Arcadia (daughter of Arcadius)

Arcadia (Greek: Άρκαδία; 3 April 400 – 444) was the third daughter of the Roman emperor Arcadius (r. 383–408) and Aelia Eudoxia and a member of the Theodosian dynasty.

Life

Her next sibling was the male heir and future emperor Theodosius II (r. 402–450). Following the example of her older sister Aelia Pulcheria she took a vow of virginity, but unlike her, she never married, devoting herself to religion. Arcadia died in 444.[1]

Constructions

In Constantinople, she ordered the construction, near the Gate of Saturninus,[2] of a monastery dedicated to Saint Andrew. The building, named also Rodophylion (Ancient Greek: Ροδοφύλιον) lay about 600 m. west of the gate.[3] Heavily transformed, the church of the monastery is now the Koca Mustafa Pasha Mosque of Istanbul.[3] Arcadia had two mansions, and possibly built a bath in Constantinople.[1]

References

1. Angelova, Diliana (2015). Sacred Founders: Women, Men, and Gods in the Discourse of Imperial Founding, Rome Through Early Byzantium. University of California Press. pp. 148–155. ISBN 978-052-028-401-2. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt19632rv.
2. Janin (1953), 34. "A gate of the now vanished Constantinian wall of the city."
3. Müller-Wiener (1977), p. 172.

Sources

• «Arcadia 1», PLRE I, p. 129.
• Janin, Raymond (1953). La Géographie Ecclésiastique de l'Empire Byzantin. 1. Part: Le Siège de Constantinople et le Patriarcat Oecuménique. 3rd Vol. : Les Églises et les Monastères (in French). Paris: Institut Français d'Etudes Byzantines.
• Müller-Wiener, Wolfgang (1977). Bildlexikon Zur Topographie Istanbuls: Byzantion, Konstantinupolis, Istanbul Bis Zum Beginn D. 17 Jh (in German). Tübingen: Wasmuth. ISBN 978-3-8030-1022-3.