Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius ( Greek: Ανίκιος Φαύστος Αλβίνος Βασιλείος) was a high official of the Eastern Roman Empire and the last ordinary

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 thro ...

of Roman history, holding the office alone in 541.

Biography

His origins are unknown, although his name suggests he belonged to the aristocratic Roman families of Decii and of the Anicii: it is likely that Basilius was the grandson of the consul of 480, Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, and perhaps he was the son of the consul of 493, Caecina Decius Faustus Albinus.Cameron, A., & Schauer, D. (1982)
The Last Consul: Basilius and His Diptych
'' The Journal of Roman Studies'' 72: 126–145. When the King of the Ostrogoths Totila overcame the

Byzantine 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 ...

defences and entered the city in December 546, Basilius, along with Rufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus, the president 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 ...

(who had been consul in 504), and

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

(who had been consul in 529) fled Rome with general Bessas. According to the ''

Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...

'', Basilius and Cethegus reached

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 ...

where the Emperor

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

consoled them "and enriched them as befitted Roman consuls." Louise Ropes Loomis ed. (1916)
''The Book of Popes''
(

). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 158–9. On 1 January 541 he took the consulate in Constantinople without colleague. Based on the fact that Basilius entered into the consulship a few months after the Gothic surrender of

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

, it is likely his appointment by Emperor

had special significance: Alan Cameron and Diane Schauer comment "Basilius' consulship symbolized the restoration of Italy and her aristocracy to the empire." It is not recorded how much longer Basilius lived after becoming consul. A consular diptych bearing the name "Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius" was first proposed to refer to him by Filippo Buonarroti in 1716. The consular diptych of Albinus Basilius lists his titles at the time of the consulate: '' vir inlustris'', '' comes domesticorum'', '' patricius'' and ordinary consul. This identification was generally accepted until 1896 when H. Graeven argued it belonged to Basilius' grandfather, Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, the western consul of 480, based on stylistic arguments. More recently Cameron and Schauer have defended Buonarotti's identification.

Biography

References

Further reading