Aelia Flaccilla
Augusta
Bust thought to represent Flaccilla
Roman empress
Tenure379–386
BornAelia Flaccilla
Died386
Burial
Constantinople
(modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
SpouseTheodosius I
Issue
Regnal name
Aelia Flavia Flaccilla Augusta
DynastyTheodosian
ReligionNicene Christianity
Saint Aelia Flaccilla
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
Feast14 September

Aelia Flavia Flaccilla (died 386) was a Roman empress and first wife of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. She was of Hispanian Roman descent. During her marriage to Theodosius, she gave birth to two sons – future Emperors Arcadius and Honorius – and a daughter, Aelia Pulcheria.

Family

According to Laus Serenae ("In Praise of Serena"), a poem by Claudian, both Serena and Flaccilla were from Hispania.[1]

A passage of Themistius (Oratio XVI, De Saturnino) has been interpreted as identifying Claudius Antonius, Praetorian prefect of Gaul from 376 to 377 and Roman consul in 382, to be her father. However the relation is considered doubtful.[2] In 1967, John Robert Martindale, later one of several article writers in the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, suggested that the passage actually identifies Antonius as the brother-in-law of Theodosius. However the passage is vague enough to allow Afranius Syagrius, co-consul of Antonius in 382, to be the brother-in-law in question.[3] The only kin clearly identified in primary sources was her nephew Nebridius, son of an unnamed sister.[4]

Marriage

In about 375–376, Flaccilla married Theodosius I, a son of Count Theodosius.[5] At the time Theodosius had fallen out of favor with the imperial regime and had withdrawn to civilian life in Cauca, Gallaecia.[6]

Their first son Arcadius was born prior to the elevation of his parents on the throne. Their second son Honorius was born on 9 September 384. Their daughter Pulcheria has been suggested to have been born prior to the elevation of her parents to the throne due to another passage of Laus Serenae. She predeceased her parents as mentioned in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa.[7]

Empress

Valens, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire was killed in the Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378). His nephew Gratian, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, assumed control of the Eastern Empire with his younger half-brother Valentinian II as his nominal co-ruler.

On 19 January, Gratian declared Theodosius, magister militum per Illyricum, to be his new colleague in the Eastern Roman Empire. At this point Flaccilla became the Roman empress and was given the title Augusta.[8]

She was a fervent supporter of the Nicene Creed. Sozomen reports her preventing a conference between Theodosius and Eunomius of Cyzicus who served as figurehead of Anomoeanism, the most radical sect of Arians.[9] Ambrose and Gregory of Nyssa praise her Christian virtue and comment on her role as "a leader of justice" and "pillar of the Church".[5]

Theodoret reports on her works of charity, personally tending to the disabled. He quotes her saying that "To distribute money belongs to the imperial dignity, but I offer up for the imperial dignity itself personal service to the Giver." [5][10] According to the Chronicon Paschale, the Palatium Flaccillianum of Constantinople was named in her honor.[4]

She died in the year 386,[4] shortly after her daughter.[7] Gregory of Nyssa went on to deliver a funeral oration for her.[11]

Sainthood

She is commemorated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, her feast day being 14 September.[5][12]

References

  1. ↑ Claudian, "Laus Serenae", 1922 translation
  2. ↑ Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
  3. ↑ "Christian Settipani, Flavius Afranius Syagrius". Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
  4. 1 2 3 Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 342.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Roman Catholic Encyclopedia (1909), article "Ælia Flaccilla" by J.P. Kirsch
  6. ↑ Williams, Stephen, Theodosius: The Empire at Bay, Yale University Press, 1994, p. 25
  7. 1 2 Gregory of Nyssa, A Funeral Oration for the Empress Flaccilla, J.481
  8. ↑ Jones, Martindale & Morris, p. 341.
  9. ↑ Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica VIII.6
  10. ↑ "The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret [English translation]". Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. III. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  11. ↑ Gregory of Nyssa, A Funeral Oration for the Empress Flaccilla
  12. ↑ Orthodox Saints commemorated in September

Sources

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