Posted by Powee Celdran
Welcome back to the Byzantium Blogger and here we are again with another Byzantine history article! In this one being the 7th part of this series featuring top lists concerning the lives of certain emperors who I think have interesting stories, we will talk about Theodosius I the Great (r. 379-395), the last ruler of a united Roman Empire.
Now Theodosius the Great is one of history’s most polarizing figures as he is both seen as a hero especially to Christians for championing Christian orthodoxy and making Christianity for the first the time the Roman Empire’s official religion but at the same time he too can be seen as an intolerant religious extremist especially since it was under his rule when the ancient Pagan faith was stamped out. Now in the previous article about Emperor Constantine I the Great (r. 306-337), we went over how Christianity became a major religion that would not only become legal but would unite the Roman Empire, however under Theodosius I who would rule decades after Constantine I, Christianity- particularly Nicene Christianity- would ascend higher to not just a religion tolerated in the Roman Empire but to the official religion of the empire itself. For his role in making Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, Theodosius I thus plays an important role in shaping history itself especially since this was a major turning point wherein Christianity would defeat the old Pagan faith of Rome that had defined it for centuries.
Other than his role in further shaping Christianity in making it an official state religion, Theodosius I too was known for many other achievements such as in winning 2 bloody civil wars, concluding a major external threat to the Roman Empire being the Goths by agreeing to a settlement with them, and further transforming the new empire’s capital of Constantinople into something really worthy of being an imperial capital. However, despite his achievements, Theodosius too had a number of failures that would not only affect his reign in the short-term but the Roman Empire itself in the long-term and this would include his policy of settling the Goths in the empire, causing further division in the empire’s society through his religious policies, and lastly in dividing the empire permanently among his two weak and incompetent sons. Now, in this article we will exactly go over 5 of Theodosius I’s achievements and 5 of his failures in an alternating pattern, therefore we will go over an extensive analysis on Theodosius’ life and reign and see if he really deserves his title of “the great” or not. Before beginning this top 10 list, I will give a quick background to the life of Theodosius I the Great and the Roman Empire he grew up in and inherited.
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Theodosius was born in the Roman province of Hispania (in modern Spain) in 347 during the reign of Constantius II (r. 337-361) in the east and his brother Constans I (r. 337-350) in the west- both the sons of Emperor Constantine I the Great. Theodosius’ father of the same name being Count Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder, a native of Roman Hispania was an aristocrat and high-ranking general in the Roman army while his mother Thermantia too was a native of Hispania.
In the empire meanwhile, the Western emperor Constans I was killed by his own rebellious troops in 350 which therefore forced his older brother the Eastern emperor Constantius II to take action and fight a bloody civil war against these rebellious soldiers which ended in 353 with Constantius victorious. Constantius although the sole emperor appointed his cousin Gallus to be his subordinate emperor of Caesar in the east while Constantius ruled the west, but Gallus’ defiance only led to him being executed by Constantius in 354. With Gallus gone, Constantius in 355 appointed his last surviving male cousin Julian as his new Caesar this time in the west as Constantius had to face the renewed threat of the Sassanid Persian Empire in the east, although after a number of victories over invading barbarian tribes from across the Rhine River into the Roman Empire, Julian too would turn out to be rebellious to the point that he would be acclaimed by his own troops as emperor against Constantius. Before the troops of Julian and Constantius would clash in a civil war, Constantius II died in 361 naming Julian his successor and thus Julian (r. 361-363) inherited the whole empire itself.
As a Pagan, Julian attempted to reverse the pro-Christian policies of his predecessors and return Rome to its old Pagan faith, but this never came to happen due to Julian’s death in 363 while on campaign against the Sassanid Persians in Persian territory. Following Julian’s death, the new emperor Jovian (r. 363-364) who was acclaimed by the army returned Rome to the Christian faith and concluded peace with the Sassanid ruler or shah Shapur II (r. 309-379) but died in 364 before returning to the capital Constantinople. With no more emperor again, the army elected the general Valentinian as the new emperor and once arriving in Constantinople, Valentinian I (r. 364-375) divided the empire into 2 parts wherein he would the west from Milan and his younger brother Valens (r. 364-378) would rule the east from Constantinople. Valentinian I thus spent his reign in campaigns against the barbarian tribes across the Rhine and Danube Rivers while Valens in the east defeated an attempt to overthrow him by the usurper Procopius (r. 365-366), fought a number of wars against the Sassanid Persians over the eastern border, and concluded peace with the Goths across the Danube after a short war with them.
