Influenced by Pulcheria and fuelled by an increasing interest in Christianity, Theodosius went to war against the Sassanid Empire in the early 420s as they were persecuting Christians. He was forced to allow a stalemate however, as the Huns were marching on Constantinople. The wars with the huns were usually composed by hunnic raids being followed by significant payments by the Eastern Empire so that the Huns would remain at peace with the Romans.