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109-682: The previous year, the Emperor Theodosius I had appointed the candidate Nectarius as Archbishop of Constantinople . The bishops of the West opposed the election result and asked for a common synod of East and West to settle the succession of the see of Constantinople , and so the Emperor Theodosius, soon after the close of the First Council of Constantinople in 381, summoned the Imperial bishops to

218-574: A council of bishops at the First Council of Constantinople in 381, which confirmed the former as orthodoxy and the latter as a heresy. Although Theodosius interfered little in the functioning of traditional pagan cults and appointed non-Christians to high offices, he failed to prevent or punish the damaging of several Hellenistic temples of classical antiquity, such as the Serapeum of Alexandria , by Christian zealots. During his earlier reign, Theodosius ruled

327-407: A court where "everything was up for sale". In the late 380s, Ambrose , the bishop of Milan took the lead in opposing this, presenting the need for the rich to care for the poor as "a necessary consequence of the unity of all Christians". This led to a major development in the political culture of the day called the “advocacy revolution of the later Roman empire". This revolution had been fostered by

436-550: A cover over them as a mark of their status. From the perspective of style, it has served as "the key monument in identifying a so-called Theodosian court style, which is usually described as a "renaissance" of earlier Roman classicism". It is traditionally stated that the Arian Controversy, a dispute concerning the nature of the divine trinity, and its accompanying struggles for political influence, started in Alexandria during

545-521: A few thousand men, by which time Valens was at Adrianople ( Latin : Hadrianopolis ; Turkish : Edirne ). Encouraged by his advisors to claim victory without sharing the glory with Gratian, as well as being misinformed about the number of enemy troops, Valens attacked the Gothic army and as a result thousands of Romans died in the Battle of Adrianople along with Sebastianus and the emperor himself. In

654-480: A final battle near Frigidus in 394 is a romantic myth. Theodosius suffered from a disease involving severe edema . He died in Mediolanum ( Milan ) on 17 January 395, and his body lay in state in the palace there for forty days. His funeral was held in the cathedral on 25 February. Bishop Ambrose delivered a panegyric titled De obitu Theodosii in the presence of Stilicho and Honorius in which Ambrose praised

763-450: A fresh synod at Constantinople; nearly all of the same bishops who had attended the earlier synod re-assembled in the early summer of 382. On arrival they received a letter from the synod of Milan , inviting them to a great general council at Rome ; they indicated that they must remain where they were, because they had not made any preparations for such long a journey; however, they sent three—Syriacus, Eusebius, and Priscian—with

872-585: A joint synodal letter to Pope Damasus , Ambrose, archbishop of Milan , and the other bishops assembled in the council at Rome. Jerome mentioned the synod twice, but only in passing. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church states: A council probably held at Rome in 382 under St. Damasus gave a complete list of the canonical books of both the Old Testament and the New Testament (also known as

981-430: A letter offering what McLynn calls a different way for the emperor to "save face" and restore his public image. Ambrose urges a semi-public demonstration of penitence, telling the emperor he will not give Theodosius communion until this is done. Wolf Liebeschuetz says "Theodosius duly complied and came to church without his imperial robes, until Christmas, when Ambrose openly admitted him to communion". Washburn says

1090-410: A pious fiction". Wolfe Liebeschuetz says Ambrose advocated a course of action which avoided the kind of public humiliation Theodoret describes, and that is the course Theodosius chose. According to the early twentieth century historian Henry Smith Williams , history's assessment of Theodosius's character has been stained by the massacre of Thessalonica for centuries. Williams describes Theodosius as

1199-449: A request to Gratian for reinforcements against the Goths. According to Ammianus Marcellinus , Valens also requested that Sebastianus be sent to him for the war, though according to Zosimus Sebastianus went to Constantinople of his own accord as a result of intrigues by eunuchs at the western court. Once Gratian had put down the invasions in the west in early 378, he notified Valens that he

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1308-426: A selective killing ... got out of hand". Doleźal says Sozomen is very specific in saying that in response to the riot, the soldiers made random arrests in the hippodrome to perform a few public executions as a demonstration of imperial disfavor, but the citizenry objected. Doleźal suggests, "The soldiers, realizing that they were surrounded by angry citizens, perhaps panicked ... and ... forcibly cleared

1417-551: A senior civilian official. According to another theory, the future emperor Theodosius lost his father, his military post, or both, in the purges of high officials that resulted from the accession of the 4-year-old emperor Valentinian II in November 375. Theodosius's period away from service in Hispania, during which he was said to have received threats from those responsible for his father's death, did not last long, however, as Maximinus,

1526-531: A settlement on 3 October 382. In return for military service to Rome, the Goths were allowed to settle some tracts of Roman land south of the Danube. The terms were unusually favorable to the Goths, reflecting the fact that they were entrenched in Roman territory and had not been driven out. Namely, instead of fully submitting to Roman authority, they were allowed to remain autonomous under their own leaders, and thus remaining

