(Flavius) Hermogenes (

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 ...

: Έρμογένης; c. 300 – 361) 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 ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

who served in various civilian offices from the reign of

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Λικίνιος; c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign, he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that ...

through to

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

Biography

Born in the region of

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

, according to

Himerius Himerius (; c. 315 – c. 386) was a Greek sophist and rhetorician. 24 of his orations have reached us complete, and fragments of 12 others survive. Life and works Himerius was born at Prusias ad Hypium in Bithynia. He completed his e ...

, the career of Hermogenes (possibly Flavius Hermogenes)Jones, A.; Martindale, J.; Morris, J., ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I, (1971) began when he served as a very young man at the court of 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 ...

. The emperor employed him in an unknown position, but used him as a messenger when he sought the advice of oracles. Himerius claimed that Hermogenes used his influence over Licinius to mitigate the emperor's harsh rule. When he reached the age of manhood, Hermogenes left Licinius’ court and began intensively studying philosophy, as well as becoming proficient in both Latin and Greek. Returning to the imperial 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 ...

under

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

, Hermogenes was probably appointed '' magister'' of one of the ''sacra scrinia'' (or perhaps ''

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 ...

''). In this role, he encouraged benevolent legislation, helped people in danger, secured the appointment of decent men as

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, and provided assistance to petitioners before the court. He also acted as an intermediary between the emperor and his subjects, advising the emperor of any requests and advising the supplicants of the emperor's decisions. Hermogenes was next noted to be serving near the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, and this was followed by his appointment as proconsular governor of

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...

, with a rank of ''vir clarissimus'', which he probably held during the reign of

, sometime between 350 and 358. During this time he repaired the harbor of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

. Sometime before 24 August 358, Hermogenes was appointed

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 ...

of Oriens. During his time in that role he dismissed Nicentius, the governor of Syria Coele for failing to supply provisions to the army. He displayed a favoritism towards

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 ...

, who praised his mild administrative style, but afterwards they had a falling-out. Hermogenes also received correspondence from Basil of Ancyra while Praetorian Prefect. He resigned his post before February 360, following which he was reconciled with Libanius. Hermogenes died in early 361.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavius Hermogenes Roman governors of Achaia Praetorian prefects of the East 4th-century Romans 300s births 361 deaths Clarissimi viri