the empress eudocia

7/28/2019 The Empress Eudocia

1/12

history of the LATERROMANEMPIREFROM THE DEATHOF THEODOSIUS I.TO THE DEATHOF JUSTINIANBY J. B. BURYIN TWO VOLUMESVOLUME IDOVERPUBLICATIONS,INC. NEW YORK


2/12

vii REIGN OF THEODOSILS 11 225Ardaburius was rewarded for his successful conduct of the

war by the honour of the consulship in a.d. 427. He and hisson Aspar were the ablest generals Theodosius had, and theirdevotion to the Arian creed did not stand in the way of theirpromotion. Aspar received the consulship in a.d. 434, when hewas again commanding an army in the interests of Placidia, thistime against a foreign foe, not against a rebel ; x and we have aninteresting memorial of the event in a silver disc, on which heis represented, a bearded man, with a sceptre in his left handand a handkerchief in his raised right, presiding at the consulargames. 2 It was a more than ordinary honour that was paid toAspar, for he was consul for the West, not for the East,3 and thedesignation may have been suggested by Placidia herself, whoowed him much for his services in securing the diadem for herson.

4. The Empress EudoeiaTwelve years passed, and the marriage arranged between the

cousins, Valentinian and Licinia Eudoxia, was, as we saw,celebrated at Constantinople, whither the bridegroom went forthe occasion (October 29, a.d. 437). 4 Now, if not before, aconsiderable part of the Diocese of IllyricumDalmatia andEastern Pannonia certainlywere transferred from the sway ofValentinian to the sway of Theodosius.5 This political trans-the Caesarship at Thessalonica and et consul ordinarius. For a fullhad doubtless accompanied Placidia description see W. Meyer, Zicci ant.to Italy. A mutilated metrical in- Elf. pp. 6-7.scription at Sitifis m Mauretania 3 The eastern consul of the yearwould refer to the elevation of was Areobindus.Valentinian if de Rossi's restoration * Chr. Pasch., and Prosper, sub a.were near the truth (C'.I.L. viii. 8481). Coins were issued in honour of theIt runs : occasion : on the face a full-faced bust

Terra [about 10 letters] ni sidera regni f Theodosius on the reverse threeia]m do . . . ans arniorum fulmina figures, lheodosius in the centre[co]ndit joining the hands of his daughtergra[ . . . tlutela Valentinianu[s anci Valentinian, with legend Feliciteret Theodosius artem. -> T ,. JSIuotiis.De Rossi proposed fulgida conscendens] 5 Cassiodorus, Var. xi. 1. 9 (Placidia)

terra[e]ni s. r. in 1, [Placidiae] gra[ndis remisse administrat imperium . . .i\utela in 3, and [pace fruens doctam nurum denique sibi amissione Illyriciexerc]el in 4 (very improbable). Op. comparavlt factaque est coniunctioBucheler's note in Anth. Lat. ii. 288. regnanlis divisio dolenda p>roi'iciis ;

1 In Africa. See below, p. 248. Jordanes, Rom. 329 datamque pro2 It was found near Florence and munere soceri sui totam Illyricum (sic),is preserved there. The inscription The totam of Jordanes does notround the disc is : Fl. Ardahur Aspar authorise us to suppose with Tille-vir inlustris com. et mag. militant mont (Hist, des Emp. vi. 75) that the


3/12

226 HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE chap.action was part of the matrimonial arrangement, and was lookedupon as the price which Placidia paid for her daughter-in-law.The new provinces were now controlled by the Praetorian Prefectof Illyricum, and his seat was transferred for some years fromThessalonica to Sirmium.1

