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Few remember today a very significant Roman Emperor, Theodosius I (345-392 AD). Theodosius, I or the ‘Great’ was the last Emperor to rule both in the East and West. He shaped the later years of the Roman Empire, he let an indelible mark on the religion of the Roman Empire and he more than anyone else turned it into a truly Christian Empire. Theodosius also did help to shape the nature of the Church and its relationship with the state. These were to have profound implications for the successor states of the Roman Empire in the West. Theodosius helped to ensure that Christianity was the unchallenged religion of the Empire and this was to shape Europe and the Near East for centuries. Theodosius was instrumental in proscribing paganism and he did much to destroy the ancient religions of the Roman Empire. He was also instrumental in stabilizing the Roman Empire after the disaster of Adrianople. His agreement with the Goths was one that was to have profound consequences for the Empire, both good and bad.
==Background==
By the 370s AD, the Roman Empire was reasonably stable. However, it was clearly in demographic, economic and military decline. Many Emperors rules ruled in the East and the West parts of the Empire and they managed to hold the Empire it together. However, the borders were under pressure and both halves of the Roman Empire were growing increasingly apart<ref> King, N.Q. The Emperor Theodosius and the Establishment of Christianity (Pelican, London, 1961), p. 45</ref>. Moreover, the Roman army was increasingly dependent on foreign barbarian mercenaries. These were mainly Germans and they often lived within the borders of the Empire and had become very influential. The Empire was also divided on religious grounds and there were many competing Christian sects and heresies that destabilized the Roman provinces. Such was the ferocity of the disputes between the various Christian groups that much of Egypt and North Africa were ungovernable<ref> Brown, Peter, The Rise of Western Christendom, 2003, p. 73–74</ref>. There was, also a great many pagans and they resented the growth of Christian influence. In 376 A.D. a sudden influx of Goths and other German tribes crossed into the Balkans fleeing from the fierce Huns. These German refugees destabilized the Roman Provinces in the region and the Eastern Emperor was obliged to lead an army to contain the problem. Emperor Valens was an incompetent politician and an even worse general. He managed to antagonize the Goths and their allies and this led to the Battle of Adrianople. This was one of the greatest defeats in Roman history. Much of the army of the Eastern Empire was destroyed and Emperor Valens was killed. This led to a crisis in the Roman Empire as a huge army of barbarians were pillaging and raiding freely and threatened Italy. In this desperate hour, the young Emperor Gratian of the West was facing another barbarian invasion and was forced to ask Theodosius to take charge of the situation in the East, and he became Emperor.
[[File: Theodosius 1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A coin with a portrait of Theodosius I]]
==Career of Theodosius I==
Theodosius was born in modern Spain and came from a distinguished family. He had many years’ experience as a governor and a general and was considered the ideal choice to deal with the Goths. Theodosius first rebuilt the army and in a series of maneuvers he tried to contain the Goths. However, the Goths were ably led and their army was growing as they recruited other barbarians and local bandits. He was also able to secure some reinforcements from Egypt. However, he was not strong enough to face the Goths in battle. Instead, the Eastern Emperor adopted the diplomatic approach. He entered negotiations with the Goths and defeated some hardline barbarian groups who did not want to negotiate Finally, the Goths and the Romans signed a peace treaty. This allowed the Goths to govern themselves in a small area adjacent to the Danube. The Germans and their allies had to serve in the legions if requested and they had to protect the Danuban frontier. Theodosius managed to end the Gothic War but it came at a cost. The Goths were given special privileges in the Balkans and this angered many local people who had suffered greatly at their hands. In Thessalonica, the population rioted against the presence of a Gothic garrison. Theodosius, I ordered the Goths to suppress the riot and they did so with great fury and massacred thousands. The powerful Archbishop of Milan, Ambrose excommunicated the Emperor, effectively expelling him from the Christian Church, because of the massacre<ref> Brown, p. 78</ref>. The Emperor was only re-admitted to the Church after several months of penance. This is often seen as a pivotal moment when the Christian Church in the West could overrule and even dominate the secular ruler. Theodosius, I was very much concerned with imposing unity on the Church and he convened a series of Councils. He issued a series of edicts, called the Theodosian Edicts that outlawed every creed other than the Nicene Creed. Theodosius was the first Christian Emperor to proscribe paganism and in the famous Theodosian Decrees (379-382). These abolished the last remaining practices of the old Roman religion and branded pagan rites and beliefs as witchcraft. Despite the end of the Gothic War, the Empire was very unstable. The suspicious death of Emperor Gratian in the West led to the usurpation of the Western Provinces by a general Maximus. He attempted to invade Italy but was defeated by Theodosius with the backing of the Goths. However, Theodosius was not able to control the West. The Gothic General Arbogast quarreled with Theodosius and the Goth set up a puppet Emperor in the West. Arbogast was an Arian Christian and his puppet Eugenius was sympathetic to paganism and the old Roman religion<ref> Williams, Stephen and Friell, Gerard. Theodosius: The Empire at Bay (Yale, Yale University Press, 1995), p. 67</ref>. The rebellion in part was an attempt to overturn Theodosius religious policy. However, Theodosius was able to defeat Arbogast and Eugenius at the Battle of Frigidus (394 AD). Theodosius became the sole emperor after his victory but the unity of the Empire was to prove transitory. After the death of Theodosius, the Empire was divided among his two sons, who were both ineffectual and dominated by barbarian generals.
