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Cambridge Classical Studies
Theodosius II
Theodosius II (AD 408450) was the longest reigning Roman emperor. Ever since Edward Gibbon, he has been dismissed as mediocre and ineffectual. Yet Theodosius ruled an empire which retained its integrity while the West was broken up by barbarian invasions. This book explores Theodosius' challenges and successes. Ten essays by leading scholars of late antiquity provide important new insights into the court at Constantinople, the literary and cultural vitality of the reign, and the presentation of imperial piety and power. Much attention has been directed towards the changes promoted by Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century; much less to their crystallisation under Theodosius II. This volume explores the working out of new conceptions of the Roman Empire its history, its rulers and its God. A substantial introduction offers a new framework for thinking afresh about the long transition from the classical world to Byzantium.
- GenresHistory
342 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2013
60 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Kelly
11 books11 followersChristopher Kelly (born 1964) is a professor of classics and ancient history and a Fellow and Director of studies in classics at Corpus Christi College at the University of Cambridge, where he received his PhD in classics. He lives in Cambridge, England, and Chicago, Illinois.
He specializes in the later Roman Empire and the classical tradition. He has been Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge since 2018.
He specializes in the later Roman Empire and the classical tradition. He has been Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge since 2018.
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July 18, 2016
Theodosius II was the longest reigning Eastern Roman Emperor (from 408 to 450 AD). Born in 401 as the only son of Emperor Arcadius and his Frankish-born wife Aelia Eudoxia, he already was proclaimed co-Augustus by his father in January AD 402. In 408, his father died and the seven-year-old boy became Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. In 414, Theodosius' older sister Pulcheria was proclaimed Augusta and assumed the regency. By 416 Theodosius was declared Augustus in his own right and the regency ended, but his sister remained a strong influence on him.
For the next forty-two years (408– 450), Theodosius was largely confined to Constantinople: he never saw most of the empire over which he ruled; he never fought on campaign; he never commanded troops in the field. The claim of a significant weakening in imperial authority is sharpened by comparison between Theodosius II and his imperial grandfather, Theodosius I.
Contemprary and modern scholars consider him as a monarch pushed around by his eldest sister, the Empress Pulcheria, who as a teenager publicly proclaimed her perpetual virginity. Even contemporaries were struck by the piety of the imperial court, which was said to resemble a monastery, Theodosius and his three sisters rising early each morning to pray together and fasting twice a week.
In 425, Theodosius founded the University of Constantinople and in 429, he appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of Constantine I, published as the Codex Theodosianus in 438. This law code formed a basis for the law code of Emperor Justinian I, the Corpus Juris Civilis, in the following century.
Being a deep religious emperor, Theodosius II had to deal with a significant theological dispute. In 428 Theodosius appointed the monk Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople since 428. Nestorius quickly became involved in the disputes of two theological factions, which differed in their Christology. Nestorius tried to find a middle ground between those who, emphasizing the fact that in Christ God had been born as a man, insisted on calling the Virgin Mary - Theotokos ("birth-giver of God"), and those who rejected that title because God, as an eternal being, could not have been born. Nestorius suggested the title Christotokos ("birth-giver of Christ") as a compromise, but it did not find acceptance with either faction. He was accused of separating Christ's divine and human natures, resulting in "two Christs", a heresy later called Nestorianism. Though initially supported by the emperor, Nestorius found a forceful opponent in Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria.
In 431 the emperor called a council, which convened in Ephesus. The story of the first Council of Ephesus is conventionally told as one of a contest between two main protagonists: the bishops of Alexandria and Constantinople, Cyril and Nestorius. The council affirmed the Nicene Creed (325) and the title Theotokos ("Birth-giver to God", "God-bearer", "Mother of God”) and condemned Nestorius, who returned to his monastery in Syria and was eventually exiled to a remote monastery in Egypt.
Almost twenty years later, the theological dispute broke out again. Another Council was convoked in Ephesus in 449, later deemed a "robber synod" by Pope Leo I because of its tumultuous circumstances. Leo of Rome and many other bishops protested against the outcome, but the emperor supported it. Only after his death in 451 would the decisions be reversed at the Council of Chalcedon.
