Titus Claudius Aurelius Aristobulus ( 285–296 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 lett ...

soldier and politician who served as

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 285 AD. He served two emperors,

Carinus Marcus Aurelius Carinus (died 285) was Roman emperor from 283 to 285. The elder son of emperor Carus, he was first appointed ''Caesar'' and in the beginning of 283 co-emperor of the western portion of the empire by his father. Official accoun ...

and

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

Biography

Aristobulus first appears as the

Praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

under the emperor Carinus in 285. That same year he was made '' consul posterior'', serving alongside the

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 ( ...

. He accompanied the emperor to the

Battle of the Margus The Battle of the Margus or Battle of Margum was fought in July 285 for control of the Roman Empire between the armies of Diocletian and Carinus in the valley of the Margus River (today Great Morava) in Moesia (present day Serbia), probably near ...

River, but ended up betraying Carinus and possibly even killing him on the battlefield, turning the tide of battle in favour of Carinus’ opponent,

. According to a contemporary source, the reason given for Aristobulus’ betrayal was for revenge – Carinus had forced Aristobulus’ wife to have an affair with him. With the death of Carinus, the new emperor Diocletian rewarded Aristobulus by retaining him both as consul and as praetorian prefect for the remainder of the year. Now a member of the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, Aristobulus continued to flourish under the new regime. In 290, he was assigned as the

Proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

.Barnes, T. D., ''Sossianus Hierocles'' in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Volume 80 (1976), pg. 250 His governorship was transferred to the new province of

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) ( grc, Βυζάκιον, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis. History At the end of the 3rd century AD, t ...

during Diocletian's reorganization of the empire's provinces, which saw Africa Proconsularis divided into three smaller provinces. During his time as governor, Aristobulus undertook major building activities. His tenure as governor probably ended on 1 July 294, when he was replaced by

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

. From 11 January 295 until 18 February 296, Aristobulus was the ''

praefectus urbi 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, a ...

'' of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Sources

* Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press (1971) * Southern, Pat, ''The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine'' (2004)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristobulus, Titus Claudius Aurelius 3rd-century Roman consuls Aurelii Claudii Late Roman Empire political office-holders Praetorian prefects Roman governors of Africa Urban prefects of Rome Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown