Albia Domnica
Encyclopedia
Albia Dominica was a Roman Augusta
, wife to Emperor Valens
. Valens, who ruled from 364-378, was emperor of the East and co-emperor with his brother Valentinian I
.
, who was hated for his greed and cruelty. Her father's unpopularity was so great that it led to the rebellion of Procopius
, a rival of Valens, in 365.
According to the account of Ammianus Marcellinus
:"...Many who, since men are always discontented with present conditions, were finding fault with Valens, as being inflamed with a desire of seizing the property of others. To the emperor's cruelty deadly incentive was given by his father-in‑law Petronius, who from the command of the Martensian legion had by a sudden jump been promoted to the rank of patrician. He was a man ugly in spirit and in appearance, who, burning with an immoderate longing to strip everyone without distinction, condemned guilty and innocent alike, after exquisite tortures, to fourfold indemnities, looking up debts going back to the time of the emperor Aurelian
, grieving excessively if he was obliged to let any one escape unscathed. Along with his intolerable character he had this additional incentive to his devastations, that while he was enriching himself through the woes of others, he was inexorable, cruel, savage and fearlessly hard-hearted, never capable of giving or receiving reason, more hated than Cleander
,who, as we read, when prefect under the emperor Commodus
, in his haughty madness had ruined the fortunes of many men; more oppressive than Plautianus
, also a prefect under Severus
, who with superhuman arrogance would have caused general confusion, if he had not perished by the avenging sword. These lamentable occurrences, which under Valens, aided and abetted by Petronius, closed the houses of the poor and the palaces of the rich in great numbers, added to the fear of a still more dreadful future, sank deeply into the minds of the provincials and of the soldiers, who groaned under similar oppression, and with universal sighs everyone prayed (although darkly and in silence) for a change in the present condition of affairs with the help of the supreme deity."
Petronius was probably a Pannonian. Her further ancestry is unknown. Various of her relatives held influentials positions. A possible relative is Domnicus, an officer of Valens mentioned in Oration II by Libanius
. Procopius, prefect of Constantinople
in 377, is mentioned by Zosimus
as a relative of Valens by marriage. Suggesting he was also related to Dominica. According to Nicetas of Serra, Eusebius was her uncle and a praefectus urbi
in the Diocese of Pontus
. Nicetas was a commentator to the works of Gregory of Nazianzus
and identified Eusebius with an othetwise unnamed figure mentioned in the works of Gregory. Eusebius is thus supposedly recorded in the funeral oration
in honor of Basil of Caesarea. According to the account of Gregory:
"The same mischance is said to have befallen the prefect. He also was obliged by sickness to bow beneath the hands of the Saint, and, in reality, to men of sense a visitation brings instruction, and affliction is often better than prosperity. He fell sick, was in tears, and in pain, he sent for Basil, and en-treated him, crying out, "I own that you were in the right; only save me!" His request was granted, as he himself acknowledged, and convinced many who had known nothing of it; for he never ceased to wonder at and describe the powers of the prelate. Such was his conduct in these cases, such its result. Did he then treat others in a different way, and engage in petty disputes about trifles, or fail to rise to the heights of philosophy in a course of action which merits no praise and is best passed over in silence? By no means. He who once stirred up the wicked Hadad
against Israel, stirred up against him the prefect of the province of Pontus; nominally, from annoyance connected with some poor creature of a woman, but in reality as a part of the struggle of impiety against the truth. I pass by all his other insults against Basil, or, for it is the same thing, against God
; for it is against Him and on His behalf that the contest was waged. One instance of it, however, which brought special disgrace upon the assailant, and exalted his adversary, if philosophy and eminence for it be a great and lofty thing, I will describe at length."
