THE 



THE 



and as tlieir own country was occupied hf tlie Hune, Le 

 permitted them to fettle iu Xhrace and Moclin, with exemp- 

 tions from tribute and taxes. With Maximus, who had 

 revolted againll the emperor Gratian, Theodolius entered 

 into a treaty, by which it was ftipulated that the ufurpcr 

 ftiould retain the countries beyond the Alps, and that Valen- 

 tinian, the brother of Gratian, (hould be fecured in the pof- 

 feflion of the remaining part of the Weftern empire. Maxi- 

 mus was acknowledged by Theodofius as his colleague in the 

 Roman empire, and Arcadius, the fon of Theodofius, though 

 only eight years of age, was admitted to a (hare in the purple. 

 At this time Theodolius iffued fome fevere edifts againft 

 heathen idolatry : and he pafTed a law againft the marriage 

 of coufins-german, which condemned both parties to be 

 burnt alive, and which declared their children illegitimate. 

 In 386, the Gruthungi,orOftrogoths, in their attempt to pafs 

 the Danube, were defeated witii great flaughter. In 387, 

 Maximus invaded Italy ; and Valentinian, deferted by his 

 fubjefts, took refuge in the dominions of Theodofius, who 

 married Galla, the fifter of that emperor. In this year tht? 

 people of Antioch, having without effeft remon.'trated 

 againft the proceedings of 1 heodofius, both as to religious 

 matters and the impofition of an extraordinary tax, broke 

 out into an infurreftion ; threatened the hfe of the governor ; 

 and, difappointed in this effort of their rage, dcmolilhed the 

 llatues of the emperor and his family. Theodofius, in the firft 

 tranfports of refentment, upon receiving intelligence of thair 

 conduft, ordered the city to be laid in afties, and all the inha- 

 bitants, without difcrimination of age or fex, to be put to 

 the fword. Upon cooler reflettion he revoked this fanguin- 

 ary order, and contented himfelf with degrading Antioch 

 from the rank of a city, aiid depriving the inhabitants of 

 their cuftomary largefs of bread. ThoTe who upon inquiry 

 were found guilty, were condemned to death. But by the 

 interceflion of the bifliop of Antioch, and other holy men, 

 the culprits were pardoned, and the city reftored to all its 

 privileges. 



Theodofius, on a vifit to Valentinian at Thcflalonica, pre- 

 vailed on him to renoimre Arianifm, and to adopt the Nicene 

 faith ; and determined totake up arms in his caufe againft Maxi- 

 mus. After feveral fuccefsful encounters with the ufurper, 

 he was defpoilcd of all his imperial ornaments, and dragged 

 like a malefaftor into the prefence of Theodoiius, who 

 caufed him to be beheaded. His fon Viftor was alfo put 

 to death ; and the civil war terminated A.D. 388. In con- 

 fequence of thefe events, Theodofius became the fole head 

 of the Roman world ; and he inverted the fon of Valen- 

 tinian, now a minor, with the fovercignty of the provinces 

 wrefted from him by Maximus, and alfo with the pofleilion 

 of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, of which Gratian had been de- 

 prived by this ufurper. Theodofius remained three years 

 in Italy, giving vigour to the law, correding abufes, and 

 adopting a variety of raeafurcs for totally eradicating pa- 

 gaHifm. 



In 390, a fedition took place at Thcffalonica, which was 

 followed by many difaftrous confcquences, and by the ex- 

 ercife of a degree of cruelty, which the emperor was obliged 

 to expiate by a public penance. About this time he took 

 advantage of a religious tumult at Alexandria for demolilh- 

 ing the famous temple of Serapis, and of all the heathen 

 temples throughout Egypt. He alfo ifiued a final edift 

 Rgainft the ancient worlhip. 



In 392, the emperor Valentinian was murdered by his ge- 

 neral Arbogaftes, and Eugenius was placed on the throne. 

