Theodosius II Flavius
401 – 450 · Generation XX · Eastern emperor (r. AD 408–450) · Valentinian · Theodosian
Theodosius II (AD 401 – AD 450). Eastern emperor (r. AD 408–450). Married Aelia around AD 421. Crowned in infancy, reigned forty-two years; his lawyers made the Theodosian Code, his engineers the walls that kept Constantinople safe for a thousand years. Others often governed for him — the prefect Anthemius in his childhood, then his formidable sister Pulcheria, proclaimed augusta after vowing perpetual virginity — yet the reign built institutions: in 425 he founded a university at Constantinople with thirty-one chairs of Latin and Greek learning. When his uncle Honorius died he sent forces west to unseat the usurper Joannes and installed his young cousin Valentinian III as western emperor, later marrying his daughter to him. Against Attila’s Huns he fared badly, buying peace with a tribute that swelled to 2,100 Roman pounds of gold a year. He convened the council of Ephesus that condemned Nestorius, and backed a later council whose rulings Chalcedon would overturn. He died of a fall from his horse.
One of 16 people of Valentinian · Theodosian (321–462) in this archive. The last house to rule both halves of the empire at once.
Line of descent: Theodosius I the Great → Arcadius Flavius → Theodosius II Flavius.
Parents
- Arcadius Flavius (377 – 408)
- Aelia Eudoxia (380 – 404)
Siblings
- Pulcheria Aelia (399 – 453)
Partners
- Married Aelia Eudocia (401 – 460) in 421 — one child together
Children
- Licinia Eudoxia (422 – 462)
Life
- 401 — Born
- 421 — Married Aelia
- 450 — Died