1635-627: A similar renaissance of classicism. According to Armin Wirsching, two obelisks were shipped by the Romans from Karnak to Alexandria in 13/12 BC. In 357, Constantius II had one (that became known as the Lateran obelisk ) shipped to Rome. Wirsching says the Romans had previously watched and learned from the Egyptians how to transport such large heavy objects, so they constructed "a special sea‐going version of

1744-596: A strong, unified body. The Goths now settled within the Empire would largely fight for the Romans as a national contingent, as opposed to being fully integrated into the Roman forces. According to the Chronicon Paschale , Theodosius celebrated his quinquennalia on 19 January 383 at Constantinople; on this occasion he raised his eldest son Arcadius to co-emperor ( augustus ). Sometime in 383, Gratian's wife Constantia died. Gratian remarried, wedding Laeta , whose father

1853-404: A virtuous-minded, courageous man, who was vigorous in pursuit of any important goal, but through contrasting the "inhuman massacre of the people of Thessalonica" with "the generous pardon of the citizens of Antioch" after civil war, Williams also concludes Theodosius was "hasty and choleric". It is only modern scholarship that has begun disputing Theodosius's responsibility for those events. From

1962-503: Is commemorated as ktetor of Vatopedi and donator of Vatopedi icon of the Mother of God. According to art historian David Wright, art of the era around the year 400 reflects optimism amongst the traditional polytheists. This is likely connected to what Ine Jacobs calls a renaissance of classical styles of art in the Theodosian period (AD 379–395) often referred to in modern scholarship as

2071-480: Is created by these events moving into legend in art and literature almost immediately. Doležal explains that yet another problem is created by aspects of these accounts contradicting one another to the point of being mutually exclusive. Nonetheless, most classicists accept at least the basic account of the massacre, although they continue to dispute when it happened, who was responsible for it, what motivated it, and what impact it had on subsequent events. Theodosius

2180-684: The Consularia Constantinopolitana , a Roman triumph over the Gothic Greuthungi was then celebrated at Constantinople. The same year, work began on the great triumphal column in the Forum of Theodosius in Constantinople, the Column of Theodosius . The Consularia Constantinopolitana records that on 19 January 387, Arcadius celebrated his quinquennalia in Constantinople. By the end of

2289-550: The Consultationes Zacchei et Apollonii , re-dated to the 390s, reinforces the view that religion was not the key ideological element in the events at the time". According to Maijastina Kahlos , Finnish historian and Docent of Latin language and Roman literature at the University of Helsinki, the notion of pagan aristocrats united in a "heroic and cultured resistance" who rose up against the ruthless advance of Christianity in

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2398-695: The Edict of Thessalonica , refusing the office of pontifex maximus , and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate 's Curia Julia . The city of Cularo on the Isère river in Roman Gaul was renamed Gratianopolis after him, which later evolved to Grenoble . In 383, faced with rebellion by the usurper Magnus Maximus , Gratian marched his army towards Lutetia (Paris). His army deserted him. He fled to Lugdunum and

2507-463: The Praetorian Prefect of Italy . In the summer of 384, Theodosius met his co-emperor Valentinian II in northern Italy. Theodosius brokered a peace agreement between Valentinian and Magnus Maximus which endured for several years. Theodosius I was based in Constantinople, and according to Peter Heather , wanted, "for his own dynastic reasons (for his two sons each eventually to inherit half of

2616-521: The Theodosian renaissance . The Forum Tauri in Constantinople was renamed and redecorated as the Forum of Theodosius , including a column and a triumphal arch in his honour. The missorium of Theodosius, the city of Aprodisias's statue of the emperor, the base of the Obelisk of Theodosius , the columns of Theodosius and Arcadius, and the diptych of Probus were all commissioned by the court and reflect

2725-503: The comes Theodosius and had won a victory over the Picts in 382, was proclaimed augustus and crossed the channel, encamping near Paris. There, his forces encountered Gratian, but much of the latter's army defected to the usurper, forcing Gratian to flee. Gratian was pursued by Andragathius , Maximus' magister equitum and killed at Lugdunum ( Lyon ) on 25 August 383, supposedly against orders. Maximus then established his court at

2834-487: The eastern empire as foederati , and Caucasian and Saracen auxiliaries , and marched against Eugenius. The battle began on 5 September 394, with Theodosius's full frontal assault on Eugenius's forces. Thousands of Goths died, and in Theodosius's camp, the loss of the day decreased morale. It is said by Theodoret that Theodosius was visited by two "heavenly riders all in white" who gave him courage. The next day,

2943-457: The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum for the duration of the conflict, giving his new colleague full charge the war effort. Theodosius implemented stern and desperate recruiting measures, resorting to the conscription of farmers and miners. Punishments were instituted for harboring deserters and furnishing unfit recruits, and even self-mutilation did not exempt men from service. Theodosius also admitted large numbers of non-Roman auxiliaries into

3052-465: The " Great Conspiracy ", a concerted Celtic and Germanic invasion of the island provinces. After probably serving in his father's staff on further campaigns, Theodosius received his first independent command by 374 when he was appointed the dux (commanding officer) of the province of Moesia Prima in the Danube . In the autumn of 374, he successfully repulsed an incursion of Sarmatians on his sector of