"The assessor of a judge was attempting to force into a distasteful marriage a lady of high birth whose husband was but recently dead. At a loss to escape from this high-handed treatment, she resorted to a device no less prudent than daring. She fled to the holy table, and placed herself under the protection of God against outrage. What, in the Name of the Trinity
Itself, if I may introduce into my panegyric somewhat of the forensic style, ought to have been done, I do not say, by the great Basil, who laid down the law for us all in such matters, but by any one who, though far inferior to him, was a priest? Ought he not to have allowed her claim, to have taken charge of, and cared for, her; to have raised his hand in defence of the kindness of God and the law which gives honour to the altar? Ought he not to have been willing to do and suffer anything, rather than take part in any inhuman design against her, and outrage at once the holy table, and the faith in which she had taken sanctuary? No! said the baffled judge, all ought to yield to my authority, and Christian
s should betray their own laws. The suppliant whom he demanded, was at all hazards retained. Accordingly, in his rage, he at last sent some of the magistrates to search the saint's bedchamber, with the purpose of dishonouring him, rather than from any necessity. What! Search the house of a man so free from passion, whom the angel
s revere, at whom women do not venture even to look? And, not content with this, he summoned him, and put him on his defence; and that, in no gentle or kindly manner, but as if he were a convict. Upon Basil's appearance, standing, like my Jesus
, before the judgment seat of Pilate
, he presided at the trial, full of wrath and pride. Yet the thunderbolts did not fall, and the sword of God still glittered, and waited, while His bow, though bent, was restrained. Such indeed is the custom of God.
"Consider another struggle between our champion and his persecutor. His ragged pallium
having been ordered to be torn away, "I will also, if you wish it, strip off my coat," said he. His fleshless form was threatened with blows, and he offered to submit to be torn with combs, and he said, "By such laceration you will cure my liver
, which, as you see, is wearing me away." Such was their argument. But when the city perceived the outrage and the common danger of all — for each one considered this insolence a danger to himself, it became all on fire with rage; and, like a hive roused by smoke, one after another was stirred and arose, every race' and every age, but especially the men from the-small-arms factory and from the imperial weaving-sheds. For men at work in these trades are specially hot-tempered and daring, because of the liberty allowed them. Each man was armed with the tool he was using, or with whatever else came to hand at the moment. Torch in hand, amid showers of stones, with cudgel's ready, all ran and shouted together in their united zeal. Anger makes a terrible soldier or general. Nor were the women weaponless, when roused by such an occasion. Their pins were their spears, and no longer remaining women, they were by the strength of their eagerness endowed with masculine courage. It is a short story. They thought that they would share among themselves the piety of destroying him, and held him to be most pious who first laid hands on one who had dared such deeds. What then was the conduct of this haughty and daring judge? He begged for mercy in a pitiable state of distress, cringing before them to an unparalleled extent, until the arrival of the martyr without bloodshed, who had won his crown without blows, and now restrained the people by the force of his personal influence, and delivered the man who had insulted him and now sought his protection. This was the doing of the God of Saints, Who worketh and changeth all things for the best, who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. And why should not He, Who divided the sea and stayed the river, and ruled the elements, and by stretching out set up a trophy, to save His exiled people, why should not He have also rescued this man from his perils?"
The names Anastasia
, Domnicus, Eusebius
, Petronius
and Procopius
used by various family members are thought to be Greek
in origin. Various scholars have suggested this could indicate the descent of Dominica and her relatives from Greek
-speaking families of Sirmium
, the initial capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
. Marriage into a Greek
family could have helped solididy Valens' rule over the Hellenized
Eastern Roman Empire
.
both daughters were educated by Marcian, a former palatinus (paladin
). Marcian had become a Novatianist
presbyter
. His continued service at court supposedly ensured that Valens held a more tolerant stance regarding Novatianists.
in 325 had established the Nicene Creed
, which declared that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all equal to each other and of the same substance. The theologian Arius
, founder of Arianism
, disagreed with this and believed that the three parts of the Trinity were materially separate from each other and that the Father created the Son. Dominica was already an Arian and is rumored to have persuaded her husband Valens to convert to the Arian sect. In about 367, according to Theodoret
, Domnica convinced Valens to seek baptism
from Eudoxius of Antioch
, Archbishop of Constantinople. Eudoxius was one of the most influential Arians.
