Theodosian dynasty
Roman imperial dynasties Theodosian dynasty | |||||||||
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379–457 | |||||||||
Missorium of Theodosius with three Theodosian emperors[a]
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Western Roman emperor | | ||||||||
• 395–423 | Honorius | ||||||||
• 425–455 | Valentinian III | ||||||||
Eastern Roman emperor | |||||||||
• 379–395 | Theodosius I | ||||||||
• 395–408 | Arcadius | ||||||||
• 408–450 | Theodosius II | ||||||||
• 450–457 | Marcian | ||||||||
Historical era | Late antiquity | ||||||||
• Battle of Adrianople, Death of Valens (378), Ascent of Theodosius I | 379 | ||||||||
• Death of Marcian | 457 | ||||||||
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The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman imperial family that produced five
History
Its founding father was Flavius Theodosius (often referred to as
According to Polemius Silvius, Theodosius the Great was born on 11 January 347 or 346.[1] The epitome de Caesaribus places his birthplace at Cauca (Coca, Segovia) in Hispania.[1] Theodosius had a brother named Honorius, a sister referred to in Aurelius Victor's De caesaribus but whose name is unknown, and a niece, Serena.[1]
In 366, Theodosius the Elder attacked and defeated the Alamanni in Gaul; the defeated prisoners were resettled in the Po Valley.[2][3] 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.[2][3][1] At this time was the unsuccessful usurpation in Britain by Valentinus.[3] Theodosius the Elder was made magister equitum in 369, and retained the post until 375.[1] The magister equitum and his son Theodosius campaigned against the Alamanni 370.[1] The two Theodosi campaigned against Sarmatians in 372/373.[1] Valentinian's rule in Roman Africa was disrupted by the revolt of Firmus in 373.[2] Theodosius the Elder defeated the usurpation.[2]
In 373/374, Theodosius the magister equitum's son, was made dux of the province of Moesia Prima.[1] 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.[1] Their first child, Arcadius, was born around 377.[1] Pulcheria, their daughter, was born in 377 or 378.[1] Theodosius had returned to the Danube frontier by 378, when he was appointed magister equitum.[1]
First generation emperor: Theodosius the Great
After the death of his uncle
Theodosius issued a decree against Christians deemed heretics on 10 January 381.
According to the Chronicon Paschale, Theodosius celebrated his quinquennalia on 19 January at Constantinople; on this occasion he raised his eldest son
On 21 January 384 all those deemed heretics were expelled from Constantinople.[1] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius received in Constantinople an embassy from the Sasanian Empire in 384.[1] In summer 384, Theodosius met his co-augustus Valentinian II in northern Italy.[6][1] Theodosius brokered a peace agreement between Valentinian and Magnus Maximus which endured for several years.[7]
Theodosius's second son
The peace with Magnus Maximus 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.[6][1] Theodosius may still have been in Thessalonica when he celebrated his decennalia on 19 January 388.[1] Theodosius was consul for the second time in 388.[1] Galla and Theodosius's first child, a son named Gratian, was born in 388 or 389.[1]
On 10 March 388, Christians deemed heretics were forbidden from residing in cities.
Theodosius came into conflict with Ambrose, bishop of Mediolanum, in October 388 over the persecution of Jews at Callincium-on-the-Euphrates (Raqqa).[1] 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.[1] According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius staged an adventus on entering Rome on 13 June 389.[1] On 17 June, he issued a decree against Manichaeism.[1] Theodosius had left Valentinian under the protection of the magister militum Arbogast, who then defeated the Franks in 389.[7][6]
In spring 390, possibly in April, the
According to Zosimus, Theodosius then campaigned against marauding barbarian bandits in
On 15 May 392, Valentinian II died at Vienna in Gaul (
According to Polemius Silvius, Theodosius raised his second son Honorius to augustus on 23 January 393.[1] 393 was the year of Theodosius's third consulship.[1] On 29 September 393, Theodosius issued a decree for the protection of Jews.[1] According to Zosimus, at the end of April 394, Theodosius's wife Galla died.[1] On 1 August, a colossal statue of Theodosius was dedicated in Constantinople's Forum of Theodosius, an event recorded in the Chronicon Paschale.[1] According to Socrates Scholasticus, Theodosius defeated Eugenius at the Battle of the Frigidus on 6 September 394 and on 8 September, Arbogast killed himself.[1] According to Socrates, on 1 January 395, Honorius arrived in Mediolanum and a victory celebration was held there.[1]
According to the Consularia Constantinopolitana, Theodosius died in Mediolanum on 17 January 395.[1] 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.[1] He was deified as: Divus Theodosius, lit. 'the Divine Theodosius'.[1]
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Solidi of Hoxne Hoard[c]
-
Exagium solidi[d]
Second generation emperors: Arcadius and Honorius
The two surviving sons of Theodosius ruled the eastern and western halves of the empire after their father died.
