Flavius Florentius (

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 ...

: Φλωρέντιος; ) was a prominent high official 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 ...

, who influenced imperial policy during the second quarter of the fifth century.

Biography

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

, on 6 November 422 he was '' praefectus urbi'' of

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 ...

, in which capacity he received an edict preserved in the ''

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' ("Theodosian Code") is a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 an ...

'' (vi.8.1). After holding another high administrative post, perhaps as praetorian prefect of Illyricum, from 21 April 428 to 11 February 430, Florentius held the second office of the Empire, the

praetorian prefecture of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Later Roman Empire, Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat w ...

. He received further the honour of the

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

in 429. On 31 January 438 and 26 November 439, Florentius was again prefect for the East. Due to the closure of the brothels of Constantinople, the treasury received less revenue, and Florentius decided to give some of his own properties to the State to compensate for the loss. In the mid-440s, he was praetorian prefect twice again, presumably for the East.The sources attest six praetorian prefecture tenures for Florentius, but only two are attested with certainty, because the others were probably short; it has been assumed that he was praetorian prefect of Illyricum (maybe twice) before the urban prefecture and twice more in the 440s. Between 444 and 448 he received the title of '' patricius''; on 22 November of the year in which he received this title, he was commissioned by

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( ; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450), called "the Calligraphy, Calligrapher", was Roman emperor from 402 to 450. He was proclaimed ''Augustus (title), Augustus'' as an infant and ruled as the Eastern Empire's sole emperor after the ...

to participate in an investigation that was held in Constantinople on the views of

Eutyches Eutyches (; c. 375–454) or Eutyches of Constantinople

, as the Emperor trusted Florentius' orthodoxy. In 451 he attended the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...

, during which he was present at the first, third, fourth and sixth sessions. At the beginning of the reign of

Marcian Marcian (; ; ; 392 – 27 January 457) was Roman emperor of the Byzantine Empire, East from 450 to 457. Very little is known of his life before becoming emperor, other than that he was a (personal assistant) who served under the commanders ...

, Florentius and Anatolius dissuaded the emperor from supporting the uprising of the Armenians against the Sassanids. Marcian sent him to the Persian king to reassure him that Rome's intention was not to intervene.

Notes

Bibliography

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, '' The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', "Florentius 7", volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 478–480. {{DEFAULTSORT:Florentius (Consul 429) 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century eastern Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of the East Praetorian prefects of the Illyricum Patricii Urban prefects of Constantinople