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==Introduction==
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 left 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 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 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(378 AD). His peace 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. 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>. 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.
