Abundantius

Flavius Abundantius was a Roman army master ( magister militum ) of late antiquity .

Abundantius came from Scythia. He initially served under Gratian and then rose to high dignity under Emperor Theodosius I. Under Theodosius he served as comes et magister utriusque militiae , that is, as “companion” of the emperor and master of both troops, cavalry and infantry. So he functioned as one of the highest military in the eastern part of the empire. In 393 he was given the special honor of being consul of the East with Emperor Theodosius . Apparently he did not take part in the campaign against the usurper Eugenius 394, presumably he had already withdrawn from active military service by this time.

In 396 Abundantius fell victim to an intrigue by the powerful chamberlain Eutropios , whom he had previously promoted. Eutropios caused the emperor Arcadius , who was a slave to him, to banish Abundantius to Pityus and to give his property to him himself. For the time after that, Abundantius is rarely found in the sources. From a remark in a writing by Bishop Asterius of Amaseia it can be concluded that Abundantius was still alive around 400.

literature

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Flavius Abundantius. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , pp. 4-5.
Otto Seeck : Abundantius 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, column 126.

Remarks

↑ The full name can be found in a papyrus ( The Oxyrhynchus Papyri , edited by BP Grenfell et al., London 1898ff., No. 1712; online ). In all other sources he only appears as Abundantius .
↑ Zosimos 5,10,5 with an overview of his ascent.
↑ With this title can be proven by laws of July 31, 392 ( Codex Theodosianus 12,1,128) and July 29, 393 ( Codex Theodosianus 7,4,18; 7,9,3) addressed to him.
↑ So PLRE, Vol. 1, p. 5.
↑ Claudian , Against Eutropius 1,154ff .; Eunapios , fragment 72; Jerome , Letter 60:16. Zosimos 5,10,5, however, names Sidon as the place of exile.
↑ Asterius von Amaseia, hom. 4 ad fin. (in: Jacques Paul Migne , Patrologia Graeca 40, 224); see. Seeck, in: RE, Vol. I, 1, Col. 126.

personal data
SURNAME	Abundantius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Abundantius, Flavius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman army master of late antiquity
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century
DATE OF DEATH	5th century

[1] The full name can be found in a papyrus ( The Oxyrhynchus Papyri , edited by BP Grenfell et al., London 1898ff., No. 1712; online ). In all other sources he only appears as Abundantius .

[2] Zosimos 5,10,5 with an overview of his ascent.

[3] With this title can be proven by laws of July 31, 392 ( Codex Theodosianus 12,1,128) and July 29, 393 ( Codex Theodosianus 7,4,18; 7,9,3) addressed to him.

[4] So PLRE, Vol. 1, p. 5.

[5] Claudian , Against Eutropius 1,154ff .; Eunapios , fragment 72; Jerome , Letter 60:16. Zosimos 5,10,5, however, names Sidon as the place of exile.

[6] Asterius von Amaseia, hom. 4 ad fin. (in: Jacques Paul Migne , Patrologia Graeca 40, 224); see. Seeck, in: RE, Vol. I, 1, Col. 126.