the gods.[[45]] This apparent change of policy on his part has often been credited to the increased influence of bishop Ambrose of Milan.[[46]] For in 390 Ambrose had excommunicated Theodosius because he had ordered the execution of several thousand of the inhabitants of Thessalonica in response to the murder there of his "general" Butherichus. Theodosius accepted his excommunication and even performed several months of public penance, so it is all too easy too imagine how he might have taken the time to review his other "failings" also, including his continued toleration of paganism.[[47]] However, the importance of these laws has been greatly exaggerated.[[48]] They were limited in scope, specific measures in response to various petitions and accusations and tell us less about Theodosius than the private agenda of many of the increasingly militant Christians who could be found throughout his administration. Although he had voiced his support earlier for the preservation of temples or pagan statues as useful public buildings or as works of art, in 391 he officially sanctioned the destruction of the most famous of the temples in the East, the Serapeum at Alexandria.[[49]] Bands of monks and Christian officials had long been accustomed to take the law into their own hands and destroy various centres of pagan worship, but the destruction of the Serapeum seemed to confirm that such actions had often enjoyed the emperor's tacit approval at least, and served to encourage such action in the future also. Again, however, Theodosius had been effectively manipulated into sanctioning the destruction of the Serapeum by local officials who had essentially engineered the crisis there for this very purpose.

Family and Succession

Theodosius married twice. His first wife was the Spanish Aelia Flavia Flaccilla.[[50]] She bore him Arcadius ca. 377, Honorius on 9 September 384, and Pulcheria ca. 385. Theodosius honoured her with the title of Augusta shortly after his accession, but she died in 386. In late 387 he married Galla, daughter of Valentinian I and full-sister of Valentinian II.[[51]] She bore him Gratian ca. 388, Galla Placidia ca. 388/390, and died in childbirth in 394, together with her new-born son John.[[52]] Of his two sons who survived infancy, he appointed Arcadius as Augustus on 19 January 383 and Honorius as Augustus on 23 January 393. His promotion of Arcadius as a full Augustus at an unusually young age points to his determination right from the start that one of his own sons should succeed him. He sought to strengthen Arcadius' position in particular by means of a series of strategic marriages whose purpose was to tie his leading "generals" irrevocably to his dynasty. Hence he married his niece and adoptive daughter Serena to his magister militum per Orientem Stilicho in 387, her elder si