After the departure of her daughter the Empress probablyfelt lonely, and she undertook, in accordance with her husband'swishes, a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to return thanks to the Deityfor the marriage of their daughter. 2 In this decision theyseem to have been confirmed by a saintly lady of high reputa-tion, Melania by name, a Roman of noble family, who had beenforced into a repugnant marriage, and had afterwards, alongwith her husband, whom she converted to Christianity, takenup her abode at first in the land of Egypt, where she foundedmonastic houses, and then at Jerusalem. She had visitedConstantinople to see her uncle Volusian, whom she convertedbefore his death, and she exercised considerable influence with theEmperor and his household. The journey of Eudocia to Jeru-salem (in spring, a.d. 438) was marked by her visit to Antioch,where she created a sensation by the elegant oration whichshe delivered, posing rather as one trained in Greek rhetoricand devoted to Hellenic traditions and proud of her Atheniandescent, than as a pilgrim on her way to the great Christianshrine. Although there was a large element of theologicalbigotry both in Antioch and in Alexandria, yet in both thesecities there was probably more appreciation of Hellenic styleand polish than in Constantinople. The last words of Eudocia'soration brought down the housea quotation from Homer,

ty;eTe^s yci'oys re i


4/12

vii REIGN OF THEODOSIUS II 227" I boast that I am of your race and blood." x The city thathated and mocked the Emperor Julian and his pagan Hellenismloved and feted the Empress Eudocia with her Christian Hellen-ism ; a golden statue was erected to her in the curia and oneof bronze in the museum. Her interest in Antioch took apractical form, for she induced Theodosius to build a newbasilica, restore the thermae, extend the walls, and bestow othermarks of favour on the city.

Eudocia's visit to Aelia Capitolina, as Jerusalem was called,brings to the recollection the visit of Constantine's motherHelena, one hundred years before, and, although Christianityhad lost some of its freshness in the intervening period, it musthave been a strange and impressive experience for one whoseyouth was spent amid pagan memories in the gardens of thephilosophers at Athens, and who in New Rome, with its museumsof ancient art and its men of many creeds, had not been entirelyweaned from the ways and affections of her youth, to visit,with all the solemnity of an exalted Christian pilgrim, a citywhose memories were typically opposed to Hellenism, and whosemonuments were the bones and relics of saints.2 It was probablyonly this religious side that came under Eudocia's notice ; forJerusalem at this period was a strange mixture of piety withgross licence. We are told by an ecclesiastical writer of theage that it was more depraved than Gomorrah ; and the factthat it was a garrison town had something to do with thisdepravity. But it drew pilgrims from all quarters of the world.On her return from Palestine (a.d. 439) Eudocia's influenceat Court was still powerful.3 She seems to have been on termsof intimate friendship with Cyrus of Panopolis, who held a veryexceptional position. He filled at the same time the two high

1 Evagrius, H.E. i. 20. The verse preserved. Cp. above, p. 226, n. 2.is an adaptation of Iliad, vi. 211. It An account of Eudocia's visit tohas been suggested that Eudocia's Jerusalem will be found in the Vitaoration consisted of a poem in Melaniae iunioris. Melania met thehexameters (Ludwich, Eudociae frag- Empress at Sidon and acted as hermenta, p. 12). companion and cicerone.2 Of the relics which she received 3 h\ this year, the 42nd of his(the bishop of Jerusalem plied a trado reign, Theodosius was consul for thein relics), especially remarkable were 17th time, and the mint of Con-the chains with which Herod bound stantinople issued gold coins (1) ofPeter. One of these she gave to her the Emperor with a holmeted Romedaughter Eudoxia, who founded a on the reverse and the legend IMPchurch in Pome (called originally xxxxii. cos xvii. PP, (2) of the Empress,after herself, and in later times St. with Constantinople seated on thePeter ad vincula), where it is still prow of a vessel and the same legend.


5/12

t

228 HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE chap.offices of Praetorian Prefect of the East and Prefect of the city.1He was a poet like his fellow-townsman Nonnus though of minorrank ; 2 he was a student of art and architecture ; and he wasa

"Hellene

"in faith. It has been remarked that Imperialofficialdom was beginning to assume in the East a more distinctly-

Greek complexion in the reign of Theodosius II., and Cyrus wasa representative figure in this transition. He used to issuedecrees in Greek, an innovation for which a writer of the followingcentury expressly blames him. 3 His prefecture was popularand long remembered at Constantinople, for he built and restoredmany buildings and improved the illumination of the town, sothat the people enthusiastically cried on some occasions in theHippodrome, " Constantine built the city but Cyrus renewed it."He still held his offices in the autumn of a.d. 441,5 but it cannothave been long after this that he fell into disgrace. Perhapshis popularity made him an object of suspicion ; his paganismfurnished a convenient ground for accusation. He was compelledto take ecclesiastical orders and was made bishop of Cotyaeum inPhrygia. His first sermon, which his malicious congregationforced him to preach against his will, astonished and wasapplauded by those who heard it :" Brethren, let the birth of God, our Saviour, Jesus Christ behonoured by silence, because the Word of God was conceivedin the holy Virgin through hearing only.

To him be glory forever and ever. Amen." 6

The friendship between Cyrus and the Empress Eudocia,1 That Cvrus held these offices Where sitting under the shade of elm-

, -, . , , , trees or rocks overhangingsimultaneously is expressly stated by Sweetly piping on reeds 1 would charmJohn Lydus, De mag. ii. 12, and by dull care with my music.John Malalas, xiv. 3(11. Malalas O Pierian maids, let us (lee from the fair-says that he held them for four years. qi *notheT 1;m(1 . Ami there willIt is probable that the source of this t tell of the mischiefrecord was Priscus, see Ghron. Pasch., Wrought by the baleful drones to thesub 439. We know from Theodosius, bees who toil for the honey.Nov. 18, that he was l'r. Pr. Or. in The first verse is imitated by Nonnus,Nov. 439; and from C.J. viii. 11. 21, Dionys. xx. 372.that he was Pr. Urb. in Jan. 440. 3 John Lydus, ib.4 For the building of the sea walls2 John Lydus, ib., says contemptu- see a iJUV0 , Chap. III.ously that he knew nothing except 5 q j \ 55 iy.poetry. Some epigrams and short T jle allectl te is told bv Johnpoems are extant, The most inter- Malalas, ib. The right reading 6esting of

these is A nth. Pol. ix. 130, ro ~ geo ~ x ^yos (for X 6>cj) is pre-written before leaving the city 111 serve(i m the corresponding passageexile : of Theophanes, a.m. 5937. For theWould that my father had taught me to opening words cp. below, Chap. XLtend his ilock in the pastures, p. 349, n. 6.


6/12

vii REIGN OF THEODOSIUS II 229who was naturally sympathetic with a highly educated pagan,suggests the conjecture that his disgrace was not unconnectedwith the circumstances which led soon afterwards to her own fall.We may conjecture that harmony had not always existed betweenherself and her sister-in-law, and differences seem to have arisensoon after her return from Palestine. 1 Discord was fomented bythe arts of a eunuch, Chrysaphius Zstommas, who was at thistime beginning to establish his ascendancy over the Emperor. 2Pulcheria had enjoyed the privilege of having in her house-hold the Chamberlain (praepositus Augustae) who was officiallyattached to the service of the reigning Empress. It would nothave been unnatural if this arrangement had caused jealousyin the heart of Eudocia, and we are told that Chrysaphius urgedher to demand from the Emperor that a High Chamberlain shouldalso be assigned to her. When Theodosius decidedly refused,she urged, again at the suggestion of Chrysaphius, that Pulcheriashould be ordained a deaconess, inasmuch as she had taken avow of virginity. Pulcheria refused to be drawn mto a contestfor power. She sent her Chamberlain to Eudocia and retiredto the Palace of Hebdomon. 3 When Chrysaphius had suc-ceeded in removing one Empress from the scene, his next objectwas to remove the other, so that his own influence over the weakspirit of Theodosius might be exclusive and undivided. Inaccomplishing this end he was probably assisted by the orthodoxparty at court, who were devoted to Pulcheria and looked withsuspicion on the Hellenic proclivities of her sister-in-law. TheEmperor's mind was poisoned against his wife by the sugges-tion that she had been unduly intimate with Paulinus,4 a

1 They differed on the Eutychian 4 We have no means of knowingcontroversy, but there were doubtless whether there was any truth in thisother causes of jealousy. charge, but it should be observed that

