Theodosius II

For other uses, see Theodosius II (disambiguation).

Theodosius II
Bust of Theodosius II in the Louvre
Roman emperor of the East
Reign	10 January 402 – 28 July 450
Predecessor	Arcadius (ruled until 1 May 408)
Successor	Marcian
Western emperors	Honorius (402–423) Joannes (423–425) Valentinian III (425–450)
Born	10 April 401
Died	28 July 450 (aged 49)
Burial	Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople
Spouse	Aelia Eudocia
Issue	Licinia Eudoxia Flaccilla Arcadius (possibly)
Full name Flavius Theodosius
Dynasty	Theodosian
Father	Arcadius
Mother	Aelia Eudoxia
Religion	Nicene Christianity

Theodosius II
Emperor of the Roman Empire
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	29 July

Theodosius II (Greek: Θεοδόσιος, Theodósios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), commonly called Theodosius the Younger or the Calligrapher, was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed Augustus as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his father Arcadius in 408. His reign was marked by the promulgation of the Theodosian law code and the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. He also presided over the outbreak of two great Christological controversies, Nestorianism and Eutychianism.

Life

File:Theodosius II solidus Constantinople 439 450 gold 4480mg.jpg

Solidus of Theodosius II, 439-450

Theodosius was born in 401 as the only son of Emperor Arcadius and his wife Aelia Eudoxia. On 10 January 402 he was proclaimed co-Augustus by his father, thus becoming the youngest person ever to bear this title in Roman history. In 408, his father died and the seven-year-old boy became emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire.

The government was at first administered by the praetorian prefect Anthemius, under whose supervision the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople were constructed.

According to Theophanes the Confessor and Procopius, the Sasanian king Yazdegerd I (399-420) was appointed by Arcadius as the guardian of Theodosius, whom Yazdegerd treated as his own child, sending a tutor to raise him and warning that enmity toward him would be taken as enmity toward Persia. Though this story is assumed to be inconclusive, Antiochus, a eunuch of Persian origin, became a tutor and an influence on Theodosius. He also became praepositus sacri cubiculi later but Theodosius dismissed him when he reached his adulthood.

In 414, Theodosius' older sister Pulcheria vowed perpetual virginity along with her sisters. She was proclaimed augusta, and acted as a guardian of her brother. The guardianship ended when he reached his majority, but it is assumed that his sister continued to exert an influence on him until his marriage. In June 421, Theodosius married Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Athenian origin. The two had a daughter named Licinia Eudoxia, another named Flaccilla, and possibly a son called Arcadius. A separation ultimately occurred between the imperial couple around 443, with Eudocia's establishment in Jerusalem where she favoured monastic Monophysitism.

In 423, the Western Emperor Honorius, Theodosius' uncle, died and the primicerius notariorum Joannes was proclaimed emperor. Honorius' sister Galla Placidia and her young son Valentinian, who had earlier fled to Constantinople to escape Honorius' hostility, sought Eastern assistance to claim the throne for Valentinian, and after some deliberation in 424 Theodosius opened the war against Joannes. On 23 October 425, Valentinian III was installed as emperor of the West with the assistance of the magister officiorum Helion, with his mother taking an influential role. To strengthen the ties between the two parts of the empire, Theodosius' daughter Licinia Eudoxia was betrothed to Valentinian. She married Valentinian III later on 29 October 437, and became empress of the western portion of the empire.

Theodosius is often seen by both ancient and modern historians as being constantly pushed around by his sister, wife, and eunuchs, particularly Chrysaphius among them. In the later decades of his life, Chrysaphius rose to prominence as one of the emperor's favorites. He favored the pro-Monophysite policy, influenced the foreign policy towards the Huns, and was resented by Pulcheria, general Zeno, and ancient writers. According to Theodorus Lector, Theodosius was so unmindful of his surroundings that he accidentally signed his sister's note selling his wife, Eudocia, into slavery.

However, some scholars argue that contrary to hostile ancient sources, Theodosius was more in control of his government. Others view that the government was controlled mostly by civilian officials, and not by a particular individual. Among ancient and medieval writers, Monophysites had a favorable opinion of Theodosius.

University and Law Code

In 425, Theodosius founded the University of Constantinople with 31 chairs (15 in Latin and 16 in Greek). Among the subjects were law, philosophy, medicine, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music and rhetoric.

