Aetius (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: Άέτιος; fl. 419–425) was a politician of the
Eastern Roman Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
, ''
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, an ...
'' of
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
and
praetorian prefect of the East
The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinop ...
.
Life
Aetius was ''
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, an ...
'' of
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. He is first attested in office on February 23, 419, when an old man called Cyriacus tried to kill him in the
Great Church
The term "Great Church" () is used in the historiography of early Christianity to mean the period of about 180 to 313, between that of primitive Christianity and that of the legalization of the Christian religion in the Roman Empire, correspond ...
, and again on October 4 of the same year, when he received a law preserved in the ''
Codex Theodosianus
The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...
''. He also received a law dated to 409, but emended by scholars to 418, 420 or 422, in which he was to reduce the staff of the Great Church (this reduction has been suggested as a possible reason for the assassination attempt).
[Martindale.] In 421 a large
open-air water reservoir called "of Aetius" was built in Constantinople; this Aetius might be the ''praefectus urbi'', who could be still in office
as his successor, Florentius, is first attested in November 422.
A law addressed to him was issued on May 5, 425 that calls him a
praetorian prefect
The praetorian prefect (; ) 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 becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...
;
[''Codex Theodosianus'', XV, 4.1a, about the imperial images.] it is not clearly stated if he was
praetorian prefect of the East
The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat was at Constantinop ...
or of
Illyricum, but the former is more probable.
See also
*
Aetia gens
Notes
Sources
* John Robert Martindale, "Aetius 1", ''
The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1980, , pp. 19–20.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aetius (praetorian prefect)
5th-century Byzantine people
Praetorian prefects of the East
Urban prefects of Constantinople