Editing Theodosius I (section)

=== Second civil war: 392–394 ===
In 391, Theodosius left his trusted general [[Arbogastes (magister militum)|Arbogast]], who had served in the Balkans after Adrianople, to be ''magister militum'' for the Western emperor Valentinian II, while Theodosius attempted to rule the entire empire from Constantinople.<ref name="Michael Kulikowski">{{cite book |last=Kulikowski |first=Michael |title=Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-45809-2 |page=191}}</ref>{{sfn|Heather|2007|p=212}} On 15 May 392, Valentinian II died at Vienna in Gaul ([[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]]), either by suicide or as part of a plot by Arbogast.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=321–322|loc="Valentinianus II"}} Valentinian had quarrelled publicly with Arbogast, and was found hanged in his room.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}} Arbogast announced that this had been a suicide.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}} Stephen Williams asserts that Valentinian's death left Arbogast in "an untenable position".{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}} He had to carry on governing without the ability to issue edicts and rescripts from a legitimate acclaimed emperor. Arbogast was unable to assume the role of emperor himself because of his non-Roman background.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}} Instead, on 22 August 392, Arbogast had Valentinian's master of correspondence, [[Eugenius]], proclaimed emperor in the West at Lugdunum.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}}{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}}

At least two embassies went to Theodosius to explain events, one of them Christian in make-up, but they received ambivalent replies, and were sent home without achieving their goals.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}} Theodosius raised his second son [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]] to emperor on 23 January 393, implying the illegality of Eugenius's rule.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}}{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995| p=129}} Williams and Friell say that by the spring of 393, the split was complete, and "in April Arbogast and Eugenius at last moved into Italy without resistance".{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=129}} [[Virius Nicomachus Flavianus|Flavianus]], the praetorian prefect of Italy whom Theodosius had appointed, defected to their side. Through early 394, both sides prepared for war.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=130}}

Theodosius gathered a large army, including the Goths whom he had settled in the [[eastern empire]] as ''[[foederati]]'', and [[Caucasus|Caucasian]] and [[Saracen]] [[auxilia]]ries, and marched against Eugenius.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=134}} The battle began on 5 September 394, with Theodosius's full frontal assault on Eugenius's forces.{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=133}} Thousands of Goths died, and in Theodosius's camp, the loss of the day decreased morale.<ref name="Kenneth G. Holum">{{cite book |last1=Holum |first1=Kenneth G. |title=Theodosian Empresses Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity |date=1989 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-90970-0 |page=6 |chapter=One. Theodosius the Great and His Women}}</ref> It is said by [[Theodoret]] that Theodosius was visited by two "heavenly riders all in white" who gave him courage.{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=133}}

The next day, the extremely bloody battle began again and Theodosius's forces were aided by a natural phenomenon known as the [[Bora (wind)|Bora]], which can produce hurricane-strength winds. The Bora blew directly against the forces of Eugenius and disrupted the line.{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=133}} Eugenius's camp was stormed; Eugenius was captured and soon after executed.{{sfn|Potter|2004|p=533}} According to Socrates Scholasticus, Theodosius defeated Eugenius at the [[Battle of the Frigidus]] (the [[Vipava (river)|Vipava]]) on 6 September 394.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} On 8 September, Arbogast killed himself.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} According to Socrates, on 1 January 395, Honorius arrived in Mediolanum and a victory celebration was held there.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}} Zosimus records that, at the end of April 394, Theodosius's wife Galla had died while he was away at war.{{Sfn|Kienast|pp=323–326|loc="Theodosius I"}}

A number of Christian sources report that Eugenius cultivated the support of the pagan senators by promising to restore the altar of Victory and provide public funds for the maintenance of cults if they would support him and if he won the coming war against Theodosius.{{sfn|Williams|Friell|1995|p=130}} Cameron notes that the ultimate source for this is Ambrose's biographer [[Paulinus the Deacon]], whom he argues fabricated the entire narrative and deserves no credence.{{sfn|Cameron|pp=74–89}}{{sfn|Hebblewhite|loc=chapter 9}} Historian [[Michele R. Salzman|Michele Renee Salzman]] explains that "two newly relevant texts – John Chrysostom's Homily 6, ''adversus Catharos'' (PG 63: 491–492) and the ''Consultationes Zacchei et Apollonii'', re-dated to the 390s, reinforces the view that religion was not the key ideological element in the events at the time".<ref name="Michele Renee Salzman">{{cite journal |last1=Salzman |first1=Michele Renee |title=Ambrose and the Usurpation of Arbogastes and Eugenius: Reflections on Pagan-Christian Conflict Narratives |journal=Journal of Early Christian Studies |date=2010 |volume=18 |issue=2 |page=191 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/383540/pdf |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|doi=10.1353/earl.0.0320 |s2cid=143665912 }}</ref> According to [[Maijastina Kahlos]], Finnish historian and Docent of Latin language and Roman literature at the University of Helsinki, the notion of pagan aristocrats united in a "heroic and cultured resistance" who rose up against the ruthless advance of Christianity in a final battle near Frigidus in 394 is a romantic myth.{{sfn|Kahlos|p=2}}