 When this meafure was announced to Theodofius, he prepared 

 for war ; and having obtained a favourable anfwer from 

 a holy hemiit in Thebais, whom he confulted, ilTucd new 



eJifts againft herefy, and abrogated the ancient penalties of 

 treafon againft thofc v/ho uttered feditious words againft the 

 prince ; he ojx-nly took up arms, A.D. 394, and forcing; the 

 paflagc- of the Aljjs, dcfccndeil into Itsily. He met Euge- 

 iiius and Arbogaftes witl i irr -^t force, and after feveral 

 couflitts, Eugeniiis was t^'^aily defeated, and put to death 

 by the ioldiers. His ch \1ren, however, and thofe of Arbo- 

 gaftes, who put an end to his own life after the battle, 

 were treated humanely, and removed to their paternal pof- 

 fcflions. 



After this fucccfs, Theodofius fent for his fon Honorius to 

 Milan, and declared him emperor of the Weft ; Arcadius 

 having been already put in pofteftion of the Eaftern empire. 

 In January 305, Theodofius terminated his life by a dropfical 

 diforder at Milan, at tlie age of fifty years, and at the clofe 

 of the fixteenth year of his reign. 



The name of Theodofius has been celebrated, blut his cha- 

 ra£ler has been very differently appreciated. Politically con- 

 fidered, whilft it exhibits many virtues and excellencies, it is 

 chargeable with many errors and obliquities. Conncfted 

 with the ecclefiaftical interefts of the period in which he lived, 

 his conducl on various occaCons was altogether indefenfible ; 

 and we may add, that how much foever he has been extoBed 

 by partial hiftorians, his bigotry and intolerance were very 

 reprehenfible. Anc. Un. Hift. Gibbon's Rom. Hift. 

 Gen. Biog. 



TiiEODOSiOs II., fon of the emperor Arcadius, and grand- 

 fon of the preceding Theodofius, was born in the year 401 ; 

 and being of feeble faculties, was educated merely to fuftain 

 the pageantry of a throne ; or, as Mr. Gibbon exprefles it, 

 " to reprefent with grace and dignity the external figure of 

 a Roman emperor." His only aftive purfuit was hunting ; 

 and his more private exercifes were painting and carving, 

 making elegant tranfcripts of religious books, and finging 

 pfalms. He alfo failed, gave credit to miracles and doc- 

 trines prefented to his faith, and paid due homage to all 

 the dead and Hving faints of the Cathohc church. His dif- 

 pofition was genUe and kind ; in his conduft he was free 

 from vices, and yet, as his biographer fays, " he did not rife 

 to virtues." Upon liis father's death, A.D. 408, he fiic- 

 ceeded him in the Eaftern empire. To the influence of his 

 fifter Pulcheria, fuperior in talents to himfelf, he implicitly 

 fubmitted ; and in 414 he raifed ^her to the rank of Au- 

 gufta, and entrufted with her the reins of government. By 

 her feleftion and recommendation he married, A.D. 42 1, the 

 celebrated Athanais, aftewards named Eudocia. The war 

 which broke out in 422, in confequence of a perfecution ex- 

 cited by the Magi againft the Chriftians, terminated in a 

 truce of a hundred years, and a divifion of the kingdom of 

 Armenia between the contending powers. On the death of 

 the emperor Honorius, in 423, the throne of the Weft was 

 ufurped by Joh;i ; but Theodofius reftored it to its proper 

 heir, Valentinian III., who afterwards married his daughter. 

 When Attila made an irruption into the Roman empire, he 

 was oppofed by Theodofius, whofe armies were repeatedly 

 defeated : and Theodofius himfelf was compelled iu 446 to 

 make a humiliating treaty with the king of the Huns. By 

 one of his favourites, the eunuch Chry faphius, he was induced 

 to free himfelf from Attila by afraffination,but the treachery 

 was defeated, and he received a juft and fevere reprimand from 

 th£ barbarian. Soon after this mortification, he died in cdnfe- 

 quence of a fall from his horfe, A.D. 450, in the fiftieth year 

 of his age. What his grandfather had done towards the fub- 

 verfion of the Pagan religion in the Eaft, Theodofijs com- 

 pleted. He always approved himfelf a dutiful for of the 

 church, but he is faid to have favoured the Eutychian herefy. 

 His principal merit was the publication, A.D. 438, of the 

 3 P ? " Theodo/ian 



