Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism was defeated by Theodosius, which left him sole emperor for the entire empire from Britain to eastern Anatolia This was the last occasion when a single emperor ruled both halves of the Roman Empire Theodosius governed not from Rome in the West but at Constantinople in the wealthier and more populous East Theodosius was a zealous Christian When he fell ill in 380 and believed that he was near death, he was baptized It was not uncommon to wait until just before death for baptism in order to wash away sins However, he recovered unexpectedly, becoming the first emperor to reign as a full member of the church This gave bishops tremendous influence during his reign When Christians destroyed a Jewish synagogue in an Eastern city, Theodosius ordered the local bishop to pay for its restoration Ambrose was appalled, believing that this demonstrated the triumph of Judaism over Christianity He demanded the emperor rescind his order if he wanted to stay in good standing with the church The emperor yielded In 390, after Theodosius had massacred several thousand citizens in Thessalonica for the murder of his military governor, Ambrose threatened Theodosius with excommunication The emperor again yielded, publicly repenting for his action When Theodosius had first reached the East, he found the church struggling against Arianism, even though Arian theology had been condemned at the Council of Nicaea (325) Theodosius expelled Arian clergy in Constantinople and firmly stood by the Orthodox Church, including Patriarch Gregory Nazianzus He called the Second Ecumenical Council that met in Constantinople in 381 and ended the Arian threat Theodosius also supported the church by legislating against non-Christians He closed pagan temples, banned pagan sacrifices, ended the pagan Olympic Games, and declared Orthodox Christianity the official religion of the empire Henceforth, loyalty to the emperor was determined by adherence to his theological position Upon his death in 395 his younger son Honorius ruled in the West, while his older son Arcadius ruled in the East The dynasty of Theodosius ruled the empire until at least 450 See also Cappadocians; late barbarians; Rome: decline and fall Further reading: Bury, J B A History of the Later Roman Empire Vols and New York: Dover, 1958; Williams, S., and G Friell Theodosius: The Empire at Bay New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995 Matthew Herbst 461 Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism (often called northern Buddhism) are forms of Buddhism, a spiritual religion and philosophy created by Gautama Buddha (b c 566 b.c.e.) and followed by more than 700 million people worldwide Developed over thousands of years, Buddhist tradition ultimately leads to what is called enlightenment, becoming a Buddha, and breaking the cycle of reincarnation Mahayana, derived from Theravada Buddhism, dominates in India, China, Taiwan, Tibet, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam Theravada is often called southern Buddhism Theravada Buddhism is more conservative and is popular in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma) After his enlightenment the Buddha delivered his first sermon and set the framework for his teachings, consisting of the Four Noble Truths Buddha laid out the fundamental principles of nature that ruled the human condition He taught that these Four Noble Truths were the way people should frame their experiences The Four Noble Truths are Dukkha, the suffering of people, stress, and discontent of ignorance; Samudaya, the cause of this dissatisfaction is desire; Nirodha, the cessation of desire and the achievement of nirvana (extinguishing or liberation); and Magga, the path of practice that leads out of suffering and into nirvana, Noble Eightfold Path Buddha wandered the Indian plains for 45 more years Along his travels he taught what he had learned in the moment of his awakening Around him a community of monks, and later nuns, developed from every tribe and caste These followers believed in his path, or dharma, and devoted themselves to his teachings Buddha did not call himself a deity, nor did he wish to be worshipped THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS AND THE EIGHTFOLD PATH Buddhist tradition teaches that living in ignorance of the Four Noble Truths is due to inexperience and desire to frame the world on one’s own terms and thus, one remains bound to the cycle of birth, life, aging, illness, death, and rebirth in another life Craving and desire propel this cycle over the course of countless lifetimes in accordance with karmic actions The Buddha taught that gaining release from this cycle requires adherence to each of the Four Noble Truths and to assign a task to each one The first is to comprehend, the second to abandon, the third to realize, and the fourth to develop The full realization of the third is the path to enlightenment and the achievement of nirvana