The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman imperial family that produced five Roman emperors during Late Antiquity , reigning over the Roman Empire from 379 to 457. The dynasty's patriarch was Theodosius the Elder , whose son Theodosius the Great was made Roman emperor in 379. Theodosius's two sons both became emperors, while his daughter married Constantius III , producing a daughter that became an empress and a son also became emperor. The dynasty of Theodosius married into, and reigned concurrently with, the ruling Valentinianic dynasty ( r. 364–455 ), and was succeeded by the Leonid dynasty ( r. 457–518 ) with the accession of Leo the Great .
58-635: Its founding father was Flavius Theodosius (often referred to as Count Theodosius ), a great hispanic general who had saved Britannia from the Great Conspiracy . His son, Flavius Theodosius was made emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in 379, and briefly reunited the Roman Empire 394–395 by defeating the usurper Eugenius . Theodosius I was succeeded by his sons Honorius in the West and Arcadius in
116-400: A magister scrinii and vir clarissimus , Eugenius , was acclaimed augustus at Lugdunum ( Lyon ). On 8 November 392, all cult worship of the gods was forbidden by Theodosius. According to Polemius Silvius , Theodosius raised his second son Honorius to augustus on 23 January 393. 393 was the year of Theodosius's third consulship. On 29 September 393, Theodosius issued a decree for
174-658: A factional power struggle in Italy after the sudden death of Emperor Valentinian in November 375. Shortly before his death, which he accepted calmly, Theodosius received Christian baptism — delaying the rite until the end of one's life was common practice at the time, even for lifelong Christians. At the fall of his father, the younger Theodosius retired to his estates in the Iberian Peninsula , where he married Aelia Flaccilla in 376. According to Ambrose , those who had killed
232-525: A major setback. In 374 Theodosius invaded western Mauritania again. This time he was more successful, defeating the rebels and capturing Firmus. In 375, when the Emperor Valentinian suddenly died, Theodosius was still in Africa. Orders arrived for Theodosius to be arrested; he was taken to Carthage , and put to death in early 376. The reasons for this are not clear, but it is thought to have resulted from
290-614: A ritual entry to the capital, on 24 November 380. Theodosius issued a decree against Christians deemed heretics on 10 January 381. According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , on the 11 January, Athanaric , king of the Gothic Thervingi arrived in Constantinople; he died and was buried in Constantinople on 25 January. On 8 May 381, Theodosius issued an edict against Manichaeism . In mid-May, Theodosius convened
348-660: A son-in-law of Marcian. Descendants of the dynasty continued to be part of the East Roman nobility at Constantinople until the end of the 6th century. According to Polemius Silvius , Theodosius the Great was born on 11 January 347 or 346. The epitome de Caesaribus places his birthplace at Cauca ( Coca, Segovia ) in Hispania . Theodosius had a brother named Honorius, a sister referred to in Aurelius Victor 's De caesaribus but whose name
406-756: A victory celebration was held there. According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Theodosius died in Mediolanum on 17 January 395. His funeral was held there on 25 February, and his body transferred to Constantinople, where according to the Chronicon Paschale he was buried on 8 November 395 in the Church of the Holy Apostles. He was deified as: Divus Theodosius , lit. 'the Divine Theodosius';. The two surviving sons of Theodosius ruled
464-487: Is first mentioned in historical records by Ammianus Marcellinus with reference to his appointment to the command to restore order in Britain. According to Hughes, It is clear that prior to his appointment to such an important military enterprise Theodosius must have been well known to Valentinian and that his military ability was respected, but unfortunately how he had earned such respect is unknown. Other scholars agree with
522-613: Is unknown, and a niece, Serena . In 366, Theodosius the Elder attacked and defeated the Alamanni in Gaul; the defeated prisoners were resettled in the Po Valley . In 367 Roman Britain was threatened by the Great Conspiracy , defeated 368–369 by the magister equitum Theodosius the Elder, accompanied by his son Theodosius. At this time was the unsuccessful usurpation in Britain by Valentinus . Theodosius
580-405: The primicerius notariorum Joannes ( r. 423–425 ) succeeded as augustus in the west; thereafter Theodosius II ( r. 402–450 ) – son and successor of Arcadius as augustus in the east – moved to install Galla Placidia's son Valentinian as emperor in the west instead, appointing him caesar on 23 October 424. After the fall of Joannes, Valentinian III was made augustus on
