Flavius Rumoridus (died 5th century AD) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

soldier who was appointed

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

in AD 403 in the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

. At the same time, the eastern emperor

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

served in the same capacity in the East.

Biography

Rumoridus was of Germanic origin, and had not converted to Christianity. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, described Rumoridus in a letter to Eugenius as maintaining the practice of ethnic religions from earliest childhood. He began his service as a career military officer, and may have been posted at some point in the Diocese of Thrace. He was eventually appointed a ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'' under

Valentinian II Valentinian II ( la, Valentinianus; 37115 May 392) was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his brother, was then sidelined by a usurper, and only after 388 sole rul ...

in AD 384, was present during the debate regarding the restoration of the Altar of Victory in the

Curia Julia The Curia Julia ( la, Curia Iulia, links=no, it, Curia Iulia, links=no) is the third named ''curia'', or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia ...

. However, he agreed with Valentinian's eventual order to reject the reinstatement of the altar. Although he was probably an old man, in AD 403 Rumoridus was made ''

'' in the West at the same time as the infant

in the East. It has been suggested by Martindale and Jones that he was recalled to military service as a result of the crisis precipitated by the invasion of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

by Alaric and the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

in AD 402, and may have played a part in Alaric's defeat and retreat from Italy in AD 403. His consulship is recorded in several inscriptions, with considerable variety in the spelling of his name.Klaas A. Worp, "Année Épigraphique 1996, 659: Evidence for an Unknown Consul?" ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 133 (2000), p. 192.

Sources

* Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press (1971)

References

{{s-end Late Roman Empire political office-holders Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum 4th-century Romans 5th-century Romans 5th-century Roman consuls 5th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown