JOVIAN, V A L E N T I N I A N , AND

V A L E N S (3 6 3 - 7 8)

Stranded in Persian territory and short of supplies, the leading commanders of

the eastern army selected an officer named Jovian to succeed Julian. He extricated

his forces from Persia by substantial concessions to the Persians, but died in 364

before being able to secure his position; by then, however, he had restored to the

Christians the position they had enjoyed up to the reign of Julian (Curran 1998:

78-80). It was a group of senior officers once again that assembled, this time

at Nicaea, to determine the next emperor. Their choice fell on another officer,

Valentinian, who within five weeks appointed his brother Valens co-emperor. While

the former moved westwards-to defend the Gallic provinces from barbarian invasions,

the latter had to deal first with an attempted usurpation by Julian's relative

Procopius, and then with groups of Tervingi and Greuthungi (tribes which would

soon combine to be known as Goths) on the Danube, who were threatening Roman

territory in defiance of an earlier treaty concluded with Constantine I. Three years

of indecisive warfare (367-9) led to a new treaty, more favourable to the two groups

(Heather 1991:115-21; Lenski 2002:127-52). While Valentinian continued to campaign

against the Alemanni on the Rhine frontier, Valens moved to Antioch, from

where he intended to counter Persian encroachments into Armenia. His plans came

to nothing, however, as the situation on the Danube frontier worsened. Valentinian

died in 375 in the course of negotiations with the Quadi; shortly afterwards, his

young son Valentinian II was proclaimed emperor, joining his half-brother Gratian

who had been raised to the rank of Augustus in 367. Meanwhile, the Greuthungi

and Tervingi, subject to attacks by Huns as they pushed westwards across modernday

Ukraine, insistently urged the Romans to allow them to cross the Danube

and enter Thrace. Valens reluctantly agreed to permit the Tervingi to cross into

Roman territory, where they were nevertheless treated with disdain by the local

Roman commanders. Armed conflict soon broke out, in which the Tervingi gained

the upper hand; Valentinians son Gratian therefore moved east in order to help

retrieve the situation. In 378 Valens arrived on the scene with the eastern field army;

in August he encountered the assembled Gothic forces at Adrianople. Without

waiting for the arrival of Gratians army, Valens engaged the enemy and suffered

a resounding defeat. The emperor died in battle, along with perhaps two-thirds of

the eastern field army (Wolfram 1988: 117-31; Heather 1991: 122-47; Curran 1998:

91-101; Lenski 2002:320-67).

THE D Y N A S T Y OF THEODOSIOS (3 7 9 - 4 5 0)

The death of Gratian's uncle Valens left the eastern empire without a ruler. He

therefore appointed as co-ruler a former general named Theodosios to take charge.

Drastic measures were required to restore the strength of the eastern armies. Conscription

was tightened up, but this in itself was insufficient. The only solution lay

in coming to terms with the invading forces, accepting their entry onto Roman

soil and allowing them to stay; in return, they would be expected to serve in the

Roman army when called upon. This did not represent a change in Roman policy

insofar as the employment of barbarians was concerned: they had always served

in the Roman army, in increasing quantities over the fourth century, and had been

settled on Roman territory. But never before had such a large number been accepted

en bloc, nor was there any precedent for a group being admitted to Roman territory

and conserving its autonomy, as appears to have occurred in this case. It was a risky

decision, but it is likely that Theodosios had little choice, such was the turmoil

in the Balkans. The agreement—in fact, a formal surrender—was concluded in

382, and it allowed Theodosios to take a tougher line with other barbarian groups

who attempted to cross the frontier (Wolfram 1988: 131-5; Heather 1991: 147-75;

Blockley 1992: 39-42). A few years later, in 387, a peace treaty with Persia settled

the main source of friction between the two powers by partitioning Armenia, ushering

in over a century of largely peaceful relations (Blockley 1992: 44-5; Greatrex

2000).

The reign of Theodosios is pivotal in the development of the eastern empire. As

has already been noted, the emperor took a far more strident line in condemning

paganism than had his predecessors. He also acted quickly to ensure that orthodox

Christianity prevailed in the eastern empire: both Constantius and Valens had

supported forms of Arianism, and the majority of the leading bishops of the eastern

empire were Arians. A council was held in Constantinople in 381 to confirm this

policy; among its decisions was the declaration that the bishop of Constantinople

should be second in precedence to the bishop of Rome on the grounds that

Constantinople was the new Rome, a position reaffirmed at Chalcedon in 451.

Although the sees of Alexandria and Antioch had far more distinguished pasts

and apostolic connections, and despite their objections and those of other sees,

the steadily increasing importance of the imperial city is clear, as emerges also from

the extensive building projects carried out by the emperor (Dagron 1974: 436-87;

Meyendorff 1989: 179-84; Maraval 1998a: 102-4; Leppin 2003: 188-201; Errington

2006: 229-30). In the political sphere, it is possible to observe the beginnings of

eastern independence from the west and even ascendancy. Although Theodosios

owed his position to Gratian, he did not hesitate to act without consulting his

colleague: in early 383, for instance, he raised up his son Arkadios to the rank

of Augustus. Later the same year, Gratian was executed by Magnus Maximus, a

usurper from Britain who soon gained control of most of the western empire and

who initially received recognition from Theodosios. Within a few years, Valentinian

II was forced to flee to Thessalonike to escape Maximus' forces. Theodosios reacted

by undertaking an expedition to unseat Maximus. It was a complete success, and

in 388 Valentinian was restored to the western throne. But just four years later he

was dead, and another usurper, Eugenius, had seized the western empire, promoted

by Arbogast, formerly one of Valentinian's generals. Although he made efforts to

come to terms with Theodosios, eastern forces once again crossed the Balkans,

defeating Eugenius' forces at the River Frigidus in September 394 (Matthews

1975: 223-52; Curran 1998: 104-10; McLynn 1994: 292-6; Leppin 2003: 87-115,

205-20).

