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Licinia Eudoxia

Aelia Eudocia
Aelia Eudocia Augusta (c. 401-460), wife of Theodosius II, East Roman emperor, was born in Athens.
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Aelia Eudoxia
Aelia Eudoxia (died 6 October 404) was the Empress consort of the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius.
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Anicius Probinus
Flavius Anicius Probinus (fl 395-397) was a politician and aristocrat of the Roman Empire.
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Arcadius
Flavius Arcadius (lang-el|; 377/378–1 May 408) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the western emperor Honorius. A weak ruler, his reign was dominated by a series of powerful ministers and by his wife, Aelia Eudoxia.
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Attila the Hun
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Avitus
:This article is about the Roman Emperor. For the other meanings of "Avitus", see Avitus (disambiguation)
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Burgundians
The Burgundians (Latin: Burgundiones) were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr (the Island of the Burgundians), and from there to mainland Europe. In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar (''The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son''), Veseti settled in an island or holm, which was called Borgund's holm, i.e. Bornholm. Alfred the Great's translation of Orosius uses the name Burgenda land. The poet and early mythologist Viktor Rydberg (1828–1895), (''Our Fathers' Godsaga) asserted from an early medieval source, Vita Sigismundi'', that themselves retained oral traditions about their Scandinavian origin.
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Christian Settipani
Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is the Technical Director of an IT company in Paris and a genealogist and historian (D.E.A. at the Sorbonne University).
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Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open denigration of organised religion.
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Flavius Aetius
:Aëtius is also the name of several other persons.
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Galla Placidia
Aelia Galla Placidia (392 – November 27, 450), daughter of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was the consort of Ataulf king of the Goths and after his death the Empress consort of Constantius III, Western Roman Emperor.
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Geiseric
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Greek people
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Greeks
Ethnic group
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John of the Sedre
:''This article is about a Patriarch of Antioch in the 7th century.
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Jordanes
Jordanes (also Jordanis or even Iornandes), was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life.
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Leo I (emperor)
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Majorian
Iulius Valerius Maiorianus (420 ca. – Tortona, August 7, 461), commonly known as Majorian, was the Western Roman Emperor from 457 to his death.
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Marcellinus Comes
Marcellinus Comes (fl. 6th century) was a Byzantine chronicler.
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Marcia Euphemia
Aelia Marcia(na) Euphemia (born c. 430, died after 472) was the wife of Anthemius, Western Roman Emperor.
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Olybrius
Anicius Olybrius(died October 22 or November 2, 472), was Western Roman Emperor from April or May 472 to his death. He was in reality a puppet ruler, put on the throne by the Roman general of Germanic descent Ricimer, and was mainly interested in religion, while the actual power was held by Ricimer and his nephew Gundobad.
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Petronius Maximus
Flavius Petronius Maximus (c. 396 – 22 April 455), was Western Roman Emperor for two months in 455.
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Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I, or Pope Saint Leo the Great (ca. 400 – November 10, 461), was pope from September 29, 440 to November 10, 461.
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Princess Eudocia
Eudocia, or Eudoxia (439 – 466/474?) was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Valentinian III and his wife, Licinia Eudoxia. She was thus the granddaughter on her mother's side of Eastern emperor Theodosius II and his wife, the poet Aelia Eudocia; and on her father's side of Western emperor Constantius III and his wife Galla Placida.
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Priscus
Priscus was a late Roman diplomat, sophist and historian from Panium (in Thrace) living in the Roman Empire during the 5th century. He accompanied Maximinus, the ambassador of Theodosius II, to the court of Attila in 448. During the reign of Marcian (450–457), he also took part in missions to Arabia and Egypt.
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Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea (Latin: Procopius Caesarensis, lang-el|; c. AD 500 – c. AD 565) was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History. He is commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient world.
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Prosper of Aquitaine
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine ( – ), a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.
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Pulcheria
Aelia Pulcheria (January 19, 399 – 453) was the daughter of the Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius, a great influence on her brother Theodosius II and wife to Emperor Marcian. She is honoured as a saint by the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
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Roman Emperors
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Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths (, ) were an ancient Iranian people of horse-riding nomadic pastoralists who throughout Classical Antiquity dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppe, known at the time as Scythia. They were believed to have ranged west of the Altai Mountains until 2006, when a royal burial was found to the east in Mongolia. By Late Antiquity the closely-related Sarmatians came to dominate the Scythians in the west. Much of the surviving information about the Scythians comes from the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 440 BC) in his Histories and Ovid in his poem of exile Epistulae ex Ponto, and archaeologically from the depictions of Scythian life shown in relief on exquisite goldwork found in Scythian burial mounds in Ukraine and Southern Russia.
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Sidonius Apollinaris
:For the Franco-Irish saint, see Sidonius of Saint-Saëns.
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Theodoric II
Theodoric II (in Spanish and Portuguese Teodorico; died 466) was King of Visigoths from 453 to 466.
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Theodosius II
Theodosius II (; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. He also presided over the outbreak of two great christological controversies, Nestorianism and Eutychianism.
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Valentinian III
Flavius Placidius Valentinianus (2 July 419 – 16 March 455), commonly known as Valentinian III, was Western Roman Emperor from 425 to 455.
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Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century, perhaps best known for their sack of Rome in 455. Although they were not notably more destructive than other invaders of ancient times, Renaissance and Early Modern writers who idealized Rome tended to blame the Vandals for its destruction. This led to the coinage of "vandalism", meaning senseless destruction, particularly the defacing of artworks that were completed with great effort.
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Visigoths
The Visigoths () were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe; the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period. The romanized Visigoths first emerged as a distinct people during the 4th century, initially in the Balkans, where they participated in several wars with Rome. A Visigothic army under Alaric I eventually moved into Italy and famously sacked Rome in 410.
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Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; ; ; Arabic:انطاکیه, Antakya; also Great Antioch or Syrian Antioch) was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.
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Carthage
Carthage ( or Karthago, , , Berber: ⴽⴰⵔⵜⴰⵊⴻⵏ Kartajen, kartago, from the Phoenician קַרְתְּ חַדַשְתְּ meaning New City, implying it was a 'new Tyre') refers to a series of cities on the Gulf of Tunis, from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BCE to the current suburb outside Tunis, Tunisia.
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Constantinople
Constantinople (, , Turkish: Istanbul) was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, the Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.
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Rome
Rome (; , ; ) is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . In 2006 the population of the metropolitan area was estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to have a population of 3.7 million.
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Licinia Eudoxia