3161-708: The ' Gelasian Decree ' because it was reproduced by Gelasius in 495), which is identical with the list given at Trent . The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church also notes that "according to E. von Dobschütz , the Gelasian Decree is not a Papal work at all, but a private compilation which was composed in Italy (but not at Rome) in the early 6th cent. Other scholars, while accepting this date, think it originated in Gaul ". Catholic apologist and historian William Jurgens writes: The first part of this decree has long been known as

3270-669: The Decree of Damasus, and concerns the Holy Spirit and the seven-fold gifts. The second part of the decree is more familiarly known as the opening part of the Gelasian Decree , in regard to the canon of Scripture: De libris recipiendis vel non recipiendis . It is now commonly held that the part of the Gelasian Decree dealing with the accepted canon of Scripture is an authentic work of the Council of Rome of 382 A.D. and that Gelasius edited it again at

3379-434: The Empire during his lifetime, their status as an autonomous entity within Roman borders caused problems for succeeding emperors. Theodosius has also received criticism for defending his own dynastic interests at the cost of two civil wars. His two sons proved weak and incapable rulers, and they presided over a period of foreign invasions and court intrigues, which heavily weakened the empire. The descendants of Theodosius ruled

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3488-587: The Frigidus (the Vipava ) on 6 September 394. On 8 September, Arbogast killed himself. According to Socrates, on 1 January 395, Honorius arrived in Mediolanum and a victory celebration was held there. Zosimus records that, at the end of April 394, Theodosius's wife Galla had died while he was away at war. A number of Christian sources report that Eugenius cultivated the support of the pagan senators by promising to restore

3597-705: The Great , was a Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene Christianity . Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire . He ended the Gothic War (376–382) with terms disadvantageous to

3706-447: The Nile vessels ... – a double‐ship with three hulls". In 390, Theodosius oversaw the removal of the other to Constantinople. The obelisk with its sculpted base in the former Hippodrome of Constantinople is well known as a rare datable work of Late Antique art. A sixth-century source puts the raising of the obelisk in the year 390, and Greek and Latin epigrams on the plinth (the lower part of

3815-621: The Roman diocese of Dacia to Gratian's control and that of Macedonia to Valentinian II. The same year, Gratian won a victory, possibly over the Alamanni, that was announced officially at Constantinople. By 380, the Greuthungi tribe of Goths moved into Pannonia , only to be defeated by Gratian. Consequently, the Vandals and Alemanni were threatening to cross the Rhine, now that Gratian had departed from

3924-518: The Roman world for the next six decades, and the east–west division endured until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century. Theodosius was born in Hispania on 11 January, probably in the year 347. His father of the same name, Count Theodosius , was a successful and high-ranking general ( magister equitum ) under the western Roman emperor Valentinian I , and his mother

4033-608: The Sarmatians made common cause inflicting heavy losses on the Pannonica and Moesiaca legions. However, on encountering Theodosius' forces on the borders of Moesia in the eastern Balkans, which had previously defeated one of their armies in 373, they sued for peace. Valentinian mounted a further offensive against the Quadi in August 375, this time using a pincer movement , one force attacking from

4142-592: The Western emperor Valentinian II, while Theodosius attempted to rule the entire empire from Constantinople. On 15 May 392, Valentinian II died at Vienna in Gaul ( Vienne ), either by suicide or as part of a plot by Arbogast. Valentinian had quarrelled publicly with Arbogast, and was found hanged in his room. Arbogast announced that this had been a suicide. Stephen Williams asserts that Valentinian's death left Arbogast in "an untenable position". He had to carry on governing without

4251-581: The ability to issue edicts and rescripts from a legitimate acclaimed emperor. Arbogast was unable to assume the role of emperor himself because of his non-Roman background. Instead, on 22 August 392, Arbogast had Valentinian's master of correspondence, Eugenius , proclaimed emperor in the West at Lugdunum. At least two embassies went to Theodosius to explain events, one of them Christian in make-up, but they received ambivalent replies, and were sent home without achieving their goals. Theodosius raised his second son Honorius to emperor on 23 January 393, implying

4360-514: The altar of Victory and provide public funds for the maintenance of cults if they would support him and if he won the coming war against Theodosius. Cameron notes that the ultimate source for this is Ambrose's biographer Paulinus the Deacon , whom he argues fabricated the entire narrative and deserves no credence. Historian Michele Renee Salzman explains that "two newly relevant texts – John Chrysostom's Homily 6, adversus Catharos (PG 63: 491–492) and

4469-486: The army by his favouritism towards his Alan deserters, whom he made his bodyguards and to whom he gave military commands. Other criticisms of his behavior were that he surrounded himself with bad company and neglected the affairs of state, preferring to have fun. Shortly after, the Roman general Magnus Maximus had raised the standard of revolt in Britain and invaded Gaul with a large army. Maximus, who had served under

