This rags-to-riches story, though it claims to be authentic and is accepted among historians, leads one to believe that the tale may have been twisted due to the detail of how the romance was portrayed. The earliest version of this story appeared more than a century after Eudocia's death in the "World Chronicle" of John Malalas, "an author who did not always distinguish between authentic history and a popular memory of events infused with folk-tale motifs". The facts are that she was the daughter of Leontius and she did originally have the name Athenais, according to the contemporary historians Socrates of Constantinople, and Priscus of Panion; however, they leave out any mention of Pulcheria's role in playing match-maker for her brother. The historians Sozomen and Theodoret did not include Eudocia in their respective historical works, perhaps because they wrote after 443 when Eudocia had fallen into disgrace..
This rags-to-riches story though it claims to be authentic and is accepted among historians leads one to believe that the tale may have been twisted due to the detail of how the romance was portrayed The earliest version of this story appeared more than a century after Eudocia's death in the "World Chronicle" of John Malalas "an author who did not always distinguish between authentic history and a popular memory of events infused with folk-tale motifs" The facts are that she was the daughter of Leontius and she did originally have the name Athenais according to the contemporary historians Socrates of Constantinople and Priscus of Panion; however they leave out any mention of Pulcheria's role in playing match-maker for her brother The historians Sozomen and Theodoret did not include Eudocia in their respective historical works perhaps because they wrote after 443 when Eudocia had fallen into disgrace