Leicester, York, etc. Having become famed for her spirit and courage, the titles of lady and queen were judged inadequate to her merit; to these she received, in addition, those of lord and king.
Her courage and activity were employed in the service of her country till her death, in 922, at Tamworth, in Staffordshire, where she was carrying on a war with the Danes. She left one daughter, Elswina.
Ethelfleda was deeply regretted by the whole kingdom, especially by her brother Edward, to whom she proved equally serviceable in the cabinet and the field. Ingulphus, the historian, speaks of the courage and masculine virtues of this princess.
EUDOCIA,
Whose name was originally Athenais, was the daughter of Leontius, an Athenian sophist and philosopher. She was born about 393, and very carefully educated by her father. Her progress in every branch of learning was uncommon and rapid. Her father, proud of her great beauty and attainments, persuaded himself that the merit of Athenais would be a sufficient dowry. With this conviction, he divided, on his death-bed, his estate between his two sons, bequeathing his daughter only one hundred pieces of gold.
Less sanguine in the power of her charms, Athenais appealed at first to the equity and affection of her brothers; finding this in vain, she took refuge with an aunt of hers, and commenced a legal process against her brothers. In the progress of the suit, Athenais was carried by her aunts to Constantinople. Theodosius the Second at this time divided with his sister Pulcheria the care of the empire; and to Pulcheria the aunts of Athenais appealed for justice. The beauty and intellect of the young Greek interested Pulcheria, who contrived that her brother should see her and hear her converse, without being himself seen. Her slender and graceful figure, the regularity of her features, her fair complexion, golden hair, large blue eyes, and musical voice, completely enraptured the young king. He had her instructed in the principles of the Greek church, which she embraced, and was baptized, in 421, by the name of Eudocia. She was then married to the emperor amid the acclamations of the capital, and after the birth of a daughter, received the surname of Augusta.
Amidst the luxuries of a court, the empress continued to preserve her studious habits. She composed a poetical paraphrase of the first eight books of the New Testament; also of the prophecies of Daniel and Zachariah; to these she added a canto of the verses of Homer, applied to the life and miracles of Christ; the legend of St. Cyprian; and a panegyric on the Persian victories of Theodosius.
"Her writings," says Gibbon, "which were applauded by a servile and superstitious age, have not been disdained by the candour of impartial criticism."
After the birth of her daughter, Eudocia requested permission to discharge her grateful vows, by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In her progress through the East, she pronounced, from a throne of gold and gems, an eloquent oration to the Senate of Antioch, to whom she declared her intention of enlarging the walls of the city, and assisting in the restoration of the public baths. For this purpose she allotted two hundred pounds of gold. Her alms and munifi-
