Aelia Eudocia Augusta, also called Saint Eudocia, was an Eastern Roman empress by marriage to Emperor Theodosius II, and a prominent Greek historical figure in understanding the rise of Christianity during the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. Eudocia lived in a world where Greek paganism and Christianity existed side by side with both pagans and non-orthodox Christians being persecuted. Although Eudocia's work has been mostly ignored by modern scholars, her poetry and literary work are great examples of how her Christian faith and Greek heritage and upbringing were intertwined, exemplifying a legacy that the Roman Empire left behind on the Christian world.
Aelia Eudocia
A coin depicting Aelia Eudocia, 425–429 AD.
A modern mosaic depicting Eudocia in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria (consecrated 1924).
Theodosius II (left) receiving the Phrygian apple from Paulinus and then showing it to Eudocia. Scene from the 12th century Manasses Chronicle.
Theodosius II was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed augustus as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his father, Arcadius, in 408. His reign was marked by the promulgation of the Theodosian law code and the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. He also presided over the outbreak of two great Christological controversies, Nestorianism and Eutychianism.
Bust of Theodosius II in the Louvre
Solidus of Theodosius, minted in Constantinople c. 435
Theodosius receives the Phrygian Apple and inquisits Eudocia about it. A scene from the 14th century Manasses Chronicle.
Theodosius welcomes the relics of John Chrysostom. Miniature from the early 11th century.
