Count Theodosius


Count Theodosius was a senior military officer serving Emperor Valentinian I and the Western Roman Empire. He is also known as Flavius Theodosius and as Theodosius the Elder to distinguish him from his son, Emperor Theodosius I. He was granted the title of Comes Rei Militaris per Britanniarum by the Emperor Valentinian for his work there; putting down the Great Conspiracy. After restoring order in Britain he returned to mainland Europe and fought against the Alemanni; as Valentinian's Magister Equitum he successfully invaded Alamannic territory. In 372 Theodosius led a successful campaign against the Sarmatians. In the same year Firmus, a Mauritanian prince, rebelled against Roman rule. Theodosius was sent to Africa and in two hard-fought campaigns put down the insurrection. In 376, after the death of emperor Valentinian, he was arrested and executed, presumably as he was seen as a threat to the new western emperors Gratian and Valentinian II.
The title "Count" is derived from the Roman title "Comes", meaning “companion”, the term "Count Theodosius" is therefore misleading - causing an association with the feudal system, where a Count was often an effectively independent ruler, which was not the case under the Roman Empire.

Family

There is some evidence that Flavius Theodosius's father was called Flavius Julius Honorius, and his uncles Flavius Julius Gerontius and Flavius Julius Eucherius. He himself was called Flavius Julius Theodosius, claimed descending from the gens Julia through Gaius Julius Caesar's cousin Sextus Julius Caesar. Probably sometime in the late 330s or early 340s he married Flavia Thermantia. By her, he had at least two sons, Honorius and Theodosius, born at Cauca in Spain. The family were Orthodox Christians.

Relatives and near relatives

Theodosius is first mentioned in historical records by Ammianus Marcellinus with reference to his appointment to the command to restore order in Britain. It is clear that prior to his appointment to such an important military command Theodosius must have been a confidant of Valentinian and that his military ability was known and respected, but unfortunately what his career up to that point was is unknown.

The Great Conspiracy

In 368, Theodosius was raised to the Roman military rank of comes rei militaris and sent to northern Gaul and Britannia to recover the lands lost to the Great Barbarian Conspiracy in the previous year. Theodosius was given command of part of Valentinian's comitatensis and early in the year he marched on Bononia, Rome's harbour on the Channel. Taking advantage of a break in the weather Theodosius crossed the Channel, landing at Rutupiae, leaving the bulk of his troops in Bononia to await clearer weather. At Rutupiae Theodosius started gathering intelligence on the situation in Britain; he found out that the troops in Britain had either refused to fight against an enemy superior in numbers, or had been on furlough when the invasion began, furthermore, he found out that the enemy had broken up their forces into small raiding parties which were plundering at will. When his army finally crossed the Channel with the onset of clear, spring, weather, Theodosius had made his plans and was ready to move. The Roman army marched on Londinium and re-established Imperial control of Britain's largest city. Londinium would act as Theodosius' base of operations. He divided his army into detachments and sent them to attack the marauding warbands within reach of the city. The Romans quickly overcame the small enemy raiding parties, killing and/or capturing many marauders, and relieving them of their booty, supplies and prisoners. Theodosius also sent messengers offering pardon to deserters and ordering them to make their way to Londinium.
Over the winter of 368–369 large numbers of troops started drift back to their units, these also brought vital intelligence which helped Theodosius plan the next phase of his campaign. In 369 Theodosius campaigned all through Roman Britain, restoring its 'chief towns' and hunting down enemy war parties and traitors. Ammianus Marcellinus records that he put down a rebellion by the Pannonian Valentine. At the end of the campaigning season he sent a message to Valentinian to inform him that the provinces of Britain had been restored to the Empire. He also informed the emperor that he had created a new province which he had named Valentia.
Known to have been with him on this expedition were his younger son, the later emperor, Theodosius and the future usurper Magnus Maximus.

Magister Equitum Praesentalis

On his return from Britain Theodosius succeeded Jovinus as the magister equitum praesentalis at the court of Emperor Valentinian I, in which capacity he prosecuted another successful campaign against the Alemanni. In 372 Theodosius was deployed to Illyricum and led an army against the Sarmatians; he appears to have secured a victory in battle and successfully brought the campaign against to an end.
In 372 Firmus, a Mauretanian prince, rebelled against Roman rule and plunged the Diocese of Africa into disarry. Valentinian decided to give the command of the expedition to suppress the rebellion to Theodosius. The army was reorganized, extra troops were recruited, Theodosius' son was made dux Moesiae Primae replacing his father as commander in Illyricum and Theodosius himself started mustering his troops at Arles. In the spring of 373 Theodosius sailed to Africa and led a successful campaign against the rebels in the east of Mauritania. At the end of the campaigning season, when he led his army into western Mauritania, he suffered a major setback. In 374 Theodosius invaded western Mauritania again, this time he was more successful, defeating the rebels and capturing Firmus. In 375, when Emperor Valentinian suddenly died, Theodosius was still in Africa. Orders arrived for Theodosius to be arrested; he was taken to Carthage, and put to death in early 376. The reasons for this are not clear, but it is thought to have resulted from a factional power struggle in Italy after the sudden death of Emperor Valentinian in November 375. Shortly before his death Count Theodosius accepted Christian baptism — a common practice at the time, even for lifelong Christians.

Legacy

After Count Theodosius's death, his son Theodosius was sent home to the family estates in Gallaecia. But two years later, in 378, after the Roman defeat at the Battle of Adrianople, the younger Theodosius was rehabilitated, placed in charge of the Roman armies in the eastern half of the empire, and quickly elevated to the rank of emperor on January 19, 379, following his successes in the field. The younger Theodosius went on to establish his own imperial Theodosian Dynasty, making Count Theodosius the progenitor and patriarch of an entire line of Roman Emperors.