Arcadius

Arcadius was the first emperor of a definitively separate eastern Roman Empire, ruling from 395 until his death in 408. The elder son of Theodosius I, he received the eastern half of the empire at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Neither Arcadius nor his brother Honorius was remotely capable of ruling independently, and the history of Arcadius's reign is largely the history of the powerful figures who dominated him: first the praetorian prefect Rufinus, then the eunuch chamberlain Eutropius, and finally the empress Eudoxia, whose influence over her husband was total until her death in 404. Despite the political failures of his reign, Arcadius's eastern empire survived intact and he died peacefully in his bed in 408.

• Lived: 377 CE – 408 CE
• Nationality: roman
• Roles: emperor, head_of_state