The New International Encyclopædia/Theodosius

​THEODOSIUS, thē′ō̇-dō′shĭ-us The name of three Roman emperors.—Theodosius I., surnamed the Great, Emperor from 379 to 395, was of Spanish descent, and was born either at Italica, or more probably at Cauca, near Segovia, about A.D. 346. His father, also named Theodosius, was the great general of ​the Roman Empire, who, after freeing South Britain from the Caledonians, and annihilating the formidable rebellion of the Moor Firmus, was beheaded at Carthage in 376. Theodosius, who had accompanied his father in his British campaigns, and afterwards, by routing the Sarmatians, saved Mœsia from devastation, retired from active service after his father’s murder, and occupied himself with the care of his patrimonial lands in Spain. But on the defeat and death of Valens (q.v.), his colleague, Gratianus (q.v.), feeling his inability to sustain alone the cares of empire, summoned Theodosius from his retirement, invested him with the Imperial purple, and intrusted to him, January 19, 379, the administration of Thrace, Dacia, Macedonia, Egypt, and the East, and especially the protection of the Empire against the Goths. This last charge called for the full exercise of the new Emperor's abilities, for the army at his command dared not face the Goths in the open field. Theodosius found it most prudent to sow jealousy and dissension among them by promises and bribes, and after a four years' so-called campaign, succeeded in pacifying the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths retreating toward Scythia. The latter returned in 386, their ranks swelled by Scythians, but were totally routed in attempting to pass the Danube, and the survivors were transported to Phrygia and Lydia.

In 387 Theodosius undertook to restore to the throne of the Western Empire Valentinian II. (whose sister, Galla, he married), the brother of Gratian, who had been expelled by Maximus; and after a uniformly successful contest, the usurper was captured and put to death at Aquileia (388). In 392 the suspicious death of Valentinian and the elevation of the puppet Eugenius by Arbogastes, the real ruler of the West, again summoned Theodosius to interfere; and after two years of preparation his army gained a complete victory over the army of the West, and the two portions of the Roman Empire were again united under one ruler. The union, however, lasted only four months, owing to the death of Theodosius, January 17, 395. Theodosius, though a professor of the orthodox Christian faith, was not baptized till 380, and his behavior after that period stamps him as one of the most cruel and vindictive persecutors who ever wore the purple. His humiliation before Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, for the massacre at Thessalonica, was regarded by the Church as one of its greatest victories over the temporal power. See Ambrose

Theodosius II., Emperor of the East from 408 to 450, was the only son and successor of Arcadius (q.v.). He was but seven years old when he ascended the throne. The chief events of his reign were the invasion of the Empire by the Huns under Attila, a war with Persia, renewed efforts to extirpate paganism, and the compilation of the Codex Theodosianus. See Code.—Theodosius III. was an unimportant Byzantine Emperor (A.D. 716–717). who abdicated after a few months’ reign.