Theodosios I

   Emperor (q.v.) from 379-395, he succeeded in suppressing civil wars in the West and reuniting the empire under his sole rule. His reign is associated with the triumph of Orthodoxy (q.v.) as defined by the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (qq.v.) in 325. By decree in 380 he affirmed Orthodoxy and called the Second Ecumenical Council (381) to condemn Arianism (q.v.) yet again and to condemn the so-called Pneumatomachoi, who taught that the Holy Spirit was created. In 391-392 he outlawed pagan rituals and the offering of sacrifices. The year 393 was the last year that the Olympic games were held. These acts insured the decline of public paganism and the triumph of Nicene Orthodoxy, earning him the epithet "the Great." However, his promotion of Nicene Orthodoxy made it less likely that the Arian German soldiery could be integrated into Roman society. His settlement with the Visigoths (q.v.) in 382 did little to change matters, as did his enrollment ofGermans as foederati (q.v.) in separate units with their own officers, some of whom he promoted to the highest commands. Popular hostility against the Germans erupted in 390 in Thessalonike (q.v.), where numerous soldiers and their commanders were killed for outrages against the populace. Theodosios I massacred 7,000 citizens in response, and he was forced to do penance by Ambrose (q.v.) for this deed.