Theodosius had appeared to recover; his sudden…

Theodosius had appeared to recover; his sudden death is generally unexpected.

On his deathbed, he had entrusted Stilicho with the care of his son Honorius in the West, and maintaining unity with the East, which had been entrusted to Arcadius, for whom Rufinus is appointed guardian.

The empire is now officially divided into its Greek (east) and Latin (west) component parts; most of the Balkans fall in the eastern portion.

This had happened many times before in the previous two centuries, but this time it is to be final—the Roman Empire will never reunite, and the Western half will soon fall.

However, from Ambrose's funeral oration, filled with praise of the Christian ruler, it is evident that contemporaries have no doubt as to the continuing unity of the empire, for the question of succession seems to have been settled in the best possible way.