1003 



THEODOSIUS. 



THEODOSITJS I., FLAVIUS. 



1004 



1214, Theodore reigned the last ten years of his life in peace, beloved 

 by his friends and respected by his enemies. After the death of Anna 

 he married Philippa, an Armenian princess, whom he repudiated after 

 she had borne him a son ; and he then chose for his third wife Maria, 

 the daughter of Peter of Courtenai (Kortryk), Emperor of Constanti- 

 nople after Henry, who was sister to Robert, the son and successor of 

 Peter. Theodore wished to give his daughter Eudoxia in marriage to 

 Robert, who was of a mild and amiable character, but this marriage 

 was strongly opposed by the Greek patriarch Manuel, because the two 

 emperors were brothers-in-law, and it was not carried into effect. 



Theodore died in 1222, between forty-five and fifty years old, in the 

 game year with Alexis I. of Trebizond. Although he left a son, his 

 successor was his brother-in-law John Vatatzes. One of Theodore's 

 daughters, Maria, was married to Andreas, King of Hungary. 



(Nicetas, Alex. Comn., and Balduinvx; Acropolita, especially cap. vi.; 

 Historia Franco- By zant., lib. iii. ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall ; Le Beau, 

 Ifistoire du Bos Empire; Falmerayer, Geschichte des Kaiserthums 

 Trapezunt). 



THEODO'SIUS of Bithynia or of Tripolis in Lydia, for it appears 

 that both these descriptions are applied to him (though there is 

 another Theodosius of Tripolis, the author of au obscure poem), was a 

 mathematician, of whom there is some question whether he lived about 

 fifty years before Christ, or some centuries after. Strabo and Vitru- 

 vius both mention a Theodosius : the latter speaks of him as the 

 inventor of a dial for every climate (or latitude) : if this be the 

 subject of our article, he must have lived before Christ. But on the 

 other hand, Ptolemy does not mention him (though this tells little 

 either way) ; and Suidas, enumerating under the head of Theodosius 

 the works we shall presently mention, adds that he was also a com- 

 inentator on some parts of Theudas : if this be the case, he must 

 have lived after Christ. The balance of authorities seems to be in 

 favour of the former supposition : if the writings only were looked at, 

 there would be little reason to doubt that they were composed before 

 the time of Ptolemy. 



We have left of Theodosius 1, ZQaipiKk, Spherics, in three books ; 

 2, ire pi VVKTWV teal 7}fi.epSiv, in two books ; 3, irepi oiKTjffecav. The first is 

 a profound and accurate work on what we should now called spherical 

 geometry ; the second and third simply describe astronomical phe- 

 nomena as they appear in different parts of the world. It is hardly a 

 matter of certainty that the three works have the same author : the 

 second and third add nothing to the fame of the author of the first. 



The Spherics were translated by the Arabs, and from their version 

 a Latin one (of little worth) was made at Venice in 1518, but whether 

 it was published is not stated (Heilbronner). Another Latin version, 

 probably also from the Arabic, was published by Vogelinus at Vienna, 

 1529, with scholia. John Pena gave the first Greek text, with Latin, 

 Paris, 1557; and Barrow gave a Latin edition in 1675. But the best 

 edition is the Oxford one, Greek and Latin, 8vo, 1707- The other 

 works were published by Dasypodius, in Latin, 8vo, Strasburg, 1572. 

 Joseph Auria published the third work in Latin, Rome, 1587 ; and 

 (' Biogr. Univ.') the second, also in Latin, Rome 1591 (1587 according 

 to Fabricius) ; but Heilbronner does not mention this last. (Weidler; 

 Heilbronner ; Delambre.) 



THEODO'SIUS I., FLA'VIUS, surnamed the Great, was the son of 

 the general Theodosius who had signalised himself greatly during the 

 reign of Valens and Valentinian in Britain and Africa, but was put 

 to death in A.D. 376 at Carthage through the envy of the courtiers. 

