Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

Chapter 4: Theodosius 379-395
The death of Valens and his officers, as well as the near total destruction of the
eastern army at Adrianople on 9 August 378 obliged the surviving regime to find a
replacement from sources that they may not have otherwise considered. They chose
Flavius Theodosius, son of the more famous and successful general of the same name
who had been quietly living in Spain since his father’s execution in 375. 1
Theodosius had a reasonably long reign of almost exactly sixteen years, but
until the last two and a half years, when he became sole Augustus, he was the junior
Augustus in the imperial college, first to Gratian and after his death in August 383 to
Valentinian II until his suicide in May 392. In practice Theodosius was more powerful
than the juvenile Valentinian, but in strict theory Theodosius remained junior to
Valentinian's dynasty. He was also the first emperor since the third century whose
family was not from the Balkans. Theodosius had to assert his authority over the
empire twice; firstly when he was appointed by Gratian and again after the defeat of
the temporarily recognised Maximus in 388. 2 Theodosius issued sixty-five laws on
religious affairs throughout his reign, far more than any of his predecessors. Thirty
five concerned or affected to a greater or lesser extent Christianity, the Church and
clerics; 3 twenty one were directed against heretics and heresies; 4 four were directed
1
Theod. 5.5.1-2; Aur. Vict. 47.3 on the accession. Amm. Marc. 31.13.18-19 on the losses suffered in the
battle. See Williams and Friell (1994) 13-22 for details of the Gothic situation prior to Adrianople and
23-35 for Theodosius' background and stabilisation post Adrianople. They provide an analysis of the
battle at 176-181; Matthews (1975) 88-100 covers the same ground with a more detailed discussion of
why Theodosius was proclaimed emperor. See Errington (1996) who argues that Theodosius was
actually recalled in 377 after a power struggle which resulted in his father’s death and in turn the death
or dismissal of his father’s enemies. Errington notes that Flavius Eucherius (Eucherius 2 PLRE 1.288),
the brother of the murdered Theodosius was Gratian’s Com es Sacrarum Largitionum by March 377.
Flavius Theodosius 3 is the father, PLRE 1.902-904, Flavius Theodosius 4, the son PLRE 1.904-905
2
McLynn (1994) 109 emphasises Theodosius' initial military dependence on Gratian and the new
regime’s early practice of minimising Gratian’s role.
3
CTh. 16.1.2 of 28 February 380; 16.2.25 of 28 February 380; 9.35.4 of 27 March 380; Const. Sirm. 7 of
Easter 380/1; 16.2.26 of 31 March 381; 11.39.8 of 29 June 381; 9.17.6 of 30 July 381; 16.1.3 of 30 July
381; 12.1.104 of 7 November 383; Const. Sirm. 3 of 4 February 384; 11.39.10 of 25 July 385/6; 16.1.4 of
23 January 386; 9.17.7 of 26 February 386; Const. Sirm. 8 of 22 April 386; 12.1.115 of 31 December 386;
16.4.2 of 16 June 388; 2.8.19 of 7 August 389; 9.35.5 of 6 September 389; 12.1.121 of 17 June 390; 16.2.27
163