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4578-451: The army, even Gothic deserters from beyond the Danube. Some of these foreign recruits were exchanged with more reliable Roman garrison troops stationed in Egypt . In the second half of 379, Theodosius and his generals, based at Thessalonica , won some minor victories over individual bands of raiders. However, they suffered at least one serious defeat in 380, which was blamed on the treachery of

4687-437: The army, participating in his father's campaigns throughout the provinces, as was customary at the time for families with a tradition of military service. One source says he received a decent education and developed a particular interest in history, which Theodosius then valued as a guide to his own conduct throughout life. Theodosius is first attested accompanying his father to Britain on his expedition in 368–369 to suppress

4796-489: The base) credit Theodosius I and the urban prefect Proclus with this feat. Linda Safran says that relocating the obelisk was motivated by Theodosius's victory over "the tyrants" (most likely Maximus Magnus and his son Victor). It is now known as the obelisk of Theodosius and still stands in the Hippodrome of Constantinople , the long Roman circus that was, at one time, the centre of Constantinople's public life. Re-erecting

4905-449: The campaigning season of 381, reinforcements from Gratian drove the Goths out of the Diocese of Macedonia and Thessaly into the Diocese of Thrace , while, in the latter sector, Theodosius or one of his generals repulsed an incursion by a group of Sciri and Huns across the Danube. Following negotiations which likely lasted at least several months, the Romans and Goths finally concluded

5014-477: The customary gifts towards the end of 364, Ursatius, the magister officiorum made them an offering they considered inferior to that of his predecessor. Angered by Ursatius' attitude, they vowed revenge and crossed over the Rhine into Roman Germania and Gaul in January 365, overwhelming the Roman defences. Although at first unsuccessful, eventually Jovinus , the magister equitum in Gaul inflicted heavy losses on

5123-450: The customary initial step of caesar . Valentinian, concerned with Gratian's age and inexperience, stated his son would assist commanders with upcoming campaigns. The magister peditum Merobaudes , together with the comes rei militaris Sebastianus , was sent by Valentinian to campaign against the Quadi . When a party of Alamanni visited Valentinian's headquarters to receive

5232-508: The documents revealing the relationship between these two formidable men do not show the personal friendship the legends portray. Instead, those documents read more as negotiations between the institutions the men represent: the Roman state and the Italian Church. In 391, Theodosius left his trusted general Arbogast , who had served in the Balkans after Adrianople, to be magister militum for

5341-426: The east. On 3 August that year, Gratian issued an edict against heresy. On 27 February 380, Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica . This edict made Nicene Christianity the only legal form of Christianity and outlawed all other forms of religion, ending a period of widespread religious tolerance that had existed since the death of Julian. Zosimus ' report that Gratian refused

5450-415: The eastern Roman emperor, Valens , had been killed at the Battle of Adrianople in August 378 against invading Goths . The disastrous defeat left much of Rome's military leadership dead, discredited, or barbarian in origin, to the result that Theodosius, notwithstanding his own modest record, became the establishment's choice to replace Valens and assume control of the crisis. With the begrudging consent of

5559-493: The eastern provinces, while the west was overseen by the emperors Gratian and Valentinian II , whose sister he married. Theodosius sponsored several measures to improve his capital and main residence, Constantinople , most notably his expansion of the Forum Tauri , which became the biggest public square known in antiquity. Theodosius marched west twice, in 388 and 394, after both Gratian and Valentinian had been killed, to defeat

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5668-455: The empire's established process of decision making, which required the emperor "to listen to his ministers" before acting. There is some indication in the sources Theodosius did listen to his counselors but received bad or misleading advice. J. F. Matthews argues that the Emperor first tried to punish the city by selective executions. Peter Brown concurs: "As it was, what was probably planned as

5777-484: The empire), refused to appoint a recognized counterpart in the west. As a result he was faced with rumbling discontent there, as well as dangerous usurpers , who found plentiful support among the bureaucrats and military officers who felt they were not getting a fair share of the imperial cake." Theodosius's second son Honorius was born on 9 December 384 and titled nobilissimus puer (or nobilissimus iuvenis ). The death of Aelia Flaccilla, Theodosius's first wife and

5886-519: The empire, with the Goths remaining within Roman territory but as nominal allies with political autonomy. Born in Hispania , Theodosius was the son of a high-ranking general of the same name, Count Theodosius , under whose guidance he rose through the ranks of the Roman army . Theodosius held independent command in Moesia in 374, where he had some success against the invading Sarmatians . Not long afterwards, he

5995-459: The end of the fifth century, adding to it the catalog of the rejected books, the apocrypha . It is now almost universally accepted that these parts one and two of the Decree of Damasus are authentic parts of the Acts of the Council of Rome of 382 A.D. Theodosius I Theodosius I ( Ancient Greek : Θεοδόσιος Theodosios ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius

6104-560: The enemy at Scarpona ( Dieulouard ) and at Catalauni ( Châlons-sur-Marne ), forcing them to retire. An opportunity to further weaken the Alamanni occurred in the summer of 368, when king Vithicabius was murdered in a coup, and Valentinian and his son Gratian crossed the river Moenus (the Main ) laying waste to Alamannic territories. Gratian was awarded the victory titles of Germanicus Maximus and Alamannicus Maximus , and Francicus Maximus and Gothicus Maximus in 369. Valentinian fortified