Third generation emperors: Theodosius II and Valentinian III
When Honorius died in 423, the
-
Solidus of Valentinian II with Theodosius I on the reverse, each holding a mappa
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Solidus of Galla Placidia[h]
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Solidus of Valentinian III celebrating an imperial marriage[i]
Imperial members
In italics are members of the Valentinianic dynasty, descended from Theodosius I's second marriage to
- Theodosius I (379–395)
- Arcadius (r. 383–408)
- Honorius (r. 393–423)
- Constantius III (421) through marriage to Galla Placidia
- Galla Placidia (r. 424–450)
- Pulcheria (r. 414–453)
- Theodosius II (r. 402–450)
- Valentinian III (r. 425–455)
- Petronius Maximus (455) through marriage to Licinia Eudoxia
- Marcian (r. 450–457) through marriage to Pulcheria
- Olybrius (472) through marriage to Placidia
Sometimes also counted
- Anthemius (r. 467–472) through marriage to Marcia Euphemia
Stemmata
In italics the
- Sextus Iulius Caesar(Ancestor)
- Marcus Actius
- Iulius Honorius married Flavia Actia / Iulius Theodosius / Iulius Eucherius
- Count Theodosius, married Flavia Thermantia and had issue:
- Aelia Flacilla and secondly Galla:
- From marriage between Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla:
- Arcadius, married Aelia Eudoxia and had issue:
- Theodosius II, married saint Eudocia and had issue:
- Arcadius.
- Licinia Eudoxia, married firstly Valentinian III (cousin of her father) and secondly Petronius Maximus.
- Flaccilla.
- Flaccilla.
- Pulcheria. Married Marcian.
- The marriage of Pulcheria and Marcian was childless. However it brought into the dynasty a daughter of Marcian from a previous marriage.
- Marcia Euphemia. Married Anthemius.
- From marriage between Marcia Euphemia and Anthemius:
- Arcadia.
- Marina.
- Theodosius II, married saint Eudocia and had issue:
- Honorius. Married first Maria and secondly Thermantia. They were sisters, daughters of Stilicho and Serena. From marriage of Honorius and Maria:
- Didymus
- Lagodius
- Theodiosolus
- Verenarius
- Thermantia
- Serena
- Pulcheria.
- Arcadius, married Aelia Eudoxia and had issue:
- From marriage between Theodosius I and Galla, d daughter of Valentinian I and Justina:
- Gratianus.
- Johannes.
- Ataulf and secondly Constantius III.
- From marriage between Galla Placidia and Ataulf:
- Theodosius.
- From marriage between Galla Placidia and Constantius III:
- Attila the Hun, treaty never concluded. Married Flavius Bassus Herculanus.
- Valentinian III, married Licinia Eudoxia (daughter of his cousin) and had issue:
- Eudocia, married first Palladius, son of Petronius Maximus, and secondly Huneric. From marriage of Eudocia and Huneric king of Vandals:
- Hilderic king of Vandals in North Africa.
- Placidia, married Olybrius and had issue:
- Areobindusand had issue:
- Anastasius Iand had issue:
- Proba. Married Anicius Probus Iuniorand had issue:
- Juliana, married Anastasius and had issue:
- Areobindus.
- Placidia.
- Proba.
- Juliana, married Anastasius and had issue:
- Proba. Married
- Eudocia, married first Palladius, son of Petronius Maximus, and secondly Huneric. From marriage of Eudocia and Huneric king of Vandals:
Family tree
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Notes:
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Culture
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The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius, John William Waterhouse, c. 1883
(Art Gallery of South Australia)
See also
Notes
- ^ Inscription reads:
Florentib· d·d· [n·n· H]onorio [et]
Theodosio inc[lyti]s semper augg·
Iunius Valerius [Bellici]us v·c· p[r]aef· u[rb·]
vice sac·iud port[icum cum sc]r[i]ni[is]
Tellurensis secr[etarii tribunalibus]
adherentem red[integravit et] urbanae
sedi vetustatis h[o]nor[em resti]tuit - ^ Theodosius I (top), Arcadius (left), and Honorius (right)
- ^ d·d·d·n·n·n·auggg· ("Our Lords the Augusti") : Theodosius (centre), Arcadius (left), Honorius (right)
- ^ d·n· arcadius p·f· aug· ("Our Lord Arcadius, Pious Happy Augustus")
- ^ Inscription: ael· eudoxia aug· ("Aelia Eudocia Augusta")
- ^ Inscription: d·n· honorius p·f· aug· ("Our Lord Arcadius, Pious Happy Augustus"), from Hoxne hoard
- ^ Inscription:d·n· galla placidia p·f· aug· ("Our Lady Galla Placidia, Pious Happy Augusta") The reverse shows Victory and a crux gemmata
- ^ Theodosius II (centre) blessing Valentinian III (left) and Theodosius' daughter Licinia Eudoxia (right)
References
- ^ ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8. Retrieved 2020-10-24, in Nicholson (2018))
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: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.
- ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8. Retrieved 2020-10-25, in Nicholson (2018))
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8. Retrieved 2020-10-25, in Nicholson (2018))
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ a b Groß-Albenhausen, Kirsten (2006). "Flacilla". Brill's New Pauly.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8. Retrieved 2020-10-24, in Nicholson (2018))
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link
Bibliography
Books and theses
- Cameron, Averil; Garnsey, Peter, eds. (1998). The Cambridge Ancient History XIII: The Late Empire, A.D. 337–425. Cambridge Ancient HistoryCAH)
- Blockley, R. C. (1998). The dynasty of Theodosius. pp. 111–137., in Cameron & Garnsey (1998)
- Curran, John (1998). From Jovian to Theodosius. pp. 78–110., in Cameron & Garnsey (1998)
- Cameron, Averil; Ward-Perkins, Bryan; Whitby, Michael, eds. (2000). The Cambridge Ancient History XIV: Late antiquity. Empire and successors, A.D. 425–600. ISBN 978-0-521-32591-2.
- Kienast, Dietmar; Eck, Werner; Heil, Matthäus (2017) [1990]. Römische Kaisertabelle: Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie (in German) (6 ed.). Darmstadt: ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.{{link note|note=excerpts at
- Frakes, Robert M (2006). "The dynasty of Constantine down to 363". In Lenski, Noel Emmanuel (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine. ISBN 978-0-521-52157-4.
- Humphries, Mark (2019). "Family, Dynasty, and the Construction of Legitimacy from Augustus to the Theodosians". In Tougher, Shaun (ed.). The Emperor in the Byzantine World: Papers from the Forty-Seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies. ISBN 978-0-429-59046-7.
- Kulikowski, Michael (2006). Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric. ISBN 978-1-139-45809-2.
- Kulikowski, Michael (2019). The Tragedy of Empire: From Constantine to the Destruction of Roman Italy. ISBN 978-0-674-66013-7.
- Lee, A. D. (2013). From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565. ISBN 978-0-7486-6835-9.
- McEvoy, Meaghan (2013). Child Emperor Rule in the Late Roman West, AD 367-455. ISBN 978-0-19-966481-8.
- McLynn, Neil B. (2014) [1994]. Ambrose of Milan: Church and Court in a Christian Capital. ISBN 978-0-520-28388-6.
- Nicholson, Oliver, ed. (2018). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity 2 vols. Oxford: )
- Bond, Sarah E (2018a). "Valentinian II". Valentinian II (371–92). Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. p. 1547. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8., in Nicholson (2018)
- Bond, Sarah E; Darley, Rebecca (2018a). "Valentinian I". Valentinian I (321–75). Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. pp. 1546–1547. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8., in Nicholson (2018)
- Bond, Sarah E; Darley, Rebecca (2018b). "Valens". Valens (328–78). Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. p. 1546. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8., in Nicholson (2018)
- Bond, Sarah E; Nicholson, Oliver (2018a). "Gratian". Gratian (359–83). Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. pp. 677–678. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8., in Nicholson (2018)
- Nathan, Geoffrey S (2018a). "Galla Placidia, Aelia". Galla Placidia, Aelia (c. 388–450). Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 637. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8., in Nicholson (2018)
- Nicholson, Oliver (2018a). Pannonian emperors. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. p. 637. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8., in Nicholson (2018)
- Bond, Sarah E (2018a). "Valentinian II". Valentinian II (371–92). Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. p. 1547.
- Washington, Belinda (2015). The roles of imperial women in the Later Roman Empire (AD 306-455) (PhD thesis). University of Edinburgh.
Articles and websites
- Johnson, Mark J. (1991). "On the Burial Places of the Valentinian Dynasty". JSTOR 4436217.
- Kulikowski, Michael (1 January 2016). "Henning Börm, Westrom. Von Honorius bis Justinian". S2CID 193005098.
- McEvoy, Meaghan (2016). "Constantia: The Last Constantinian". S2CID 151430655.
- Lendering, Jona (10 August 2020). "Valentinian Dynasty". Livius. Retrieved 21 October 2020.