Page:Constantinople by Brodribb.djvu/86

 early infancy, was the successor of Arcadius. This was Theodosius II., or Theodosius the Younger, as he is sometimes called, by way of distinction from his grandfather. His reign covers the first half of the fifth century, and is one of very considerable interest. His sister, Pulcheria, only two years older than himself, appears to have moulded his character and manners. She may be said to have been his guardian, and practically empress. With ecclesiastical historians she is a peculiar favourite. She devoted herself to a life of celibacy and of charitable works, and her vow was recorded in a golden tablet in the great church of St. Sophia. She was thoroughly orthodox in her opinions, strict and devout in her life, and liberal on an imperial scale to the Church and to the poor. With all this she combined a keen interest in the welfare of the empire, and she made herself really responsible for its administration. Her brother was a mere puppet in her hands. She treated him as a child all his life, and though she taught him how a prince should behave himself on state occasions, and drilled him thoroughly in what we call "deportment," she does not seem to have encouraged him to rise to a position at all worthy of a Roman emperor. In fact, she kept him in leading-strings, and he grew up a poor weak-minded man, of whom the best that could be said was that he was gentle and amiable. "Idle amusements and unprofitable studies," says Gibbon, "occupied his unlimited leisure." It is almost surprising to find that he was fond of hunting. He painted and carved after a mechanical fashion with the most patient industry, and, like his