Roman Imperial ARCADIUS 383-408 AD, rare ANTIOCH MINT. Arcadius(Greek:Arkadios;c.377 1 May 408) wasRoman emperorfrom 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of theAugustusTheodosius I(r.379395) and his first wifeAelia Flaccilla, and the brother ofHonorius(r.393423). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of the empire from 395, when their father died, while Honorius ruled the west. A weak ruler, his reign was dominated by a series of powerful ministers and by his wife,Aelia Eudoxia.Arcadius was born in 377 inHispania, the eldest son ofTheodosius IandAelia Flaccilla, and brother ofHonorius. On 16 January 383,[7]his father declared the five-year-old Arcadius anAugustusand co-ruler for the eastern half of the Empire. Ten years later a corresponding declaration made Honorius Augustus of thewestern half. Arcadius passed his early years under the tutelage of the rhetoricianThemistiusandArsenius Zonaras, a monk.Both of Theodosius' sons were young and inexperienced, susceptible to being dominated by ambitious subordinates.[8]In 394 Arcadius briefly exercised independent power with the help of his advisors inConstantinople, when his father Theodosius went west to fightArbogastesandEugenius.[9]Theodosius died on 17 January 395, and Arcadius, still aged only 17, fell under the influence of thepraetorian prefect of the East,Rufinus. Honorius, aged 10, was consigned to the guardianship of themagister militumStilicho.[10]Rufinus ambitiously sought to marry his daughter to Arcadius and thereby gain the prestige of being the emperor's father-in-law.[11]However, when the prefect was called away to business inAntioch(where according toZosimus, Rufinus had Lucianus, thecomes orientis, flogged to death with whips loaded with lead),[12]Arcadius was shown a painting ofAelia Eudoxia, the daughter of the deceasedFrankishmagister militum per orientem,Bauto. Seeing the young emperor's interest in Eudoxia,Eutropius, the eunuchpraepositus sacri cubiculi, arranged for the two to meet. Arcadius fell in love and a marriage was quickly arranged, with the ceremony performed on 27 April 395.[13]According to Zosimus, Rufinus assumed that his daughter was still to be the bride, only discovering otherwise when the nuptial procession went to Eudoxia's residence rather than his own.[14]The rise of Eudoxia, facilitated by a general who was a rival of Rufinus, demonstrates the shifting of the centres of power in the eastern court.[15]Such jostling for influence over the malleable emperor would be a recurring feature of Arcadius's reign.[16] The first crisis facing the young Arcadius was the rebellion of theVisigothsin 395, under the command ofAlaric I(r.395410), who sought to take advantage of the accession of two inexperienced Roman emperors.[17]As Alaric marched towards Constantinople, plunderingMacedoniaandThrace, the eastern court could offer no response, as the majority of its army had gone to Italy with Theodosius and was now in the hands of Stilicho.[18]Perhaps sensing an opportunity to exercise power in the eastern half of the empire as well, Stilicho declared that Theodosius had made him guardian over both his sons. He traveled eastward, ostensibly to face Alaric, leading both his own forces and the Gothic mercenaries whom Theodosius had taken west in the civil war with Eugenius. Arcadius and Rufinus felt more threatened by Stilicho than by Alaric;[19]upon landing inThessalyStilicho received an imperial order to send along the eastern regiments, but himself to proceed no further. Stilicho complied, falling back toSalonawhileGainasled the mercenaries to Constantinople.[20]Arcadius and his entourage received Gainas in the Campus Martius, a parade ground adjacent to the city, on 27 November 395. There Rufinus was suddenly assassinated by the Goths, on the orders of Stilicho and possibly with the support of Eutropius.[21]The murder certainly created an opportunity for Eutropius and for Arcadius' wife, Eudoxia, who took Rufinus' place as advisors and guardians of the emperor.[22] While Eutropius consolidated his hold on power in the capital, the distracted government still failed to react to the presence of Alaric inGreece.[23]At first Eutropius may have coordinated with Stilicho around the defence of Illyricum; by 397, when Stilicho personally led a blockade that compelled Alaric to retreat intoEpirus, the atmosphere of the eastern court had changed.[24]As neither Arcadius nor Eutropius was keen to have Stilicho intervening in the affairs of the eastern empire, they provided no further military aid to Stilicho, who then abandoned the blockade of the Visigoths.[25]At Eutropius's urging, Arcadius declared Stilicho to be ahostis publicus, and came to an arrangement with Alaric, making himmagister militum per Illyricum.