638-568: The Alemanni . In 372 Theodosius was deployed to Illyricum and led an army against the Sarmatians ; he appears to have secured a victory in battle and successfully brought the campaign to an end. In the same year, Firmus , a Mauretanian prince, rebelled against Roman rule and plunged the Diocese of Africa into disarray. Valentinian decided to give Theodosius the command of the expedition to suppress
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#1732855047389696-535: The Alemanni ; as Valentinian's magister equitum (Master of Horse) he successfully invaded Alemannic territory (371 or 370). In 372 Theodosius led a successful campaign against the Sarmatians. Within the same year Firmus , a Mauritanian prince, rebelled against Roman rule with the help of African tribes like the Abanni and Caprarienses . Theodosius was sent to Africa and in two hard-fought campaigns (373–374) put down
754-669: The Augusti and the Augustae . Notes: Count Theodosius Count Theodosius ( Latin : Theodosius comes ; died 376), Flavius Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder ( Latin : Theodosius major ), was a senior military officer serving Valentinian I ( r. 364–375 ) and the Western Roman Empire during Late Antiquity . Under his command the Roman army defeated numerous threats, incursions, and usurpations. Theodosius
812-613: The Christian Church in his bishopric of Mediolanum. According to the Chronicon Paschale , on 18 February 391, the head of John the Baptist was translated to Constantinople. On the 24 February, attendance at pagan sacrifices and temples was forbidden by law. In early summer 391, an uprising in Alexandria was suppressed, and the Serapeum of Alexandria was destroyed. On 16 June, pagan worship
870-603: The Consularia Constantinopolitana , Gratian was killed at Lugdunum ( Lyon ) by Andragathius , the magister equitum of the rebel augustus during the rebellion of Magnus Maximus ( r. 383–388 ). Constantia's body arrived in Constantinople on 12 September that year and was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles on 1 December. Gratian was deified as Latin : Divus Gratianus , lit. 'the Divine Gratian';. On 21 January 384 all those deemed heretics were expelled from Constantinople. According to
928-566: The Consularia Constantinopolitana , Theodosius received in Constantinople an embassy from the Sasanian Empire in 384. In summer 384, Theodosius met his co- augustus Valentinian II in northern Italy. Theodosius brokered a peace agreement between Valentinian and Magnus Maximus which endured for several years. Theodosius's second son Honorius was born on 9 December 384 and titled nobilissimus puer (or nobilissimus iuvenis ). Sometime before 386 died Aelia Flaccilla, Theodosius's first wife and
986-655: The First Council of Constantinople , the second ecumenical council after Constantine's First Council of Nicaea in 325; the Constantinopolitan council ended on 9 July. According to Zosimus , Theodosius won a victory over the Carpi and the Sciri in summer 381. On 21 December, Theodosius decreed the prohibition of sacrifices with the intent of divining the future. On 21 February 382, the body of Theodosius's father in law Valentinian
1044-636: The Forum of Theodosius in Constantinople, the Column of Theodosius . On 19 January 387, according to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Arcadius celebrated his quinquennalia in Constantinople. By the end of the month, there was an uprising or riot in Antioch , known as Riot of the Statues. Also in 387, Armenia was divided between Rome and Persia by the peace treaty known as Peace of Acilisene . The peace with Magnus Maximus
1102-613: The Gallic Empire . However, upon his death in 395, it reverted to the Eastern Empire, forming, together with the Diocese of Macedonia to the south, the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum . In 535, under emperor Justinian I (527-565), ecclesiastical order on the territory of the diocese was reshaped, and new Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima was created, centered in emperor's birth city of Justiniana Prima . Newly appointed archbishop
1160-577: The Roman diocese of Thrace , and the additional dioceses of Dacia and of Macedonia . Theodosius the Elder, who had died in 375, was then deified as: Divus Theodosius Pater , lit. 'the Divine Father Theodosius';. In October 379 the Council of Antioch was convened. On 27 February 380 Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica , making Nicene Christianity the state church of
1218-565: The persecution of Jews at Callincium-on-the-Euphrates ( Raqqa ). As mentioned in the Panegyrici Latini and in a panegyric of Claudian 's on the sixth consulship of Honorius, Theodosius then received another embassy from the Persians in 389. According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Theodosius staged an adventus on entering Rome on 13 June 389. On 17 June, he issued a decree against Manichaeism . Theodosius had left Valentinian under
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#17328550473891276-562: The Danube. A new Dacia Aureliana was organised south of the Danube out of central Moesia , with its capital at Serdica. The abandonment of Dacia Traiana by the Romans is mentioned by Eutropius in his Breviarium historiae Romanae , book IX : The province of Dacia, which Trajan had formed beyond the Danube, he gave up, despairing, after all Illyricum and Moesia had been depopulated, of being able to retain it. The Roman citizens, removed from
