Florentius 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 ...

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 ...

under the Caesar Julian and later a

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 ...

, before falling from grace when Julian became emperor.

Life

Florentius is first heard of when he arrives in

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

as a praetorian prefect of

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 ...

in 357. He spoke in support of engaging the enemy as the

Battle of Strasbourg The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. The battle took place near Str ...

loomed. Later that year when revenue from Gaul did not reach desired levels from the poll-tax and the land-tax, he took measures to raise special levies to make up for the shortfall. However, Julian opposed the imposition of the extra burden on the people of Gaul and Constantius decided against the policy of his own prefect. Florentius nevertheless continued as prefect in Gaul until early in 360, when an order came from Constantius for Gallic troops to be sent to the eastern front. The order,

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

believed, was at the instigation of Florentius, who unaccountably withdrew to Vienne and busied himself there, Ammianus believing that this was anticipating the disturbances following the arrival of the order. And when Florentius heard that Julian had been raised to Augustus, he abandoned Gaul and sought out Constantius. Constantius must have held him in high regard for first he appointed him praetorian prefect of Illyricum when

Anatolius Anatolius is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Anatolius of Laodicea (died 283), Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, also known as Anatolius of Alexandria * Anatolius, Vicarius of the Diocese of Asia in 3 ...

died, then made him a consul in 361. When Julian's rebellion broke out, Florentius fled Italy. Not long after Julian became emperor a tribunal was set up at

Chalcedon Chalcedon (; ; sometimes transliterated as ) was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, Turkey. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the city of Ist ...

early in 362, which condemned Florentius to death in absentia. When two former members of the secret service offered to point out to Julian where Florentius was hiding, Julian rebuked them as informers and refused to hear more, preferring to leave him hiding in fear.Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', 22.7.5. The latter is the last historical mention of Florentius.

Footnotes

{{end 4th-century Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of Gaul Praetorian prefects of the Illyricum 4th-century Gallo-Roman people People sentenced to death in absentia