71*THEODOSIUS-I (48; r.379-395) (E→all)
When he received news of Valens’ defeat and death, Gratian withdrew his forces to the Illyricum. Then, realising his seven-year-old brother Valentinian was too young to defend the Empire, Gratian turned to a Spanish officer, 40Flavius Theodosius (48; fl.368-395), to take command of the Danube front. In January 379 Gratian proclaimed Theodosius augustus of the Eastern Empire.
Theodosius-I’s Gothic War (379-382) [6/6]
Before the end of 379 the forces of Theodosius had confined the enemy almost entirely to Moesia Inferior. The following year, owing to the lack of supplies, the Goths were compelled to renew the war. Alatheus and Saphrax with the Greuthungi went northwest into Pannonia and apparently obtained a deal settling them in the province, while Fritigern and the Tervingi moved southwest into Macedonia. Theodosius hurried to meet the Tervingi but after suffering a severe defeat in a night attack, illness forced him to return to Thessalonica, where he was baptised by Acholeus, a Nicene bishop (r.379-384). Gratian sent an army under two Frankish generals, 46Flavius Arbogast (fl.380-394) and 41Flavius Bauto (fl.380-c.385), and forced the Goths back into Moesia Inferior.
After he recovered from illness, Theodosius with the assent of his fellow emperors issued the Edict of Thessalonica, dated 27 February 380, which made Nicene Christianity the state religion of the Empire. This was followed in 381 by the First Council of Constantinople, confirming the Nicene Creed.
On 24 November 380 Theodosius made a triumphal entry into Constantinople, and here on 11 January 381 the Tervingi chieftain Athanaric, who had been banished by the Goths, arrived with his people. He was warmly received and this was no doubt a ploy intended to encourage a peaceful response from Fritigern and his followers. On 3 October 382 a treaty was concluded that allowed Fritigern and his Tervingi (from now on to be known as Visigoths) to settle in Moesia Inferior.
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