Theodosios died at Milan in January 395, but was survived by his two sons,

Honorius and Arkadios, who had already been raised to the rank of Augustus.

Both were young at the time of their father's death and relied heavily throughout

their reigns on their ministers. This led initially to considerable friction between

East and West, for Stilicho, the magister utriusque militiae (the master of both army

groups, i.e. infantry and cavalry) in the west, considered himself the guardian not

only of Honorius, the western emperor, but also of Arkadios; neither of the two

ministers who dominated Arkadios' court at the start of his reign, the praetorian

prefect Rufinus and the praepositus sacri cubiculi (the grand chamberlain of the

palace, an office of great importance in the fifth century) Eutropios accepted this

claim. The balance of power seemed initially to favour the western empire: much

of the eastern army remained there in the wake of Eugenius' defeat, and Stilicho

proved to be a skilled commander. In his campaigns in the Balkans in the late 390s

he was able to outmanoeuvre Alaric's Goths on several occasions, without, however,

ever inflicting a decisive defeat on them. Arkadios' government preferred a more

pliant response to the invaders, according Alaric a high command and undertaking

to pay his men as Roman allies (foederati) (Mitchell 2007: 89-95). The influence of

the Goths in the eastern empire reached its acme at this point, culminating in the

brief success of Gainas in imposing himself as Arkadios' leading general in 400. His

regime was short-lived and ended in the massacre in Constantinople of the entire

Gothic population (Liebeschuetz 1990: 92-125; Heather 1991: 193-208; Cameron

and Long 1993). Henceforth civilian officials would exert greater influence in the

eastern empire, whereas in the west generals continued to dominate, eventually

undermining imperial rule altogether. The ability of the eastern government to

secure the loyalty of a considerable number of (originally) non-Roman generals and

soldiers is also significant: it was the Gothic general Fravitta who prevented Gainas

from crossing into Asia Minor after he had left Constantinople in 400 (Liebeschuetz

1990:126-31; Elton 1996a: 136-51; Elton 1996b; Lee 2000: 59-60).

When Arkadios died in 408, his son, Theodosios II, Augustus since 402, became

sole emperor. Both Arkadios and Theodosios, who reigned until 450, spent almost

their entire reigns in Constantinople: it was during the fifth century that the city

securely established itself as the capital of the eastern empire, indissolubly tied to

the emperor and court. New fora and cisterns were built, along with the massive

Theodosian walls, 1.5 km beyond the walls of Constantine's city, which were largely

completed by 413 (Mango 1990: 42-50; Dagron 1974: 85-115; McCormick 2000:

136-42). Theodosios himself appears to have left the running of government to a

series of ministers, such as the praetorian prefect Anthemios and the praepositi sacri

cubiculi Antiochos and Chrysaphios; his sister Pulcheria also played an important

role (Holum 1982; Lee 2000: 34-6; McCormick 2000: 145-56). It was during the

reign of Theodosios that church politics came to take centre stage in the empire,

culminating, under his successor, in the Council of Chalcedon (451). A new doctrinal

dispute emerged, centring on the nature of Christ—whether human, divine, or

a union of both. For a while it seemed as though the view of Nestorios, the bishop

of Constantinople from 428 to 431, which privileged Christ's human nature, might

prevail. But the third ecumenical council, convened by Theodosios at Ephesos

in 431, condemned Nestorios' views, a decision accepted by the emperor. Under

the influence of the Alexandrian Church, led by Cyril (412-44) then Dioskoros

(4 4 4 - 5 1), more emphasis came to be placed on the divine nature of Christ; this

view was ratified by a further council at Ephesos in 449, a meeting which came to

be known as the 'Robber Council'. Two years later, the Council of Chalcedon, just

outside Constantinople, was summoned by Marcian. There the assembled bishops,

undoubtedly influenced by the emperor and his wife Pulcheria, approved a more

moderate definition of Christ's dual nature. Nevertheless, this attempt to achieve

a compromise between the different christological standpoints failed to win public

support in many parts of the eastern empire, notably in Egypt and Syria (Frend

1972:1-49; Meyendorff 1989:165-87; Fraisse-Coue 1998; Maraval 1998a; Allen 2000:

811-14; Gaddis and Price 2005: 9-51; Millar 2006:130-91).

While the fifth and sixth centuries were in general a time of prosperity for much

of the eastern empire, notably the Near East (Foss 1995 and 1997; Ward-Perkins

2000: 320-32), the Balkan provinces suffered heavily (but cf. Whitby 2000). In the

430s and 440s the power of the Huns, now installed close to the Roman Danube

frontier, grew enormously, allowing them to subjugate numerous other peoples.

Their leader, Attila, was able to wrest titles and payments from the eastern government,

as well as to dominate the region (Blockley 1992: 59-67; Thompson 1996:

81-136). Even once he had led his forces against the western empire in 451 and 452,

the situation in the region improved little, for his death in 453 led to the fragmentation

of his empire. As a result, numerous barbarian groups now attempted to seize

territories to settle, several of them in the Balkans (Heather 1996:124-9). Despite

the difficulties in the Balkans during Theodosios' reign, eastern forces did intervene

on occasion in the west, notably in 425 to install Valentinian III, the nephew of

Honorius, on the throne, ousting the usurper John; other expeditions, aimed at

curbing the depredations of the Vandal fleet based in North Africa and designed

more to protect the eastern empire than to help the West, were less successful

(Blockley 1992: 60; Lee 2000:39).

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