: Tl ... i i i u in Marcellinus, Chron., sub 421, the- These mtngues are related by ,. _ < 7 mi i . ,? -nm . ^ a it iio true reading is hudociam Ac/nvam,lheophanes, a.m. ;:>940= a. d. 447-448. , h , c , . uo ,t, t ii u 1 t an 1. not moecham (found in one Mo.), soBut the chronology of lheophanes ., . ,, . ., v , ..,', ., -tut that this writer does not, as Orulden-during these years is full of errors. - ,, . . .' ooc .We know from Marcellinus and Pennmf. t!"nks ^ ,* P" f5) >other sources that Eudocia had ?&**** her as unfaithful. Con-retired to Jerusalem in 444. John temporary evidence for the chargeMalalas tells the story of Eudocia's f , ?dulteftv h9 ,recf% c"je to1.. i- 1 :i.u i u 1 light in the Book of lleraciides otSlmXationl

7 g Nestorius(tr. Nau, p. 331). Theex-Patriarch writes, *' the demon-3 This story appears in a curious prince of adultery, who had thrownform in John of Nikiu (Chron. lxxxvii. the Empress into shame and disgrace,

29-33), who thoroughly disliked has just died." Cp. E. W. Brooks,Pulcheria. B.Z., 21, 94-95.


7/12

230 HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE chap.handsome man who had been a comrade of the Emperor inhis boyhood.

This is probably the kernel of truth in the legend of Eudocia'sapple which is thus told by a chronicler.1

It so happened that as the Emperor Theodosius was proceeding tothe church on the feast of Epiphany, the Master of Offices, Paulinus, beingindisposed on account of an ailment in his foot, remained at home andmade an excuse. But a certain poor man brought to Theodosius a Phry-gian apple, 2 of enormously large size, and the Emperor was surprised atit, and all his Court (senate). And straightway the Emperor gave 150nomismata to the man who brought the apple, and sent it to EudociaAugusta ; and the Augusta sent it to Paulinus, the Master of Offices, asbeing a friend of the Emperor. 3 But Paulinus, not being aware that theEmperor had sent it to the Empress, took it and sent it to the EmperorTheodosius, even as he entered the Palace. And when the Emperorreceived it he recognised it and concealed it. And having called theAugusta, he questioned her, saying, ' Where is the apple that I sent you ? 'And she said, ' I ate it.' Then he caused her to swear the truth by hissalvation, whether she ate it or sent it to some one ; and she sware, ' I sentit unto no man but ate it.' And the Emperor commanded the apple to bebrought and showed it to her. And he was indignant against her, suspect-ing that she was enamoured of Paulinus and sent him the apple and deniedit. And on this account Theodosius put Paulinus to death. And theEmpress Eudocia was grieved, and thought herself insulted, for it wasknown everywhere that Paulinus was slam on account of her, for he was avery handsome young man. And she asked the Emperor that she mightgo to the holy places to pray ; and he allowed her. And she went downfrom Constantinople to Jerusalem to pray.

Whatever may have been the circumstances it seems thatPaulinus, Master of Offices, was sent to Cappadocia and put todeath by the Emperor's command in a.d. 444.4 It is crediblethat her former intimacy with Paulinus was used to alienateTheodosius from his wife, and she found her position so intolerablethat at last she sought and obtained the Emperor's permissionto withdraw from the Court and betake herself to Jerusalem(a.d. 443).5 She was not deprived of Imperial honours and an

1 John Malalas, xiv. p. 350. points, and is confirmed by Chron.2 It may be observed that in Creek Pasch. Marecllinus places the deathromances the apple was a conventional of Paulinus in 440.love-gift, and meant on the part of a 5 Cedrenus and Zonaras placewoman who bestowed it on a man a Eudocia's visit to Jerusalem in thedeclaration of love. 42nd year of Theodosius, " also 4503 He was brought up along with was ganz irrig ist," says GregoroviusTheodosius and at his marriage acted (At/ienais, p. 187). But the 42nd yearas irapdi'v/j.


