Aelias, Flaccilla & Eudoxia
- sulla80
- Aug 29
- 9 min read
Updated: Sep 7
I don't have much from late Roman Empire (4th and 5th centuries CE) - this AELIA FLACCILA qualifies, a follis from Constantinople (378-383), AEL FLACCILLA AVG / SALVS REIPVBLICAE with Victory seated right inscribing Chi-Rho Christogram on oval shield set on short column.
First wife of Emperor Theodosius I; styled Augusta (Empress). Mother of the future emperors Arcadius (East) and Honorius (West). Revered for Nicene Christian piety and charitable works. Died 385/386; buried at Constantinople.
Aelia Flavia Flaccilla; also Greek authors use Plakilla (Πλακίλλα) most ancient and later ecclesiastical writers treat her as of Hispanian (Spanish) Roman background. She married Theodosius c. 376 (during his period in Spain after his father’s fall)- in addition to the 2 future emperors, she had a daughter Pulcheria, who died in childhood shortly before her mother. (This Pulcheria is not the later Empress Aelia Pulcheria, Arcadius’s daughter.) Flaccilla held the Augusta title by 383 (the year Arcadius was raised to Augustus), and the mints struck coins in her name with the legend AEL FLACCILLA AVG and reverses such as SALVS REIPVBLICAE (Victory inscribing the Chi‑Rho).
Aelia Flaccilla was a firm supporter of the Nicene Creed. Church historian Sozomen records that she prevented an interview between Theodosius and the Arian leader Eunomius to guard the emperor’s orthodoxy.
"It appears that, during the reign of Valens, had some dispute with his own clergy at Cyzicus, and had in consequence seceded from the Arians, and retired to Bithynia, near Constantinople. Here multitudes resorted to him; some also gathered from different quarters, a few with the design of testing his principles, and others merely from the desire of listening to his discourses. His reputation reached the ears of the emperor, who would gladly have held a conference with him. But the Empress Flacilla studiously prevented an interview from taking place between them; for she was the most faithful guard of the Nicene doctrines, and feared lest Eunomius might, by his powers of disputation, induce a change in the sentiments of the emperor."
-Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History (Book VII)Theodoret of Cyrrhus praises her for personally caring for the poor and disabled and preserves her celebrated remark about service to God:
"The greatness of the good gift given her made her love for Him who gave it all the greater, so she bestowed every kind of attention on the maimed and the mutilated, declining all aid from her household and her guards, herself visiting the houses where the sufferers lodged, and providing every one with what he required. She also went about the chambers of the churches and ministered to the wants of the sick, herself handling pots and pans, and tasting broth, now bringing in a dish and breaking bread and offering morsels, and washing out a cup and going through all the other duties which are supposed to be proper to servants and maids. To them who strove to restrain her from doing these things with her own hands she would say, "It befits a sovereign to distribute gold; I, for the sovereign power that has been given me, am giving my own service to the Giver."
-Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History (Book V.18)She died in Thrace (ancient writers say at a spa), then was buried at Constantinople; Gregory of Nyssa delivered her funeral oration (extant)(see also : “A Funeral Oration for the Empress Flacilla”, McCambly). In the Antioch riot of 387, angry crowds even pulled down her bronze statue, an episode narrated by Theodoret.
"Chapter 19. Of the sedition of Antioch. In consequence of his continual wars the emperor was compelled to impose heavy taxes on the cities of the empire.
The city of Antioch refused to put up with the new tax, and when the people saw the victims of its exaction subjected to torture and indignity, then, in addition to the usual deeds which a mob is wont to do when it is seizing an opportunity for disorder, they pulled down the bronze statue of the illustrious Placilla, for so was the empress named, and dragged it over a great part of the town. On being informed of these events the emperor, as was to be expected, was indignant. He then deprived the city of her privileges, and gave her dignity to her neighbour, with the idea that thus he could inflict on her the greatest indignity, for Antioch from the earliest times had had a rival in Laodicea. He further threatened to burn and destroy the town and reduce it to the rank of a village. The magistrates however had arrested some men in the very act, and had put them to death before the tragedy came to the emperor's ears. All these orders had been given by the Emperor, but had not been carried out because of the restriction imposed by the edict which had been made by the advice of the great Ambrosius."
-Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History (Book V.19)She is remembered as a saint (especially in the Greek/Byzantine tradition); traditional feast day: 14 September. (Older scholarship noted some debate over the formal status, but the date appears in the Greek menologia.)
