Theodosius II

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Flavius Theodosius (10 April, 401 – July 28, 450), known in English as Theodosius II, was an Eastern Roman Emperor (reign 408-450), mostly known for the law code bearing his name, the Codex Theodosianus, and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) built during his reign.

Life

The eldest son of Aelia Eudoxia and Eastern 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. He ordered the execution of Gamaliel VI, the Nasi of the Jewish Sanhedrin in 425 for authorising the building of new synagogues, and abolished the office.

On the death of his father Arcadius in 408, Theodosius became emperor. Because of his minority however, real power was exercised by the praetorian prefect of the East Anthemius until his dismissal in 414. It was under Anthemius' supervision that the Theodosian land walls of Constantinople were constructed.

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.

Theodosius' Law Code

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.

See also

• House of Theodosius
• Colossus of Barletta

External links

• 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

Books

• Fergus Miller, A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief Under Theodosius II, University of California Press

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