In the west meanwhile, Britain which was a Roman province was almost lost to a local rebellion supported by a number of invading Celtic and Germanic tribes in what was known as the “Great Conspiracy” if it were not for Theodosius’ father Count Theodosius being sent by Valentinian to crush this said invasion of Britain in 368. In this campaign to subdue the local revolts in Britain supported by invading barbarians, the future emperor Theodosius I accompanied his father wherein he served in his staff. Due to his success in crushing the Great Conspiracy in Britain, Theodosius the Elder was assigned in different parts of the empire by Valentinian to repel barbarian invasions and crush rebellions whereas his son the future emperor later gained his first independent command in 374 assigned as the commanding officer or Dux in the province of Moesia Prima along the Danube. When assigned here, the son Theodosius in 374 as well defeated an invasion of the province by Sarmatians who he forced into submission. However, in 375 the Western emperor Valentinian I suffered a stroke out of anger when negotiating with the leaders of the Germanic Quadi tribe which thus caused his death on the spot, thus the west passed into the hands of Valentinian’s older son Gratian (r. 367-383) who was not as capable as his father. As a result of Valentinian’s death, Count Theodosius after suppressing a revolt in North Africa was executed there in 376 by the orders of the new administration in the west who were jealous of his growing power and influence.
Following his father’s execution, Theodosius the Younger retired from military command and returned to Hispania where he would marry and start a family, but in the same year (376) disaster struck the eastern half of the empire ruled by Valens as thousands of Goths fleeing from the expansion of the Huns from the east all migrated into Roman territory crossing the Danube. The mass migration of the Goths had therefore turned into a major refugee crisis that Roman authorities in the Balkans could not handle thus leading to a major war breaking out between the Romans and the Goth migrants. In 378, the Eastern emperor Valens finally decided to take action by intending to crush the Goths once and for all, however he was met with disaster at the Battle of Adrianople which ended with a victory for the Goths and 2/3 of the Roman army annihilated with Valens himself killed and his body never found. With no more emperor in the east and the Goths victorious, the Goths thus freely pillaged their way across the Balkans and even attempted to attack Constantinople but failed.
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I. Achievement- Conclusion to the Gothic War
By 379 with the Goths still mindlessly pillaging the Balkans, the Western emperor Gratian arrived there from the west, though he came too late to save his uncle Valens who had already been killed in battle.
Although Gratian could have took his uncle’s place in ruling the east and thus rule the east and west together, he saw that this would be impossible considering that the Goths’ threat in the Balkans was still at large, thus Gratian needed to appoint someone to rule the east as his imperial colleague. Luckily, Theodosius the Younger by this time had come out of retirement in Hispania and had returned to commanding the troops in the Balkans against the Goths, thus being the first general in the eastern provinces that Gratian encountered, Gratian decided to appoint Theodosius as his co-emperor in the east replacing Valens that Theodosius too was given the rank of Augustus or senior emperor. The situation in the Balkans however was so severe wherein the Goths were everywhere that Theodosius in fact could not even travel safely to the capital Constantinople, therefore for one year he had to remain in Thessaloniki which he would use as his base of operations to battle the Goths.
As emperor in the east, Theodosius decided to take action against the Goths and due to the lack of troops as many had been slain in the previous year at the Battle of Adrianople, Theodosius decided to recruit untrained farmers and miners who in order to avoid conscription ran away and even mutilated themselves but at the end were still found and conscripted anyway. Additionally, Theodosius too resorted to hiring Goth mercenaries to fight the Goths but this only led to further disaster as these mercenaries defected to their fellow Goths anyway and thus in 380, the defection of the Goth mercenaries and the inability of the conscripted recruits to fight led to another defeat for the Romans by the Goths. Although facing defeat, by the end of 380 the Goths in the Balkans were eventually subdued enough for Theodosius to be able to reach Constantinople and thus move his court there. In 381, Theodosius gained what would be a “propaganda victory” when the Goth chief Athanaric personally came to Constantinople and submitted to Theodosius who even gave a lavish funeral for Athanaric when he died later that year, but this still did not stop the Goths from pillaging the Balkans. Eventually, in 381 as well, Western forces sent by Gratian managed to score a victory over the Goths in the Balkans and thus reducing them, though Theodosius came to a point wherein he believed that the Goths could not be fully removed from Roman territory. Theodosius in 382 thus agreed to negotiations with the Goths wherein it was agreed that the Goths would be allowed to settle along the Danube border in exchange for military service to Rome as auxiliaries.
