The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY: BOOK I 47
They say that both Claudian and Cyrus the poets were conspicuous then,
that Cyrus also ascended the supreme seat of the prefects which our
predecessors called the prefect of the court, and that he commanded the
western forces when Carthage was conquered by the Vandals and
Geiseric was leader of the barbarians. 169
20 Now, this Theodosius married Eudocia after she had partaken of the
saving baptism; she was an Athenian by birth, well-spoken and beautiful
in appearance; the intermediary for him was the empress Pulcheria, his
sister. 170 By this woman a child was born to him, Eudoxia, whom subsequently,
when she reached the age of marriage, the emperor Valentinian
betrothed; he set out from the elder Rome and came to the city of
Constantine. 171 Some time later, when Eudocia was travelling towards
the holy city of Christ our God, she came here and in a public speech to
the populace here she concluded her speech with this line, [29]
of 421/2 was narrated by Olympiodorus, a historian whom Evagrius does not mention, that
of 440^2 by Priscus.
169 This poetic duo is somewhat odd, and re£ects Evagrius’ vague awareness of ¢fthcentury
a¡airs; both authors were Christians, but neither was renowned for his beliefs,
unlike Isidore and Synesius who are discussed in i.15. Although Claudian came from
Egypt and wrote some Greek works (e.g. a Gigantomachy of which fragments survive), he
is famous for his Latin panegyrics composed in Italy during Honorius’ reign, mainly for the
emperor and his principal supporter, Stilicho; he probably died before 408. For full discussion,
see Alan Cameron, Claudian.
Cyrus was also an Egyptian, from Panopolis, and came to prominence at Constantinople
through the patronage of the empress Eudocia; he was twice urban prefect, and was distinguished
for holding the urban and praetorian prefectures concurrently in 439^41. Like
Eudocia he was a victim of the eunuch Chrysaphius, and fell from favour in 441 (Alan
Cameron, ‘Empress’ 254^70; in 443 according to Holum, Empresses 192); he was relegated
to Cotyaeum, where he was made bishop, but returned to Constantinople after Theodosius’
death. For his career, see PLRE II. 336^9 s.v. Cyrus 7 (correcting Evagrius’ e ‘speri¤ on to
e ‘o“˛on, ‘western’ to ‘eastern’, since Cyrus never held o⁄ce in the West); also Alan Cameron,
‘Empress’ 221^5.
Carthage fell to the Vandals on 19 October 439. Geiseric had led the Vandals into Africa
in 429, a year after becoming king, and he ruled until 477.
170 A long and somewhat romantic account of Pulcheria’s discovery of Eudocia as wife
for her brother is recorded in Malalas, 352:8^355:10; the marriage was celebrated on 7 June
421. Holum, Empresses 112^21; Alan Cameron, ‘Empress’ 270^9.
171 Eudoxia was born on 2 January 423, and betrothed to the ¢ve-year-old Valentinian
in 424; the marriage was celebrated on 29 October 437.