Decius (

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 ...

: Δέκιος; 529–546) 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 ...

. A member of the

Decia gens The gens Decia was a plebeian family of high antiquity, which became illustrious in Roman history by the example of its members sacrificing themselves for the preservation of their country. The first of the family known to history was Marcus Deciu ...

, 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 ...

for 529 without colleague.

Biography

Decius was the son of

Basilius Venantius (Decius) Basilius Venantius (''floruit'' 508–533), was a Roman aristocrat who lived during Ostrogothic rule. Biography He was probably the son of Decius Marius Venantius Basilius, consul in 484. Venantius had several sons who became consuls, i ...

(consul in 508), and brother of Decius Paulinus (consul in 534); according to Alan Cameron and Diane Schauer, Decius had at least one additional brother who was appointed to the consulate. In December 546 Decius is attested as '' patricius'' in Rome. That same month, when the King of the Ostrogoths,

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War, recovering b ...

, 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, Decius along with

Rufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus Rufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus was a politician of Ostrogothic Italy and the Eastern Roman Empire. He was appointed consul for 504 AD, and held the post without a colleague. His father was Petronius Probinus, the consul for 489 and prominent ...

, 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

Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius Anicius Faustus Albinus Basilius ( Greek: Ανίκιος Φαύστος Αλβίνος Βασιλείος) was a high official of the Eastern Roman Empire and the last ordinary consul of Roman history, holding the office alone in 541. Biography ...

(who had been consul in 541) fled Rome with general

Bessas Bessas (; ) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardèche department The following is a list of the 335 communes of the Ardèche department of France. The communes cooper ...

.Raymond Davis, translator, ''The Book of Pontiffs (''Liber Pontificalis'')'' (Liverpool: University Press, 1989), p. 58. Procopius, ''De Bellus'' VII.20.18. Translated by H.B. Dewing, ''Procopius'' (Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library, 1979), vol. 4 p. 329

Biography

References

Further reading