II. Failure- The Rise of the Barbarian Foederati
Although Theodosius I brought an end to the war with the Goths by 382 by agreeing to settle the Goths along the Danube frontier in exchange for them providing the Romans with military assistance as auxiliaries, this decision of Theodosius would in the long-term be critical for the Roman Empire as a whole. First of all, although the Goths were settled down in exchange for defending the borders and providing troops for the Romans at war, they were not made into Roman citizens, instead they were left to their own devices.
The Goths settled by Theodosius along the Danube hence became known as Foederati or “federates” meaning that they were allied with the Romans and were expected to assist the Roman troops in times of war but as non-Roman citizens, they were still under their own tribal leaders. In times of war, these barbarian Foederati although expected to fight alongside Roman troops could act independently by fighting under the command of their own leaders while also using their own native weapons and armor. As barbarians by blood, the Foederati proved to be successful in battle especially during Theodosius I’s reign as will be seen later, however their lack of loyalty to the Roman emperor and their failure to integrate into Roman society would prove to be troublesome later on as true enough their failure to integrate- which they probably did not intend to- would lead them to rebel against Roman authorities. One such example of how the Foederati proved to be capable warriors but at the same time troublesome to Rome would be the case of Alaric, leader of the Visigoths who in 394 led a contingent of his own Goth Foederati fighting alongside Theodosius I in a civil war battle- which will be mentioned later.
Despite helping Theodosius win this said battle in 394, Alaric who would feel betrayed by the emperor for not getting the recognition he wanted and not being compensated for all the men he lost but at the same time having enough confidence to rule his own people rebelled against Roman authorities in 395 following Theodosius’ death. Alaric’s rebellion thus proved to be troublesome for the Romans that Alaric true enough defeated Roman legions multiple times and when not being satisfied with anything the Romans tried to do to settle him down but also having grown more powerful with more troops, Alaric eventually sacked Rome itself in 410 whereas his people would establish in Gaul the Visigoth Kingdom, an independent barbarian state within Roman territory. Unfortunately, emperors after Theodosius did not learn from his mistake of settling barbarians in Roman territory and making them Foederati or allied troops as emperors after Theodosius true enough continued this policy which only led to more rebellions by these barbarians and thus the creation of several barbarian kingdoms within Roman territory in the west which would include that of the Burgundians, Franks, Vandals, Suebi, and Ostrogoths. To put it short, Theodosius’ policy of settling invading barbarians in Roman territory and making them Foederati would be one of the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire in the west a century after his time.
III. Achievement- Nicene Christianity as the Empire’s Official Religion
Since the reign of Constantine I the Great (306-337), the Christian Church had been torn apart over beliefs in the Trinity whereas the “orthodox” believed in Christ as the Son of God and therefore divine whereas the other sect being the Arians- named after the founder of this movement the presbyter Arius of Alexandria- believed Christ to be just a creation of God and therefore just man.
Constantine I true enough tried to settle this issue through the Council of Nicaea in 325 which resulted in the formulation of the Nicene Creed, however this did not solve the problem of Arianism and therefore Arian Christianity flourished across the empire and beyond that many barbarian nations such as the Goths even converted to it. Despite the flourishing of Arianism, the opposite of it being orthodoxy which believed in the Nicene Creed hence becoming known as “Nicene Christianity” was still strong thanks to Church leaders like Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and it was true enough strong among the people in the Roman Empire’s Western provinces such as Hispania where Theodosius came from. As emperor, Theodosius made it clear that he strongly championed Nicene Christianity that as early as 380 when in Thessaloniki he issued what was known as the “Edict of Thessalonica” together with his Western co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II (r. 375-392)- son of Valentinian I from his second marriage- which more or less decreed that those who believed in the Nicene Creed and the consubstantiality of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could call themselves “catholic” and thus have their own churches and those who did not believe in it were simply labelled as “heretics” and therefore “insane”.
