Biography

Eutychian was the son of the Consul of 361, Taurus

Taurus (consul 361)

Flavius Taurus was a politician and a military officer of the Roman Empire.- Biography :His father was of humble origins. Taurus had three children, Armonius, died about 391, Eutychianus, praetorian prefect of the East and consul in 398, and Aurelianus, praetorian prefect of the East and consul in...

; it is known that he had a wife. He should be identified with the character of Typhoon in the allegorical work Aegyptus sive de providentia, by Synesius

Synesius

Synesius , a Greek bishop of Ptolemais in the Libyan Pentapolis after 410, was born of wealthy parents, who claimed descent from Spartan kings, at Balagrae near Cyrene between 370 and 375.-Life:...

, where he represents the party of pro-Goths; Synesius said that he had a wild and reckless youth. He converted to Arianism

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

, the form of Christianity professed by the Goths.

He was comes sacrarum largitionum

Comes sacrarum largitionum

The comes sacrarum largitionum was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire....

; in 388, the rhetor Libanius

Libanius

Libanius was a Greek-speaking teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school. During the rise of Christian hegemony in the later Roman Empire, he remained unconverted and regarded himself as a Hellene in religious matters.-Life:...

 wrote him to ask a favor regarding a delegation of his own city, Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

, at the court, and in 390 the same Libanius defines Eutychianus as influential at court.

Eutychianus was Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect

Praetorian prefect was the title of 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 aides...

 in 396–397, maybe in Illyria, as attested by some laws of the Theodosian Code and alluded to by Synesius. He was the Praetorian prefect of the East from 397 to 399, holding as well, in 398, the consulate. In occasion of the fall of Eutropius (Summer 399), Eutyches was deposed and replaced by Aurelian, but after just a year later he was back in office at the behest of Gainas

Gainas

Gainas was an ambitious Gothic leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire as Magister Militum during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius....

, the Goth Magister militum

Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...

who held in check the Emperor Arcadius

Arcadius

Arcadius was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius...

; after Gainas fled from Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, however, Eutychianus was deposed (July 12, 400).

Between 404 and 405, he was Praetorian prefect of the East for the second time.