Licinia Eudoxia (422–462) was a Roman Empress, daughter of Eastern Emperor Theodosius II and wife of the Western Emperors Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus.

Family

Eudoxia was born in 422, the daughter of Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor and his consort Aelia Eudocia, a woman of Greek origin. Her only known siblings, Arcadius and Flacilla, predeceased their parents. Their paternal grandparents were Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia. Their maternal grandfather was Leontius, a sophist from Athens.

to Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II. On the reverse, the three of them in wedding dresses.]]

The identity of her maternal grandfather was first given by Socrates of Constantinople. John Malalas later gave a more detailed account of her mother's history. As summarised in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, "The celebrated Athenais was educated by her father Leontius in the religion and sciences of the Greeks; and so advantageous was the opinion which the Athenian philosopher entertained of his contemporaries, that he divided his patrimony between his two sons, bequeathing to his daughter a small legacy of one hundred pieces of gold, in the lively confidence that her beauty and merit would be a sufficient portion. The jealousy and avarice of her brothers soon compelled Athenais to seek a refuge at Constantinople; and, with some hopes, either of justice or favor, to throw herself at the feet of Pulcheria. That sagacious princess listened to her eloquent complaint; and secretly destined the daughter of the philosopher Leontius for the future wife of the emperor of the East, who had now attained the twentieth year of his age. She easily excited the curiosity of her brother, by an interesting picture of the charms of Athenais; large eyes, a well— proportioned nose, a fair complexion, golden locks, a slender person, a graceful demeanor, an understanding improved by study, and a virtue tried by distress. Theodosius, concealed behind a curtain in the apartment of his sister, was permitted to behold the Athenian virgin: the modest youth immediately declared his pure and honorable love; and the royal nuptials were celebrated amidst the acclamations of the capital and the provinces. Athenais, who was easily persuaded to renounce the errors of Paganism, received at her baptism the Christian name of Eudocia; but the cautious Pulcheria withheld the title of Augusta, till the wife of Theodosius had approved her fruitfulness by the birth of a daughter, who espoused, fifteen years afterwards, the emperor of the West. The brothers of Eudocia obeyed, with some anxiety, her Imperial summons; but as she could easily forgive their unfortunate unkindness, she indulged the tenderness, or perhaps the vanity, of a sister, by promoting them to the rank of consuls and praefects."

