Theodosius I

Theodosius I, known as Theodosius the Great, who lived from 11 January 347 to 17 January 395, served as Roman emperor from 379 to 395 and was the last ruler to govern the entire Roman Empire before its permanent division. Born in Hispania to Theodosius the Elder and Thermantia, he rose through the military ranks before Emperor Gratian appointed him to address the Gothic crisis following the Roman defeat at Adrianople in 378, and he was formally invested with imperial power on 19 January 379 at Sirmium. He married twice, first Aelia Flaccilla, mother of Arcadius, Pulcheria and Honorius, and after her death in 386 Galla, mother of Gratian, Galla Placidia and John; his sons Arcadius and Honorius succeeded him as co-rulers of the eastern and western halves of the empire respectively. He concluded the Gothic War of 376 to 382 by settling the Goths as autonomous allies within Roman territory, championed the Nicene Creed by convening the First Council of Constantinople in 381, won two civil wars, against Magnus Maximus in 388 and against Eugenius in 394, and signed a peace treaty with Sasanian Persia in 386 that partitioned Armenia. He died in Mediolanum on 17 January 395, about four months after his final military victory.