# Theodosius I The first fact about Theodosius I in a public catalog is a stack of dated constitutions and wars, not a cartoon who switched off paganism on a Monday. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I places the 19 January 379 appointment, Thessalonica residence, 28 February 380 edict, 381 council, 382 Gothic foedus, western wars, 390 retaliation and Ambrose, and death at Milan on 17 January 395. DIR at https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/theo1.htm independently narrates the reign including 3 October 382. Fordham’s Book XVI at https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/theodcodeXVI.asp and Early Church Texts at https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/codex_theodosianus.htm print Cunctos populos, church-surrender, and temple laws. Grenoble at https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/ is the Roman-law neighbourhood of the later code. The council article at https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Constantinople-381 and Ambrose Letter 51 at https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/340951.htm bound creed and penance. Catholic Encyclopedia at https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577d.htm retells Frigidus and Milan. Constantine at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor is prior Christian-imperial influence, not a meeting. 381 is a summoned council plus a church-delivery law. 382 settles an armed people. 388 and 394 are civil wars. 390 is a massacre whose order-versus-chaos remains source-critical; 7,000 is not printed here as established. 391 forbids sacrifice and temple access in a western address; 392 goes after private rites — stepwise, not overnight. What the score must not say: that he authored the 438 book as a lifetime tome; that paganism ended on 24 February 391; that Letter 51 is a modern indictment with a body-count; that 382 caused 476 as a unique coefficient. Offsets: appointment after Adrianople; labour reconstitution of the army; Athanaric; capital-delay 382; Galla; Antioch pardon; Armenia; Valentinian restored; penance; 16.8.9 on synagogues; Forum Tauri; clemency after Frigidus. Complex contribution is the honest type. Confidence is high on 379-01-19, 380-02-28, 382-10-03, 391-02-24, 394-09-06, 395-01-17, medium on 390 orders and 387 Armenia clauses. Related people are Gratian, Ambrose, Arcadius, Honorius, Stilicho, Valentinian II, Magnus Maximus, Eugenius, Aelia Flaccilla, [Constantine the Great](/people/constantine-the-great) as prior influence. On method: one constitution is one Fact. On source-distance: Fordham Book XVI at https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/theodcodeXVI.asp and Early Church Texts at https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/codex_theodosianus.htm are English extracts of a 438 compilation. Grenoble at https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/ is a law-text neighbourhood, not a 379 chancery roll. DIR at https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/theo1.htm and Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I independently reconstruct 3 October 382 and 19 January 379. Ambrose Letter 51 at https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/340951.htm is episcopal rhetoric, not a hippodrome register. The council page at https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Council-of-Constantinople-381 must stay distinct from CTh 16.1.3. Constantine at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Constantine-I-Roman-emperor is prior influence; neighbouring article constantine-milan-nicaea-and-civil-war is the right extra slot, not a COP row. Empty news is honest. Twelve improving and twelve worsening paths are possible from dated laws and wars without inventing a museum year. Remaining dated instruments kept after dropping later editions and split rows are the twenty-four lifetime headings listed on this page. Later Loeb, UNESCO, and encyclopedia pages are evidence, not additional acts. ## Dated facts - Theodosius dies at Milan on 17 January 395; Arcadius and Honorius take East and West as a lasting division. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-death-division-395. Sources: https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/theo1.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. - 394: After the Frigidus, Theodosius is received as offering clemency to surviving partisans of Eugenius. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-frigidus-clemency-394. Sources: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577d.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. - Theodosius defeats Eugenius at the Frigidus on 6 September 394; Eugenius is captured and killed. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-frigidus-394. Sources: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577d.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. - CTh 16.8.9 of 29 September 393 states that the Jewish sect is prohibited by no law and orders restraint of those who destroy synagogues. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-synagogues-393. Sources: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/theodcodeXVI.asp, https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/. - CTh 16.10.12 of 8 November 392 extends cult restrictions to private domestic rites across the empire as later compiled. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-private-rites-392. Sources: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/theodcodeXVI.asp, https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/. - Valentinian II dies in 392; western succession crisis pulls Theodosius toward sole rule. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-valentinian-ii-death-392. Sources: https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/theo1.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. - CTh 16.10.10 of 24 February 391 forbids sacrifice and access to temples in a western address, not an overnight abolition of all paganism. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-temples-391. Sources: https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/codex_theodosianus.htm, https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/theodcodeXVI.asp. - The Serapeum of Alexandria is destroyed in 391 under Theodosian anti-pagan enforcement. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-serapeum-391. Sources: https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/theo1.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. - 390: Ambrose bars Theodosius from communion until public penance for Thessalonica; the emperor performs it as later told. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-ambrose-penance-390. Sources: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/340951.htm, https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577d.htm. - Imperial troops massacre civilians at Thessalonica in 390 after the lynching of Butheric; numbers and orders remain source-critical. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-thessalonica-390. Sources: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/340951.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. - 389: Privileges and regulations for teachers and physicians appear in Theodosian legislation. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-teachers-privileges. Sources: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I, https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/. - 388: After Maximus’s fall, Valentinian II is restored in the West under Theodosius’s military shadow. https://factrail.ai/facts/theo-valentinian-restored-388. Sources: https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/theo1.htm, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodosius-I. ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/theodosius-i