This great hero was a strong defender of the Orthodox faith. In 393, he suppressed the Olympic Games, which were over a millennium old. Emperor Theodosius and his wife, Aelia Facillia, had three children:

Flavius Theodosius Augustus (11 January 347 – 17 January 395), Theodosius I, or Theodosius the Great, was the last Roman emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire. (Between 379 and 395) before it split into two empires: the Eastern and the Western. Emperor Theodosius I the Great decreed Christianity as the only religion in the Roman state. The edict banned all pagan cults, thus supplementing an earlier decree of 391. Which no longer allowed temple attendance and sacrifices.

In the winter of 394, Theodosius fell ill with dropsy and died a few weeks later on 17 January 395. The funeral took place on 27 January 395, celebrated by Ambrose. Who pronounced the “De Obitu Teodosii” with an Orthodox Christian rite. He was, however, worshiped according to the ancient pagan Roman tradition.

Biography of Theodosius

When was Emperor Theodosius born?

Following the death of Emperor Valens in the Battle of Adrianople. He received Macedonia and Dacia under his command.

Emperor Theodosius was born on November 11, 347 AD, in the Caucasus region of northwestern Hispania. Being the son of General Flavius Theodosius, Theodosius followed the path of arms. But gave up after the execution of his father in 376.

Using his energetic and authoritarian spirit, Theodosius brought to the fore the strengthening of borders by formulating a series of reforms. Their purpose was to defend the Goth and Persian territories.

What is Theodosius best known for?

After his coronation as Augustus, Theodosius, and Gratian. Who was the emperor of the western territory issued a decree in 380 against all heresies.

Emperor Theodosius became famous in history for implementing Orthodox Christianity as the official state religion. With all his faith, Emperor Theodosius tried to be lenient with both pagans and heretics. But without success. Because of this, he decided to take harsh measures against them.

He ordered the destruction of the temples and the elimination of the Olympic Games, which were more than a thousand years old. In a short period, the emperor managed to stop the pagan sacrifices. He was finally ending all paganism in both Rome and Alexandria.

What did Emperor Theodosius do?

Before being declared emperor of the eastern empire, Theodosius gained the status of magister million per Illyricum thanks to a campaign led by him at the urging of Gratian and Valentinian II.

Emperor Theodosius adopted a series of measures in both law and finance. After many battles with the Visigoths occupying part of the Balkan Peninsula, Theodosius signed a peace treaty with them in 382, naming them inhabitants of the Thracian region between the Balkans and the Danube.

Jumping to Valentinian II’s aid, Theodosius defeats Maximus in 388, after which he is executed.

After the death of Valentinian II, Theodosius remains the sole emperor of the entire Roman territory and, indeed, the last emperor in this way. Arbogast was against this, declaring Flavius Eugenius emperor in the west. Finally, Theodosius waged a campaign against him. According to a chronicle, the fight did not go well on the first day. The next day, however, Theodosius saw two angels on white horses in the sky, and his army mustered up the courage to defeat Eugenius.

Was Theodosius a good emperor?

The image of the emperor Theodosius, named “the Great” after his death, marks the fourth century. He was considered the savior of the Roman Empire by the Goths. His actions led in time to the appearance of various sources that distorted the emperor’s image.

The ancient sources from Theodosius’s reign are numerous and wildly different, but all of them assert that Theodosius was a good emperor. These contradict each other, which is why the emperor is given a somewhat incomplete picture.

This difficult status would herald the division of the Empire into two significant territories: the Western or Latin Roman Imperius and the Eastern or Greek-Roman Empire.

Why did Theodosius declare Christianity the official religion?

In the second century, Christian polytheists and believers began a degenerate conflict based on the accusation of incestuous orgies and that Christians were cannibals of children. 

During the reign of Theodosius, all these conflicts between polytheists and Christians intensified. This led Emperor Theodosius to proclaim Christianity as the official state religion, ban paganism of any kind, destroy all temples, and finally ban the Olympic Games.

Thus, Christianity has proven to be one of the most important religions in the world, with a history of over 2000 years. The Christian religion managed, despite all obstacles, to spread throughout the empire and eventually become its official religion. Historians believe that both the structure of the kingdom and the persecutions that took place over time played a vital role in the spread of Christianity.

Primary Takeaways

1. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the Roman Empire as the sole ruler of the two territories.
2. Emperor Theodosius was the one who formalized Christianity following the conflicts between polytheists and Christians.
3. After heavy fighting with the Visigoths, who had occupied part of the Balkan peninsula, Theodosius agreed with them, signing a peace treaty in 382, establishing them as federates in the province of Thrace, between the Balkans and the Danube. After this, Theodosius had to come to the aid of Valentinian II (co-emperor in the western parts of the Roman Empire) against the usurper Clemens Maximus. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, with his authoritarian attitude, emperor Theodosius managed to rule the Roman empire for the last time in its entirety. Being a Christian, he managed to end the conflicts between religions by establishing Christianity and through the mandates given by Gratian. Politically, he managed to save the empire from the Goths.

On the military front, he led the battle against Eugenius, from which he emerged victorious. Thus his gentleness and authority resulted in the empire’s unification for the last time.