Valens was one of the few emperors of the century to favor the Arians. The empress is accused, with no proof, of having urged her husband to persecute the Trinitarian sect, including persecting many prominent bishops. Persecution was common throughout his reign. Valens imposed a series of “witch hunts” in 371-372, in which nearly all of the pagan philosophers in the Eastern empire were killed.
The young Valentinianus's early death was a great blow to his parents, surrounded by religious scandal and quarrels. According to Socrates, Dominica told her husband that she had been having visions that their son’s illness was a punishment for ill treatment of the bishop Basil of Caesarea
. Basil was a prominent orthodox leader who opposed the emperor's semi-Arian beliefs. When asked to pray for the child, known as Galates, Basil is said to have responded by giving Valens’ commitment to orthodoxy as the condition for the boy’s survival. Valens refused to comply and baptize Galates Catholic. He instead gave his son an Arian baptism. Basil replied by saying that God’s will would be done, and Galates died soon after.
on August 9, 378. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown. The Goths then continued to move east and attacked Constantinople. Because there was no emperor to lead the forces, the empress Dominica was forced to organize a counterattack. Dominica paid soldiers’ wages out of the imperial treasury to any civilian volunteers who were willing to arm themselves against the invaders.
After the death of her husband she ruled as de-facto regent and defended Constantinople
against the attacking Goths
until his successor, Theodosius I
arrived. The date and circumstances of her death remain unknown. According to Socrates and Sozomen, Dominica recruited civilian volunteers to defend Constantinople from the Goths. She issued orders for their payment to equal that of a regular soldier. The expense was paid by the imperial treasury which she administered.
Augusta (honorific)
Augusta was the imperial honorific title of empresses. It was given to the women of the Roman and Byzantine imperial families. In the third century, Augustae could also receive the titles of Mater castrorum and Mater Patriae .The title implied the greatest prestige, with the Augustae able to...
, wife to Emperor Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
. Valens, who ruled from 364-378, was emperor of the East and co-emperor with his brother Valentinian I
Valentinian I
Valentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....
.
Family
Dominica was the daughter of the powerful and unpopular praetorian prefect PetroniusPetronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian age.-Life:...
, who was hated for his greed and cruelty. Her father's unpopularity was so great that it led to the rebellion of Procopius
Procopius (usurper)
Procopius was a Roman usurper against Valens, and member of the Constantinian dynasty.- Life :According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Procopius was a native and spent his youth in Cilicia, probably in Corycus. On his mother's side, Procopius was related, a maternal cousin, to Emperor Julian, since...
, a rival of Valens, in 365.
According to the account of Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
:"...Many who, since men are always discontented with present conditions, were finding fault with Valens, as being inflamed with a desire of seizing the property of others. To the emperor's cruelty deadly incentive was given by his father-in‑law Petronius, who from the command of the Martensian legion had by a sudden jump been promoted to the rank of patrician. He was a man ugly in spirit and in appearance, who, burning with an immoderate longing to strip everyone without distinction, condemned guilty and innocent alike, after exquisite tortures, to fourfold indemnities, looking up debts going back to the time of the emperor Aurelian
Aurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
, grieving excessively if he was obliged to let any one escape unscathed. Along with his intolerable character he had this additional incentive to his devastations, that while he was enriching himself through the woes of others, he was inexorable, cruel, savage and fearlessly hard-hearted, never capable of giving or receiving reason, more hated than Cleander
Cleander
Marcus Aurelius Cleander , commonly known as Cleander, was a Roman freedman who gained extraordinary power as chamberlain and favourite of the emperor Commodus, rising to command the Praetorian Guard and bringing the principal offices of the Roman state into disrepute by selling them to the highest...
,who, as we read, when prefect under the emperor Commodus
Commodus
Commodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
, in his haughty madness had ruined the fortunes of many men; more oppressive than Plautianus
Gaius Fulvius Plautianus
Gaius or Lucius Fulvius Plautianus was a member of the Roman gens Fulvius, a family of the patrician status which had been active in politics since the Roman Republic....
, also a prefect under Severus
Septimius Severus
Septimius Severus , also known as Severus, was Roman Emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succession of offices under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of...