6213-449: The explosion. But in himself he was of no great significance .” Gratian Gratian ( Latin : Gratianus ; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I , Gratian was raised to the rank of Augustus as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in 375. He nominally shared the government with his infant half-brother Valentinian II , who

6322-448: The extremely bloody battle began again and Theodosius's forces were aided by a natural phenomenon known as the Bora , which can produce hurricane-strength winds. The Bora blew directly against the forces of Eugenius and disrupted the line. Eugenius's camp was stormed; Eugenius was captured and soon after executed. According to Socrates Scholasticus, Theodosius defeated Eugenius at the Battle of

6431-473: The former imperial residence in Trier. On the death of Gratian, the 12 year old Valentinian II became the sole legitimate augustus in the west. Maximus initially kept Gratian's body for political reasons, and Ambrose's second embassy to him in 385 or 386 to recover it was unsuccessful. It would not be until 387, possibly even after the death of Magnus Maximus, that Gratian's remains were interred at Mediolanum in

6540-413: The frontier and forced them into submission. Not long afterwards, however, under mysterious circumstances, Theodosius's father suddenly fell from imperial favor and was executed, and the future emperor felt compelled to retire to his estates in Hispania. Although these events are poorly documented, historians usually attribute this fall from grace to the machinations of a court faction led by Maximinus ,

6649-557: The frontier from Raetia in the east to the Belgic channel, but the construction was attacked by Alamanni at Mount Pirus (the Spitzberg, Rottenburg am Neckar ). In 369 (or 370) Valentinian then sought to enlist the help of the Burgundians , who were involved in a dispute with the Alamanni, but a communication failure led to them returning to their lands without joining forces with the Romans. It

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6758-491: The hippodrome at the cost of several thousands of lives of local inhabitants". McLynn says Theodosius was “unable to impose discipline upon the faraway troops" and covered that failure by taking responsibility for the massacre on himself, declaring he had given the order then countermanded it too late to stop it. Ambrose , the bishop of Milan and one of Theodosius's many counselors, was away from court. After being informed of events concerning Thessalonica, he wrote Theodosius

6867-479: The illegality of Eugenius's rule. Williams and Friell say that by the spring of 393, the split was complete, and "in April Arbogast and Eugenius at last moved into Italy without resistance". Flavianus , the praetorian prefect of Italy whom Theodosius had appointed, defected to their side. Through early 394, both sides prepared for war. Theodosius gathered a large army, including the Goths whom he had settled in

6976-458: The image of the mitered prelate braced in the door of the cathedral in Milan blocking Theodosius from entering is a product of the imagination of Theodoret who wrote of the events of 390 "using his own ideology to fill the gaps in the historical record". Peter Brown also says there was no dramatic encounter at the church door. McLynn states that "the encounter at the church door has long been known as

7085-500: The immediate aftermath of Adrianople, Gratian issued an edict of tolerance at Sirmium, restoring bishops exiled by Valens and ensuring religious freedoms to all religions. Following the battle, the Goths raided from Thrace in 378 to Illyricum the following year. Convinced that one emperor alone was incapable of repelling the inundation of foes on several different fronts, Gratian, now senior augustus following Valens's death, appointed Theodosius I augustus on 19 January 379 to govern

7194-509: The imperial government, and it encouraged appeals and denunciations of bad government from below. However, Brown adds that, "in the crucial area of taxation and the treatment of fiscal debtors, the late Roman state [of the 380s and 390s] remained impervious to Christianity". The peace with Magnus Maximus was broken in 387, and Valentinian escaped to the east with Justina, reaching Thessalonica ( Thessaloniki ) in summer or autumn 387 and appealing to Theodosius for aid; Valentinian II's sister Galla

7303-523: The invaders out; in 382 the Goths were allowed to settle south of the Danube as autonomous allies of the empire. In 386, Theodosius signed a treaty with the Sasanian Empire which partitioned the long-disputed Kingdom of Armenia and secured a durable peace between the two powers. Theodosius was a strong adherent of the Christian doctrine of consubstantiality and an opponent of Arianism . He convened

7412-519: The meeting of Christians deemed heretics was banned by Valentinian. The armies of Theodosius and Maximus fought at the Battle of Poetovio in 388, which saw Maximus defeated. On 28 August 388 Maximus was executed. Now the de facto ruler of the Western empire as well, Theodosius celebrated his victory in Rome on 13 June 389 and stayed in Milan until 391, installing his own loyalists in senior positions including

7521-407: The monolith was a challenge for the technology that had been honed in the construction of siege engines . The obelisk's white marble base is entirely covered with bas-reliefs documenting Theodosius's imperial household and the engineering feat of removing the obelisk to Constantinople. Theodosius and the imperial family are separated from the nobles among the spectators in the imperial box , with

