s, now a master of the soldiers, who
sought to play the role of Stilicho in the East. He was supported by the
empress Eudoxia, who chafed under the domination of the chamberlain. In
399 on the occasion of a revolt of the Gothic troops in Phrygia, Gainas
held aloof and the failure of the nominee of Eutropius to crush the
movement gave him the opportunity to bring about the latter's dismissal
and eventually his death.

But Gainas did not long retain his power. He quarrelled with the empress,
and the Arianism of himself and his followers roused the animosity of the
population of the capital. A massacre of the Goths in Constantinople
followed and with the aid of a loyal Goth Fravitta, Gainas was driven
north of the Danube where he was slain by the Huns (400 A. D.). The
influence of Eudoxia was now paramount. However, she found a critic in the
eloquent bishop of Constantinople, John Chrysostom, who inveighed against
the extravagance and dissipation of the society of the court, and directed
his censures towards the empress in particular. Ultimately, Eudoxia was
able to have him deposed from his see in 404 A. D., a few months before
his death. Four years later Arcadius himself died, leaving the empire to
his eight-year-old son Theodosius II.

*Theodosius II, 408-450 A. D.* At the opening of the reign of Theodosius
II the government was in the hands of the praetorian prefect Anthemius,
who had shown himself an able administrator during the last years of
Arcadius. However, in 414, the emperor's elder sister, Pulcheria, was made
regent with the title of Augusta. She was a strong personality and for
many years completely dominated the emperor who was lacking in
independence of character and energy. In 421 Pulcheria selected as a wife
for Theodosius, Athenais, the daughter of an Athenian sophist, who took
the name of Eudocia upon accepting Christianity. After a lapse of some
years differences arose between the empress and her sister-in-law which
led to the latter's withdrawal from the court (after 431 A. D.). But,
about 440, Eudocia lost her influence over the emperor; she was compelled
to retire from Constantinople and reside in Jerusalem, where she lived
until her death in 460. The reins of power then passed to the grand
chamberlain Chrysapius, whose corrupt administration rivalled that of his
predecessor Eutropius.

During the reign of Theodosius II the peace of the eastern empire was
broken by a war with Persia and by inroads