La Hispania de Teodosio: 379-395 AD

The article is a study of the historical and archaeological aspects of the Dioecesis Hispaniarum during the reign of Theodosius I, and the eventual relations between the Emperor and his native country. The so called “circle of pious Spaniards” and their influence in religious or political decisions of Theodosius, seems very tenuous and some ideas maintained by some scholars about Theodosius as a “Spaniard” are clearly anachronistic. A case of study is the villa of Carranque (prov. Toledo), identify by some historians and archaeologists as the residence of Maternus Cynegius and his tomb. The villa has been used as a proof of the links between the Emperor and his pious Spanish entourage. However, there is no serious evidence, nor in the archaeological record nor from historical grounds, for maintaining the identification of the owner of the villa with the PPO of Theodosius. One of the most interesting documents of the period is the inscription of Siresa (prov. Huesca) that is evidence of the administrative reforms of Magnus Maximus in the Peninsula during his usurpation. The spread of priscillianism among the urban aristocracies and bishops and clergy is one the main features of Hispania during this period, contrasting with the currently claimed orthodoxy of theodosian Spain.