in the devout act, they should be violated by his
successor." It was an age fitted in all ways to produce such a story as
that of Pope Joan, which, though it was probably not founded on fact, is
a worthy illustration of the moral condition of the rulers of the Church
in that time.

We have seen that, save for the story of Hildegarde, the women of
Charlemagne's family did not present examples of Christian piety or
devotion, but it may be in place here to mention that Saint Rosalie, the
patron saint of Palermo, was of a family said to have descended from
that of Charlemagne. Saint Rosalie, becoming filled with a spirit of
devotion, retired to a grotto on Mount Pelegrino, where in solitude she
passed her time in prayer and penitence. Miraculous power was ascribed
by the Sicilians to this saint, and of her is told the legend that,
surreptitiously conveying bread concealed in her apron to feed the
hungry, without her father's consent, she was discovered by him and
requested to open her apron, when it was found that the bread had been
changed into magnificent roses.

PART SECOND

WOMEN OF THE EASTERN EMPIRE

IX

THE EMPRESS EUDOXIA

From the story of Christian Womanhood in Old Rome on the Tiber we pass
naturally to the story of Christian Womanhood in that New Rome on the
Bosporus, where Constantine the Great had established an imperial city
which was destined to be the centre of the religious and political life
of the civilized peoples of the East for over a thousand years, and to
keep alive during the Dark Ages the torch of civilization.

The victories of the Caesars in the extensive domain Hellenized by
Alexander the Great had been surpassed only by the victories of the
Christ, and in Constantinople the authority of Church and State blended
in one inseparable union and determined the destinies of millions of men
and women in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

As Greek culture was ever an important factor in the eastern half of the
Roman Empire, the story of the Christian women of the East is but a
continuation of the story of Greek women. Hence, it is our task to
consider how Hellenized womanhood was affected by that new principle
which had entered into the world.

Christianity, with its emphasis on the affections, naturally appealed to
women, who, says Aristotle, "are creatures of passion, as opposed to
men, who are capable of living by reason." And from the days of Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, the women of