Flavius Martinus was a vicarius of

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

c. 353 under

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 ...

.Collins, R. (2016). Power at the periphery: military authority in transition in late Roman Britain. In Official Power and Local Elites in the Roman Provinces (pp. 147-164). Routledge. He tried to control the violent recriminations following the defeat of

Magnentius Magnus Magnentius ( 303 – 10 August 353) was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul, where the army chose him as a replacement for the unpopular emperor Constans. Ac ...

. Martinus tried to rein in the vengeance of Constantius' notary Paulus Catena who had been sent to Britain to ruthlessly hunt down opponents to the emperor. Faced with Paul's refusal to release even those suspects who had been proved innocent, Martinus threatened resignation but this only resulted in accusations being made at him directly as well. In desperation, Martinus attacked Paulus with a sword. The attack was unsuccessful and he committed suicide. Ammianus praises Martinus for his bravery in seeking to protect the innocent during the atmosphere of fear and oppression in Britain at the time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinus, Flavius Roman governors of Britain Ancient Romans in Britain 4th-century Romans Vicarii Flavii Year of birth unknown