Licinia Eudoxia Theodosian (abt. 422 - 493)

Born about 0422 in Eastern Roman Europe

Ancestors

Wife of Flavius Placidius Valentinianus (Flavii) Augustus — married 29 Oct 0437 (to 16 Mar 0455) in Constantinople

Wife of Anicius Petronius Maximus (Anicii) Augustus — married 16 Mar 0455 in Rome, Roman Empire

Descendants

Died 0493 at about age 71 in Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Licinia Eudoxia, Augusta of the Western Roman Empire, was born in 422 in Constantinople. ^[1]

She was of the Gens Licinii ^[2]

Her birth name was Athenais ^[1]

She was the daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II and his wife Aelia Eudocia ^[1] Aelia Eudocia was a woman of Greek origin. ^[3]

Her only known siblings, Arcadius and Flacilla, predeceased their parents. Their paternal grandparents were Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia. Their maternal grandfather was Leontius, a sophist from Athens. ^[1]

Marriage to Valentinian III

Marcellinus Comes recorded the year, 424, that Eudoxia was betrothed to Valentinian III, her first cousin, once removed, since at that time Valentinian was approximately four years old and Eudoxia only two. It was an arranged marriage intended to unite the families. ^[1]

The marriage then actually took place on 29 October 437 in Constantinople.^[1]

The Romantic Narrative

Edward Gibbon gave an alternate narrative in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon reported that "The celebrated Athenais was educated by her father Leontius in the religion and sciences of the Greeks; and so advantageous was the opinion which the Athenian philosopher entertained of his contemporaries, that he divided his patrimony between his two sons, bequeathing to his daughter a small legacy of one hundred pieces of gold, in the lively confidence that her beauty and merit would be a sufficient portion.

The jealousy and avarice of her brothers soon compelled Athenais to seek a refuge at Constantinople; and, with some hopes, either of justice or favor, to throw herself at the feet of Pulcheria. That sagacious princess listened to her eloquent complaint; and secretly destined the daughter of the philosopher Leontius to have as her husband the emperor of the East, who had now attained the twentieth year of his age. She easily excited the curiosity of her brother, by an interesting picture of the charms of Athenais; large eyes, a well-proportioned nose, a fair complexion, golden locks, a slender person, a graceful demeanor, an understanding improved by study, and a virtue tried by distress.

Theodosius, concealed behind a curtain in the apartment of his sister, was permitted to behold the Athenian virgin: the modest youth immediately declared his pure and honorable love; and the royal nuptials were celebrated amidst the acclamations of the capital and the provinces. Athenais, who was easily persuaded to renounce the errors of Paganism, received at her baptism the Christian name of Eudocia; but the cautious Pulcheria withheld the title of Augusta, till the wife of Theodosius had approved her fruitfulness by the birth of a daughter, who espoused, fifteen years afterwards, the Emperor of the West. The brothers of Eudocia obeyed, with some anxiety, her Imperial summons; but as she could easily forgive their unfortunate unkindness, she indulged the tenderness, or perhaps the vanity, of a sister, by promoting them to the rank of consuls and praefects."^[4]

Later historians have rejected this account as being too fairy-tale like; in addition, it ignores the fact of betrothal when the two were toddlers and brings Athenais on the scene when Theodosian is already 20.

Empress

Within 424, Valentinian was proclaimed a Caesar in the Eastern court. The following year, Joannes was defeated and executed. Valentinian replaced him as Augustus of the West. ^[1]

She was Empress of the Roman Empire from 437–455, following Galla Placidia and followed by Marcia Euphemia ^[1]

In 439, Eudoxia was granted the title of Augusta, with the birth of their first daughter Eudocia. They also had a second daughter, Placidia. The births and eventual fates of the two daughters were recorded by Priscus, Procopius, John Malalas and the Chronicon Paschale.

Death of Valentinian and Marriage to Petronius Maximus

On 16 March 455, Valentinian III was killed in the Campus Martius, Rome by Optila and Thraustila, who were in the service of Petronius Maximus. Maximus then made himself emperor by bribing palace officials, despite other candidates for the office, and took Licinia Eudoxia as his own wife within days of the death of her husband.

Geiseric and the Sacking of Rome

Eudoxia, furious at the murder of her husband, summoned Gaiseric, the Vandal King at Carthage. He quickly came by surprise with his forces, killed Petronius Maximus, sacked Rome, took bronze statues from the palace

"He even led away as captives surviving senators, accompanied by their wives; along with them he also carried off to Carthage in Africa the empress Eudoxia, who had summoned him; her daughter Placidia, the wife of the patrician Olybrius, who then was staying at Constantinople; and even the maiden Eudocia. After he had returned, Gaiseric gave the younger Eudocia, a maiden, the daughter of the empress Eudoxia, to his son Huneric in marriage, and he held them both, the mother and the daughter, in great honor" (Chron. 366).[20] ^[5]

Widow

The three women stayed prisoners in Carthage for seven years. In 462, Leo I, Eastern Roman Emperor paid a large ransom for Eudoxia and her daughter Placidia. Eudoxia returned to Constantinople after an absence of twenty-five years, Placidia joining her. Eudocia stayed in Africa and took Huneric as her husband. They were parents to Hilderic, king of the Vandals from 523 to 530.

Death

Eudoxia died in Constantinople about 493, aged 71.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Wikipedia: Licinia_Eudoxia Accessed 4/29/2019 jhd
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Licinia
3. ↑ Helen A. Mahler, Empress of Byzantium. New York, Coward-McCann, 1952. Cited by Everipedia. Licinia Eudoxia Accessed 4/29/2019 jhd
4. ↑ Edward Gibbon, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 32. Cited by Wikipedia: Licinia_Eudoxia Accessed 4/29/2019 jhd
5. ↑ Ralph W. Mathisen, Petronius Maximus (17 March 455 - 22 May 455) Cited by Wikipedia: Licinia_Eudoxia Accessed 4/29/2019 jhd