8/12

vii REIGN OF THEODOSIUS II 231ample revenue was placed at her disposal. In Jerusalem shekept such state and was so energetic in public works that thejealousy of Theodosius was aroused and he sent Saturninus, thecommander of his guards, to inquire into her activities. Satur-ninus slew the priest Severus and the deacon John who wereconfidants of the Empress. 1 She avenged this act by permittingthe death of Saturninus ; the words of one of our authoritiesmight lead us to suppose that she caused him to be assassinated,2but it has been suggested that officious servants or an indignantmob may have too hastily anticipated her supposed wishes.Then by the Emperor's command she was compelled to reduceher retinue.

The last sixteen years 3 of the life of this amiable lady werespent at Jerusalem where she devoted herself to charitable work,built churches, monasteries and hospices, and restored the wallsof the city.4 She was drawn into the theological storm whichswept over the East in the last years of Theodosius, an episodewhich will claim our notice in another place. It is said thatbefore her death she repeated her denial of the slander that shehad been unfaithful to her husband. 5

5. The University of Constantinople and the Theodosiayi CodeThe three most important acts of the reign of Theodosius II.were the fortification of the city by land and sea, which has alreadybeen described, the foundation of a university, and the com-

pilation of the legal code called after his name. It would beinteresting to know whether the establishment of a school forhigher education in the capital was due to the influence of theyoung Empress, who had been brought up in the schools ofhis regnal years as appears from the PI. v. 1, vi. 1 and 11.coins which were issued in this very i Marcellinus, Chron., sub 444.year: reverse: a seated Victory 2 Besides Marcel | inus> Priscus>holding a criiciger globe, star under- ki of the heiresa of Saturninus,neath, and buckler on the ground JT - Si v \

. . , -.11 it says: tov oe TLaroinuXov ai'ripriKeibehind, with legend Imp. xxxxn cos >,"q , / o n i v ,,nxvii PP. This "shows that the 42nd g*1 (# 3 ' D. e **'t *"" * 1*6) 't ,, , , ,, ,.a , , . kee the discussion of Gregorovms,year fell between the 17th consulship -, ...439 and the 18th, 444, and therefore P, "; * " An .fell in 443. At the same time were ' ,S ^,e died. Oct 20, 460. ( yrillus,minted coins of Eudocia, Pulcheria, ' ll" wthymu, p. 74.Valentinian and Eudoxia with the 4 Evagrius, i. 22; John of Nikiu,same reverse. See Dc Salis, Coins of Ixxxvii. 22, 23.the JSiidoxins, and Sabatier, Monn. Kij-.. "' C'hron. Pasch., sub 444.


9/12

232 HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE chap.Athens. The new university (founded February 27, a.d. 425)was intended to compete with the schools of Alexandria andthe university of Athens, the headquarters of paganismwithwhich, however, the government preferred not to interfere directlyand thereby to promote the cause of Christianity. Lecture-rooms were provided in the Capitol. The Latin language wasrepresented by ten grammarians or philologists and three rhetors,the Greek likewise by ten grammarians, but by five rhetors ;one chair of philosophy was endowed and two chairs of juris-prudence. Thus the Greek language had two more chairsthan the Latin, and this fact may be cited as marking a stagein the official Graecisation of the eastern half of the RomanEmpire. 1

In the year 429 Theodosius determined to form a collectionof all the constitutions issued by the " renowned Constantine,the divine Emperors who succeeded him, and ourselves." Thenew code was to be drawn up on the model of the Gregorian andHermogenian codes,2 and the execution of the work was entrustedto a commission of nine persons, among whom was Apelles,professor of law at the new university. Nine years later thework was completed and published, but during the interveningyears the members of the commission had changed ; of theeight who are mentioned in the edict which accompanied thefinal publication only two, Antiochus and Theodorus, wereamong the original workers, and a constitution of a.d. 435, whichconferred full powers on the committee for the completionof the work, mentions sixteen compilers.3The code was issued conjointly by Theodosius and Valentinian,and thus expressed the unity of the Empire (February 15, a.d.438). The visit of the younger Emperor to Constantinopleon the occasion of his marriage with his cousin Eudoxia facilitatedthis co-operation. On December 23 of the same year, at ameeting of the Senate of Old Rome, the code which had beendrawn up by the lawyers of New Rome was publicly recognised,and an official account of the proceedings on that occasiongesta in senatu Urbis Romae de recipiendo Codicc Theodosiano