, who with superhuman arrogance would have caused general confusion, if he had not perished by the avenging sword. These lamentable occurrences, which under Valens, aided and abetted by Petronius, closed the houses of the poor and the palaces of the rich in great numbers, added to the fear of a still more dreadful future, sank deeply into the minds of the provincials and of the soldiers, who groaned under similar oppression, and with universal sighs everyone prayed (although darkly and in silence) for a change in the present condition of affairs with the help of the supreme deity."
Petronius was probably a Pannonian. Her further ancestry is unknown. Various of her relatives held influentials positions. A possible relative is Domnicus, an officer of Valens mentioned in Oration II by Libanius
Libanius
Libanius was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school. During the rise of Christian hegemony in the later Roman Empire, he remained unconverted and regarded himself as a Hellene in religious matters.-Life:...
. Procopius, prefect of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in 377, is mentioned by Zosimus
Zosimus
Zosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
as a relative of Valens by marriage. Suggesting he was also related to Dominica. According to Nicetas of Serra, Eusebius was her uncle and a praefectus urbi
Praefectus urbi
The praefectus urbanus or praefectus urbi, in English the urban prefect, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and held high importance in late Antiquity...
in the Diocese of Pontus
Diocese of Pontus
The Diocese of Pontus was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of northern and northeastern Asia Minor up to the border with the Sassanid Empire in Armenia. The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian, and its vicarius, headquartered at Amaseia, was...
. Nicetas was a commentator to the works of Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople. He is widely considered the most accomplished rhetorical stylist of the patristic age...
and identified Eusebius with an othetwise unnamed figure mentioned in the works of Gregory. Eusebius is thus supposedly recorded in the funeral oration
Funeral oration (ancient Greece)
A funeral oration or epitaphios logos is a formal speech delivered on the ceremonial occasion of a funeral. Funerary customs comprise the practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour...
in honor of Basil of Caesarea. According to the account of Gregory:
"The same mischance is said to have befallen the prefect. He also was obliged by sickness to bow beneath the hands of the Saint, and, in reality, to men of sense a visitation brings instruction, and affliction is often better than prosperity. He fell sick, was in tears, and in pain, he sent for Basil, and en-treated him, crying out, "I own that you were in the right; only save me!" His request was granted, as he himself acknowledged, and convinced many who had known nothing of it; for he never ceased to wonder at and describe the powers of the prelate. Such was his conduct in these cases, such its result. Did he then treat others in a different way, and engage in petty disputes about trifles, or fail to rise to the heights of philosophy in a course of action which merits no praise and is best passed over in silence? By no means. He who once stirred up the wicked Hadad
Hadad
Haddad was a northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the Akkadian god Adad. Hadad was often called simply Ba‘al , but this title was also used for other gods. The bull was the symbolic animal of Hadad. He appeared as a bearded deity, often shown as holding a club and...
against Israel, stirred up against him the prefect of the province of Pontus; nominally, from annoyance connected with some poor creature of a woman, but in reality as a part of the struggle of impiety against the truth. I pass by all his other insults against Basil, or, for it is the same thing, against God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
; for it is against Him and on His behalf that the contest was waged. One instance of it, however, which brought special disgrace upon the assailant, and exalted his adversary, if philosophy and eminence for it be a great and lofty thing, I will describe at length."
"The assessor of a judge was attempting to force into a distasteful marriage a lady of high birth whose husband was but recently dead. At a loss to escape from this high-handed treatment, she resorted to a device no less prudent than daring. She fled to the holy table, and placed herself under the protection of God against outrage. What, in the Name of the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
Itself, if I may introduce into my panegyric somewhat of the forensic style, ought to have been done, I do not say, by the great Basil, who laid down the law for us all in such matters, but by any one who, though far inferior to him, was a priest? Ought he not to have allowed her claim, to have taken charge of, and cared for, her; to have raised his hand in defence of the kindness of God and the law which gives honour to the altar? Ought he not to have been willing to do and suffer anything, rather than take part in any inhuman design against her, and outrage at once the holy table, and the faith in which she had taken sanctuary? No! said the baffled judge, all ought to yield to my authority, and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s should betray their own laws. The suppliant whom he demanded, was at all hazards retained. Accordingly, in his rage, he at last sent some of the magistrates to search the saint's bedchamber, with the purpose of dishonouring him, rather than from any necessity. What! Search the house of a man so free from passion, whom the angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s revere, at whom women do not venture even to look? And, not content with this, he summoned him, and put him on his defence; and that, in no gentle or kindly manner, but as if he were a convict. Upon Basil's appearance, standing, like my Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, before the judgment seat of Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilatus , known in the English-speaking world as Pontius Pilate , was the fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36. He is best known as the judge at Jesus' trial and the man who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus...