[26]At around the same time, the eastern court persuadedGildo, themagister utriusque militiae per Africam, to transfer his allegiance from Honorius to Arcadius, causing relations between the two imperial courts to deteriorate further.[27] Eutropius' influence lasted four years, during which time he sought to marginalise the military and promote the civilian offices within the bureaucracy. He brought to trial two prominent military officers,TimasiusandAbundantius.[28]He also had Arcadius introduce two administrative innovations: the running of thecursus publicus(office of postmaster general) and the office in charge of manufacturing military equipment was transferred from the praetorian prefects to themagister officiorum(master of offices). Secondly, the role that Eutropius held, thepraepositus sacri cubiculi(grand chamberlain) was given the rank ofillustris, and therefore equal in rank to the praetorian prefects.[29]In the autumn of 397 he issued a law in Arcadius's name, targeting the Roman military, where any conspiracy involving soldiers or the barbarian regiments against persons holding the rank ofillustriswas considered to be treason, with the conspirators to be sentenced to death, and their descendants to be deprived ofcitizenship.[30] In 398, Eutropius led a successful campaign against theHunsinRoman Armenia. The following year he convinced Arcadius to grant him theconsulship, triggering protests across the empire. For traditionalists, the granting of the consulship to a eunuch and former slave was an insult to the Roman system and other contemporary Romans, and the western court refused to recognize him as consul.[31]The crisis escalated when theOstrogothswho had been settled inAsia Minorby Theodosius I revolted, demanding the removal of Eutropius. The emperor sent two forces againstTribigild, the rebel leader; the first, under an officer named Leo, was defeated. The second force was commanded by Gainas, rival of Eutropius in the Eastern court. He returned to Arcadius and argued that the Ostrogoths could not be defeated, and that it would be sensible to accede to their demand.[32]Arcadius viewed this proposal with displeasure, but was convinced to support it by Eudoxia, who wished to take Eutropius place as the main influence upon the emperor.[33]Arcadius therefore dismissed Eutropius and sent him into exile (17 August 399), before recalling him to face trial and execution during the autumn of 399.[34]The imperial edict issued by Arcadius detailing Eutropius's banishment survives: The Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, Augusti, to Aurelian, Praetorian Prefect. We have added to our treasury all the property of Eutropius, who was formerly thePraepositus sacri cubiculi, having stripped him of his splendour, and delivered the consulate from the foul stain of his tenure, and from the recollection of his name and the base filth thereof; so that, all his acts having been repealed, all time may be dumb concerning him; and that the blot of our age may not appear by the mention of him; and that those who by their valour and wounds extend the Roman borders or guard the same by equity in the maintenance of law, may not groan over the fact that the divine reward of consulship has been befouled and defiled by a filthy monster. Let him learn that he has been deprived of the rank of the patriciate and all lower dignities that he stained with the perversity of his character. That all the statues, all the images whether of bronze or marble, or painted in colours, or of any other material used in artwe command to be abolished in all cities, towns, private and public places, that they may not, as a brand of infamy on our age, pollute the gaze of beholders. Accordingly under the conduct of faithful guards let him be taken to the island of Cyprus, whither let your sublimity know that he has been banished; so that therein guarded with most watchful diligence he may be unable to work confusion with his mad designs.[35] Later reignEdit With Eutropius' fall from power,Gainassought to take advantage of Arcadius's current predicament.[36]He joined the rebel Ostrogoths, and, in a face to face meeting with Arcadius, forced the emperor to make himmagister militum praesentalisand Consul designate for 401.[37]Arcadius also acquiesced when Gainas asked for the dismissal of further officials, such as theurban prefectAurelianus, as well as a place for settlement for his troops in Thrace.[38]However, Arcadius refused to agree to Gainas's demand for anArianchurch in Constantinople for his Gothic mercenaries, following the advice ofJohn Chrysostom, theArchbishop of Constantinople.[39] By July 400, the actions of Gainas had irritated a significant portion of the population of Constantinople to the point that a general riot broke out in the capital.