In 429, Theodosius appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of Constantine I, and create a fully formalized system of law. This plan was left unfinished, but the work of a second commission that met in Constantinople, assigned to collect all of the general legislations and bring them up to date, was completed; their collection was published as the Codex Theodosianus in 438. The law code of Theodosius II, summarizing edicts promulgated since Constantine, formed a basis for the law code of Emperor Justinian I, the Corpus Juris Civilis, in the following century.

Wars with the Huns, Vandals, and Persians

The situation between the Romans and the Sassanids deteriorated in 420 due to the Persian persecution of Christians, and the Eastern empire declared war against the Sassanids (421–422); the war ended in an indecisive stalemate, when the Romans were forced to accept peace as the Huns menaced Constantinople. Peace was arranged in 422 without changes to the status quo. The later wars of Theodosius were generally less successful.

The Eastern Empire was plagued by raids by the Huns. Early in Theodosius II's reign Romans used internal Hun discord to overcome Uldin's invasion of the Balkans. The Romans strengthened their fortifications and in 424 agreed to pay 350 pounds of gold to encourage the Huns to remain at peace with the Romans. In 433 with the rise of Attila and Bleda to unify the Huns, the payment was doubled to 700 pounds.

Theodosius became engaged with the affairs of the West after installing Valentinian III as his Western counterpart. When Roman Africa fell to the Vandals in 439, both Eastern and Western Emperors sent forces to Sicily, intending to launch an attack on the Vandals at Carthage, but this project failed. Seeing the borders without significant forces, the Huns and Sassanid Persia both attacked and the expeditionary force had to be recalled. During 443 two Roman armies were defeated and destroyed by the Huns. Anatolius negotiated a peace agreement; the Huns withdrew in exchange for humiliating concessions, including an annual tribute of 2,100 Roman pounds (ca. 687 kg) of gold. In 447 the Huns went through the Balkans, destroying among others the city of Serdica (Sofia) and reaching Athyra (Büyükçekmece) on the outskirts of Constantinople. In 449, an Eastern Roman attempt to assassinate Attila failed, however the relations between the two did not deteriorate further.

Theological disputes

Theodosius welcomes the relics of John Chrysostom. Miniature from the early 11th century.

Theodosius frequently attempted to resolve doctrinal controversies regarding the nature of Christ. During a visit to Syria, Theodosius met the monk Nestorius, who was a renowned preacher. He appointed Nestorius archbishop of Constantinople in 428. Nestorius quickly became involved in the disputes of two theological factions, which differed in their Christology. Nestorius tried to find a middle ground between those who, emphasizing the fact that in Christ God had been born as a man, insisted on calling the Virgin Mary Theotokos ("birth-giver of God"), and those who rejected that title because God, as an eternal being, could not have been born. Nestorius suggested the title Christotokos ("birth-giver of Christ") as a compromise, but it did not find acceptance with either faction. He was accused of separating Christ's divine and human natures, resulting in "two Christs", a heresy later called Nestorianism. Though initially supported by the emperor, Nestorius was strongly opposed by Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria and eventually lost Theodosius' support. At the request of Nestorius, who sought to vindicate himself from Cyril's charge of heresy, the emperor called a council, which convened in Ephesus in 431. This council affirmed the title Theotokos and condemned Nestorius, who returned to his monastery in Syria and was eventually exiled to a remote monastery in Egypt.

Almost twenty years later, the theological dispute broke out again, this time caused by the Constantinopolitan abbot Eutyches, who asserted the Monophysite view that Christ's divine and human nature were one. Eutyches was condemned by Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople but found a powerful friend in Cyril's successor Dioscurus of Alexandria. Another council was convoked in Ephesus in 449, later maligned as a "robber synod" by Pope Leo I because its outcome was opposed by the Chalcedonians. This council restored Eutyches and deposed Flavian, who was mistreated and died shortly afterwards. Leo of Rome and many other bishops protested against the outcome, but the emperor supported it. Only after his death in 450 would the decisions be reversed at the Council of Chalcedon.

Death

File:Ajanta Theodosius II 402-450.jpg

Coin of Theodosius II, found in the excavation of a monastery in Ajanta Caves, India.

Theodosius died on July 28, 450 as the result of a riding accident. His sister Pulcheria married Marcian, a domesticus under the influential general Aspar, thereby making him Emperor. The eunuch Chrysaphius was executed shortly after by the new imperial couple.