Later, in the Theodosian house, “Aelia” functioned as a dynastic style/honorific (alongside Augusta) adopted by empresses to signal continuity with the first Theodosian empress, Aelia Flaccilla.
Aelia Flaccilla (Augusta 383–386/8), wife of Theodosius I : AEL FLAC‑CILLA AVG
Aelia Eudoxia (Augusta 400–404), wife of Arcadius: AEL EUDO‑XIA AVG
Aelia Pulcheria (Augusta 414–453), sister of Theodosius II : AEL PVLCHERIA AVG
Aelia Eudocia (Athenais) (Augusta 423–450), wife of Theodosius II : AEL EVDOCIA AVG
Galla Placidia (Augusta 421; regent in the West 425–450) : AEL PLACIDIA AVG (Eastern - Constantinople).
Licinia Eudoxia (Augusta in the West 439–455), wife of Valentinian III (daughter of Theodosius II) : AEL EVDoxia AVG on her coinage
Aelia Verina (Augusta from 457), wife of Leo I : AEL VERI‑NA AVG
Aelia Ariadne (Augusta 474–515), wife of Zeno and later Anastasius: AEL ARIADNE AVG
Aelia Zenonis (Augusta 475–476), wife of the usurper Basiliscus : AEL ZENONIS AVG
Aelia Marcia Euphemia (Augusta 467–472), wife of Anthemius (Western emperor): DN AEL MARC EVFEMIAE P F AVG
It is worth noting that most of these are relatively rare or gold only coins.
Aelia Eudoxia (d. 6 Oct 404), was the wife of Arcadius, and a pivotal court figure whose authority (as Augusta from 9 Jan 400) shaped imperial politics and church - state relations at Constantinople.
She was the daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto; her marriage to Arcadius on 27 Apr 395 was arranged by the eunuch minister Eutropius - whom she later helped bring down (399).
Her bitter conflict with John Chrysostom, sparked by his denunciations of court luxury and the dedication of her silver statue near Hagia Sophia, led to his exile in 403, a brief recall, and a second exile in 404.
Eudoxia died in 404, shortly afterward from a miscarriage. She left four daughters and a son, Theodosius II (r. 408 - 450); among her daughters was Pulcheria, later regent.
Aelia Eudoxia played a decisive role in the downfall of the powerful eunuch chamberlain and minister Eutropius, who had arranged her marriage.
Eutropius - rise and consulship. Eutropius rose from a low‑born eunuch courtier to praepositus sacri cubiculi (Lord Chamberlain) and de facto chief minister under Arcadius, controlling imperial access, patronage, and wealth. In 399 he secured the unprecedented honor of the consulship - indeed, the first and (in the memory of late antique chroniclers) the last eunuch to hold the office - provoking aristocratic resentment.
The asylum law (398) and new enemies. Eutropius overreached in 398 by promoting legislation that restricted (not abolished) ecclesiastical asylum - C.Th. 9.45.3 (27 July 398) narrowed sanctuary for specific categories (e.g., certain debtors/officials), a measure decried as sacrilegious in Christian circles. Simultaneously, his dominance alienated both the military nobility (notably the Gothic general Gainas) and, increasingly, Empress Aelia Eudoxia. [Jan Hallebeek, 2005; Peter van Nuffelen, 2021]
Alignment against Eutropius. Contemporary narratives differ on the prime mover, but the pagan historian Zosimus emphasizes that Gainas pressed Arcadius relentlessly to dismiss and later deliver Eutropius - while the loss of Eudoxia’s favor compounded his vulnerability. (Claudian’s poetry, by contrast, concentrates its invective on Eutropius himself rather than casting Eudoxia as the principal intriguer.)
Claudian’s invective. Claudian - no neutral historian, and writing for the western court - ridiculed Eutropius’ consulship in In Eutropium (also known as De Consulatu Eutropii):
"Let the world cease to wonder at the births of creatures half human, half bestial, at monstrous babes that affright their own mothers, at the howling of wolves heard by night in the cities, at beasts that speak to their astonied herds, at stones falling like rain, at the blood-red threatening storm clouds, at wells of water changed to gore, at moons that clash in mid heaven and at twin suns. All portents pale before our eunuch consul. O shame to heaven and earth!"