[40]Although Gainas had stationed his troops outside of the capital walls, he was either unable or unwilling to bring them into the capital when many Goths in the city were hunted down and attacked.[41]As many as 7,000 Goths were killed in the rioting; those who took refuge in a church were stoned and burned to death, after they received the emperor's permission, nor was it condemned by the Archbishop of Constantinople, John Chrysostom.[42] Although initially staying his hand (probably through the intervention of the new Praetorian Prefect of the EastCaesarius),[43]Gainas eventually withdrew with his Gothic mercenaries into Thrace and rebelled against Arcadius. He attempted to take his forces across the Hellespont into Asia, but was intercepted and defeated byFravitta, another Goth who held the position ofmagister militum praesentalis. Following his defeat, Gainas fled to theDanubewith his remaining followers, but was ultimately defeated and killed byUldintheHunin Thrace.[44] With the fall of Gainas, the next conflict emerged between Eudoxia and John Chrysostom. The Archbishop was a stern, ascetic individual, who was a vocal critic of all displays of extravagant wealth. But his ire tended to focus especially on wealthy women, and their use of clothing, jewellery and makeup as being vain and frivolous.[45]Eudoxia assumed that Chrysostom's denunciations of extravagance in feminine dress were aimed at her.[46]As the tensions between the two escalated, Chrysostom, who felt that Eudoxia had used her imperial connections to obtain the possessions of the wife of a condemned senator, preached a sermon in 401 in which Eudoxia was openly calledJezebel, the infamous wife of the Israelite kingAhab.[47]Eudoxia retaliated by supporting BishopSeverian of Gabalain his conflict with Chrysostom. As Chrysostom was very popular in the capital, riots erupted in favour of the Archbishop, forcing Arcadius and Eudoxia to publicly back down and beg Chrysostom to revoke Severian's excommunication.[48] Then in 403, Eudoxia saw another chance to strike against the Archbishop, when she threw her support behindTheophilus of Alexandriawho presided over asynodin 403 (theSynod of the Oak) to charge Chrysostom with heresy. Although Arcadius originally supported Chrysostom, the Archbishop's decision not to participate caused Arcadius to change his mind and support Theophilus, resulting in Chrysostom's deposition and banishment.[49]He was called back by Arcadius almost immediately, as the people started rioting over his departure, even threatening to burn the imperial palace.[50]There was an earthquake the night of his arrest, which Eudoxia took for a sign ofGod's anger, prompting her to ask Arcadius for John's reinstatement.[51] Peace was short-lived. In September 403 a silver statue of Eudoxia was erected in theAugustaion, near theMagna Ecclesiachurch. Chrysostom, who was conducting a mass at the time, denounced the noisy dedication ceremonies as pagan and spoke against the Empress in harsh terms: "AgainHerodiasraves; again she is troubled; she dances again; and again desires to receive John's head in a charger",[52]an allusion to the events surrounding the death ofJohn the Baptist. This time Arcadius was unwilling to overlook the insult to his wife; a new synod was called in early 404 where Chrysostom was condemned. Arcadius hesitated until Easter to enforce the sentence, but Chrysostom refused to go, even after Arcadius sent in a squad of soldiers to escort him into exile. Arcadius procrastinated, but by 20 June 404, the emperor finally managed to get the Archbishop to submit, and he was taken away to his place of banishment, this time toAbkhaziain theCaucasus.[53]Eudoxia did not get to enjoy her victory for long, dying later that year.[ With the death of Eudoxia, Arcadius once again fell under the domination of a member of his court, this time the competentAnthemius, thePraetorian Prefect. He would rule in Arcadius's name for the final four years of his reign, seeking to repair the harm done by his predecessors. He attempted to heal the divisions of the past decade by trying to make peace with Stilicho in the West. Stilicho, however, had lost patience with the eastern court, and in 407 encouraged Alaric and the Visigoths to seize thePraetorian prefecture of Illyricumand hand it over to the western empire.[54]Stilicho's plan failed, and soon after, on 1 May 408, Arcadius died.[55]He was succeeded by his young son,Theodosius.[56] Like Constantine the Great and several of his successors, he was buried in theChurch of the Holy Apostles, in aporphyry sarcophagusthat was described in the 10th century byConstantine VII Porphyrogenitusin theDe Ceremoniis