Theodosius II’s reign was also framed by literary giants. The closing decades of the fourth century saw the deaths of two: Libanius (314– c. 393) and Gregory of Nazianzus (329– 389), the former based in Antioch, staunchly pagan and allied to the Hellenic tradition of the schools, a teacher, practicing orator and voluminous letter-writer, Gregory an equally prolific Christian Hellenist, educated at Athens, briefly bishop of Constantinople before retiring to his native Cappadocia.
In conclusion we can say that the authors of this book point out that - although often dismissed as mediocre and ineffectual – Theodosius II ruled an empire - aided by several excellent advisors and commanders –, which retained its vitality and integrity while the West was broken up by barbarian invasions. The ecclesiastical, legislative, literary and cultural vitality of his reign was impressive and he left a strong, although religious divided, Eastern Roman Empire for his successors.
For the next forty-two years (408– 450), Theodosius was largely confined to Constantinople: he never saw most of the empire over which he ruled; he never fought on campaign; he never commanded troops in the field. The claim of a significant weakening in imperial authority is sharpened by comparison between Theodosius II and his imperial grandfather, Theodosius I.
Contemprary and modern scholars consider him as a monarch pushed around by his eldest sister, the Empress Pulcheria, who as a teenager publicly proclaimed her perpetual virginity. Even contemporaries were struck by the piety of the imperial court, which was said to resemble a monastery, Theodosius and his three sisters rising early each morning to pray together and fasting twice a week.
In 425, Theodosius founded the University of Constantinople and in 429, he appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of Constantine I, published as the Codex Theodosianus in 438. This law code formed a basis for the law code of Emperor Justinian I, the Corpus Juris Civilis, in the following century.
Being a deep religious emperor, Theodosius II had to deal with a significant theological dispute. In 428 Theodosius appointed the monk Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople since 428. Nestorius quickly became involved in the disputes of two theological factions, which differed in their Christology. Nestorius tried to find a middle ground between those who, emphasizing the fact that in Christ God had been born as a man, insisted on calling the Virgin Mary - Theotokos ("birth-giver of God"), and those who rejected that title because God, as an eternal being, could not have been born. Nestorius suggested the title Christotokos ("birth-giver of Christ") as a compromise, but it did not find acceptance with either faction. He was accused of separating Christ's divine and human natures, resulting in "two Christs", a heresy later called Nestorianism. Though initially supported by the emperor, Nestorius found a forceful opponent in Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria.
In 431 the emperor called a council, which convened in Ephesus. The story of the first Council of Ephesus is conventionally told as one of a contest between two main protagonists: the bishops of Alexandria and Constantinople, Cyril and Nestorius. The council affirmed the Nicene Creed (325) and the title Theotokos ("Birth-giver to God", "God-bearer", "Mother of God”) and condemned Nestorius, who returned to his monastery in Syria and was eventually exiled to a remote monastery in Egypt.
Almost twenty years later, the theological dispute broke out again. Another Council was convoked in Ephesus in 449, later deemed a "robber synod" by Pope Leo I because of its tumultuous circumstances. Leo of Rome and many other bishops protested against the outcome, but the emperor supported it. Only after his death in 451 would the decisions be reversed at the Council of Chalcedon.
Theodosius II’s reign was also framed by literary giants. The closing decades of the fourth century saw the deaths of two: Libanius (314– c. 393) and Gregory of Nazianzus (329– 389), the former based in Antioch, staunchly pagan and allied to the Hellenic tradition of the schools, a teacher, practicing orator and voluminous letter-writer, Gregory an equally prolific Christian Hellenist, educated at Athens, briefly bishop of Constantinople before retiring to his native Cappadocia.
In conclusion we can say that the authors of this book point out that - although often dismissed as mediocre and ineffectual – Theodosius II ruled an empire - aided by several excellent advisors and commanders –, which retained its vitality and integrity while the West was broken up by barbarian invasions. The ecclesiastical, legislative, literary and cultural vitality of his reign was impressive and he left a strong, although religious divided, Eastern Roman Empire for his successors.
December 18, 2021
I like collections of essays as much as I do short stories; in other words not at all. While there are exceptions, I typically can't get into them. Just about the time my interest goes up, a new writer begins. The ranking does not diminish the quality of the book, just my general dislike for the format.
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