-Claudian, In Eutropium (Book I). The fall - sanctuary and Chrysostom. Once Arcadius turned, Eutropius was dismissed and fled to the Great Church (Hagia Sophia). John Chrysostom delivered Homily I on Eutropius in the cathedral itself, using the irony of the minister who had curtailed sanctuary now clinging to it; Chrysostom pleaded that the emperor "concede the life of one man as an offering to the Holy Table", securing a reprieve from immediate execution.
Exile, recall, and execution. Eutropius was first exiled to Cyprus. Shortly afterward he was recalled and executed across the strait at Chalcedon (ancient tradition specifies a suburb near Panteichion) after Gainas' continued demands - an outcome consistent across late antique narratives even as they differ on blame. (Socrates tersely notes his decapitation and removal from the consular fasti; Zosimus details the recall from Cyprus and killing at Chalcedon.)
Varied interpretations.
Claudian (In Eutropium I-II, ca. 399-400). A court poet in service of Stilicho (magister militum and de facto regent) and Honorius (emperor), Claudian is not a balanced source. He does not make Eudoxia the prime mover; his quarry is Eutropius - mocked for effeminacy, servility, and sacrilege. Opponents of Eutropius (empress, generals, senators) appear as corrective forces by implication rather than through detailed analysis of palace politics.
Zosimus (Historia Nova, early 6th c.). A pagan historian hostile to Christian court politics, Zosimus explicitly ties Eutropius' fall to Gainas' pressure and narrates the oath‑circumvention, recall from Cyprus, and execution at Chalcedon; he is often read (via Eunapius) as amplifying anti‑court, anti‑Christian themes.
John Chrysostom (Homilies On Eutropius). From the pulpit Chrysostom framed the scene as divine justice - "the persecutor of the Church brought low" - rather than as an empress-led intrigue; Eudoxia hardly features in this moment.
Ecclesiastical historians (Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret). Later church histories pivot to Chrysostom’s conflict with the court as shaping Eudoxia's legacy. They downplay her agency in 399 against Eutropius while amplifying her clash with the bishop in 403. For Example: framing that likens Empress Aelia Eudoxia to Herodias - who sought the Baptist’s head - casting John Chrysostom as a new "John" appears explicitly in Sozomen,
"The empress once more applied his expressions to herself as indicating marked contempt toward her own person: she therefore endeavored to procure the convocation of another council of bishops against him. When John became aware of this, he delivered in the church that celebrated oration commencing with these words: 'Again Herodias raves; again she is troubled; she dances again; and again desires to receive John's head in a charger.'This, of course, exasperated the empress still more.
-Sozomen, Chapter 18. Of Eudoxia's Silver Statue. On account of it John is exiled a Second Time.Modern synthesis. Recent work reads Aelia Eudoxia as a politically astute Augusta whose waning protection, combined with Gainas' leverage, doomed Eutropius. She is neither a simple Machiavellian villain nor merely an emblem of impiety; rather, she is a dynastic actor navigating Constantinople’s factional politics. [Susanna Elm, 2019]
References:
“The Political Face of Late Roman Empresses: Christian Symbols on Coins from the Late Fourth and Early Fifth Centuries”, Lesley A . Langa, 2006.
Augustus Coins, Warren Esty: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/Eudoxia.html
Codex Theodosianus C.Th. 9.45.3 Idem aa. eutychiano praefecto praetorio. si quis in posterum servus ancilla, curialis, debitor publicus, procurator, murilegulus, quilibet postremo publicis privatisve rationibus involutus ad ecclesiam confugiens vel clericus ordinatus vel quocumque modo a clericis fuerit defensatus nec statim conventione praemissa pristinae condicioni reddatur, decuriones quidem et omnes, quos solita ad debitum munus functio vocat, vigore et sollertia iudicantum ad pristinam sortem velut manu mox iniecta revocentur: quibus ulterius legem prodesse non patimur, quae cessione patrimonii subsecuta decuriones esse clericos non vetabat. sed etiam hi, quos oeconomos vocant, hoc est qui ecclesiasticas consuerunt tractare rationes, ad eam debiti vel publici vel privati redhibitionem amota dilatione cogantur, in qua eos obnoxios esse constiterit, quos clerici defensandos receperint nec mox crediderint exhibendos. et cetera. dat. vi kal. aug. mnizo honorio a. iiii et eutychiano conss. (398 iun. 27).
https://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2113
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