1 C. Th. xiv. 9. 3, and vi. 21. 1. For to a.d. 294 ; the Hermogenian thosethe lecture-rooms in a portico in the from 290 to 324.Capitol see C. Th. xv. 1 . .13.2 The Gregorian Code (c. a.d. 300) 3 Sec C. Th. i. 1. 5, March 26, 429,contained constitutions from Hadrian i. 1. (i, Dec. 20, 435.


10/12

vii REIGN OF THEODOSIUS II 233may still be read. The Praetorian Prefect and consul of theyear, Anicius Acilius Glabrio Faustus, spoke as follows :

The felicity of the eternal Emperors proceeds so far as to adorn withthe ornaments of peace those whom it defends by warfare. Last yearwhen we loyally attended the celebration of the most fortunate of all cere-monies, and when the marriage had been happily concluded, the mostsacred Prince, our Lord Theodosius, was fain to add this dignity also tohis world, and ordered the precepts of the laws to be collected and drawnup hi a compendious form of sixteen books, which he wished to be con-secrated by his most sacred name. Which thing the eternal Prince, ourLord Valentinian, approved with the loyalty of a colleague and the affec-tion of a son.

And all the senators cried out in the usual form, ' Wellspoken ! " (nove diserte, vere diserte). But instead of followingthe course of the gesta in the Roman senate-house, it will bemore instructive to read the Imperial constitution which intro-duced the great code to the Roman world.

The Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian, Augusti, to Florentius,Praetorian Prefect of the East.Our clemency has often been at a loss to understand the cause of the

fact, that, when so many rewards are held out for the maintenance of artsand (liberal) studies, so few arc found who are endowed with a full know-ledge of the Civil Law, and even they so seldom ; we are astonished thatamid so many whose faces have grown pale from late lucubrations hardlyone or two have attained to sound and complete learning.

When we consider the enormous multitude of books, the diversemodes of process and the difficulty of legal cases, and further the hugemass of imperial constitutions, which hidden as it were under a rampartof gross mist and darkness precludes men's intellects from gaming a know-ledge of them, we feel that we have met a real need of our age, and dis-pelling the darkness have given light to the laws by a short compendium.We selected noble men of approved faith, lawyers of well-known learning ;and clearing away interpretations, we have published the constitutionsof our predecessors, so that men may no longer have to await formidableResponses from expert lawyers as from an inner shrine, when it is reallyquite plain what action is to be adopted in suing for an inheritance, orwhat is to be the weight of a donation. These details, unveiled by theassiduity of the learned, have been brought into open day under theradiant splendour of our name.Nor let those to whom we have consigned the divine secrets of ourheart imagine that they have obtained a poor reward. For if our mind'seye rightly foresees the future, their names will descend to posterity linkedwith ours.

Thus having swept away the cloud of volumes, on which many wastedtheir lives and explained nothing in the end, wc establish a compendiousknowledge of the Imperial constitutions since the time of the divine


11/12

234 11/STORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE chap.Constantino, and allow no one after the first day of next January to useany authority in the practice of law except these books which bear ourname and are kept in the saered bureaux. None of the older Emperors,however, has been deprived of his immortality, the name of no author of aconstitution has fallen to the ground ; nay rather they enjoy a borrowedlight in that their august decrees arc associated with us. The glory ofthe originators, duly refined (fded), remains and will remain for ever ;nor has any brilliance passed thereby to our name except the light ofbrevity {nisi lux sola breritatis).And though the undertaking of the whole work was clue to our auspiciousinitiation, we nevertheless deemed it more worthy of the imperial majesty(magis imperatorium) and more illustrious, to put envy to flight and allowthe memory of the authors to survive perennially. It is enough and morethan enough to satisfy our consciences, that we have unveiled the lawsand redeemed the works of our ancestors from the injustice of obscurity.We further enact that henceforward no constitution can be passed inthe West (in partibvs Occident is) or in any other place, by the unconquer-able Emperor, the son of our clemency, the everlasting Augustus, Valen-tinian, or possess any validity, except the same by a divine pragmatica becommunicated to us.

