Theodosius Ii
| Theodosius II | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Roman Emperor | |
 Bust of Theodosius II, the Louvre . | |
| Reign | |
| 408 - 28 July 450 (~ 42 years) ( Anthemius then Pulcherie are regents until 416 ) | |
| Period | Theodosians |
| Predecessor (s) | Flavius Arcadius |
| Successor (s) | Marcian |
| Biography | |
| Birth | 10 April 401 |
| Original Name | Flavius Theodosius |
| Deaths | 28 July 450 (49) |
| Father | Flavius Arcadius |
| Mother | I Eudoxia |
| Spouse (s) | Eudoxia II |
| Descent | Licinia Eudoxia |
| List of Byzantine Emperors | |
Theodosius II, born April 10 401 and died on 28 July 450 , is a Roman emperor of the East. He reigns from 408 until his death.
Summary |
The son of Arcadius , whom he succeeds, grand-son of Theodosius I , he was only seven when he became emperor and first reign under the regency of the praetorian prefect Anthemius ( 408 / 414 ) then under his older sister Pulcherie , elevated to the rank of Augusta. Weak prince, like his father, Theodosius II is still under the influence of his entourage. From 414 to 421 is Pulcherie who has a dominant role in transforming the courtyard near the monastery because of his devout character. In 421 she married his brother's daughter from a rhetorician of Athens named Lontias , Aelia Eudocia. Theodosius is also under the influence of Flavius Taurus Seleucus Cyrus, an Egyptian native Panopolis , which is gaining ascendancy over the emperor when cubicularius Antiochus was discarded and the praetorian prefecture occupies from 439 to 441; that, also, Nomusa, Master of the Offices from 443 to 446; that, finally, his friend, the eunuch Chrysaphius.
From 421 to 433 the influence of Eudoxia (not to be confused with the mother of Theodosius II) dwarfs that of Pulcheria until false accusations of infidelity FATAL exile in Jerusalem. Pulcherie then resumed his place at court but found that their main influence is now in the hands of imperial eunuchs, especially Chrysaphius.
His reign was troubled by religious disputes of Nestorianism between Cyril of Alexandria to the Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius. To address these problems Theodosius summoned the Council of Ephesus in 431 which condemned Nestorianism, and the Synod of Constantinople in 448 which condemned Eutyches and his doctrine of monophysitism and a new council at Ephesus in 449 where Eutyches , which has support in the entourage of the emperor, despite the hostility of Pulcherie wins, not hesitating to use violence against its opponents (hence the name of " robbery of Ephesus ).
Theodosius had prepared in 426 the Act of citations and 438 on the Theodosian Code (Codex Theodosianus), which contains all the imperial constitutions promulgated since 312.
The reign of Theodosius II is marked off by a double victory against the Persians in 421 and 441 but also by its complex relations with the empire of Hun Ruga , Bleda and Attila. If Ruga died in an expedition against the Eastern Empire 's nephew and successor Bleda (jointly with his brother Attila ) triumph, more diplomatically and militarily elsewhere, and 435 to 440 Theodosius II saw a significant pay tribute and promise not to ally with people hostile to the Germanic Huns. In 440 , taking advantage of the Persian attack on Armenia , whose empire triumph in 441 , Bleda attack again the Eastern Empire and seized a large booty. In 445 - 446 Attila, who has just murdered his brother, becoming the only king of the Huns, captured the southern Pannonia. To maintain the fiction of the Roman presence, Theodosius called the "master of the militia."
Taking advantage of the earthquake that destroyed part of the walls of Constantinople , on 27 January 447 , he again attacked the Eastern Empire but with little result except that of seeing the empire to stop paying his tribute. Negotiations began and in 449 , Theodosius sent an embassy, headed by Priscos and Maximin , who agrees to pay tribute again. It is within this context that Theodosius died after a riding accident in 450. Pulcherie succeeded him, first alone and then with her husband Marcian , until his death in 453. She refused any further payment of tribute to Attila.
If the Christian authors welcome the devotion and piety of the "sweetest of all men" as the Socrates of Constantinople refers to the term panegyric he paints of the emperor in his Ecclesiastical History (VII, 42) Modern historians believe that he who received the nickname "Calligrapher" was far from possessing the qualities of a head of state and are rather confined to a representative function; Ernest Stein considers as "meek and insignificant" . His legislative work, however, remains crucial and prefigures that of Justinian.
References
- Ernest Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire, I. Of the Roman state to the Byzantine state, 284-476, Amsterdam, 1968, p. 275, ed. French by Jean-Remy Palanque
- Edward Gibbon , The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , Paris, 1983, I, p. 974, transl. French MF Guizot
See also
Literature
- S. Crogai-Ptrequin, P. Jaillet, J.-M. Poinsotte (eds.), Codex Theodosianus V. Latin text from the edition of Mommsen. Translation, introduction and notes, Brepols Publishers, 2009, ISBN 978-2-503-51722-3
Sources
- Michel Mourre, Dictionnaire encyclopedic history, Bordas , 1996.
- Encyclopaedia Universalis , Thesaurus Index RZ 1990.
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