Online Encyclopedia

EUDOCIA AUGUSTA (c. 401–c. 460)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 882 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

EUDOCIA

See also:
AUGUSTA (c. 401–c. 460)  , the wife of
See also:
Theodosius II., East
See also:
Roman emperor, was born in Athens, the daughter of the sophist
See also:
Leontius, from whom she received a thorough training in literature and rhetoric . Deprived of her small patrimony by her brothers' rapacity, she betook herself to Constantinople to obtain redress at court . Her accomplishments attracted Theodosius'
See also:
sister Pulcheria, who took her into her retinue and destined her to be the emperor's wife . After receiving
See also:
baptism and discarding her former name, Athenals, for that of Aelia Licinia Eudocia, she was married to Theodosius in 421; two years later, after the birth of a daughter, she received the title
See also:
Augusta . The new empress repaid her brothers by making them consuls and prefects, and used her large influence at court to protect pagans and' Jews . In 438–439 she made an ostentatious pilgrimage to Jerusalem, whence she brought back several precious relics; during her stay at
See also:
Antioch she harangued the senate in Hellenic style and distributed funds for the repair of its buildings . On her return her position was undermined by the jealousy of Pulcheria and the groundless suspicion of an intrigue with her protege Paulinus, the master of the offices . After the latter's execution (440) she retired to Jerusalem, where she was made responsible for the
See also:
murder of an officer sent to kill two of her followers and stripped of her revenues . Nevertheless she retained
See also:
great influence; although involved in the revolt of the Syrian monophysites (453), she was ultimately reconciled to Pulcheria and readmitted into the orthodox church . She died at Jerusalem about 46o, after devoting her last years to literature . Among her
See also:
works were a paraphrase of the Octateuch in hexameters, a paraphrase of the books of Daniel and
See also:
Zechariah, a poem on St Cyprian and on her
See also:
husband's Persian victories . A Passion
See also:
History compiled out of Homeric verses, which Zonaras attributed to Eudocia, is perhaps of different authorship .

See W . Wiegand, Eudokia (

See also:
Worms, 1871) ; F . Gregorovius, Athenais (
See also:
Leipzig, 1892) ; C . Diehl, Figures byzantines (Paris, 1906), pp . 25-49; also THEODOSIUS . On her works cf . A . Ludwich, Eudociae Augustae carminum reliquiae (Konigsberg, 1893) . EU'DOCIA MACREMBOLITISSA (c . 1021-1096), daughter of John Macrembolites, was the wife of the
See also:
Byzantine emperor
See also:
Constantine X., and after his
See also:
death (1067) of
See also:
Romanus IV . She had sworn to her first husband on his deathbed not to marry again, and had even imprisoned and exiled Romanus, who was suspected of aspiring to the
See also:
throne . Perceiving, however, that she was not able unaided to avert the invasions which threatened the eastern frontier of the
See also:
empire, she revoked her oath, married Romanus, and with his assistance dispelled the impending danger .

She did not live very happily with her new husband, who was warlike and self-willed, and when he was taken prisoner by the

See also:
Turks (1071) she was compelled to vacate the throne in favour of her son Michael and retire to a convent, where she died . The
See also:
dictionary of
See also:
mythology entitled 'Lama (" Collection of Violets "), which formerly used to be ascribed to her, was not composed till 1543 (Constantine Palaeokappa) . See J . Flach, Die Kaiserin Eudokia Makrembolitissa (
See also:
Tubingen, 1876) ; P . Patch, De Eudociae quod fertur Violario (Strassburg, 188o) ; and in Hermes,'xvii . (1882), p . 177 if .

End of Article: EUDOCIA AUGUSTA (c. 401–c. 460)
[back]
EUDAEMONISM (from Gr. eb&u,uosla, literally the sta...
[next]
EUDOXIA LOPUKHINA (1669-1731)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.