The same precaution is to be observed in the acts which are promul-gated by us in the East (per Orientem) ; and those are to be condemned asspurious which are not recorded in the Theodosian Code, excepting specialdocuments in the official bureaux.

It would be a long tale to relate all that has been contributed to thecompletion of this work by the labours of Antiochus, the all-sublime ex-prefect and consul ; by the illustrious Maximin, ex-quaestor of our palace,eminent in all departments of literature ; by the illustrious Martyrius,count and quaestor, the faithful interpreter of our clemency ; by Sperantius,Apollodorus, and Theodore, all respectable men and counts of our sacredconsistory ; by the respectable Epigenes, count and magister memoriae ;by the respectable Procopius, count, and magister libellorum. Thesemen may be compared to any of the ancients.

It remains, O Florentius, most dear and affectionate relative, for yourillustrious and magnificent authority, whose delight and constant practiceis to please Emperors, to cause the decrees of our August Majesty to cometo the knowledge of all peoples and all provinces.

Dated 15 February at Constantinople (438).x

The Code of Theodosius was superseded at the end of a hun-dred years by the Code of Justinian, and to the jurist it is lessindispensable than to the historian. The historian must alwaysremember with gratitude the name of Theodosius and that ofAntiochus, if we may credit this minister with having originatedthe idea of the work. For the full record of legislation which itpreserves furnishes clear and authentic information on the social

1 Theodosius II. Nov. 1.


12/12

vii REIGN OF MARCIAN 235conditions of the Empire, without which our other historicalsources would present many insoluble problems. 1The last ten years of the reign were unfortunate. The Illyrianprovinces suffered terribly from the depredations of the Huns,and the payments which a weak government made to buy offthe invaders depleted the treasury. 2 The eunuch Chrysaphius,having succeeded in removing from the Palace the rival influ-ences of the Emperor's wife and sister, completely swayed themind of his sovran and seems to have controlled the policy of thegovernment. It is stated, and we can easily believe it, thatTheodosius at this time was in the habit of signing state paperswithout reading them.3The power of Chrysaphius remained unshaken 4 until a fewmonths before the Emperor's death, when he fell out of favourand the influence of Pulcheria again re-asserted itself. 5 Theo-dosius died on July 28, a.d. 450, of a spinal injury caused by afall from his horse.6

6. The Reign of Martian (a.d. 450-457)As Theodosius had no male issue and had not co-opted a

colleague, the government of the eastern half of the Empireought automatically to have devolved upon his cousin andwestern colleague Valentinian III. But this devolution wouldnot have pleased Theodosius himself, and would not have beentolerated by his subjects. And we are told that on his death -

1 The object of the compilers of the served than those in the east. It is( !( ii le was to include all the laws, remarkable that though the Codewhether edicts or rescripts, which they includes laws of Theodosius up tocould find, not to make a selection of 437, it does not include laws ofthose which were still valid. One Valentinian after 432.might have thought that a record of 2 The gold paid fco the Huns durmgall imperial laws would have been care- the eight vears a.d. 443-450 exceededfully preserved in the eastern and jn va |ue 1,000,000.western chanceries, but it was not so. 3 TheophaneSj A .M . 5942.oeeck s valuable investigation of the . TT . ,sources of the Code (Regesten der * He had an enemy m the IsanrianKaiser und Ptipste) shows that in ?en, Master of Soldiers, who seemsmany cases there were no copies at ^^l? threatened a revolt in a.d.Constantinople, and the texts had 4*0. See John Ant fr. 84 (Zfc 1**).to be sought at provincial centres, ^d Vtocub, fr. 5 (De leg. Som.).e.g. at Berytus. Of much legislation 5 Theophanes, ib.there was probably no trace to be G The accident happened near thefound anywhere. But laws issued in River Lycus not far from the city. Seethe west were more abundantly pre- John Mai. xiv. 3GG.

the empress eudocia

Documents