NomusJones. (''fl''. 443–450 AD) was a politician and an ambassador 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 ...

Biography

Nomus was ''

magister officiorum The (Latin; ; ) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantium, the office was eventually transformed into a senior honorary rank, simply called ''magist ...

'' from 443 to 446, and served as

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 ...

in 445, with Western Emperor

Valentinian III Valentinian III (; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the Western Roman Empire, West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful general ...

as colleague. On 12 December 443, Nomus was ordered to strengthen the defence of 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 ...

'' limes'', recently affected by the attacks of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

: the forts were rebuilt and the frontier garrisons restored to their nominal strength. The work, which had to last for the whole year 444, was such that Nomus was appointed consul for the following year by way of reward. However, when Attila resumed his raids in 447, he did so through the provinces of Scythia Minor and

Moesia Inferior Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

, skirting around the fortifications built by Nomus to the east. In 448 Nomus was raised to the rank of '' patricius''. The attack of 447 ended in a peace in 448, but in 450 Attila was again at war against the Roman Empire. In response to an offer of negotiations, he said he would deal only with ambassadors of consular rank, and mentioned the names of Nomus,

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 ...

and Anatolius. Nomus (chosen as loyal supporter of the powerful eunuch Chrysaphius) and his companion went to meet Attila, who treated them badly at the beginning, but later succumbed to their oratorical arts and to the gifts they had brought: Attila would accept the terms of peace of 448, he would stop attacking the Emperor

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 ...

, and give up the strip of land south of the Danube obtained with the peace of 448; it seems that the granting of the release of many Roman prisoners was a concession made personally to the two prestigious guests. In 449, the monk

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

asked Emperor Theodosius to summon 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 ...

: Chrysaphius and Nomus joined him and obtained the proclamation. He then participated in several sessions of the Council, in 451. He is said to have spent a lot of money to fuel his ambitions. During his tenure as ''magister officiorum'', he was contacted by two nephews of the bishop

Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria (; or ⲡⲓ̀ⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲕⲓⲣⲓⲗⲗⲟⲥ; 376–444) was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence and power within the Roman Empire ...

; he helped them by lending some money, but he required very high rates of interest. He was the addressee of some letters by

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus (; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pivotal role in several 5th-century Byzantine ...

, as he was very influential with the Emperor.

Notes

Bibliography

* Thompson, Edward Arthur, ''The Huns'', Blackwell Publishing, 1996, , pp. 96–99, 134–135. * Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, ''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', "Nomus 1", volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 785–786. {{end 5th-century Roman consuls Byzantine diplomats Magistri officiorum Patricii 5th-century diplomats