Flavius Timasius (died 396) was a general of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, a relative of the Empress

Aelia Flaccilla Aelia Flavia Flaccilla (died 386), better known simply as Aelia Flacilla or Flacilla, was a Roman empress and first wife of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. She was of Hispanian Roman descent. During her marriage to Theodosius, she gave birth t ...

, wife of Emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

(r. 379–395).

Biography

Timasius was a Roman officer, serving under the command of Emperor

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

(r. 364–378), who survived the

Battle of Adrianople The Battle of Adrianople also known as Battle of Hadrianopolis was fought between the Eastern Roman army led by the Roman emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) ...

(378), in which the Roman emperor lost his life. Emperor

appointed Timasius ''

magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be n ...

'' in 386 and '' magister peditum'' in 388.. During his tenure as ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...

praesentalis'' (386–395), Timasius was made 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 ...

, along with Promotus, in 389.: "...Fl. Timasius, consul in 389. The name of Timasius' wife, Pentadia, points clearly to a Gallic origin; their son, a young man by 395, was called Syagrius." In 391, he followed Theodosius in the campaign against the

barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. In that same year, Theodosius was on the verge of annihilating some barbarian units that were hiding in Roman territory when Timasius told him that the troops needed food and rest; the Roman soldiers, numbed into a slumber by too much food and drink, were taken by surprise and even Theodosius was almost taken prisoner. When Theodosius returned to

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 ...

, there was a clash between Timasius and his colleague Promotus and the powerful Rufinus; Theodosius sided with Rufinus, who arranged for Promotus's death. Timasius also fought in the Battle of the Frigidus of 394, against the usurper

Eugenius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a Western Roman emperor from 392 to 394, unrecognized by the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious p ...

, as commander-in-chief of the Roman troops, but with the collaboration of

Stilicho Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...

. After the victory, he returned to the East. In 395, Theodosius died and his son

Arcadius Arcadius ( ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of ...

(r. 383–408) had succeeded him on the Eastern throne. The following year, Timasius was the victim of a purge of Theodosius's generals orchestrated by the powerful

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

Eutropius to get rid of potential opponents. Eutropius specifically forced Bargus, a

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 ...

sausage-seller brought by Timasius from

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

and later made tribunus(?) of the East, to falsely accuse Timasius of high

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

. As a result, Timasius was put on trial and the judge, Saturninus, exiled him in 396 to the

Kharga Oasis The Kharga Oasis ( , ) ; , "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or "El Kharga" is ...

of the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the northeastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval m ...

. Slightly conflicting accounts report that Timasius was either unable to escape from the oasis or that his attempted escape led him to his death on the border between Egypt and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. Timasius had a wife named Pentadia and a son named Syagrius.: "Pentadia, wife of Timasius..."

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{s-end 396 deaths 4th-century Roman consuls Comites Magistri equitum (Roman Empire) Magistri militum Magistri peditum Year of birth unknown