Aristaenetus (

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 ...

: Άρισταίνετος; c. AD 365 – after AD 404) 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

politician 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 thro ...

in AD 404 alongside the western emperor

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

Biography

Aristaenetus was the son of Bassianus (a ''

notarius A notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents (compare English "notary"). In the Roman Catholic Church there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries. Document ...

'' in the eastern court around the year 371) and Prisca. Both his paternal grandfather Thalassius and his maternal grandfather Helpidius had been

praetorian prefects of the East Praetorian is an adjective derived from the ancient Roman office of praetor. It may refer to: Government and military * Legatus (Praetorian legate), the title of a high military rank in the Roman Empire * Praetorian Guard, a special force of s ...

. Possibly a

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

, he was related to the

rhetorician Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or write ...

Libanius Libanius (; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a critical source of history of the Greek ...

, under whom Aristaenetus was a pupil. Aristaenetus was a supporter of Flavius Rufinus, and through his influence Aristaenetus was made ''

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 ...

in the second half of AD 392. He also visited

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

for some purpose in AD 393. In AD 404, he was made '' consul posterior'' in the East alongside the emperor

, although his position was not recognized in the West by the power behind the western court, the ''

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

'',

Stilicho Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...

.Burns, Thomas S., ''Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome: A Study of Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, Ca. 375-425 A.D.'' (1994), pg. 195

References

Sources

* Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press (1971) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aristaenetus 360s births 5th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 4th-century Romans 5th-century eastern Roman consuls Late Roman Empire political office-holders Urban prefects of Constantinople