7630-415: The month, there was an uprising or riot in Antioch (modern Antakya ). The Roman–Persian Wars concluded with the signing of the Peace of Acilisene with Persia. By the terms of the agreement, the ancient Kingdom of Armenia was divided between the powers. By the end of the 380s, Theodosius and the court were in Milan and northern Italy had settled down to a period of prosperity. Peter Brown says gold

7739-507: The mother of Arcadius, Honorius, and Pulcheria, occurred by 386. She died at Scotumis in Thrace and was buried at Constantinople, her funeral oration delivered by Gregory of Nyssa . A statue of her was dedicated in the Byzantine Senate . In 384 or 385, Theodosius's niece Serena was married to the magister militum , Stilicho . In the beginning of 386, Theodosius's daughter Pulcheria also died. That summer, more Goths were defeated, and many were settled in Phrygia . According to

7848-495: The murdered Roman official as Butheric, the commanding general of the field army in Illyricum (magister militum per Illyricum). According to Sozomen, a popular charioteer tried to rape a cup-bearer, (or possibly Butheric himself), and in response, Butheric arrested and jailed the charioteer. The populace demanded the chariot racer's release, and when Butheric refused, a general revolt rose up costing Butheric his life. Doležal says

7957-521: The name "Butheric" indicates he might have been a Goth, and that the general's ethnicity "could have been" a factor in the riot, but none of the early sources actually say so. There are no contemporaneous accounts. Church historians Sozomen , Theodoret the bishop of Cyrrhus , Socrates of Constantinople and Rufinus wrote the earliest accounts during the fifth century. These are moral accounts emphasizing imperial piety and ecclesial action rather than historical and political details. Further difficulty

8066-577: The new magister militum of the West, the Frankish general Arbogast . According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Arbogast killed Flavius Victor ( r.  384–388 ), Magnus Maximus's young son and co-emperor, in Gaul in August/September that year. Damnatio memoriae was pronounced against them, and inscriptions naming them were erased. The Massacre of Thessalonica (Thessaloniki) in Greece

8175-452: The new barbarian recruits. During the autumn of 380, a life-threatening illness, from which Theodosius recovered, prompted him to request baptism . Some obscure victories were recorded in official sources around this time, however, and, in November 380, the military situation was found to be sufficiently stable for Theodosius to move his court to Constantinople . There, the emperor enjoyed a propaganda victory when, in January 381, he received

8284-453: The northwest, while Valentinian himself headed to Aquincum (Budapest), crossed the Danube and attacked from the southeast. This campaign resulted in heavy losses to the enemy, following which he returned to Aquincum and from there to Brigetio ( Szőny , Hungary) where he died suddenly in November. When his father died on 17 November 375, Gratian inherited the administration of the western empire. Days later, Gratian's half-brother Valentinian

8393-413: The power behind the throne. Neither Gratian or Valentinian travelled much, which was thought to be due to not wanting the populace to realise how young they were. Gratian is said to have visited Rome in 376, possibly to celebrate his decennalia on 24 August, but whether the visit actually took place is disputed. Gratian's uncle Valens, returning from a campaign against the Sasanian Empire , had sent

8502-448: The probable culprit, was himself removed from power around April 376 and then executed. The emperor Gratian immediately began replacing Maximinus and his associates with relatives of Theodosius in key government positions, indicating the family's full rehabilitation, and by 377 Theodosius himself had regained his command against the Sarmatians. Theodosius's renewed term of office seems to have gone uneventfully, until news arrived that

8611-502: The region. With the collapse of the Danube frontier under the incursions of the Huns and Goths, Gratian moved his seat from Augusta Treverorum (Trier) to Mediolanum ( Milan ) in 381. He became increasingly aligned with the city's bishop , Ambrose , and the Roman Senate, shifting the balance of power within the factions of the western empire. In 382, Gratian issued edicts that removed

8720-413: The reign of Constantine the Great between a presbyter, Arius of Alexandria, and his bishop, Alexander of Alexandria. However, “many of the issues raised by the controversy were under lively discussion before Arius and Alexander publicly clashed.” “The views of Arius were such as … to bring into unavoidable prominence a doctrinal crisis which had gradually been gathering. … He was the spark that started

8829-491: The robe of office of the pontifex maximus has been doubted by modern scholars, because there is no other mention of such a garment associated with the priesthood. Emperors from Gratian to Marcian styled themselves as pontifex inclytus , "honorable pontiff". The title of pontifex maximus was not adopted by the bishops of Rome until the Renaissance . In September 380, the augusti Gratian and Theodosius met, returning

8938-482: The statue of the winged goddess Victory from the Senate floor, removed the privileges of Vestal Virgins , and confiscated money designated for sacrifices and ceremonies. He declared that all of the pagan temples and shrines were to be confiscated by the government and that their revenues were to be joined to the property of the treasury . This resulted in protests from the Roman Senate led by Symmachus , which in turn

9047-690: The suppression of paganism by Theodosius. On 8 November 395, his body was transferred to Constantinople, where according to the Chronicon Paschale he was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles . He was honored as: Divus Theodosius , lit.   'the Divine Theodosius';. He was interred in a porphyry sarcophagus that was described in the 10th century by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus in his work De Ceremoniis . Theodosius