, he presided at the trial, full of wrath and pride. Yet the thunderbolts did not fall, and the sword of God still glittered, and waited, while His bow, though bent, was restrained. Such indeed is the custom of God.
"Consider another struggle between our champion and his persecutor. His ragged pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
having been ordered to be torn away, "I will also, if you wish it, strip off my coat," said he. His fleshless form was threatened with blows, and he offered to submit to be torn with combs, and he said, "By such laceration you will cure my liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
, which, as you see, is wearing me away." Such was their argument. But when the city perceived the outrage and the common danger of all — for each one considered this insolence a danger to himself, it became all on fire with rage; and, like a hive roused by smoke, one after another was stirred and arose, every race' and every age, but especially the men from the-small-arms factory and from the imperial weaving-sheds. For men at work in these trades are specially hot-tempered and daring, because of the liberty allowed them. Each man was armed with the tool he was using, or with whatever else came to hand at the moment. Torch in hand, amid showers of stones, with cudgel's ready, all ran and shouted together in their united zeal. Anger makes a terrible soldier or general. Nor were the women weaponless, when roused by such an occasion. Their pins were their spears, and no longer remaining women, they were by the strength of their eagerness endowed with masculine courage. It is a short story. They thought that they would share among themselves the piety of destroying him, and held him to be most pious who first laid hands on one who had dared such deeds. What then was the conduct of this haughty and daring judge? He begged for mercy in a pitiable state of distress, cringing before them to an unparalleled extent, until the arrival of the martyr without bloodshed, who had won his crown without blows, and now restrained the people by the force of his personal influence, and delivered the man who had insulted him and now sought his protection. This was the doing of the God of Saints, Who worketh and changeth all things for the best, who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. And why should not He, Who divided the sea and stayed the river, and ruled the elements, and by stretching out set up a trophy, to save His exiled people, why should not He have also rescued this man from his perils?"
The names Anastasia
Anastasia
Anastasia is a personal name and the female form of the Greek male name Anastasius/Anastasios meaning "resurrection." The name, and its male counterpart, were often given to Greek children born around December 2 or around Easter during the early days of Christianity. It is the name of several...
, Domnicus, Eusebius
Eusebius (disambiguation)
Eusebius may refer to:* Eusebius , under Constantius II* Eusebius , Roman consul in 359...
, Petronius
Petronius (disambiguation)
Petronius, also known as Petronius Arbiter, was a Roman writer who lived in the 1st century.Petronius may also refer to:People* Publius Petronius, governor of Aegyptus c...
and Procopius
Procopius (disambiguation)
Procopius may refer to:*Procopius , family of the later Roman Empire; or any of its members; in particular:**Procopius , Roman usurper...
used by various family members are thought to be Greek
Greek name
-Given names:Greek given names can be derived from the Greco-Roman gods, along with Ancient Greek traditions, or from the Byzantine Empire as well as the Old and the New Testament and early Christian traditions...
in origin. Various scholars have suggested this could indicate the descent of Dominica and her relatives from Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
-speaking families of Sirmium
Sirmium
Sirmium was a city in ancient Roman Pannonia. Firstly mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by the Illyrians and Celts, it was conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and subsequently became the capital of the Roman province of Lower Pannonia. In 294 AD, Sirmium was...
, the initial capital of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum
The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided.The administrative centre of the prefecture was Sirmium , and, after 379, Thessalonica...
