Claudius Antonius () 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 under the reigns of

Valentinian I Valentinian I (; 32117 November 375), also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. He ruled the Western Roman Empire, Western half of the empire, while his brother Valens ruled the Byzantine Empire, East. During his re ...

Gratian Gratian (; ; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of ''Augustus'' as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in ...

and

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

. He 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 382 alongside

Afranius Syagrius Afranius Syagrius ( 345–382) was a Roman politician and administrator. Life Afranius was a member of the Roman aristocratic family of the Syagrii, which originated in Lyon.Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

origin, Claudius Antonius was a career bureaucrat and a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Around the year AD 370, he was the '' magister scrinii'', one of the imperial secretaries, for the

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. By AD 373, Antonius was serving as the ''

quaestor sacri palatii The ''quaestor sacri palatii'' (, usually simply ; English: Quaestor of the Sacred Palace) was the senior legal authority in the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, Byzantium, responsible for drafting laws. In the later Byzantine Empir ...

'', where his tasks included drafting imperial speeches for Valentinian for addressing 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 ...

. The death of Valentinian in 375 saw a purge of the bureaucracy by

, but Antonius not only survived, but managed to prosper under the new administration. From AD 376 to 377, he was appointed the

praetorian prefect of Gaul The Praetorian Prefecture of Gaul () was one of four large praetorian prefecture, prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided in the 4th century. History The prefecture was established after the death of Constantine I in 337, whe ...

, and from 377 to 378 he was the

praetorian prefect of Italy The praetorian prefecture of Italy (, in its full form (until 356) ) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided since the first half of the 4th century. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the western Bal ...

. During this period Antonius was a supporter of

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; ) was a Latin literature, Roman poet and Education in ancient Rome, teacher of classical rhetoric, rhetoric from Burdigala, Gallia Aquitania, Aquitaine (now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future E ...

, and was a key mover in the creation of a court alliance between the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

and Romano-Spanish aristocracy, which involved the rise of the general and future emperor,

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

. Antonius was responsible for implementing Gratian's school law of May 376 (subsidising the employment of grammarians and rhetoricians), as well as edicts which clarified the relationship between the civil and military judicial spheres in the prefecture of Gaul and solidifying the authority of the

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

vicarius ''Vicarius'' is a Latin word, meaning ''substitute'' or ''deputy''. It is the root of the English word "vicar". History Originally, in ancient Rome, this office was equivalent to the later English " vice-" (as in " deputy"), used as part of th ...

''. After his tenure as praetorian prefect, Antonius followed the emperor Theodosius I and moved himself to the eastern court at

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 in AD 383, he was appointed ''

prior'', with

Afranius Syagrius Afranius Syagrius ( 345–382) was a Roman politician and administrator. Life Afranius was a member of the Roman aristocratic family of the Syagrii, which originated in Lyon.tragedies A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain ...

in his spare time, and received correspondence from

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Nickname, signo Eusebius (, ; c. 345 – 402) was a Roman statesman, orator, and intellectual. He held the offices of governor of proconsular Africa (province), Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and R ...

, who praised him for his literary accomplishments, while Antonius promoted Symmachus' senatorial career. He also corresponded with

Saint Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

, with whom he apparently enjoyed good relations.McLynn, pg. 100

References

Sources

* ''CLRE'' – * Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I AD 260-395'', Cambridge University Press (1971) * Sivan, Hagith, ''Ausonius of Bordeaux: Genesis of a Gallic Aristocracy'' (1993) {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonius, Claudius 4th-century Christians 4th-century Roman consuls

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

Antonius Antonius is a masculine given name, as well as a surname. Antonius is a Danish language, Danish, Dutch language, Dutch, Finnish language, Finnish, Latin language, Latin, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and Swedish language, Swedish name used in Gre ...

Late Roman Empire political office-holders Praetorian prefects of Gaul Praetorian prefects of Italy