A General's Son from Spain
Theodosius was born on 11 January, probably in 347, in Hispania, the Roman provinces of Spain, by tradition at Cauca in the province of Gallaecia. His father, also named Theodosius, was one of the empire's leading generals, and the son learned war at his side in Britain before holding his own command on the Danube. In 375 or 376 his father was suddenly executed at Carthage, a victim of court intrigue, and the younger Theodosius withdrew to the family estates in Spain.
Disaster recalled him. On 9 August 378 the Goths destroyed an eastern Roman army at Adrianople and killed the emperor Valens. The western emperor, Gratian, needed a soldier to save the East, and on 19 January 379 he raised Theodosius to be emperor of the eastern provinces. For several years Theodosius fought and bargained with the Goths, and in 382 he settled them inside the empire as allies under their own leaders.
Loading the rest of this biography