To put it short, the Edict of Thessalonica issued by Theodosius I was the official decree that made Nicene Christianity as the Roman Empire’s official religion, thus making it the only legal religion whereas others were therefore outlawed, however Theodosius still did not force heretics, Pagans, and Jews to convert to it but rather as would be explained later would make it more difficult for them. Now following the declaration of Nicene Christianity as the empire’s official religion, Theodosius when arriving in Constantinople late in 380 fired the city’s Arian archbishop Demophilus and replaced him with the Nicene bishop Gregory of Nazianzus from Cappadocia who became the first Patriarch of Constantinople. In 381 meanwhile, Theodosius together with Patriarch Gregory would convene the second ecumenical council- the first being the Council of Nicaea- which was known as the “First Council of Constantinople” which intended to resolve the schism between the orthodox and Arians. To put it short, this council was a success for orthodox or Nicene Christianity as it confirmed the Nicene Creed as Christianity’s official beliefs and thus condemned Arianism and its teachings as heresy all while the council too defined the third person in the Trinity being the Holy Spirit as equal to the Father and “proceeding” from him and that the Church of Constantinople was second to Rome.
IV. Failure- Divisive Religious Policies Part I, Theodosius Against Pagans
Despite Theodosius I’s success in ending the schism with the Arians and further defining orthodoxy through the Council of Constantinople in 381, his declaration of Nicene Christianity as the empire’s official religion however would lead to further division in the empire especially among fanatical Christians who now would feel more superior against Pagans.
Although Theodosius had at first a cautious policy towards Pagans that he still allowed them to continue performing their traditions such as animal sacrifices and allowed Pagan temples to be open, he however failed to control fanatical Christian mobs from damaging them especially since many of Theodosius’ officials who influenced him, namely his Praetorian Prefect of the East Cynegius were fanatical Christians too. Theodosius’ major failure here now was in failing to stop the destruction of Pagan temples across the empire by fanatical Christian mobs that he even later on tolerated them and their actions. A major player in the destruction of temples during Theodosius’ reign was the said Praetorian Prefect of the East Cynegius who encouraged the destruction of temples empire-wide and even allowed Christian mobs who killed Pagans in the streets to be unpunished for it. On the other hand, although many Pagan temples were destroyed across the empire by Christian mobs, a number of temples too across the empire were converted into Christian churches during Theodosius’ reign as part of his policy as well to preserve ancient structures. Theodosius however despite still pursuing a cautious policy towards Pagans still showed intolerance towards them in the beginning of his reign as seen in 380 when he prohibited Pagan sacrifices which intended to divine the future and furthermore his decrees against Manichaeans and other heretical sects. As will be seen later, Theodosius’ policies against Paganism in particular would be more extreme in his latter reign especially with the attacking of the Library of Alexandria which Theodosius tolerated.
V. Achievement- Civil War Victory over Magnus Maximus
In 383, with Theodosius I having ruled the east for already 4 years, trouble would start brewing in the west, particularly in Britain when the general there Magnus Maximus, Theodosius’ old friend and fellow Roman-Spaniard proclaimed himself emperor out of rebellion.