9156-508: The time Edward Gibbon wrote his Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire , Ambrose's action after the fact has been cited as an example of the church's dominance over the state in Antiquity. Alan Cameron says "the assumption is so widespread it would be superfluous to cite authorities. But there is not a shred of evidence for Ambrose exerting any such influence over Theodosius". Brown says Ambrose

9265-509: The two pretenders, Magnus Maximus and Eugenius , who rose to replace them. Theodosius's final victory in September 394 made him master of the entire empire; he died a few months later and was succeeded by his two sons, Arcadius in the eastern half of the empire and Honorius in the west. Theodosius was said to have been a diligent administrator, austere in his habits, merciful, and a devout Christian. For centuries after his death, Theodosius

9374-399: The visit and submission of a minor Gothic leader, Athanaric . By this point, however, Theodosius seems to have no longer believed that the Goths could be completely ejected from Roman territory. After Athanaric died that very same month, the emperor gave him a funeral with full honors, impressing his entourage and signaling to the enemy that the Empire was disposed to negotiate terms. During

9483-495: The western emperor Gratian, Theodosius was formally invested with the purple by a council of officials at Sirmium on 19 January 379. The immediate problem facing Theodosius upon his accession was how to check the bands of Goths that were laying waste to the Balkans, with an army that had been severely depleted of manpower following the debacle at Adrianople. The western emperor Gratian, who seems to have provided only little immediate assistance, surrendered to Theodosius control of

9592-476: Was acclaimed augustus by troops in Pannonia. He was forced to accept the proclamation, though he did supervise his younger brother's upbringing. Despite Valentinian being given nominal authority over the praetorian prefectures of Italy , Illyricum , and Africa , Gratian ruled the western Roman empire himself. His tutor Ausonius became his quaestor , and together with the magister militum , Merobaudes ,

9701-532: Was a consularis of Roman Syria . Early 383 saw the acclamation of Magnus Maximus as emperor in Britain and the appointment of Themistius as praefectus urbi in Constantinople. On 25 August 383, according to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Gratian was killed at Lugdunum ( Lyon ) by Andragathius , the magister equitum of the rebel emperor during the rebellion of Magnus Maximus . Constantia's body arrived in Constantinople on 12 September that year and

9810-452: Was a massacre of local civilians by Roman troops. The best estimate of the date is April of 390. The massacre was most likely a response to an urban riot that led to the murder of a Roman official. What most scholars, such as philosopher Stanislav Doležal, see as the most reliable of the sources is the Historia ecclesiastica written by Sozomen about 442; in it Sozomen supplies the identity of

9919-672: Was also acclaimed emperor in Pannonia on Valentinian's death. The East was ruled by his uncle Valens , who was later succeeded by Theodosius I . Gratian subsequently led a campaign across the Rhine, attacked the Lentienses, and forced the tribe to surrender. That same year, the eastern emperor Valens was killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople , which led to Gratian elevating Theodosius to replace him in 379. Gratian favoured Nicene Christianity over traditional Roman religion , issuing

10028-463: Was being made in Milan by those who owned land as well as by those who came with the court for government service. Great landowners took advantage of the court's need for food, "turning agrarian produce into gold", while repressing and misusing the poor who grew it and brought it in. According to Brown, modern scholars link the decline of the Roman empire to the avarice of the rich of this era. He quotes Paulinus of Milan as describing these men as creating

10137-719: Was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles on 1 December. Gratian was deified as Latin : Divus Gratianus , lit.   'the Divine Gratian';. Theodosius, unable to do much about Maximus due to ongoing military inadequacy, opened negotiations with the Persian emperor Shapur III ( r.  383–388 ) of the Sasanian Empire . According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Theodosius received in Constantinople an embassy from them in 384. In an attempt to curb Maximus's ambitions, Theodosius appointed Flavius Neoterius as

10246-490: Was called Thermantia. The family appear to have been minor landed aristocrats in Hispania, although it is not clear if this social status went back several generations or if Theodosius the Elder was simply awarded land there for his military service. Their roots to Hispania were nevertheless probably long-standing, since various relatives of the future emperor Theodosius are likewise attested as being from there, and Theodosius himself

10355-492: Was counter-protested by Christian senators led by Pope Damasus . On 16 January 383 Theodosius made his son Arcadius co-emperor, evidently without Gratian's approval as he never recognized the promotion on his coinage. Within the same year, Gratian's wife Constantia died, and he remarried to Laeta . Both marriages remained childless. In the summer of 383 Gratian was again at war with the Alamanni in Raetia . Gratian alienated

10464-491: Was entitled nobilissimus puer by his father. Gratian was seven when entitled nobilissimus puer , which indicated he was to be proclaimed Augustus . His tutor was the rhetor Ausonius , who mentioned the relationship in his epigrams and a poem. In summer 367, Valentinian became ill at Civitas Ambianensium ( Amiens ), raising questions about his succession. On recovery, he presented his then eight-year-old son to his troops on 24 August, as his co- augustus , passing over

