Valentinian was succeeded by his son Gratian in 375. He was then only sixteen years of age. He admitted as a nominal colleague his half-brother, the younger Valentinian; and soon after he chose Theodosius as an active colleague, on whom he bestowed the sovereignty of the East. Gratian had been educated in the christian faith, and gave evidence of being a true believer. He was the first of the Roman emperors who refused the title and robe of high priest of the ancient religion. How could a Christian, he said, be the high priest of idolatry? It is an abomination to the Lord. Thus we see in the early piety of this young prince, the blessed effects of the testimony of the faithful. What a new and strange thing in Rome; a pious prince to ascend the throne of the Caesars at the age of sixteen! But he was humble as well as pious.
Being conscious of his own ignorance in divine things, he wrote to Ambrose, bishop of Milan, to visit him. “Come,” he said, “that you may teach the doctrines of salvation to one who truly believes; not that we may study for contention, but that the revelation of God may dwell more intimately in my heart.” Ambrose answered him in an ecstasy of satisfaction: “Most christian prince,” he says, “modesty, not want of affection, has hitherto prevented me from waiting upon you. If, however, I was not with you personally, I have been present with my prayers, in which consists still more the duty of a pastor.”
The young emperor was generally popular; but his attachment to the orthodox clergy, the time he spent in their company, the influence they gained over him, especially Ambrose, exposed him to the contempt of the more warlike part of his subjects. The frontiers were sorely pressed at this time by the barbarians, but Gratian was unable to undertake the conduct of a war against them. Maximus, taking advantage of the disaffection of the army, raised the standard of revolt. Gratian, seeing the turn things had taken, fled with about three-hundred horse, but was overpowered and killed at Lyons in the year 383. Maximus, the usurper and assassin, placed himself on the throne of the West. He was afterward overthrown and slain by Theodosius, and the younger Valentinian placed upon the throne of his father.
THEODOSIUS, SURNAMED THE GREAT.
The measure of our interest in the history of the Roman emperors, must be proportionate to their acknowledgment of the truth, and their treatment of Christians. Did we not seek to discern God’s hand in their government? It would be wearisome add profitless, at this distant period, to examine what remains of them. But to see God’s hand, and to hear His voice, and to trace the silver line of His grace, throughout those rude times, keeps us in company with Himself, and our experience is increased. But almost everything depends, as to service to God, or blessing to ourselves, in the motive or object with which we study the history of the Church, and that which affects it. According to this principle of estimation, Theodosius claims an earnest and careful study. He was God’s minister, as well as the Roman emperor; and used of Him to subdue Arianism in the East, and to abolish the worship of idols throughout the Roman world. Idolatry is the boldest sin of man, and can never be exceeded until “that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thess. 2:3, 43Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3‑4).) The full expression of this blasphemy is still future, and will be the signal for immediate judgment, and the dawn of the millennial day.
But the zeal of Theodosius was not merely negative. He supported Christianity, according to his light, more vigorously than any of his predecessors. He completed what Constantine commenced, and far surpassed him in christian zeal and earnestness. Soon after his baptism, he assembled a council, which met at Constantinople on May 2nd, 381. The principal objects for which this council was convoked were the following: —To give greater fullness and definiteness to the Nicene creed—to condemn heresies, such as those of the Arians, Eunomians, Eudoxians, Sabellians, Apollinarians, and others—and to take measures for the union of the Church.
Most of our readers, even the youngest, have heard of “The decline and fall of the Roman empire”—the fourth great world-power spoken of by the prophet Daniel, and by St. John in the Apocalypse. It had been on the decline for some time, and was rapidly approaching its fall, when Theodosius was called to the throne. The frontiers were menaced on all sides by the barbarians, who dwelt immediately outside the Roman earth. “On the shores of each of the great rivers which bounded the empire,” says Dean Milman, “appeared a host of menacing invaders. The Persians, the Armenians, the Iberians, were prepared to pass the Euphrates or the eastern frontier; the Danube had already afforded a passage to the Goths; behind them were the Huns in still more formidable and multiplying swarms; the Franks and the rest of the German nations were crowding to the Rhine.” This frightful array of barbaric invasion, will show the reader at a glance, the then position of the fourth empire; and that it is as easy for God to break in pieces the iron, as the brass, the silver, or the gold.
Within the limits of the Roman earth, idolatry still existed, and its worship was undisturbed. Its thousands of temples in all their ancient grandeur and imposing ceremony, covered the land. Scarcely could the Christian turn anywhere without seeing a temple, and inhaling the incense offered to idols. Christianity had only been raised to an equal toleration. Arianism, and semi-Arianism, in their many forms, greatly prevailed. In Constantinople and the East, they were supreme. Other heresies abounded. Such was the state of things both within and without the empire on the accession of Theodosius. But for the details of his civil history, we must refer the reader to the authors already noted. We would only add, that he was used of God in arresting for a time the progress of invasion; in demolishing the images and some of the temples of heathen worship; in abolishing idolatry; in suppressing superstition; in causing the decisions of the Nicene council to prevail everywhere; and in giving triumph and predominance to the profession of Christianity.
THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THEODOSIUS.
We will now glance at some of the leading events in the history of the great Theodosius. In the circumstances of these events, will be found the best commentary on the life of the emperor, the power of the priesthood, and the character of the times.
Theodosius was a Spaniard. Christianity, at an early period, had been established in the Peninsula. It was famous for its firm adherence to the Athanasian doctrines, throughout the Trinitarian controversy. Hosius, a Spanish bishop, was president of the Nicene council. Towards the end of the first year of his reign, Theodosius was admonished by a serious illness not to delay his baptism, as the practice then was. He sent for the bishop of Thessalonica and was at once baptized. Some say that he was the first of the emperors baptized in the full name of the holy Trinity. His admission to the Church was immediately followed by an edict which proclaimed his own faith, and prescribed the religion of his subjects. “It is our pleasure that all the nations which are governed by our clemency and moderation, should steadfastly adhere to the religion which was taught by St. Peter to the Romans According to the discipline of the apostles, and the doctrine of the gospel, let us believe the sole deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, under an equal majesty, and a pious Trinity.... Beside the condemnation of divine justice they must expect to suffer the severe penalties which our authority, guided by heavenly wisdom, shall think proper to inflict upon them.”
Such was the stern and uncompromising orthodoxy of Theodosius. Still, however mistaken, he believed it was his duty so to rule as a christian emperor, and the bishops that he consulted were more inclined to increase than to soften its severity. On one occasion, his sense of justice determined him to order some Christians to rebuild at their own expense a Jewish synagogue, which, in a tumult, had been pulled down, But the vigorous bishop of Milan interfered and prevailed on him to set aside the sentence, on the ground that it was not right for Christians to build a Jewish synagogue. Herein the bishop evidently failed in a matter of common justice. He was less righteous than his imperial master.
THE FAILINGS AND VIRTUES OF THEODOSIUS.
The most prominent defect in the character of Theodosius was a proneness to violent anger; yet he could be softened down and moved to be most merciful after great provocation, if properly appealed to. We have a remarkable instance of this in his forgiving the people of Antioch. It happened in this way:
In the year 387, the inhabitants became impatient on account of a tax which the emperor had imposed upon them; and having been haughtily treated by the rulers, to whom they had respectfully appealed for relief, a great tumult arose in the city. The statues of the imperial family were thrown down and treated with contempt. But a company of soldiers immediately appearing, the sedition was suppressed. The governor of the province, according to the duty of his office, dispatched a faithful narrative of the whole transaction to the emperor. But as eight hundred miles lay between Antioch and Constantinople, weeks must elapse before an answer could be received. This gave the Antiochians leisure to reflect on the nature and consequences of their crime. They were greatly and constantly agitated with hopes and fears, as may be well supposed. They knew their crime was a serious one, but they had confessed it to Flavian their bishop, and to other influential persons, with every assurance of genuine repentance. At length, twenty-four days after the sedition, the imperial commissioners arrived, bearing the will of the emperor, and the sentence of Antioch. The following imperial mandate will show the reader, how much depended on the will or temper of a single man in those times.
Antioch, the metropolis of the East, was degraded from the rank of a city; stripped of its lands, its privileges, and its revenues; it was subjected, under the humiliating denomination of a village, to the jurisdiction of Laodicea. The baths, the circus, and the theaters were shut: and, that every source of plenty and pleasure might at the same time be intercepted, the distribution of corn was abolished. The commissioners then proceeded to inquire into the guilt of individuals. The noblest and most wealthy of the citizens of Antioch, appeared before them in chains; the examination was assisted by the use of torture, and their sentence was pronounced, or suspended, according to the judgment of these extraordinary magistrates. The houses of the criminals were exposed to sale, their wives and children were suddenly reduced from affluence and luxury, to the most abject distress; and a bloody execution was expected to conclude the horrors of a day, which the eloquent Chrysostom has represented as a lively image of the final judgment of the world. But God, who has the hearts of all men in His hand, and in the remembrance of what Antioch had been in the early days of the Church, moved the ministers of Theodosius to pity. They are said to have shed tears over the calamities of the people; and they listened with reverence to the pressing entreaties of the monks and hermits, who descended in swarms from the mountains. The execution of the sentence was suspended, and it was agreed that one of the commissioners should remain at Antioch, while the other returned, with all possible speed to Constantinople.
The exasperated rage of Theodosius had cooled down. The deputies of the distressed people obtained a favorable audience. The hand of the Lord was in it, He had heard their cry. Grace triumphed in Theodosius. A free and general pardon was granted to the city and citizens of Antioch: the prison doors were thrown open; and senators, who despaired of their lives, recovered the possession of their houses and estates; and the capital of the East was restored to the enjoyment of her ancient dignity and splendor. Theodosius condescended to praise and reward the bishop of Antioch and others who had generously interceded for their distressed brethren; and confessed, that if the exercise of justice is the most important duty, the indulgence of mercy is the most exquisite pleasure, of a sovereign.