1334-520: The East. The House of Theodosius was related to the Valentinianic Dynasty by marriage, since Theodosius I had married Galla, a daughter of Valentinian I . Their daughter was Galla Placidia . The last emperor in the West belonging to the dynasty was Galla Placidia's son Valentinian III . The last emperor of the dynasty in the East was Theodosius II , the son of Arcadius. Later, both in the East and in
1392-539: The Elder was deified and given the consecratio in Latin : Divus Theodosius Pater , lit. 'the Divine Father Theodosius', and statues of him were set up. Theodosius I joined himself with the ruling Valentinianic dynasty ( r. 364–455 ) by wedding Galla , daughter of Valentinian the Great and his second wife Justina , and sister of Theodosius's co- augustus Gratian. He went on to establish an imperial dynasty of his own, making Count Theodosius
1450-461: The Elder was made magister equitum in 369, and retained the post until 375. The magister equitum and his son Theodosius campaigned against the Alamanni 370. The two Theodosi campaigned against Sarmatians in 372/373. Valentinian's rule in Roman Africa was disrupted by the revolt of Firmus in 373. Theodosius the Elder defeated the usurpation. In 373/374, Theodosius the magister equitum 's son,
1508-608: The Great was finally laid to rest in the Church of the Holy Apostles. Another Council of Constantinople was held in summer 382. According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , a treaty of foedus was reached with the Goths, and they were settled between the Danube and the Balkan Mountains . According to the Chronicon Paschale , Theodosius celebrated his quinquennalia on 19 January at Constantinople; on this occasion he raised his eldest son Arcadius to co- augustus . Early 383 saw
1566-532: The Roman Empire . In 380, Theodosius was made Roman consul for the first time and Gratian for the fifth; in September the augusti Gratian and Theodosius met, returning the Roman diocese of Dacia to Gratian's control and that of Macedonia to Valentinian II . In autumn Theodosius fell ill, and was baptized . According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Theodosius arrived at Constantinople and staged an adventus ,
1624-457: The Visigoths in 414; he soon died and she married the patricius Constantius (later Constantius III ) in 417. Their children were Justa Grata Honoria and Valentinian III . Constantius III was elevated to augustus in 421 by Honorius, who had no issue, and Galla Placidia was made augusta ; Constantius died the same year and Galla Placidia fled to Constantinople. When Honorius died in 423,
1682-411: The West, the dynasty briefly continued, but only through marriages: Marcian became emperor by marrying Pulcheria , the older sister of Theodosius II, after the death of the latter, Petronius Maximus was married to Licinia Eudoxia , the daughter of Theodosius II, and Olybrius was married to Placidia , the daughter of Valentinian III. Anthemius is also sometimes counted to the dynasty as he became
1740-402: The acclamation of Magnus Maximus as augustus in Britain and the appointment of Themistius as praefectus urbi in Constantinople. On 25 July, Theodosius issued a new edict against gatherings of Christians deemed heretics. Sometime in 383, Gratian's wife Constantia died. Gratian remarried, wedding Laeta , whose father was a consularis of Roman Syria . On the 25 August 383, according to
1798-473: The city on 10 November 391. On 15 May 392, Valentinian II died at Vienna in Gaul ( Vienne ), either by suicide or as part of a plot by Arbogast. He was deified with the consecratio : Divae Memoriae Valentinianus , lit. 'the Divine Memory of Valentinian'. Theodosius was then sole adult emperor, reigning with his son Arcadius. On 22 August at the behest of the magister militum Arbogast,
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1856-401: The city. The Romans quickly killed or captured many of the small enemy raiding parties, relieving them of their booty, supplies and prisoners. Theodosius also sent messengers offering pardon to deserters and ordering them to make their way to Londinium. Over the winter of 368–369, large numbers of troops drifted back into their units, bringing vital intelligence that would help Theodosius plan
1914-403: The death of his uncle Valens ( r. 364–378 ), Gratian, now the senior augustus , sought a candidate to nominate as Valens's successor. On 19 January 379, Theodosius I was made augustus over the eastern provinces at Sirmium. His wife, Aelia Flaccilla , was accordingly raised to augusta . The new augustus 's territory spanned the Roman praetorian prefecture of the East , including
1972-453: The eastern and western halves of the empire after their father died. Theodosius's second wife Galla , the daughter of Valentinian the Great by his second wife Justina, was Galla Placidia , born in 392 or 393. Galla Placidia's brother Gratian, the son of Galla and Theodosius, died in 394. Another son, John ( Latin : Ioannes ), may have been born in 394. Galla Placidia married Athaulf , the King of
