A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

THEODOSIUS. THEODOSIUS. 1069
Magi. This persecution, begun at the close of the in Moesia; they broke through the Illyrian frontier,
reign of Yezdigerd, was continued under his suc- the fortresses of which offered only a feeble recessor; and some Christian fugitives crossed the sistance, destroyed Sirmium, Singidunum (Belfrontiers into the Roman territories to seek pro- grade), Sardica, and other towns, and extended
tection. The Persian king claimed the fugitives, their ravages into Thrace. Theodosius recalled
but his demand was refused; and this, added to the troops from Sicily which he had sent against
other causes of dispute, kindled a war between the Genseric king of the Vandals, and collected from
two empires. Theodosius was not a soldier, and Asia and Europe all the men that he could
the war was carried on for about two years by his muster; but his generals were unable to direct this
general Ardaburius, with no important results. force efficiently, and after several defeats they
The defence of Theodosiopolis in Mesopotamia retreated towards Constantinople, which alone, of
has imllortalised the name of its warrior bishop all the cities between the Archipelago and the
Eunomlus. The town had been besieged by the Euxine, remained for the protection of the emperor.
enemy for some time, but the bishop and his flock The history of the ravages of Attila comprehends
stoutly held out, and destroyed the wooden towers several years, and they were apparently interrupted
of the enemy. The obstinate resistance of the by intervals of peace, for it was not till A.D. 447,
place provoked thie blasphemy of a Persian prince, the year of the great earthquake which destroyed
who threatened to burn the temple of God when he part of the walls of Constantiniople and threw down
took the town. The bishop, shocked at his im- fiftyseven towers, that the Huns approached the
pious threats, pointed at him a balista, which bore capital, and peace was finally made. In A. D. 447
the potent name of St. Thomas, and the formidable or 448 Theodosius concluded a disgraceful peace
machine discharged a stone which struck the blas- with the king of the Huns, to whom was given up
phemer dead. Upon this the king of Persia lost a territory on the Danube extending from Singiheart, and withdrew his troops. (Tillemont, Hist. dunum to Novae, in the diocese of Thrace, and
des Eminpeeurs, vol. vi. c. 13.) fifteen days' journey in breadth. The annual subSocrates, the chief authority for the history of sidy that had hitherto been paid to Attila, was
the Persian war, says that Theodosius, notwith- increased from seven hundred pounds of gold to
standing his success in the war, was the first to twenty-one hundred, and six thousand pounds of
propose terms of peace. A trace for one hundred gold were to be paid on the spot. Theodosius had
years was concluded between the Persians and the exhausted his treasury by extravagant expenditure,
Romans. The kingdom of Armenia, now extin- and his unfortunate subjects, who had been pillaged
guished, was divided between the Persians and the by the Huns, were pillaged again by this unwarRomans, an arrangement which gave to the empire like and feeble emperor, to supply the demands of
of the East anew and extensive province. The divi- the barbarian conqueror. Attila also required all
sion of Armenia probably followed the conclusion of a the deserters from his camp to be given up, and he
second Persian war, A. D. 441.'In A. D. 423 died claimed back, without any ransom, all his men who
ltonorius the emperor of the West. Placidia, the had been taken prisoners.
sister of Honorius, had been sent away from Italy, In A. D. 448 or 449 Theodosius sent an embassy
with her sons Valentinian and Honorius, by the to Attila, at the head of which was Maximin.
Western emperor, a short time before his death, The ambassador was accompanied by the historian
and she took refuge at Constantinople. The throne Priscus, who has left a most interesting account of
of the West was usurped by Joannes, who declared the domestic habits of Attila. [PRIscUS.] The pro~himself emperor. Theodosius refused to acknow- posed object of the embassy was to maintain the good
ledge the usurper, and sent against him a force understanding between the emperor of the East
commanded by Ardaburius. The usurper was and the king of the Huns; but Theodosius had a
taken in Ravenna, and his head was cut off, A. D. private object to accomplish, the execution of which
425. Theodosius was enjoying the games of the was entrusted only to Vigilius, the interpreter;
Circus at Constantinople when the news came, and and this was the assassination of Attila. The
he showed his piety, as Tillemont remarks, by ambassador passed through Sardica, and crossed
stopping the entertainment, and inviting all the the Danube; and in some place north of this river
people to go to the church with him, to return he had his first interview with Attila, whom he
thanks to God for the death of the tyrant. Whether was obliged to follow in his progress northwards
Theodosius had no ambition to keep the empire of before he could conclude the business on which he
the West, or those who governed him determined was sent. The narrative of Priscus leads us to infer
his condtuct, he resolved to confer it on his youth- that the place in which the king of the Huns gave
ful cousin Valentinian. Eudocia, the daughter of his final reception to the ambassador was in the
Theodosius, was betrothed to the young emperor, plains of northern Hungary. The proposal to
and she was married to him in A. D. 437. assassinate Attila had been made at Constantinople
The reign of the younger Theodosius was not by the eunuch Chrysaphius, who then reigned in
free from the religious troubles which had dis- the name of Theodosius, and made to Edecon, a
tracted the reign of his grandfather Theodosius. chieftain of the Scyrri. Vigilius was the medium
The great dispute which originated with Nestorius; of communication between Chrysaphius and Edecon,
who was made patriarch of Constantinople in A. D. wEho was to receive for his reward some of the
428. and ended in the Council of Ephesus, A. D. wealth on which he had gazed with admiration at
431, is described at length under NEsToRImUS. Constantinople. The scheme was communicated to
The Huns had ravaged the eastern provinces in the emperor, who approved of it. The emperor's
the reign of Arcadius, the father of Theodosius; conduct was rendered more disgraceful by the fact
and they were now the formidable neighbours of that Maximin, his ambassador, was exposed to all
the empire on the frontier of the Danube. In the danger of the discovery of this treachery, and,
A. D. 441 the Huns, under Attila and his brother being kept in ignorance of it, had not even the
Bleda, crossed the Danube, and took Vimniniacumn choice of refusing to conduct the embassy. Edecon