The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Aelia Flaccilla
d. AD 386 · Roman empress · Nicene patron of the poor · Constantinople
The Nicene Age
Who Aelia Flaccilla was
The Spanish-born first wife of Theodosius I and a devout Nicene, remembered for tending the crippled and the poor with her own hands and for stiffening her husband against the Arians. Gregory of Nyssa preached her funeral oration, the Oratio in Flacillam, our chief witness to a piety the court poets also praised.
Also listed in women and roman emperors.
Common questions
When did Aelia Flaccilla die?
Aelia Flaccilla is dated d. AD 386 in the archive, which places Aelia Flaccilla in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Aelia Flaccilla?
Aelia Flaccilla is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Gregory of Nyssa, Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Gennadius of Marseille. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Aelia Flaccilla from?
The archive associates Aelia Flaccilla with Constantinople.
Who were Aelia Flaccilla’s contemporaries?
The archive links Aelia Flaccilla to 2 other figures, including Emperor Theodosius I and Gregory of Nyssa. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Gregory of Nyssa, Funeral Oration on the Empress Flacilla
c. AD 386[Gregory preaches for Theodosius’s empress at Constantinople, and makes her almsgiving rather than her rank the substance of the praise.]Gregory of Nyssa · Funeral Oration on the Empress Flacilla
Gregory of Nyssa's Oratio funebris in Flacillam imperatricem, preached at Constantinople in AD 386. Greek: Andreas Spira, Gregorii Nysseni Opera 9 (1967). Critical text in the Gregorii Nysseni Opera (GNO), begun by Werner Jaeger (Leiden, 1921– ). No public-domain English translation exists.
Ecclesiastical History V.19 (the empress nursing the sick with her own hands)
c. AD 449Supplement to De Viris Illustribus (Gennadius)
c. AD 490Faustinus the presbyter wrote to Queen Flaccilla seven books Against the Arians and Macedonians, arguing and convicting them by the testimonies of the very Scriptures which they used, in perverted meaning, for blasphemy.Gennadius of Marseille · read ↗
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Aelia Flaccilla.