Aelia Flaccilla

356 – 386 · Generation XVIII · Valentinian · Theodosian

Aelia (AD 356 – AD 386). Married Theodosius I around AD 376. 2 of their children are recorded in this archive. Spanish first wife of Theodosius, remembered for her charity — she tended the disabled with her own hands. Her family is poorly recorded: even her father’s identity is uncertain, and the only relative the sources name plainly is a nephew, Nebridius. She married Theodosius in 376, while he was living in retirement at Cauca after his father’s mysterious execution, and bore Arcadius and Pulcheria before Gratian chose him in January 379 to succeed Valens — at which point she became Augusta. Honorius followed in 384. A committed Nicene Christian, she once kept her husband from meeting Eunomius of Cyzicus, leader of the most radical Arian sect, fearing he might waver. Ambrose and Gregory of Nyssa praised her as a pillar of the Church. She died in 386, soon after her daughter, and Gregory spoke at her funeral; Catholic and Orthodox churches keep her feast on 14 September.

Place in the family

• The archive records 6 of her descendants, across 4 generations.

One of 18 people of Valentinian · Theodosian (321–493) in this archive. The last house to rule both halves of the empire at once.

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Partners

• Married Theodosius I the Great (347 – 395) in 376 — 2 children together

Children

• Arcadius Flavius (377 – 408)
• Honorius Flavius (384 – 423)

Life

• 356 — Born
• 376 — Married Theodosius I
• 386 — Died