Aelia Eudocia

Aelia Eudocia, born Athenais in Athens, was a fifth-century Eastern Roman empress and the wife of Emperor Theodosius II. Educated in Greek literature and philosophy, she converted to Christianity before her marriage and became one of the most intellectually distinctive women of the Theodosian court.

Eudocia was active in patronage, religious affairs and literary culture, and surviving works include poetry on Christian and classical themes. After her position at Constantinople weakened amid court tensions, she spent much of her later life in Jerusalem, where she supported churches, charitable foundations and building projects.

In Faith L. Justice’s Dawn Empress, as Theodosius reaches adulthood, Pulcheria must share influence with his wife Aelia Eudocia and contend with church disputes that make theology inseparable from politics. In Faith L. Justice’s Rebel Empress, born Athenais, the daughter of an Athenian philosopher, Aelia Eudocia comes to Constantinople and converts to Christianity before marrying Theodosius II. In Faith L. Justice’s The Theodosian Women Omnibus, Together they follow Galla Placidia, Pulcheria and Aelia Eudocia from the divided empire after Theodosius I through the Visigothic sack of Rome and the long reign of Theodosius II.