A.D. 381 heretics, pagans, and the dawn of the monotheistic state ( PDFDrive )

The events of the next three years are poorly documented, but they appear to
show Theodosius gradually strengthening his fragile position. 12 Various laws
he promulgated during 379 insist, hardly surprisingly, that taxes and dues be paid
in full and that only fit men, not slaves or riff-raff, be provided by landowners as
their contribution to the army. These laws were issued from a number of small
towns in the Balkans, suggesting that the emperor was on the move in campaigns
that are otherwise unrecorded. His strategy appears to have been to strengthen
the cities the Goths were unable to take and build up resources behind their
walls. There is some evidence that he had a number of tactical successes against
the Goths during 379, but there is no record of any major victory.
In the winter of 379, during which it would have been impossible to fight,
Theodosius moved to Thessalonika, an important city on the Via Egnatia, which
ran across the southern Balkans to Constantinople. Strategically this was a
sensible choice, as the city could be provisioned from the sea and
communications with the rest of the empire were good, but it was an admission
that the northern Balkans were still not under his control. He stayed in the city
well into the following year. A serious illness in February 380 was one reason
for the delay; so close was Theodosius to death that he was baptised by the city’s
bishop, Acholius. (Baptism was often delayed, even by committed Christians, to
shorten the period between its cleansing powers and death.) By the summer he
was recovered, and boosted by the arrival of two legions from Egypt that had
marched overland to the Balkans, he felt strong enough to risk a confrontation
with the Goths, still under the leadership of Fritigern. It does not appear to have
gone well, and his troops suffered further losses. Fresh demands for emergency
taxes and pleas to Gratian for more troops are recorded. Later in the summer,
Gratian and Theodosius met again, at Sirmium, to plan tactics, before
Theodosius finally entered his capital, Constantinople in a stage-managed
triumph in November 380 (see p.91). It seems largely to have been a propaganda
show; there was little sign yet of any real progress in regaining control of the
occupied provinces.
In these months, however, the emperor appears to have reassessed his
position. He realised that it was unlikely he would ever defeat the Goths, and
even if he did there would simply be new raids in the future. In 381, in fact, there
are reports of Huns crossing the Danube border. But something had to be done as
the continual ravaging of the Goths was causing immense hardship and local
populations were beginning to collaborate with the invaders. A compromise
peace was inevitable. In January 381, Theodosius reverted to a more conciliatory