2030-428: The elder Theodosius had also plotted against the safety of his son during his retirement. The younger Theodosius had returned to the Danube frontier by 378 when he was appointed magister equitum . Following his successes in the field he was elevated at Sirmium ( Sremska Mitrovica ) to the rank of augustus by the emperor Gratian ( r. 367–383 ) on 19 January 379. After the accession of his son, Theodosius
2088-580: The emperor that he had created a new province which he had named Valentia (probably for Valentinian). Known to have been with him on this expedition were his son Theodosius , and the future emperor Magnus Maximus , possibly a relative. On his return from Britain Theodosius succeeded Jovinus as the magister equitum praesentalis at the court of the Emperor Valentinian I , in which capacity he prosecuted another successful campaign (370/371) against
2146-483: The first anniversary of his investiture as caesar ; he ruled the western provinces until his death on the 16 March 455, though Galla Placidia was regent during his youth. Galla Placidia died on 25 November 450. In italics are members of the Valentinianic dynasty, descended from Theodosius I's second marriage to Galla , daughter of Valentinian the Great ( r. 364–375 ). Sometimes also counted In italics
2204-524: The future with new legislation. In the beginning of 386, Theodosius's first wife Aelia Flaccilla and his daughter Pulcheria both died. That summer the Goths were defeated, together with their settlement in Phrygia . According to 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
2262-475: The insurrection. In 376, after the death of emperor Valentinian, he was arrested and executed, presumably as he was seen as a threat to the new western emperors Gratian and Valentinian II . Theodosius's title in Latin was comes rei militaris ( viz. "companion [ of the emperor ] for military affairs"; the word comes is the origin of the medieval European feudal title of count and its homologues. Theodosius
2320-591: The invasion began. Furthermore, he found out that the enemy had broken up their forces into small raiding parties which were plundering at will. When his army finally crossed the Channel with the onset of favorable spring weather, Theodosius had made his plans and was ready to move. The Roman army marched on Londinium (London) and re-established Imperial control of Britain's largest city. Using Londinium as his base of operations, Theodosius divided his army into detachments and sent them to attack bands of marauders within reach of
2378-514: The mother of Arcadius, Honorius, and Pulcheria. 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 . On 25 May 385, Theodosius reiterated the ban on sacrifices with questions concerning
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2436-532: The next phase of his campaign. In 369 Theodosius campaigned all through Roman Britain, restoring its 'chief towns' and hunting down enemy war parties and traitors. Ammianus Marcellinus records that he put down a rebellion by the Pannonian Valentinus . At the end of the campaigning season he sent a message to Valentinian to inform him that the provinces of Britain had been restored to the Empire. He also informed
2494-410: The progenitor and patriarch of a line of Roman emperors and empresses. Diocese of Dacia The Diocese of Dacia ( Latin : Dioecesis Daciae ) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire , in the area of modern western Bulgaria , central Serbia , Montenegro , Kosovo , northern Albania and northern North Macedonia . It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum . Its capital
2552-583: The protection of Jews. According to Zosimus, at the end of April 394, Theodosius's wife Galla died. On 1 August, a colossal statue of Theodosius was dedicated in Constantinople's Forum of Theodosius, an event recorded in the Chronicon Paschale . According to Socrates Scholasticus, Theodosius defeated Eugenius at the Battle of the Frigidus on 6 September 394 and on 8 September, Arbogast killed himself. According to Socrates, on 1 January 395, Honorius arrived in Mediolanum and
2610-578: The protection of the magister militum Arbogast , who then defeated the Franks in 389. In spring 390, possibly in April, the Massacre of Thessalonica was perpetrated by Theodosius's army, leading to a confrontation with Ambrose. Ambrose demanded that the emperor do penance for the massacre. According to the 5th-century church historian Theodoret , on 25 December 390 ( Christmas ), Ambrose received Theodosius back into
2668-476: The rebellion. Theodosius' son was made dux of the province of Moesia Prima , replacing his father as commander in Illyricum, while Theodosius himself started mustering his troops at Arles . In the spring of 373 Theodosius sailed to Africa and led a successful campaign against the rebels in the east of Mauritania. At the end of the campaigning season, when he led his army into western Mauritania, he suffered
