Theodosius II

Theodosius II (Latin: Flavius Theodosius; Constantinople, April 10, 401-ibid., July 28, 450), called the Calligrapher, he was Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire from May 1, 408 until his death. Son and successor of Arcadio, he was successively dominated by the praetorian prefect Anthemius, his sister Pulcheria and the eunuch Crisalpio. During his reign the Empire made war against the Persians and the Huns, the Walls of Constantinople were built, and two important Christological controversies took place with Nestorians and Eutychians.

Devoted to arts and letters, in 429 he promulgated an important legislative compilation, the so-called Theodosian Code.

Life

Early Years

Theodosius II was the fourth child and only son from the marriage between Aelia Eudoxia and the Emperor Arcadius, whom he succeeded at the age of 7. At the beginning of his reign, the command of the Empire was in the hands of Anthemius, prefect of the Eastern Praetorium who had governed de facto since the reign of his father. When Anthemius left the scene in 414, Pulcheria, the eldest of the Emperor's sisters, took a greater role, who was proclaimed Augusta and assumed the regency.

Pulqueria had a great influence on her brother and ensured that he received a careful education. A rigorous Christian, she developed a policy hostile to heretics, pagans, and Jews. He also arranged for his brother's marriage to Athenais, a pagan philosopher daughter of an Athenian sophist, who was baptized and named Aelia Eudocia (June 421). They had a daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, whose marriage to the western emperor, Valentinian III, culminated in the strengthening of ties between both parts of the Empire after the tensions of the beginning of the century V even if it lasted a short time.

Wars with Persians, Huns and Vandals

Theodosius' growing interest in Christianity, fueled by the influence of Pulcheria, led him to wage war against the Sassanids in 421-422, who were persecuting the Christians. The war ended in stalemate, and the Romans were forced to make peace, as Constantinople was threatened by the Huns.

The Eastern Empire suffered by then constant incursions of the Huns in the Balkans, led by Rugila. Theodosius reinforced his fortifications in 424, agreeing to pay 350 pounds of gold to keep the peace. However, in 433, with the rise to power of Attila and Bleda, the payment had to be doubled to 700 pounds.

When Roman Africa was invaded by the Vandals in 439, the Eastern and Western emperors sent forces to Sicily, attempting an attack on the Vandals in Carthage, but the project failed. The Huns and the Sassanids, seeing the borders unguarded, then attacked, and the expeditionary forces had to return. During 447 the Roman army was defeated and destroyed by Attila's forces at the Battle of Utus. Anatolius negotiated a humiliating peace agreement, having to pay the Huns 2,100 Roman pounds of gold (about 687 kilograms)

Theodosius died suddenly in 450, falling from his horse while hunting. In the ensuing struggle for power, his sister Pulcheria prevailed over the eunuch Crisalpio. She married the general Marciano, who thus proclaimed himself emperor.

Theological disputes

During the reign of Theodosius, Christological controversies continued with the appearance of Nestorianism and power struggles between the altar and the imperial throne, as well as within the Church itself. His confrontation with the supporters of Nestorius materialized in various edicts of persecution that led to the first burning of writings in 435. This task of doctrinal annihilation culminated in 448 with the mandate of the emperor to burn all the works of paganism contradictory to the orthodox version of Christianity and, the following year, with a large public burning of harmful” books, among them, those of Nestorius himself, Theodoret of Cyrus or the pagan Porphyry, after the Council of Ephesus of 449.

His armies repelled Persian invasions, but he was defeated by Attila the Hun, to whom he had to pay tribute, giving him the Roman province of Pannonia. In the year 425 he reorganized the University of Constantinople.

The Theodosian Code

In 429 Theodosius created a commission to synthesize and clarify all existing laws since the reign of Constantine, and create a fully formalized legal system. This plan remained incomplete, but the work of a second commission, meeting in Constantinople with the aim of bringing together and updating all the general laws, resulted in the Codex Theodosianus in 438.