From Britain, Magnus Maximus marched on to Gaul where he engaged in civil war against the Western emperor Gratian ending with Gratian defeated- thanks to his soldiers defecting to Maximus- and fleeing to Lugdunum (today’s Lyon, France) where he was found and killed by Maximus’ forces. Despite Gratian killed and his half-brother and Western co-emperor Valentinian II now threatened by Maximus’ ambitions, Theodosius at first did not do anything about it and instead focused his attention east, to the Sassanid Persian Empire. Here in 383 as well, Theodosius sent his military assistant and future general Stilicho, a half-Roman half-Vandal to Persia to negotiate peace with the Sassanid shah Shapur III (r. 383-388) which true enough ended in success as this put a temporary end to Persian hostility with Rome in exchange for Armenia to be portioned in two between the Romans and Sassanids. After settling peace with the Sassanids, Theodosius himself in 384 travelled to Northern Italy and successfully brokered peace between Valentinian II and the usurper Magnus Maximus wherein both would co-rule the west while Theodosius remained in the east. In the meantime, as Theodosius remained in the east, he in 386 defeated another Goth invasion into the Roman Balkans and thus resettled the defeated Goths in Phrygia in Asia Minor but in 387 he would have to turn his attention west again when Magnus Maximus broke off the peace agreement and suddenly crossed the Alps from Gaul and invaded Valentinian II’s Italy.
Valentinian II then together with his mother the empress Justina and sister Galla escaped Italy and fled to Constantinople to appeal to Theodosius for military aid against Maximus. Theodosius then agreed to support Valentinian II against Maximus in exchange for marrying Galla which Theodosius did in late 387 considering that his first wife and mother of his two sons Aelia Flaccilla had already died in 386. After marrying Galla, Theodosius then personally led his army together with the Frankish general Arbogast to Italy in order to reclaim it from Maximus for Valentinian II. Theodosius’ Eastern forces then clashed with the rebels of Maximus at the Battle of Poetovio in 388 in today’s Slovenia which then ended with Maximus defeated and executed. Theodosius then proceeded to Milan returning his brother-in-law Valentinian II to power while also appointing Arbogast as Magister Militum or “Master of Soldiers” in the west and considering that Valentinian II’s mother Justina had died in 388 as well, Arbogast was therefore the new power behind Valentinian II’s rule. Theodosius’ victory over Magnus Maximus was thus a total one as following the execution of Maximus, Theodosius then sent Arbogast to Gaul to kill off Maximus’ son and co-emperor Flavius Victor (r. 384-388) which ended successfully. Theodosius would then remain in Italy for a couple of years after his victory here in this civil war.
VI. Failure- The Massacre of Thessaloniki and Dealings with Ambrose of Milan
The reign of Theodosius I too had seen a series of unrest across the Roman Empire such as a major riot in Antioch in 387 which Theodosius had to suppress with brutality. However, one event that took place in 390 was more severe and this resulted in a massacre of civilians, this was thus known as the “Massacre of Thessaloniki”.
Now, the cause of the massacre was apparently due to the murder of the commander of Thessaloniki’s local garrison being the Goth Butheric who prior to his murder by the people of Thessaloniki arrested and jailed a popular charioteer in the city. The people thus demanded that Butheric release the charioteer but Butheric refused, thus the people rioted in the streets and killed Butheric. Theodosius meanwhile was nowhere near Thessaloniki when the riot in 390 occurred, rather he was still holding court in Milan but when he got word of the riot, he according to a number of historians out of his “volcanic anger” sent troops- mostly consisting of Goth Foederati- to Thessaloniki ordering them to massacre the rioters. Theodosius however soon enough changed his mind and decided to not push through with his order, but it was too late as the soldiers he sent had already arrived in Thessaloniki and trapped the rioting civilians in the city’s Hippodrome. The troops true enough sent by Theodosius to quell the riot were not Romans but Goth Foederati and due to them being barbarians, they slaughtered everyone in the Hippodrome including the women and children that it was said that up to 7,000 people were killed in only 3 hours.
Now this event can be seen as a failure of Theodosius I’s reign as not only did he fail to prevent the massacre but this permanently stained his reputation especially since he was trying to promote his image as a Christian ruler. Sources however are conflicted if whether this massacre happened or not, but it still surely did stain Theodosius’ reputation that he true enough even got into trouble with the Church for it. When hearing of Theodosius’ role in the massacre, the Bishop of Milan Ambrose who was also a major player in Theodosius’ reign banned Theodosius from receiving communion until he repented for his sin while Theodosius too was banned from entering any church. This would true enough be the first time in history where the Church would have power over a ruler no matter how powerful he was and would thus set the stage for Church leaders being allowed to excommunicate rulers if they had sinned. After 8 months of penance, Ambrose finally allowed Theodosius back into communion by Christmas of 390 but only on the condition that Theodosius would have to have a firmer stance against Paganism.