. Marriage into a Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
family could have helped solididy Valens' rule over the Hellenized
Hellenization
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
Eastern Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
Marriage
She married Valens (c. 354) and bore two daughters, Anastasia and Carosa, before she bore a son and heir, Valentinianus Galates(366-373). According to Socrates of Constantinople and SozomenSozomen
Salminius Hermias Sozomenus was a historian of the Christian church.-Family and Home:He was born around 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza, into a wealthy Christian family of Palestine....
both daughters were educated by Marcian, a former palatinus (paladin
Paladin
The paladins, sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court, according to the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. They first appear in the early chansons de geste such as The Song of Roland, where they represent Christian martial valor against the...
). Marcian had become a Novatianist
Novatianism
The Novatianists were early Christians following Antipope Novatian, held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of Lapsi, those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formalities of a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods, under the pressures of the persecution...
presbyter
Presbyter
Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, then a synonym of episkopos...
. His continued service at court supposedly ensured that Valens held a more tolerant stance regarding Novatianists.
Religious Scandals and the Death of Galates
The history of the Christian Church in the early 4th century was marked by the Trinitarian controversy. The First Council of NicaeaFirst Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
in 325 had established the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
, which declared that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all equal to each other and of the same substance. The theologian Arius
Arius
Arius was a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt of Libyan origins. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's divinity over the Son , and his opposition to the Athanasian or Trinitarian Christology, made him a controversial figure in the First Council of...
, founder of Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
, disagreed with this and believed that the three parts of the Trinity were materially separate from each other and that the Father created the Son. Dominica was already an Arian and is rumored to have persuaded her husband Valens to convert to the Arian sect. In about 367, according to Theodoret
Theodoret
Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms...
, Domnica convinced Valens to seek baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
from Eudoxius of Antioch
Eudoxius of Antioch
Eudoxius was the eighth bishop of Constantinople from January 27, 360 to 370, previously bishop of Germanicia and of Antioch, and was one of the most influential Arians.-Biography:...
, Archbishop of Constantinople. Eudoxius was one of the most influential Arians.
Valens was one of the few emperors of the century to favor the Arians. The empress is accused, with no proof, of having urged her husband to persecute the Trinitarian sect, including persecting many prominent bishops. Persecution was common throughout his reign. Valens imposed a series of “witch hunts” in 371-372, in which nearly all of the pagan philosophers in the Eastern empire were killed.
The young Valentinianus's early death was a great blow to his parents, surrounded by religious scandal and quarrels. According to Socrates, Dominica told her husband that she had been having visions that their son’s illness was a punishment for ill treatment of the bishop Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
. Basil was a prominent orthodox leader who opposed the emperor's semi-Arian beliefs. When asked to pray for the child, known as Galates, Basil is said to have responded by giving Valens’ commitment to orthodoxy as the condition for the boy’s survival. Valens refused to comply and baptize Galates Catholic. He instead gave his son an Arian baptism. Basil replied by saying that God’s will would be done, and Galates died soon after.
Defeat at Adrianople and the Death of Valens
Valens perished in battle against the Goths at the Battle of AdrianopleBattle of Adrianople
The Battle of Adrianople , sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between a Roman army led by the Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels led by Fritigern...
on August 9, 378. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown. The Goths then continued to move east and attacked Constantinople. Because there was no emperor to lead the forces, the empress Dominica was forced to organize a counterattack. Dominica paid soldiers’ wages out of the imperial treasury to any civilian volunteers who were willing to arm themselves against the invaders.
After the death of her husband she ruled as de-facto regent and defended Constantinople
History of Istanbul
The History of Istanbul explains the historical development of the city Istanbul, which has been inhabited since prehistoric times.- From the prehistoric period to ancient Byzantion :...
against the attacking Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
until his successor, Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
arrived. The date and circumstances of her death remain unknown. According to Socrates and Sozomen, Dominica recruited civilian volunteers to defend Constantinople from the Goths. She issued orders for their payment to equal that of a regular soldier. The expense was paid by the imperial treasury which she administered.