Theodosius II
Flavius Theodosius (April,
401 â€"
July 28,
450), known in English as
Theodosius II, was an
Eastern Roman Emperor, mostly known for the law code bearing his name, the
Codex Theodosianus.
The eldest son of Eudoxia and Emperor
Arcadius, Theodosius was heavily influenced by his eldest sister
Pulcheria, who pushed him towards
Eastern Christianity. Pulcheria was the primary driving power behind the emperor and many of her views became official policy. These included her
anti-Semitic view which resulted in the destruction of
synagogues.
On the death of his father Arcadius in
408, Theodosius became emperor.
In June
421, Theodosius married the poet
Aelia Eudocia. They had a daughter,
Licinia Eudoxia, whose marriage with the
Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III marked the re-unification of the two halves of the Empire, even if for a short time. Theodosius created the
University of Constantinople, and died in 450 as the result of a riding accident.
 |
Solidus minted in Thessalonica to celebrate the marriage of Western Emperor Valentinian III to Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of the Theodosius II. On the reverse, the three of them in wedding dress. |
In
429, Theodosius appointed a commission to collect all of the laws since the reign of
Constantine I, and create a fully formalized system of law. This plan was left unfinished, but the work of a second commission that met in Constantinople, assigned to collect all of the general legislations and bring them up to date was completed, and their collection published as the
Codex Theodosianus in
438. The law code of Theodosius II, summarizing edicts promulgated since Constantine, provided a basis for the law code of Emperor
Justinian I in the following century.
*
House of Theodosius*
Colossus of Barletta*
Reign of Theodosius II (chapter of
J. B. Bury's History of the Later Roman Empire)
*
Theodosian Code: Sections concerning religious observances (English)
*
George Long, "Codex Theodosianus" *
Nathan, Geoffrey, "Theodosius II (408-450 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis
