Publius Valerius Eutychianus Comazon (died after 222) 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 lett ...

general and ally of

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nickname "Elagabalus" (, ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for s ...

. Comazon began his career as an ordinary army recruit under the Emperor

Commodus Commodus (; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 176 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination. ...

, whom he served as a soldier in the province of

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

. While there he suffered a demotion from the provincial government under Tiberius Claudius Attalus Paterculianus. However, this incident did not permanently affect his military career. In the year 218 he commanded the

Legio II Parthica Legio II Parthica ("Parthian-conquering Second Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in AD 197 by the emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193–211), for his campaign against the Parthian Empire, hence the '' cognomen'' ''Parthica'' ...

, which was temporarily stationed in Apamea in Syria. Upon the accession of Macrinus as emperor in 217, Comazon orchestrated a revolt among the members of Legio III Gallica to help secure the throne for Elagabalus, who was tied to the

Severan dynasty The Severan dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire between 193 and 235, during the Roman imperial period. The dynasty was founded by the emperor Septimius Severus (), who rose to power after the Year of the Five Empero ...

. Comazon was later rewarded with various important offices in the Empire, including

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of Elagabalus'

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, ...

, known as the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

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 220 and an unprecedented three terms as

City prefect The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and ...

in 220, 221 and 222. Elagabalus proved to be a highly unpopular ruler, and after barely four years in office, he was murdered by members of the Praetorian Guard who proclaimed his cousin

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself wa ...

emperor in his place. However Comazon survived the overthrow and under the new Emperor again assumed the office of city prefect. It can be concluded that he retired after the conclusion of his tenure, but his date of death is not known.

References

* Paul M. M. Leunissen: ''Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander (180–235 n. Chr.)''. Gieben, Amsterdam 1989, , 2nd-century births 3rd-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Ancient Roman generals Imperial Roman consuls 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Romans Praetorian prefects Urban prefects of Rome Eutychianus Comazon, Publius {{AncientRome-politician-stub