I have sacrificed too much to Jupiter and offered him too many victims not to pay for this mistake with my own sacrifice. I must be my own victim by enduring this with patience and earning forgiveness for my past mistakes.<hr>
Do not believe that I carry bitterness in my soul. I realize that even the journey I am about to embark on is my own choice, but the permission that has been granted to me may give the impression of exile rather than pilgrimage. However, this will not prevent me from praying to God that the blood of Paulin does not obstruct your happiness. I will even offer prayers for the reign of Pulcheria, whose devotion undoubtedly approves of the location I have chosen for my retreat. I will be more useful in Jerusalem than in Constantinople, and perhaps more appreciated. To settle my last debts to her, I will ask the heavens to grant her the rest that I am about to enjoy in my solitude, even if that may not be what she desires. I am not fleeing so far away that fame cannot tell you of me, and it will say so much about the purity of my life that you will believe I have never been guilty. And the Holy Land, where I am about to settle, will allow me to gain the pleasure and honor of seeing you again from the heavens. In my mind resides the hope of someone who lived happily in a modest cabin, who received a mighty crown without pride, who leaves the highest earthly throne without regret, and who has only ever loved Emperor Theodosius and honesty.<hr>
 
Effect of this Speech<hr> 
  
The speech she delivered was not ineffectual, even if its effect was delayed. It left warm impressions on Theodosius, rekindling his early flames. Eudoxia did leave, that's true, but she returned with honor. She prostrated at his feet to ask for forgiveness, she who had the power to have half the earth at her disposal. Her innocence and reputation re-ascended the throne with her, after time and reason had restored tranquillity in the Emperor’s soul.<hr>

Notes<hr>
        
Eudoxia II, born around 400 in Athens and died in 460, was a Byzantine empress, daughter of Leontias and a woman of letters of the fifth century. Her rising influence with Theodosius, her husband, eventually earned her the hostility of Pulcheria and her subsequent death sentence. She fled to Jerusalem.<hr>
Leontias of Athens was an Athenian philosopher and rhetorician. He is the father of Eudoxia.<hr>

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