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Few remember the significant Roman Emperor, Theodosius I (345-392 AD). Theodosius I, or the ‘Great’ was the last Emperor to rule both in the Eastern and Western portions of the Roman Empire. He shaped the later years of the Roman Empire, he left an indelible mark on the Roman Empire's religion, and he more than anyone else turned it into a truly Christian Empire. Theodosius also helped 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 Empire's unchallenged religion, 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 (378 AD). His peace agreement with the Goths was to have profound consequences for the Empire, both good and bad.

By the 370s AD, the Roman Empire was reasonably stable. However, it was clearly in demographic, economic, and military decline. Emperors ruled in the East and the West parts of the Empire, and they managed to hold 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>

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 East's situation, and he became Emperor.

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 Germanic invaders. 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 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 the famous Theodosian Decrees (379-382).

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 Theodosius's death, the Empire was divided among his two sons, who were both ineffectual and dominated by barbarian generals.

Constantine had made Nicene Christianity the official doctrine of the Christian Church. However, since then, many Christian sects had appeared that disputed the veracity of the Nicene Creed. The Christian Church was divided among a series of groups who disagreed on the nature of Christ and his relationship to God. Arrian Christianity had become influential in the period before Theodosius I. The Emperor was a firm adherent of Nicene Christianity, and he effectively made it the state religion at the Council of Constantinople.

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Theodosius, because of his decrees, came into conflict with the still mainly pagan Roman Senate. He faced down the senators in a dispute over the restoration of the Statute of Victory in Rome. Theodosius forbade this, and this marked the end of any opposition to his anti-pagan measures. Theodosius, after his victory at the Battle of Frigidus, waged an open war against paganism. The defeat o Eugenius was the last attempt to resist the Christianization of the Empire.

The campaign against the pagans was important, and it dealt a serious blow to paganism. All forms of the old Roman and other religions disappeared from the urban centers. It should be noted that paganism survived in many rural areas for centuries and that pagan practices, often regarded as witchcraft, persisted until the early modern period all over Europe.

[[File: GothicSoldiersMissoriumOfTheodosius.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Gothic soldiers from a contemporary engraving c.4th century AD]]

The most problematic aspect of Theodosius' legacy was his policy towards the Goths. He did manage to reach an agreement with the Goths and ended the war. However, the Goths remained very influential, and indeed the terms of the peace agreement meant that they began to dominate many Roman legions. The Goths became so powerful that they became a state within a state. Theodosius, after the catastrophe of Adrianople, had little option. He was not militarily strong enough to defeat the Goths in battle. He was forced to compromise with the Goths, and in doing so, he weakened his own and his son’s power.

Some argue that Theodosius' diplomatic approach to the Goths was a success and helped them buy some time for the Eastern Roman Empire. The peace treaty with the German invaders allowed a measure of peace to return to the Balkans and possibly even saved Constantinople. Theodosius, it is argued, helped save the Western Empire. He did much to allow the Eastern Empire to survive. This was very important as the Eastern Empire was able to evolve into the Byzantine Empire, which has had a decisive influence on Eastern Europe and kept the Arabs out of Europe.

Theodosius inherited a disaster after the Roman defeat at Adrianople. He was forced to negotiate with the Goths and make many concessions to end the Gothic War. However, this weakened the Empire and contributed to the fall of Rome in 410 AD. On the other hand, Theodosius' policy may have helped secure the future of the Eastern Empire, which was to continue in some form or other until 1453. Theodosius was an important and able Emperor, but it is doubtful that he warrants the title of ‘Great.’

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