2726-499: The second time in 388. Galla and Theodosius's first child, a son named Gratian, was born in 388 or 389. On 10 March 388, Christians deemed heretics were forbidden from residing in cities. On 14 March, Theodosius banned the intermarriage of Jews and Christians. In summer 388, Theodosius recovered Italy from Magnus Maximus for Valentinian, and in June, the meeting of Christians deemed heretics was banned by Valentinian. Around July, Magnus Maximus
2784-548: The supposition that Theodosius won the trust of Valentinian I in his earlier career. In 368, Theodosius was raised to the high Roman military rank of comes rei militaris and sent to northern Gaul and Britannia to recover the lands lost to the Great Barbarian Conspiracy in the previous year. Theodosius was given command of part of Valentinian's comitatensis (the Imperial Field Army) and early in
2842-602: The time of Constantine the Great (306-337) the diocese was split in two, forming the Diocese of Macedonia in the south and the Diocese of Dacia, in the north. The Diocese of Dacia was composed of five provinces: Dacia Mediterranea (the southern, interior portion of Dacia Aureliana), Dacia Ripensis (the northern, Danubian portion of Dacia Aureliana), Moesia Prima (the northern portion of Moesia Superior ), Dardania (the southern portion of Moesia Superior) and Praevalitana (the eastern portion of Dalmatia). The dioceses capital
2900-471: The town and lands of Dacia, he settled in the interior of Moesia, calling that Dacia which now divides the two Moesiae, and which is on the right hand of the Danube as it runs to the sea, whereas Dacia was previously on the left. During the administrative reforms of Diocletian (284-305), the Diocese of Moesia was created, encompassing most of the central Balkans and the Greek peninsula. Later, however, probably in
2958-570: The year he marched on Bononia ( Boulogne-sur-Mer ), Rome's harbour on the Channel . Taking advantage of a break in the weather, Theodosius crossed the Channel, leaving the bulk of his troops in Bononia to await clearer weather. He landed at Rutupiae ( Richborough ), and started gathering intelligence on the situation in Britain; he found out that the troops in Britain had either refused to fight against an enemy superior in numbers, or had been on furlough when
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#17328550473893016-648: Was at Serdica (modern Sofia ). Emperor Aurelian (270-275), confronted with the secession of Gallia and Hispania from the empire since 260, with the advance of the Sassanids in Asia, and the devastations that the Carpians and the Goths had created in Moesia and Illyria , abandoned the province of Dacia created by Trajan and withdrew his troops altogether, fixing the Roman frontier at
3074-529: Was at Serdica (modern Sofia ). Administration of diocese was headed by a vicarius . According to the Notitia dignitatum (an early 5th century imperial chancery document), the vicarius had the rank of vir spectabilis . The diocese was transferred to the Western Empire in 384 by Theodosius I, probably in partial compensation to the empress Justina for his recognition of the usurpation of Magnus Maximus in
3132-400: Was broken in 387, and Valentinian escaped the west with Justina, reaching Thessalonica ( Thessaloniki ) in summer or autumn 387 and appealing to Theodosius for aid; Valentinian II's sister Galla was then married to the eastern augustus 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
3190-508: Was defeated by Theodosius at Siscia ( Sisak ) and at Poetovio ( Ptuj ), and on 28 August, Magnus Maximus was executed by Theodosius. According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana , Arbogast killed Flavius Victor ( r. 384–388 ), Magnus Maximus's young son and co- augustus , in Gaul in August/September that year. Damnatio memoriae was pronounced against them, and inscriptions naming them were erased. Theodosius came into conflict with Ambrose, bishop of Mediolanum, in October 388 over
3248-419: Was made dux of the province of Moesia Prima . At the fall of his father, Theodosius the dux of Moesia Prima retired to his estates in the Iberian Peninsula , where he married Aelia Flaccilla in 376. Their first child, Arcadius , was born around 377. Pulcheria , their daughter, was born in 377 or 378. Theodosius had returned to the Danube frontier by 378, when he was appointed magister equitum . After
3306-463: Was patriarch of the imperial Theodosian dynasty ( r. 379–457 ) and father of the emperor Theodosius the Great ( r. 379–395 ). Appointed comes rei militaris per Britannias (commander of mobile military forces for the Diocese of the Britains ) by Valentinian, Theodosius put down the Great Conspiracy (367–368) and the usurpation of Valentinus . After restoring order in Britain he returned to continental Europe and fought against
3364-421: Was prohibited by law. In 391, a delegation from the Roman Senate was snubbed in Gaul because of the reappearance of the Altar of Victory in the Curia Julia . According to Zosimus, Theodosius then campaigned against marauding barbarian bandits in Macedonia in autumn 391. Eventually, he came to Constantinople, where according to Socrates Scholasticus 's Historia Ecclesiastica he held an adventus , entering
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