ABSTRACT
Theodosius’ family were provincial aristocrats, with a concentration of estates in Gallaecia (see map I) and the usual network of connections and influence through the upper classes of the Spanish and Gallic provinces.1 Spain was a region where Christianity had taken hold early and, unlike the older Italian senatorial families, they were firmly Christians of the Nicene creed and numbered bishops among their friends and connections.2 They first came to prominence with the elder Flavius Theodosius,3 whose outstanding talents as a general brought him to the topmost military circles of Valentinian, playing an important part in the emperor’s campaigns on the Rhine and upper Danube.4