Later historians have tended to reject the above account as too reminiscent of a fairy tale or a romance novel to be historically accurate. The exact circumstances of the introduction of Eudocia to Theodosius II and Pulcheria are considered unknown. The historical study Theodosian Empresses. Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity (1982) by Kenneth Holum, further introduced the suggestion that Leontius was a native of Antioch rather than Athens, drawing from the "traditional link" between the two cities and their philosophers. The argument is considered doubtful as the building activity of Eudocia in the 420s focused on Athens rather than Antioch. The identity of Eudoxia's maternal grandmother is not recorded.

First marriage

In 424, Eudoxia was betrothed to Valentinian III, her first cousin, once removed. The year of their betrothal was recorded by Marcellinus Comes. At the time of their betrothal, Valentinian was approximately four years old, Eudoxia only two. Gibbon attributes the betrothal to "the agreement of the three females who governed the Roman world", meaning Galla Placidia, her niece Pulcheria, and Pulcheria's sister-in-law Eudocia. Galla Placidia was Valentinian III's mother and a younger, paternal half-sister of Arcadius. Valentinian III was at the time being prepared to claim the throne of the Western Roman Empire, which was held by Joannes. The latter was not a member of the Theodosian dynasty and thus regarded a usurper by the Eastern court. Within 424, Valentinian was proclaimed a Caesar in the Eastern court. The following year, Joannes was defeated and executed. Valentinian replaced him as Augustus of the West. In 439, Eudoxia was granted the title of Augusta, with the birth of their first daughter Eudocia. They also had a second daughter, Placidia. The births and eventual fates of the two daughters were recorded by Priscus, Procopius, John Malalas and the Chronicon Paschale.

On 16 March 455, Valentinian III was killed in the Campus Martius, Rome by Optila and Thraustila. According to the fragmentary chronicle of John of Antioch, a 7th century monk tentatively identified with John of the Sedre, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch from 641 to 648 "Maximus, failing in both his hopes, was bitterly angry. He summoned Optila and Thraustila, brave Scythians who had campaigned with Aëtius and had been assigned to attend on Valentinian, and talked to them. He gave and received guarantees, put the blame for Aëtius' murder on the emperor, and urged that the better course would be to take revenge on them. Those who avenged the fallen man, he said, would justly have the greatest blessings. Not many days later, Valentinian rode in the Field of Ares with a few bodyguards and the followers of Optila and Thraustila. When he had dismounted from his horse and proceeded to archery, Optila and his friends attacked him. Optila struck Valentinian on his temple and when turned around to see the striker he dealt him a second blow on the face and felled him, and Thraustila slew Heraclius. Taking the emperor's diadem and horse, they hastened to Maximus... "(John of Antioch fr.201.4-5: Gordon trans., pp.52-53). Heraclius is identified as "a eunuch who had the greatest influence with the emperor" and his associate in murdering Aetius.

Second marriage

Valentinian had no male descedants and had never designated an heir. Several candidates claimed the throne. Petronius Maximus, who was the highest-ranking of all Roman senators, was among them. A second candidate was Maximianus, son of Domninus. Domninus was a merchant from Egypt who had earned a considerable fortune. Maximianus had served as a domesticus, member of an elite guard unit of the late Roman Empire, under Aetius. Eudoxia promoted her own candidate, in the person of Majorian.

John of Antioch reports that Maximus secured his own succession by buying the loyalties of palace officials and the local military. Eudoxia was forced to marry him or face execution. Their marriage secured the connection of Maximus to the Theodosian dynasty. Prosper of Aquitaine reports that Maximus befriended the murderers of Valentinian III instead of punishing them. Both Prosper and Victor of Tonnena place the marriage of Eudoxia to Maximus only days following the death of her first husband, commenting with disapproval that the empress was not given a period to grieve for Valentinian.

