kill in writing and in illuminating manuscripts that he
received the name of Calligraphus. Pulcheria acquired an elegant and
familiar command of both Greek and Latin; and she displayed her
intellectual discipline, and gift of expression on the various occasions
of speaking or writing on public business.

Yet Pulcheria's devotion to religion and to learning never diverted her
indefatigable attention from public affairs. She strengthened the
influence of the senate and supported it in the reform of many abuses
which had crept in during the ascendancy of the eunuchs of the palace
and the struggles with the German party; but her energies were chiefly
directed toward acting as counsellor to the emperor, and protecting him
from the intrigues of court officials, to which his weak character made
him an easy victim. She instructed her brother in the art of government,
yet the tenderness of her discipline seems to have made him rather a
willing instrument in her own hands than an independent monarch.
Possibly she realized that the elements which go to form a great ruler
were lacking in his character; possibly her own love of power blinded
her to the right course of action toward her confiding ward. At any
rate, "her precepts may countenance some suspicion of the extent of her
capacity or the purity of her intention. She taught him to maintain a
grave and majestic deportment; to walk, to hold his robe, to seat
himself on his throne in a manner worthy of a great prince; to abstain
from laughter; to listen with condescension; to return suitable answers;
to assume, by turns, a serious or a placid countenance; in a word, to
represent with grace and dignity the external figure of a Roman
emperor."

Though so careful and systematic in her training of the young prince,
Pulcheria did not deprive his boyhood of those companionships which add
zest to youthful pursuits and recreation and stimulate the growth of
manly qualities. She gave him as comrades two bright and spirited
youths, Paulinus and Placitus, with whom he associated in open-hearted
intimacy and who were destined to play a prominent part in his reign.
Paulinus especially became his most trusted friend, and the two were
united for many years by bonds which resembled those of Damon and
Pythias. Amid such surroundings and under such influence, Theodosius
grew up. The product of Pulcheria's instruction, however, was a ruler
who descended below even the weakness of her father and un