Like Constantine I and several of his successors, he was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles, in a porphyry sarcophagus that was described in the 10th century by Constantine VII in the De Ceremoniis.

See also

• Flavia (gens)
• House of Theodosius
• List of Byzantine emperors

References

Sources

• Kelly, Christopher (2013). Theodosius II: Rethinking the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Miller, Fergus (2006). A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief Under Theodosius II. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Elton, Hugh (2009). "Imperial politics at the court of Theodosius II," in Andrew Cain (ed), The Power of Religion in Late Antiquity: The Power of Religion in Late Antiquity (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2009), 133–142.
• S. Crogiez-Pétrequin, P. Jaillette, J.-M. Poinsotte (eds.), Codex Theodosianus V. Texte latin d'après l'édition de Mommsen. Traduction, introduction et notes, Brepols Publishers, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-51722-3
• Vasiliki Limberis, Divine Heiress: The Virgin Mary and the Creation of Christian Constantinople (London: Routledge, 1994) has a significant section about Theodosius II and his sister Pulcheria.
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• "Theodosius II" in The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 2051. ISBN 0195046528

External links

• Reign of Theodosius II (chapter of J. B. Bury's History of the Later Roman Empire)
• Theodosian Code: Sections concerning religious observances (English)
• George Long, "Codex Theodosianus"
• Nathan, Geoffrey, "Theodosius II (408–450 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis
• This list of Roman laws of the fourth century shows laws passed by Theodosius II relating to Christianity.

Theodosius II Theodosian dynasty Born: April 401 Died: 28 July 450
Regnal titles
Preceded by Arcadius	Eastern Roman emperor 408–450	Succeeded by Marcian
Political offices
Preceded by Arcadius Augustus V Honorius Augustus V	Roman consul 403 with Rumoridus	Succeeded by Honorius Augustus VI Aristaenetus
Preceded by Arcadius Augustus VI Anicius Petronius Probus	Roman consul II 407 with Honorius Augustus VII	Succeeded by Anicius Auchenius Bassus Philippus
Preceded by Anicius Auchenius Bassus	Roman consul III 409 with Honorius Augustus VIII Constantine Augustus	Succeeded by Varanes Tertullus
Preceded by Varanes Tertullus	Roman consul IV–V 411–412 with Honorius Augustus IX (412)	Succeeded by Lucius Heraclianus
Preceded by Constantius Constans	Roman consul VI–VII 415–416 with Honorius Augustus X Junius Quartus Palladius	Succeeded by Honorius Augustus XI Flavius Constantius II
Preceded by Honorius Augustus XI Flavius Constantius II	Roman consul VIII 418 with Honorius Augustus XII	Succeeded by Monaxius Plinta
Preceded by Monaxius Plinta	Roman consul IX 420 with Constantius III	Succeeded by Eustathius Agricola
Preceded by Eustathius Agricola	Roman consul X 422 with Honorius Augustus XIII	Succeeded by Asclepiodotus Avitus Marinianus
Preceded by Castinus Victor	Roman consul XI 425 with Valentinian Caesar Iohannes Augustus (only in Rome)	Succeeded by Theodosius Augustus XII Valentinian Augustus II
Preceded by Theodosius Augustus XI Valentinian Caesar	Roman consul XII 426 with Valentinian Augustus II	Succeeded by Hierius Ardabur
Preceded by Florentius Dionysius	Roman consul XIII 430 with Valentinian Augustus III	Succeeded by Anicius Auchenius Bassus Antiochus
Preceded by Aetius Valerius	Roman consul XIV 433 with Petronius Maximus	Succeeded by Aspar Areobindus
Preceded by Aspar Areobindus	Roman consul XV 435 with Valentinian Augustus IV	Succeeded by Anthemius Isidorus Flavius Senator
Preceded by Aetius II Sigisvultus	Roman consul XVI 438 with Anicius Acilius Glabrio Faustus	Succeeded by Theodosius Augustus XVII Festus
Preceded by Theodosius Augustus XVI Anicius Acilius Glabrio Faustus	Roman consul 439 with Festus	Succeeded by Valentinian Augustus V Anatolius
Preceded by Petronius Maximus II Paterius	Roman consul XVII 444 with Caecina Decius Aginatius Albinus	Succeeded by Valentinian Augustus VI Nomus