Aelia Pulcheria: First Guardian then Empress

Aelia Pulcheria (regent of the Empire, 4 July 414)

On 4 July 414, Pulcheria declared herself regent of the Eastern Roman Empire. Then just fifteen years old, Pulcheria was only two years older than her brother, Theodosius II, who had become emperor when his father Arcadius died in 408. And as for Pulcheria's mother, Aelia Eudoxia, we have met her before--although influential, she was never beloved, dismissed as "arrogant" and "abnormally willfulful."

Aelia Pulcheria,
gold solidus coin

But for Pulcheria, things were different.

For one thing, when she proclaimed herself regent of the empire, she took a vow of virginity.

She then named herself empress, thus becoming Aelia Pulcheria. (The name "Aelia" is used by Byzantine empresses, as a tribute to Aelia Flavia Flacilla, the honored wife of Theodosius I.) The senate added the honorific "augusta" to her name.

And, too, Aelia Pulcheria's pious ways contrasted with her mother's manner. The imperial court became much more pious as well--fasting, prayer, and acts of charity replaced luxurious clothing and frivolous entertainment. 

This arrangement continued, though after Theodosius's marriage, in 421, there was conflict between his sister and his wife, Aelia Eudocia. In 438, however, Eudocia left the imperial court for the Holy Land. Although she returned briefly, by 440 she was back in Jerusalem, where she died in 460.

In the mean time, Aelia Pulcheria continued her joint rule with Theodosius until his death in 450. Since she could not continue to rule as a single woman, Aelia Pulcheria married Marcian, a once-obscure soldier who had risen through the ranks to become a senator. As a condition of the marriage, however, Marcian had to observe Pulcheria's vow of virginity. 

Pulcheria was a defender of the orthodox church against heresy, built churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Constantinople, and brought many holy relics to the city. After her death in 453, she was canonized as St. Pulcheria. Her feast day is celebrated on 10 September. 

There is an excellent chapter on Aelia Pulcheria Augusta in Kenneth Holum's Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity.

(Holum's book also includes an essay on Aelia Eudocia--who seems to have been selected by "alarmed" aristocrats in order to "resist Pulcherian innovation"--Holum concludes that the "efforts" to counter Pulcheria served only to "reinforce her own basileis [rule] with new resources. . . . In her competition with Eudocia the virgin empress brought the Theodosian phenomenon of female dominion to completion.")

Aelia Eudoxia, "Abnormally Willful"

Aelia Eudoxia, Byzantine empress (married 27 April 395)

Although very little is certain about Eudoxia's early life, whether she is of Frankish descent, as some claim, or of Roman descent, as still others insist, she was clearly "barbarian" or "semi-barbarian" in the eyes of her contemporaries. (Her father may or may not have been the Frankish officer Flavius Bauto, a military commander in the late Roman Empire and mentioned as a consul in 385; nothing is known of Eudoxia's mother.) 

A gold solidus from 400-402,
bearing the image of Aelia Eudoxia

Theodosius, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, died on 17 January 395. Three months later, on 27 April, Arcadius, the son and heir of Theodosius, married Eudoxia. Why Arcadius chose Eudoxia as his bride is just one other unknown, about which there is even more speculation--according to one story, she was just so beautiful that he couldn't resist. (The name "Aelia" is used by Byzantine empresses, as a tribute to Aelia Flavia Flacilla, the honored wife of Theodosius I.)

Her marriage raised Eudoxia to the rank of empress. Now Aelia Eudoxia, she lived fewer than ten years, but during that time, she fulfilled her "natural" and political role admirably, producing seven children, five of whom survived infancy, including a son, Theodosius, born in 401, who would succeed his father as emperor. 

Aelia Eudoxia proved also to be an influential empress. Although much of the blame laid on her for her role in court politics may have been misplaced, she did involve herself personally and energetically in church affairs, which brought her into conflict with John Chrysostom, the patriarch of Constantinople, who railed against her as Herodias: "again Herodias rages," he preached in a famous sermon, "again she dances, again she seeks to have the head of John on a plate." (Herodias was the queen who asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter.)

Aelia Eudoxia was also condemned as Jezebel, and it was suggested when her son was born that Arcadius was not his father--that he was the result of Aelia Eudoxia's affair with a member of the court at Constantinople. And then, of course, there is the dreadful charge that she was "arrogant," that there was in her "no little insolence," and that she was "abnormally willful."

Aelia Eudoxia, given the title of "Augusta" after the birth of her third child (a daughter), died in 404. When Arcadius died in 408, his seven-year-old son became Theodosius II, but in 414, Eudoxia's eldest surviving daughter, Pulcheria, then fifteen, declared herself as his regent--we will meet this remarkable woman later in the year on the Fourth of July!).

There is a chapter on Aelia Eudoxia Augusta in Kenneth Holum's Theodosian Empresses: Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity. An excellent essay by Wendy Mayer is posted online.