This tradition had been established by examples dating from Late Antiquity, notably the power exercised by Pulcheria, older sister of Emperor Theodosios II in the fifth century. Widowed mothers therefore were likely to participate in the regency council set up to administer the empire for the child, until he reached his majority. A father’s premature death created an opportunity for his female relatives, for in such circumstances it was generally recognized that the young co-emperor’s mother was most likely to keep his interests at heart and to protect his rights. Emperors generally tried to arrange the succession for their kin. Furthermore, Byzantium was not a hereditary state. The Augusti and Augustae of the Theodosion dynasty fully supported the Christianization of the public life and full elaboration of Christian art and left us an amazing legacy of religious art (the so-called "Theodosian Renaissance). Lacking magisterial powers, Pulcheria especially had to develop other resources that had nothing to do with traditional female functions, power acquired instead through spectacular piety, exalted humility, works of construction and philanthropy, and potent alliances with saints (the cult of the relics). Although limited by their sex, Galla and Eudocia received authority from childbearing. The prominence of women in the Byzantine Empire (until 1453) found its roots in the Theodosian dynasty, especially with the powerful trio Galla Placidia, her niece Pulcheria and Pulcheria’s sister-in-law Aelia Eudocia. Some of them were independent from the Imperial policy, others were used to strengthen the bond between East and West or the courts and the Church, and still others devoted their life and works to the Church, the way the Church Fathers wanted. Most of these women were very intelligent and ambitious. Especially during the Theodosian dynasty some remarkable ladies of the Roman imperial houses played prominent roles.
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