Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/1076

Rh 1064 TIIEODOSIUS. the emperor as their sovereign, but probably re- taining jurisdiction in all disputes among them- Belves. The chieftains still governed their fol- lowers, but there was no kingly dignity. Forty thousand Goths were kept in the service of the Eastern empire, under the title of Foederati, and were distinguished from the other troops by golden collars, better pay, and more licence. But though the Goths were thus converted from enemies into dubious allies, their settlement within the limits of the empire is justly viewed as the immediate cause of the downfal of the western division. In the civil war against Maximus (a. d. 388), some of those barbarians who were in his army listened to the proposals of Maximus, but their treachery being discovered, they fled into the marshes and forests of Macedonia, where they were pursued by Theodosius and cut to pieces. Maximus, a native of Spain, like Theodosius, was living in Britain in retirement or in exile. When this province revolted against Gratian, Maximus was chosen their leader, and he invaded Gaul with a powerful army. Gratian fled from Paris to Lyon, where he was overtaken by An- dragalhius, the commander of the cavalry of Maxi- mus and put to death (a. d. 383). Maximus sent an envoy to Theodosius to explain and justify his conduct, to excuse the assassination of Gratian as having been accomplished without his orders, and to offer to the emperor of the East peace or war. A war with the fierce soldiers of the north would perhaps have been an unequal contest for Theo- dosius, whose dominions had recently suffered from the ravages of the Goths ; and reluctantly, as we may conclude, he made a treaty with Maximus, whom he acknowledged emperor of the countries north of the Alps, but he secured to Valentinian the brother of Gratian, Italy, Africa, and western II- lyricura. Thus the empire was divided into three parts ; one of which, an empire won by usurpation, consisted of three rich countries, — Spain, Gaul, and Britain. Theodosius was the son of a Christian father, whose ancestors acknowledged the creed of Nicaea ; and next to Constantine he became the great glory of the Christian church. The merits of Gratian secured him from the orthodox Christians a rank equivalent to that of a saint ; and after his death they found a worthy successor to his ortho- doxy in the more vigorous emperor of the East. Theodosius was not baptized until the end of the first year of his reign, when he was admonished by a serious illness no longer to delay this cere- mony. In A. D. 380, before he commenced opera- tions against the Goths, he was baptized at Thes- Balonica by the archbishop Ascolius, in the orthodox faith of the Trinity ; and his baptism was im- mediately followed by a solemn edict which fixed the faith of his subjects (Tillemont, Hisloire des Empereurs, vol. v. p. 198 ; Cod. Theod. 16. tit. 1. B. 2), and branded with the name of heretics all who dissented from the imperial creed. The edict de- clared '* according to the discipline of the apostles, and the doctrine of the gospel, let us believe the sole deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, under an equal Majesty and a pious Trinity : we authorise the followers of this doctrine to assume the title of Catholic Christians ; and as we judge that all others are extravagant madmen, we brand them with the name of heretics, and declare that their conventicles etuiU no longer usurp the THEODOSIUS. respectable appellation of churches: besides the condemnation of divine justice, they must expect to suffer the severe penalties which our authority, guided by heavenly wisdom, shall think proper to inflict on them " (Gibbon, vol. v. c. 27). The faith which Theodosius so ardently embraced can hardly be supposed to be the result of a subtle inquiry into the metaphysical distinction between the sameness of substance or strict homoousian doctrine of Athanasius, and the similarity of substance in the Father and the Son, or the homoiousian doctrine in which some of the Arians sought refuge. A singular anecdote is told of Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium and afterwards a saint, who admi- nistered to Theodosius a practical lesson on the homoousian doctrine. It was in A. d, 383, just after Theodosius had raised his son Arcadius to the rank of Augustus, and the two emperors were seated on a throne to receive the homage of their subjects. Amphilochius saluted Theodosius with reverence ; his son he addressed with the fami- liarity of an equal. The emperor, indignant at this rudeness, ordered the bishop to be dragged from his presence, when he exclaimed, " Such is the treatment, emperor, which the King of heaven has prepared for those impious men who affect to worship the Father, but who refuse to acknowledge the equal majesty of his divine Son." Theodosius embraced the bishop, and never forgot the lesson. Arcadius was at this time about six years of age. Constantinople was the head-quarters of Arian- ism at the time of the accession of Theodosius ; but his baptism in the orthodox faith and his edict gave the Catholics hopes of their supremacy being re-established. The emperor entered Con- stantinople with his army, and offered Damophilus the Arian prelate the alternative of subscribing to the creed of Nicaea or of resignation. Damophilus resigned his dignities, and retired into exile .and poverty. Gregory of Nazianzus, who had laboured hard to restore the Catholic faith at Constantinople, was placed on the archiepiscopal throne which Damophilus had left vacant. Early in a. d. 381, Theodosius declared his intention to expel from the churches both bishops and clergy who should refuse to profess the creed of Nicaea ; and SaporJ his lieutenant, was armed with full powers to effecif a change, which was accomplished without disturt ance in all the Eastern empire. In the month May (a. d. 381) a meeting of one hundred and fifty bishops who formed the first general count of Constantinople, and the second of the oeci menical general councils, was assembled to confiri and complete the creed that had been established by the council of Nicaea. The council had explain some things which were ambiguous, and dispose of the sect of the Macedonians, who, the heresy of homoiousianism, added that of a belie that the Holy Ghost was created {kticttov)* Th< council declared the equal divinity of the Holj Ghost, the third person in the Trinity, which do trine has prevailed in the Eastern church without interruption to the present time. After the death of Meletius, Gregory of Nazianzus presided this council, and he has left a picture of the tui bulent and disorderly proceedings which cha terised its close. Theodosius, after establishing the supremacy ture of this heresy.
 * Gibbon seems to have misunderstood the