 The Theodosii were an illustrious family of Spain, of the town of 

 Italica, near the modern Seville. The great Theodosius was born in 

 345, and was educated by the ablest men of the time, while his father, 

 himself one of the greatest generals, instructed his son in the art of 

 war, and accustomed him to the strictest and severest discipline. He 

 took him with him in his campaigns in Britain, Germany, and Africa, 

 and made him acquainted with all kinds of warfare, so that the boy 

 became early accustomed to the endurance of hardship. The various 

 occasions on which he distinguished himself were not overlooked, and 

 he was raised to the rank of duke of Moesia, with an independent 

 command. Here again he distinguished himself above all the other 

 military commanders. He vanquished the Sarmatians, and it was only 

 owing to his intrepid character that the province was not lost alto- 

 gether. (Ammianus Marcel., xxix. 6 ; Zosimus, iv. p. 219, &c.) After 

 the death of his father, in 376, he obtained permission to withdraw 

 from public affairs, and retired to Cauca in Spain, where he devoted 

 himself to agricultural occupations on his extensive estates, and won 

 the affection and esteem of all who came in contact with him, for ho 

 possessed no less the virtues of social and domestic life than the 

 talents of a general. But he did not remain long in the enjoyment of 

 his quiet happiness : his virtues and talents had made too deep an 

 impression to be forgotten in the hour of need ; and on the 1 Cth of 

 January, 379, the emperor Gratian raised Theodosius at Sirmium to 

 the dignity of Augustus, with the command over Illyricum and all the 

 eastern provinces of the empire. The immediate object of this 

 elevation was the hope that he would save the empire from the Goths, 

 who in the preceding year had totally defeated the Roman army near 

 Adrianople, and were now ravaging the country. Theodosius esta- 

 blished his head-quarters at Thessalonica in Macedonia, strengthened 

 the garrisons in those parts of the empire, and restored discipline 

 among the troops : but he only ventured upon partial engagements 



with the enemy, and only on such occasions when he was sure of 

 success. He thus convinced his soldiers that the barbarians were not 

 invincible, and revived their courage and their confidence. The Visi- 

 Goths were thus gradually and without any great battle driven out of 

 Thrace. While at Thessalonica, Theodosius was seized with a severe 

 illness. He was of a Christian family, but he had not yet been 

 baptised, and he now celebrated this solemnity by the advice of bis 

 friends, in the hope that it would contribute to his recovery. When 

 his illness had disappeared, he went to Constantinople, and the first 

 acts of his administration were to expel all the Arians from the 

 capital, to assign the churches they had occupied to the orthodox 

 Christians, and to appoint Gregorius Nazianzenus archbishop of Con- 

 stantinople (380). His persecution of the Arian sect was conducted 

 with such zeal, that orthodoxy was soon restored throughout his 

 dominions. He then held a council at Constantinople of 150 bishops 

 to complete the system, the foundation of which had been laid at the 

 council of Nicaea, and a number of edicts were successively issued, 

 inflicting the severest punishments upon all kinds of heretics. The 

 example of these rigid persecutions was imitated in the west by 

 Gratian, and subsequently in the north also by the usurper Maximus. 



As regards his Gothic enemies, Theodosius was indebted as much to 

 his good fortune as his military talents ; for after the death of Friti- 

 gern dissensions and hostilities broke out among the Gothic tribes 

 themselves, and he succeeded even in engaging some of their chiefs in 

 the service of the empire. The greater part however of the subjects 

 of Fritigern, tired of their state of anarchy, made Athanaric their 

 king, who concluded a treaty with Theodosius at Constantinople (381.) 

 Athanaric indeed did not long survive the conclusion of this peace, but 

 his subjects, who were pleased with the kind treatment they had 

 received from Theodosius, willingly submitted to him, and numbers 

 of them enlisted under the Roman standard. The treaty of the king 

 and the submission of his army was followed by successive separate 

 treaties of the Visi-Gothic chiefs, who promised to become the faithful 

 allies of the Romans. Lands were then assigned to the Visi-Goths in 

 Thrace and Lower Moesia (382). The Ostro-Goths on the banks of 

 the Danube were conquered several years later (386), and received 

 settlements in Phrygia and Lydia. The conditions on which the 

 Goths became subjects of the Roman empire are imperfectly known : 

 thus much only is certain, that they acknowledged the sovereignty of 

 Rome without submitting to her laws or the jurisdiction of her 

 magistrates ; their chiefs also still continued to have the command of 

 their respective tribes in peace and war, and an army of 4000 Goths 

 was maintained for the perpetual service of the empire. Theodosius, 

 although he had felt obliged, for the safety of his dominions, to make 

 several concessions, yet succeeded in persuading the Goths that all 

 were the voluntary acts of his own sincere friendship towards them. 

 The conduct of the emperor, certainly the wisest that he could adopt 

 under existing circumstances, was praised by some and blamed by 

 others. There was certainly every reason for placing little confidence 

 in the professions of the barbarians, although they called themselves 

 the confederates of the Romans. Their whole nation soon became 

 divided into two parties : the one, faithful to the empire, was headed 

 by Fravitta; the other, which was only waiting in secret for an 

 opportunity to revolt, was headed by Priulf, who, after he had dis- 

 closed his secret in the presence of Fravitta, was slain by him. Had 

 it not been for the firm but temperate character of the emperor 

 himself, the indomitable spirit of the barbarians could not have been 

 restrained. On him alone the public safety depended. 



In the year 383 Theodosius raised his son Arcadius to the rank of 

 Augustus : in the same year his benefactor Gratian was murdered in a 

 rebellion. Maximus, supported by the troops in Britain, had set 

 himself up as emperor, and had conquered Gaul. Theodosius, who 

 for the present was unable to carry on a war, concluded a peace with 

 him, and left him in possession of the countries which he was occu- 

 pying north of the Alps, on condition that he should not disturb 

 Valentinian, the brother of Gratian, in his rule over Italy, Africa, and 

 western Illyricum. The empire was thus divided among three 

 emperors. But Maximus had no intention to keep the peace, and his 

 ambition stimulated him to make himself master of Italy also. In 

 387 he broke in upon Italy, and took Milan, the residence of Valen- 

 tinian, by surprise. The young emperor, his mother Justina, and his 

 sister Galla, fled to Thessalonica, to implore the protection of Theodo- 

 sius. The emperor of the East received the fugitives kindly, and as 

 his own wife Flacilla had died, he married Valeutinian's sister Galla, 

 and thus established a direct interest for himself in protecting the 

 exiled family. _The opportunity of chastising the faithless Maximus 

 was very welcome to him, and preparations for war were made 

 throughout the whole extent of his dominions. In order to secure 

 his empire on its south-eastern frontier, a treaty was concluded with 

 Persia. A large fleet assembled in the ports of Epirus and Greece, 

 and Theodosius placed himself at the head of a well-disciplined army, 

 with which he marched into Pauuouia to meet the enemy, who had 

 pitched his camp in the neighbourhood of Siscia, on the Drave. A 

 battle was fought, in which the Huns, Alani, and Goths, who served in 

 the army of Theodosius, greatly distinguished themselves. Maximus 

 was defeated and put to flight. Theodosius, determined to get pos- 

 session of his enemy either alive or dead, pursued him as far as 

 Aquileia, in which town Maximus shut himself up. The usurper, 



