Editing Theodosius I (section)

==Art patronage==
[[File:Disc of Theodosius.png|thumb|280px|[[Missorium of Theodosius I|Missorium of Theodosius]], found in 1847 in [[Almendralejo]], [[Spain]]]]
[[File:Hippodrome Constantinople 2007 003.jpg|thumb|View of the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]] with the surviving [[Obelisk of Theodosius]]]]
[[File:The Obelisk of Theodosius, details of the base of the Obelisk of Thutmose III, Hippodrome, Istanbul (8370192180).jpg|thumb|The Obelisk of Theodosius, details of the base of the Obelisk of Thutmose III, Hippodrome, Istanbul (8370192180)]]
According to art historian David Wright, art of the era around the year 400 reflects optimism amongst the traditional polytheists.<ref name="Wright2012">{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=David |editor1-last=Sevcenko |editor1-first=Ihor |editor2-last=Hutter |editor2-first=Irmgard |title=AETOS: Studies in Honour of Cyril Mango presented to him on April 14, 1998 |date=2012 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-095861-4 |edition=reprint |chapter=The Persistence of Pagan Art Patronage in Fifth-Century Rome}}</ref>{{rp|355}}  This is likely connected to what Ine Jacobs calls a renaissance of classical styles of art in the Theodosian period (AD 379–395) often referred to in modern scholarship as the ''Theodosian renaissance''.<ref name="Ine Jacobs">{{cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=Ine |title=The Creation of the Late Antique City: Constantinople and Asia Minor During the 'Theodosian Renaissance' |journal=Byzantion |date=2012 |volume=82 |pages=113–164 |jstor=44173257}}</ref> The ''Forum Tauri'' in Constantinople was renamed and redecorated as the [[Forum of Theodosius]], including a [[column of Theodosius|column]] and a [[triumphal arch]] in his honour.<ref name="Lea Stirling">{{cite journal |last1=Stirling |first1=Lea |author-link=Lea Stirling |title=Theodosian "classicism" – Bente Kiilerich, Late Fourth-Century Classicism in the Plastic Arts: Studies in the So-called Theodosian Renaissance  |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |date=1995 |volume=8 |pages=535–538 |doi=10.1017/S1047759400016433|s2cid=250344855 }}</ref>{{rp|535}} The [[Missorium of Theodosius I|''missorium'']] of Theodosius, the city of Aprodisias's statue of the emperor, the base of the [[Obelisk of Theodosius]], the columns of Theodosius and Arcadius, and the diptych of Probus were all commissioned by the court and reflect a similar renaissance of classicism.<ref name="Lea Stirling"/>{{rp|535}}

According to Armin Wirsching, two obelisks were shipped by the Romans from [[Karnak]] to [[Alexandria]] in 13/12 BC.<ref name="Armin Wirsching">{{cite journal |last1=Wirsching |first1=Armin |title=How the obelisks reached Rome: evidence of Roman double-ships |journal=The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology |date=2007 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=273–283 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-9270.2000.tb01456.x |s2cid=162710923 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1095-9270.2000.tb01456.x}}</ref>  In 357, Constantius II had one (that became known as the [[Lateran obelisk]]) shipped to Rome. Wirsching says the Romans had previously watched and learned from the Egyptians how to transport such large heavy objects, so they constructed "a special sea‐going version of the Nile vessels ... – a double‐ship with three hulls".<ref name="Armin Wirsching"/> In 390, Theodosius oversaw the removal of the other to Constantinople.{{sfn|Majeska|1984|p=256}}{{blockquote|The obelisk with its sculpted base in the former Hippodrome of Constantinople is well known as a rare datable work of Late Antique art. A sixth-century source puts the raising of the obelisk in the year 390, and Greek and Latin epigrams on the plinth (the lower part of the base) credit Theodosius I and the urban prefect Proclus with this feat.<ref name="Linda Safran">{{cite journal |last1=Safran |first1=Linda |title=Points of View: The Theodosian Obelisk Base in Context |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |date=1993 |volume=34 |issue=4 |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/5366723/SAFRAN_OBELISKGRBS.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DPoints_of_View_The_Theodosian_Obelisk_Ba.pdf&Expires=1621712042&Signature=eT6KQyJ3t~pEDp884LltYND1JrkhFi02Q0PwahxCUvlfZvIBtEINyUCCgGq1FAYLZpp-sSMyTu3pH85l9nMKAbxRBqGSxdfB8c6YkrUKKHWxOivaUrYv6PcN9Y398gPCgiUAfEch26oQ60q-zK65cFr9~Pw9ckvvt-Sywp6s-iTAGQPIB6yDJMy8TBEdvuLOqZxOp5sOUj13TG3BLj1qWMjgLZKtdr2YgrVc3Vt9bkQN-sBB~CzbT0BUn0FogUBTe-h3G6Xd7oC0Ac~iErL4V1SJKMI1Twf2Hh6U-0BK7J1ibTlzU7DmiqB-45MxxXV1xe7tXTzoKVDjOGryXemOIA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522183524/https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/5366723/SAFRAN_OBELISKGRBS.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DPoints_of_View_The_Theodosian_Obelisk_Ba.pdf&Expires=1621712042&Signature=eT6KQyJ3t~pEDp884LltYND1JrkhFi02Q0PwahxCUvlfZvIBtEINyUCCgGq1FAYLZpp-sSMyTu3pH85l9nMKAbxRBqGSxdfB8c6YkrUKKHWxOivaUrYv6PcN9Y398gPCgiUAfEch26oQ60q-zK65cFr9~Pw9ckvvt-Sywp6s-iTAGQPIB6yDJMy8TBEdvuLOqZxOp5sOUj13TG3BLj1qWMjgLZKtdr2YgrVc3Vt9bkQN-sBB~CzbT0BUn0FogUBTe-h3G6Xd7oC0Ac~iErL4V1SJKMI1Twf2Hh6U-0BK7J1ibTlzU7DmiqB-45MxxXV1xe7tXTzoKVDjOGryXemOIA__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 May 2021}}</ref>}} Linda Safran says that relocating the obelisk was motivated by Theodosius's victory over "the tyrants" (most likely Maximus Magnus and his son Victor).<ref name="Linda Safran"/>{{rp|410}} It is now known as the obelisk of Theodosius and still stands in the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]],{{sfn|Majeska|1984|p=256}} the long [[Roman circus]] that was, at one time, the centre of Constantinople's public life. Re-erecting the monolith was a challenge for the technology that had been honed in the construction of [[siege engine]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=M. J. T. |title=Roman Methods of Transporting and Erecting Obelisks |journal=History of Engineering and Technology |date=1984 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=87–110 |doi=10.1179/tns.1984.005 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/tns.1984.005?journalCode=yhet19}}</ref>

The obelisk's white marble base is entirely covered with [[bas-relief]]s documenting Theodosius's imperial household and the engineering feat of removing the obelisk to Constantinople. Theodosius and the imperial family are separated from the nobles among the spectators in the [[imperial box]], with a cover over them as a mark of their status.<ref name="Linda Safran"/> From the perspective of style, it has served as "the key monument in identifying a so-called Theodosian court style, which is usually described as a "renaissance" of earlier Roman classicism".<ref name="Linda Safran"/>{{rp|411}}
[[File:Theodosius colum, Istanbul.jpg|thumb|Theodosius offers a [[laurel wreath]] to the victor, on the marble base of the Obelisk of [[Thutmosis III]] at the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]].]]