Arcadius to Justin
After the death of Theodosius in 395 AD, the empire fell to his sons, the west to Honorius and the east to Arcadius. Arcadius left all the work to his adviser Ricimer, who seems to have been the one to make the fateful decision that he could not successfully defend the western part of the empire, and that it would be better to let it go, and concentrate on saving the East. The eastern empire was under attack from Huns from the north, and Sassanians from the east, and Ostrogoths from the north-west, and Ricimer thought that was enough. And in fact, once the Romans abandoned the western half of their empire, they did find it easier to defend the eastern half.
Pulcheria
When Arcadius died in 408 (only 31 years old), his 7-year-old son Theodosius II succeeded him. Like Arcadius, he had an advisor who did most of his work. The advisor's name was Anthemius. It was he who built the great walls of Constantinople, which stood for a thousand years without anyone forcing a way through them. But by 414 Anthemius lost his power to the emperor's sister, Pulcheria, who kept that power in women's hands for the next 36 years, her brother's entire reign. Pulcheria was only fifteen years old when she took over!
Eudocia
In 421, another woman took power in the palace: Theodosius' wife, Eudocia. Eudocia had the laws of the empire codified in a large book, the Theodosian Code, which was the standard of law throughout Europe and the Mediterranean for the next hundred years. But when Eudocia got too powerful, Pulcheria got rid of her and she lived out her life in Jerusalem.
Like other women in power, Pulcheria had the problem that she could not lead the army. This led her to pay tribute money to Attila and the Huns, rather than attacking them.
Theodosius II died in 450 (at the age of 49) by falling
off his horse. He had
no sons, but Pulcheria now married an ex-soldier named Marcian, and
put him on the throne. Now they could stop paying tribute to the Huns.
By 453, Attila was dead, and the danger ended, but Pulcheria died as
well.
Marcian
When Marcian died in 457, Leo I came to the throne in the East. His most memorable action was a failed attack on the Vandals in Africa. When Leo died in 474, with no sons, Leo's grandson Leo II became emperor, and Leo II immediately made his father Zeno (Marcian's son-in-law) co-emperor with him. Leo II died very soon afterward, and then Zeno was emperor alone.
A coup in 475 resulted in Zeno having to leave Constantinople, but he returned in triumph two years later. One of his first acts was to accept the homage of Odoacer, who had just taken over Italy. Soon afterward, Zeno got rid of the Ostrogoths and got rid of Odoacer at the same time by sending the Ostrogoths, under their king Theodoric, to kill Odoacer and take over Italy in Zeno's name, which they did.
More Byzantine Emperors - Anastasius and Justin
To find out more about these emperors, check out these books at Amazon.com or in your local library:
Imperial
Purple, by Gillian Bradshaw (1988). A young adult novel about the
court of Theodosius II.