John of Antioch mentions, but does not name, a previous wife of Maximus. She had reportedly been raped by Valentinian III, an event which the chronicle sees as the reason Maximus turned against his former master. The eventual fate of his first wife is not recorded. She may be presumed to have committed suicide, following the example of Lucretia. Regardless, Maximus arranged the marriage of his son Palladius to his new stepdaughter Eudocia, the daughter of Eudoxia from her first marriage, again to secure a dynastic relation to the Theodosian dynasty.

The historical study "Fifth-century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?" (1992) by John Drinkwater and Hugh Elton considers it likely that the first wife of Maximus was also a sister to Avitus, his magister militum (Master of Soldiers). The writers have also suggested that Flavius Magnus was another son of Maximus from his first marriage, considering Flavius Probus to be a grandson. They also argue for placing the marriage of Placidia the Younger to Olybrius at this point, considering it to be the third marriage between a member of the Theodosian dynasty and a member of the extended Anicii family within the same year. They view Olybrius as a third son of Maximus, grandson through him of Anicius Probinus and grand-nephew of Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius. However, considering the other possible filiation of Flavius Magnus given by Christian Settipani, as well as the lack of the name of Flavius Probus' mother, it can be assumed that he was a grandson of Petronius Maximus but from his mother.

Maximus appointed Avitus as his Magister militum praesentalis ("Master of Soldiers in Attendance") and send him to Toulouse. There Avitus was to try to secure the loyalty of Theodoric II of the Visigoths to the new emperor. However his reign was to prove short. According to the chronicler Malchus, "Around this time, the empress Eudoxia, the widow of the emperor Valentinian and the daughter of the emperor Theodosius and Eudocia, remained unhappily at Rome and, enraged at the tyrant Maximus because of the murder of her spouse, she summoned the Vandal Gaiseric, king of Africa, against Maximus, who was ruling Rome. He came suddenly to Rome with his forces and captured the city, and having destroyed Maximus and all his forces, he took everything from the palace, even the bronze statues. He even led away as captives surviving senators, accompanied by their wives; along with them he also carried off to Carthage in Africa the empress Eudoxia, who had summoned him; her daughter Placidia, the wife of the patrician Olybrius, who then was staying at Constantinople; and even the maiden Eudocia. After he had returned, Gaiseric gave the younger Eudocia, a maiden, the daughter of the empress Eudoxia, to his son Huneric in marriage, and he held them both, the mother and the daughter, in great honor "(Chron. 366).

Eudoxia was presumably following the example of her sister-in-law Justa Grata Honoria who had summoned Attila the Hun for help against an unwanted marriage. According to Prosper, Maximus was in Rome when the Vandals arrived. He gave anyone who could permission to flee the city. He attempted to flee himself but was assassinated by the imperial slaves. He had reigned for seventy-seven days. His body was thrown into the Tiber and never recovered. Victor of Tonnena agrees, adding the detail that Pope Leo I negotiated with Geiseric for the security of the city's population.

Hydatius attributes the assassination to revolting troops of the Roman army, enraged at Maximus' attempted flight. The Chronica Gallica of 511 attributes the assassination to a rioting crowd. Jordanes identifies a single assassin as "Ursus, a Roman soldier". Ursus is Latin for "bear". Sidonius Apollinaris makes a cryptic comment regarding a Burgundian whose "traitorous leadership" led the crowd to panic and to the slaughter of the Emperor. His identity is unknown, persumably a general who failed to face the Vandals for one reason or the other. Later historians have suggested two high-ranking Burgundians as possible candidates, Gondioc and his brother Chilperic. Both joined Theodoric II in invading Hispania later in 455.

Widow

The three women stayed prisoners in Carthage for seven years. In 462, Leo I, Eastern Roman Emperor paid a large ransom for Eudoxia and her daughter Placidia. Eudoxia returned to Constantinople after an absence of twenty-five years, Placidia joining her. Eudocia stayed in Africa as wife of Huneric. They were parents to Hilderic, king of the Vandals from 523 to 530.

References

External links

A short article about Licinia by Ralph W. Mathisen

Her profile in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley

A genealogical profile of her

Profile of her first husband Valentinian III in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire

Discussion of Petronius Maximus and his relations in "Fifth-Century Gaul"

Eudoxia Eudoxia Category:422 births Category:462 deaths

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