VII. Achievement- Theodosius’ Constantinople and Art Patronage
Although the new Roman imperial capital was founded in 330 by Emperor Constantine I the Great, it took some time for it to develop into a real imperial capital with grand monuments. It was thus during Theodosius I’s reign when Constantinople did become something worthy of being called an imperial capital thanks to his patronage of the arts. Under Theodosius, the old Forum Tauri or “Forum of the Ox” in Constantinople was renovated and expanded into what would be known as the “Forum of Theodosius” named after the said emperor which had included a triumphal arch and triumphal column modeled after Trajan’s Column in Rome both built in Theodosius’ honor and above the column stood a statue of Theodosius himself. Additionally, Theodosius I was said to have constructed the Golden Gate then outside Constantinople’s walls following his victory over Magnus Maximus in 388 as a triumphal arch before entering the capital.
Other than that, Theodosius too had a large obelisk shipped from Egypt to Constantinople in order to decorate the city’s Hippodrome. Now, back in 357, the emperor Constantius II had 2 Ancient Egyptian obelisks shipped from Karnak to Alexandria wherein one obelisk made it to Rome which became known as the Lateran Obelisk, though the other remained stuck in Alexandria for some decades. It was thus only during Theodosius I’s reign in 390 when this said obelisk finally left Alexandria and arrived in Constantinople under Theodosius’ watch and when it arrived in Constantinople, a large base was added to it which features bas-reliefs on all 4 sides depicting Theodosius I, his family, and his court and till today it stands in the location of the city’s Hippodrome. One of the most notable artistic items now from Theodosius I’s reign is a large ornate ceremonial silver dish known as the Missorium of Theodosius which was found in Spain and shows the emperor Theodosius I himself at the center of the dish, his son and co-emperor Arcadius to his left and Western co-emperor Valentinian II to his right, a palace structure behind, soldiers, and mythological figures below. This dish was apparently made in 388 as well to celebrate Theodosius’ 10th year in power. Due to the creation of many artistic and architectural finds in Theodosius’ reign, historians too identify his reign as the “Theodosian Renaissance”.
VIII. Failure- Divisive Religious Policies Part II, The End of Paganism
As mentioned earlier, Theodosius I in the latter part of his reign would take a firmer stance against Paganism and other religions other than Nicene Christianity, the new official religion of the Roman Empire.
A lot of this was due to the penance he had to perform as ordered by the Bishop of Milan Ambrose to make up for his sin of ordering the massacre at Thessaloniki. Ambrose thus encouraged Theodosius to crack down more seriously on Paganism and Pagan practices in order for Theodosius’ soul to be saved and true enough a lot of Theodosius’ decrees targeted against Paganism took place between 389 and 391 which was at the same time as the Massacre of Thessaloniki. In this short period of time, Theodosius ordered the closure of Pagan temples across the empire all while also tolerating Christian mobs in destroying Pagan temples and killing Pagans in the streets. Additionally, many Pagan holidays celebrated across the empire were turned into workdays but the biggest blow to Paganism by Theodosius was the extinguishing of the sacred fire at the Temple of Vesta in Rome that had been burning for centuries without stop.
Other than the fire being extinguished, the ancient institution being the order of the Vestal Virgins which guarded the fire for centuries was disbanded on Theodosius’ orders. Lastly in 394, Theodosius put an end to the Olympic Games in Greece which had been ongoing since Ancient Greek Times and thus it was in 394 as well when the last games were held as apparently it was due to its Pagan origins and connections with the old gods to why Theodosius decided to end it. Although Theodosius’ decrees to end all Pagan institutions in the Roman Empire could be seen as a success from a Christian point of view, it would still be considered a failure as not only was it a cultural genocide on old traditions, but it too would again further divide the empire’s society as would be seen after Theodosius I’s death wherein fanatical Christian mobs now feeling empowered would continue destroying Pagan sites and massacre Pagans at will.
