Theodosius II

Theodosius II was Eastern Roman emperor from 408 to 450, inheriting the throne as a child after the death of his father Arcadius. His long reign was shaped by court ministers and by powerful imperial women including his sister Pulcheria and his wife Aelia Eudocia.

The empire fortified Constantinople with the great Theodosian Walls, compiled the Theodosian Code and confronted both Persian and Hunnic pressure. The reign was also marked by major theological controversies that culminated in church councils and disputes over the nature of Christ.

Faith L. Justice’s Dawn Empress begins with the seven-year-old Theodosius II inheriting the Eastern Empire and shows his sister Pulcheria trying to shape both the young emperor and his court. Gillian Bradshaw’s Imperial Purple uses a cloak woven to the wrong imperial measurements as evidence of a plot to replace Theodosius, drawing an ordinary artisan’s family into palace politics. Justice’s Rebel Empress follows Aelia Eudocia from Athens to marriage with Theodosius and the religious and court rivalries surrounding her position. The Theodosian Women Omnibus places his long reign within the intersecting careers of Galla Placidia, Pulcheria and Eudocia. Ian Hughes’ Attila the Hun supplies the external political context, explaining the tribute, diplomacy and Balkan warfare through which the Eastern government under Theodosius dealt with Hunnic power.