Flavius Theodosius, 379 - 395

Theodosius was born c346, the son of Count Theodosius. A very able soldier and general, he was elevated to the rank of Augustus and placed over the eastern provinces by Gratian in 379. He reversed the fortunes of the Romans along the Danube frontier where he repulsed the Goths who had been victorious over Valens at the battle of Hadrianopolis in 378. He then turned his attention to the usurper Magnus Maximus . Defeating Maximus took several years, and was not completed until 388. In 392, another usurper, Eugenius, the puppet of barbarian general Arbogastes rebelled against his authority. Eugenius was soundly defeated in 394 and for a brief time, Theodosius was sole ruler of the whole empire. He died of dropsy (oedema, water retention in body cavities) in 395.