IX. Achievement- Civil War Victory over Eugenius
In 391, Theodosius I returned east to Constantinople leaving his co-emperor and brother-in-law Valentinian II in charge of the west in Italy under the protection of the Frankish general Arbogast. However, in 392, Valentinian II was found dead in Gaul hanging from a rope in his room either by suicide or assassinated by Arbogast who he fell out with. Valentinian II possibly killed himself due to being pressured by Arbogast who acted as if he were the emperor in the west leaving Valentinian powerless, though it could also be possible that Arbogast had him killed as he wanted a new puppet emperor.
Following Valentinian II’s death, Arbogast true enough elevated a new puppet emperor being Eugenius, a rhetoric teacher in Gaul who despite being a Nicene Christian tolerated Paganism. In order to gain a support base, Arbogast and Eugenius rallied their Pagan subjects who were persecuted by Theodosius’ decrees to their cause despite both leaders being Christian anyway. As for Theodosius, he only decided to take action against Arbogast and Eugenius when hearing of them supporting Pagans and reopening Pagan temples and thus by early 394, both sides prepared for war against each other. Before marching west to Italy to confront Eugenius and Arbogast, Theodosius as mentioned earlier recruited more Goth Foederati to his side due to the lack of Roman citizen troops and his intention to win the war and leading this group of Goth Foederati that Theodosius and his general Stilicho recruited in the Balkans was Alaric. Additionally, Theodosius had also recruited auxiliaries from Iberia in the Caucasus and Arabs as well and once amassing his army, Theodosius marched west and eventually confronted the rebel troops at the Frigidus River in today’s Slovenia in September of 394.
The battle then began with Theodosius ordering his Goth Foederati led by Alaric to clash at the rebel forces which only resulted with thousands of Goths dead and it is said that Theodosius ordered this so he could get rid of the troublesome Goths. In the second day, the battle was more intense, however a miracle happened first when a number of Arbogast’s men defected to Theodosius and when a sudden Alpine wind known as a Bora blew into the battlefield blowing against Arbogast’s forces wherein the arrows they fired went back at them. Thanks to this sudden wind, Theodosius’ forces gained the upper hand and emerged victorious as they stormed into Eugenius’ camp and thus captured and executed Eugenius. Arbogast meanwhile fled the battlefield and 2 days later committed suicide in order to avoid capture and execution as he was found dead. The victory of Theodosius at the Battle of Frigidus in 394 is often seen as the triumph of Christianity over Paganism as true enough the Christian Theodosius defeated an enemy supporting the Pagan faith.
X. Failure- The Permanent Division of the Roman Empire and Incompetent Heirs
With Eugenius and Arbogast defeated and dead in 394, Theodosius I, the victor of the Battle of Frigidus was thus the sole ruler of the entire Roman Empire from Portugal to Syria and Britain to Egypt, but he too would be the last emperor to rule a united empire alone. Theodosius’ time as sole ruler of the entire Roman Empire unfortunately only lasted 4 months as in January of 395, he died in Milan after suffering from a disease involving severe edema.
Before his death, Theodosius decided to once again split the Roman Empire in half wherein the east would be ruled by his older son and co-emperor since 383 Arcadius (r. 395-408) from Constantinople and the west by his younger son and co-emperor since 393 Honorius (r. 395-423) from Milan. Both Arcadius and Honorius now were Theodosius’ sons from his first marriage to Aelia Flaccilla- who died in 386- and at Theodosius’ death both were still young with Arcadius only 18 and Honorius only 10 thus both rulers would be under the protection (and dominance) of powerful figures, Arcadius under the general and Praetorian Prefect of the East Rufinus and Honorius under his father’s trusted general Stilicho. Apparently, Theodosius shortly before his death appointed Stilicho as guardian of his young son Honorius in the west with the rank of “supreme commander” of the armies and true enough both Stilicho and Honorius were present at his death whereas Arcadius was left behind in Constantinople. Theodosius’ body was then laid in state in the palace for 40 days whereas his funeral took place at the cathedral in Milan where its bishop Ambrose despite his conflict with Theodosius in the past gave a speech praising the late Theodosius for suppressing Paganism.