10573-485: Was forced into retirement, and his father was executed under obscure circumstances. Theodosius soon regained his position following a series of intrigues and executions at Emperor Gratian 's court. In 379, after the eastern Roman emperor Valens was killed at the Battle of Adrianople against the Goths , Gratian appointed Theodosius as a successor with orders to take charge of the military emergency. The new emperor's resources and depleted armies were not sufficient to drive

10682-455: Was in his 40s, had been emperor for 11 years, had temporarily settled the Gothic wars, and won a civil war. As a Latin speaking Nicene western leader of the Greek largely Arian East, Boniface Ramsey says he had already left an indelible mark on history. McLynn asserts that the relationship between Theodosius and Ambrose transformed into myth within a generation of their deaths. He also observes that

10791-577: Was initially styled "the Great" simply as a way to differentiate him from his grandson Theodosius II. Later, at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the honorific was deemed merited due to his promotion of Nicene Christianity. Theodosius the Great is venerated in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches: Emperor (king) Theodosius is commemorated in Armenian Anaphora with saint kings : Abgar , Constantine and Tiridates . In Eastern Orthodox Church he

10900-543: Was just one among many advisors, and Cameron says there is no evidence Theodosius favored him above anyone else. By the time of the Thessalonian affair, Ambrose, an aristocrat and former governor, had been a bishop for 16 years, and during his episcopate, had seen the death of three emperors before Theodosius. These produced significant political storms, yet Ambrose held his place using what McLynn calls his "considerable qualities [and] considerable luck" to survive. Theodosius

11009-500: Was later murdered. According to the Chronicle of Jerome and the Chronicon Paschale , Valentinian's eldest son Gratian was born on 18 April 359 at Sirmium , now Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia, the capital of Pannonia Secunda , to Valentinian's first wife Marina Severa . Gratian was his parents' only son together. At the time of his birth Gratian's father was living in exile. Gratian

11118-470: Was named after his grandfather Gratianus , who was a tribune and later comes of Britannia for Constantine the Great . Following the death of the emperor Jovian , on 26 February 364, Valentinian was proclaimed Augustus (emperor). Within a month, motivated by senior officers, he proclaimed his brother Valens, Gratian's uncle, Augustus of the Eastern empire. Gratian was appointed consul in 366 and

11227-533: Was not in Thessalonica when the massacre occurred. The court was in Milan. Several scholars, such as historian G. W. Bowersock and authors Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell, think that Theodosius ordered the massacre in an excess of "volcanic anger". McLynn also puts all the blame on the Emperor as does the less dependable fifth century historian, Theodoret. Other scholars, such as historians Mark Hebblewhite and N. Q. King, do not agree. Peter Brown points to

11336-416: Was regarded as a champion of Christian orthodoxy who decisively stamped out paganism. Modern scholars tend to see this as an interpretation of history by Christian writers more than an accurate representation of actual history. He is fairly credited with presiding over a revival in classical art that some historians have termed a "Theodosian renaissance". Although his pacification of the Goths secured peace for

11445-633: Was returning to Thrace to assist him in his struggle against the Goths. Late in July, Valens was informed that the Goths were advancing on Adrianople (Edirne) and Nice , and started to move his forces into the area. However, Gratian's arrival was delayed by an encounter with Alans at Castra Martis , in Dacia in the western Balkans. The forces Gratian sent never reached Valens due to its commander feigning illness. Weeks later, Gratian had arrived in Castra Martis with

11554-480: Was the increasing threat from other peoples, the Quadi and the Sarmatians . Valentinian's decision to establish garrisons across the Danube had angered them, and the situation escalated after the Quadi king, Gabinus , was killed during negotiations with the Romans in 374. Consequently, in the autumn, the Quadi crossed the Danube plundering Pannonia and the provinces to the south. The situation deteriorated further once

11663-448: Was then married to the eastern emperor at Thessalonica in late autumn. Theodosius may still have been in Thessalonica when he celebrated his decennalia on 19 January 388. Theodosius was consul for the second time in 388. Galla and Theodosius's first child, a son named Gratian, was born in 388 or 389. In summer 388, Theodosius recovered Italy from Magnus Maximus for Valentinian, and in June,

11772-577: Was then that the magister equitum , Theodosius the Elder and his son Theodosius (the Theodosi) attacked the Alamanni through Raetia , taking many prisoners and resettling them in the Po Valley in Italy. Valentinian made one attempt to capture Macrianus in 372, but eventually made peace with him in 374. Gratian, who was then 15, was married in 374 to Constantius II 's 13 year-old posthumous daughter Constantia at Trier . The necessity to make peace

11881-477: Was ubiquitously associated in the ancient literary sources and panegyrics with the image of fellow Spanish-born emperor Trajan – though he never again visited the peninsula after becoming emperor. Very little is recorded of the upbringing of Theodosius. The 5th-century author Theodoret claimed the future emperor grew up and was educated in his Iberian homeland, but his testimony is unreliable. One modern historian instead thinks Theodosius must have grown up among

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