Eastern Roman emperor conjointly with his father, Theodosius I, from 383 to 395, then solely until 402, when he associated his son Theodosius II with his own rule. Frail and ineffectual, he was dominated by his ministers, Rufinus, Eutropius, and Anthemius, and by his wife Eudoxia. His empire was a prey to the Goths, and Eudoxia abetted the persecution of the patriarch St. John Chrysostom.