It was only later on in 395 when the body of Theodosius was brought over to Constantinople and buried in a porphyry sarcophagus at the Church of the Holy Apostles built by Constantine I earlier on in the century. Now, Theodosius’ death would be a disaster for the empire as a whole as not only was the empire fully divided but from 395 onwards, the Roman Empire would never be reunited again. Although the empire was divided in two, both eastern and western halves despite having different emperors and different officials still functioned as one empire as both halves shared the same administrative systems whereas people too could travel between both halves without restrictions. However, the major failure here was that Theodosius had failed to properly train his young sons to run an empire or rather because they were too young when their father died. Whatever the case was, both Theodosius’ sons Arcadius and Honorius proved to be totally incompetent rulers under the dominance of powerful figures at a difficult time.
Shortly after Theodosius’ death as well, the empire would face trouble again when Alaric, leader of the Visigoth Foederati at the Battle of Frigidus declared rebellion against Rome for apparently not being rewarded what was due to him in helping Theodosius win the battle wherein he lost a lot of his men. In an act of rebellion, Alaric proclaimed himself as “king” of his people and began pillaging the Balkans under the Eastern Roman Empire and would later be a problem for the west, which though is a story for another time. In other words, the Roman Empire at Theodosius I’s death in 395 was a literal mess being split in half and never to reunite all while barbarian forces such as those under Alaric have broken loose and ready to rebel. Among the two halves of the Roman Empire after Theodosius’ death, the Western Roman Empire would fall just some 80 years later in 476 but the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople on the other hand would last for more than a thousand years in what would be known as the “Byzantine Empire”. As a side note though, despite Theodosius’ sons Arcadius and Honorius being incompetent rulers without any achievements, Theodosius’ daughter Galla Placidia (born 392) from his second marriage to Galla- who died in 394- would not only outlive her older half-brothers but be a powerful figure for most of the 5th century. Theodosius I too had founded a dynasty that would rule both the Eastern half of the empire until 457 and the west until 455 and even after the dynasty’s fall, it still produced many prominent elites in the empire.
Conclusion
Theodosius I “the Great” is surely a controversial figure in history as despite some of his achievements, some of his policies would also be disastrous in the long-term for the Roman Empire namely his divisive religious policies which would further tear the empire’s society apart, his policy in settling invading barbarians as Foederati which would only lead to them causing trouble for the empire later on, and his decision to divide the empire in two which would only accelerate the decline of the west.
Despite his faults which proved to cause some ruin for the empire in the long-term, Theodosius’ many achievements throughout his 16-year reign can still make him be known as “the Great”. Theodosius’ title of “the Great” however is more or less given to him by the Church for his role in strengthening its influence by making Nicene Christianity the Roman Empire’s official religion and for stamping out Paganism but he too deserves the title for many more reasons. Apart from his role in Christianity in making it an official religion, Theodosius too stabilized the Roman Empire after winning two major civil wars and he too turned Constantinople into what it would be remembered as, a magnificent imperial capital with impressive landmarks. However, on the negative side, as said earlier, Theodosius’ policies and actions would also affect the empire in a negative way as for one, his decision to settle barbarian invaders as Foederati in the Roman Empire would only later on lead to these barbarians to rebel and create their own states within Roman territory all while the two civil wars he fought- first against Magnus Maximus and next against Eugenius and Arbogast- only further depleted Roman troops that the next century would see the Roman Empire short of them and thus fall victim to more barbarian invasions.
On the other hand, Theodosius too was an emperor that ruled at very complicated times for the Roman Empire and in just 16 years as emperor, he saw a lot happening. Theodosius I was therefore the right emperor for the kind of complicated time he ruled in as he true enough managed to hold the empire together despite it being finally and permanently divided after his death. Theodosius’ greatest legacy however was in making Nicene Christianity the empire’s official religion which thus further defined Christianity as a Roman faith and thus a main pillar of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire that would last for over a thousand years beyond Theodosius’ lifetime, hence for this, Theodosius I is considered a saint in the Orthodox Church. The reign of Theodosius I the Great can therefore be considered a major turning point in history as it was true enough during the 16 years he was in power when Christianity triumphed over the old Pagan faith and thus, we have Theodosius to thank for making Christianity the dominant religion it is today. Now, what are your thoughts on Theodosius I the Great and do you really think he deserves his title of “the Great”? I would like to thank you all for reading this article and please continue to support me by following and subscribing to my sites!
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