Flavius Felix
Encyclopedia
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
, who reached the prominent rank of patrician before being killed by order of Flavius Aetius
Flavius Aëtius
Flavius Aëtius , dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades . He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire...
. For his consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
ate, in 428
428
Year 428 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Felix and Taurus...
, he issued some consular diptych
Consular diptych
In Late Antiquity a consular diptych was a particular type of diptych which could function as a writing tablet but was also intended as a deluxe commemorative object, commissioned by a consul ordinarius and then distributed to reward those who had supported his candidature as...
s, one of which has been preserved until modern times.
Felix served during the reign of emperors Valentinian III
Valentinian III
-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....
and Theodosius II
Theodosius II
Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
. Between 425
425
Year 425 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...
(year in which he was made patricius) and 429
429
Year 429 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Florentius and Dionysius...
he served as magister utriusque militae in defense of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, but despite a brief mention of one of his military actions in the Notitia Dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...
, his subordinates Bonifacius
Bonifacius
Comes Bonifacius was a Roman general and governor of the Diocese of Africa. Along with his rival, Flavius Aëtius, he is sometimes termed "the last of the Romans."...
and Flavius Aetius
Flavius Aëtius
Flavius Aëtius , dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades . He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire...
were considered more significant in this regard. In 426
426
Year 426 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...
he ordered the death of Patroclus, bishop of Arelate
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
, and of Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
, deacon in Rome. The following year he opposed Bonifacius' rebellion in Northern Africa sending some troops to this province
In 428
428
Year 428 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Felix and Taurus...
he was elected consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
for the West. In May 430
430
Year 430 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...
, Felix, his wife Pandusia and a deacon were accused of plotting against Aetius, arrested in Ravenna and killed by order of Aetius himself.
His carved
Ivory carving
Ivory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. The ancient craft has now virtually ceased, as since CITES it is illegal under most circumstances throughout the world....
ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
consular diptych
Diptych
A diptych di "two" + ptychē "fold") is any object with two flat plates attached at a hinge. Devices of this form were quite popular in the ancient world, wax tablets being coated with wax on inner faces, for recording notes and for measuring time and direction.In Late Antiquity, ivory diptychs with...
is notable for depicting his clothing in great detail. The diptych, believed to be the earliest yet known, survived intact until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, when the right leaf was stolen; it is now believed lost.
According to a recent reconstruction of his familiar bonds, he was an ancestor of Felix, Consul in 511. He was a son of Ennodius
Ennodius (Proconsul)
Ennodius was a Proconsul of Africa in 395. He may have fathered a son, born in 380 and married to someone who was born in 385 and daughter of Flavius Julius Agricola, Consul of Rome in 421 and the father of Avitus, who were the parents of Flavius Magnus, Senator of Narbonne , Consul of Rome in...
and he might have been the son of his father (b. 380) who was the husband of a daughter (b. 385) of Flavius Julius Agricola
Flavius Julius Agricola
Agricola, full name possibly Julius Agricola was a West Roman statesman who served twice as praetorian prefect and became consul for 421.- Biography :...
, Consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
of Rome
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in 421 and perhaps the father of Emperor Avitus
Avitus
Eparchius Avitus was Western Roman Emperor from July 8 or July 9, 455 to October 17, 456. A Gallic-Roman aristocrat, he was a senator and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.A representative of the Gallic-Roman aristocracy, he...
, being the parents of Flavius Magnus
Flavius Magnus
Flavius Magnus was a powerful politician in Gaul, where he was widely respected for his integrity and practical wisdom during the late age of the Western Roman Empire...
, Consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
of Rome
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
in 460 and Felix Ennodius
Felix Ennodius
Felix Ennodius was a Proconsul of Africa in ca 420 or 423.His father, born ca 380, might have been the son of Ennodius, Proconsul of Africa. He might have been Flavius Constantius Felix , Consul of Rome in 428, who married Padusia and was an ancestor of Felix, Consul in 511 . His mother Felix...
, Proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
in Africa
Africa Province
The Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, and the small Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...
in ca 420 or 423.
Sources
- Jones, Arnold Hugh MartinArnold Hugh Martin JonesArnold Hugh Martin Jones — known as A.H.M. Jones — was a prominent 20th century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.-Biography:...
, John Robert Martindale, John MorrisJohn Morris (historian)John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain...
, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, "Fl. Constantius Felix 14", volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN ISBN 0521201594, pp. 461-462.