Description
Flavius Arcadius was the elder son of Emperor Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla. Like many children of Roman Emperors, he was vain and weak, spoiled by growing up in luxury. Arcadius, who was eighteen, was easily manipulated by a conniving Roman officer called Rufinus, and by his daughter, Pulcheria, who was instrumental in legitimizing and promoting the cult of the Virgin Mary. Rufinus is believed to have invited the Goths to come out of their settlements on the Danube and invade Greece, where, being Arian Christians, they destroyed all the remaining statues and temples of the old pagans. Arcadius died in 408 in his palace at Constantinople.
