Cyprian (trainee lawyer)

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Cyprianus was a late antique official at the Gothic royal court of Theodoric the Great in the early 6th century .

Cyprianus came from an Italian family, who had already placed themselves in the service of Odoacer and then Theodoric. His father and brother were both called Opilio, and his sons spoke Latin as well as Gothic.

After initially doing military service, Theodoric appointed him referendarius . His task was to forward petitions and petitions to the king in an orderly and commented form, giving him direct access to the ruler and considerable influence.

In this role, Cyprianus was the starting point of a momentous political affair at the Gothic royal court. Cyprianus had intercepted correspondence from the well-known and influential Senator Flavius ​​Albinus iunior around 522/523 . The exact content of Albinus' letters to the Eastern Roman Emperor Justin I is not known; it may have been questions of ecclesiastical politics and the Gothic line of succession. In any case, the content was explosive enough that Cyprianus could accuse Senator Albinus before Theodoric of having acted against the interests of the king, which amounted to high treason. Theoderichs magister officiorum Boethius , a scholar who, like Albinus, came from a distinguished family, defended himself in front of the accused, although he showed little political sensitivity. Boethius stiffened on the statement that if Albinus was guilty, so would he and the entire Senate. Cyprianus was now forced, if he did not want to lose face and thus influence, to extend the allegations to the prominent Boethius, who had not been the target of the original indictment. The result was the condemnation of Boethius by a senate court and his execution in 524/526; Albinus is likely to have met the same fate.

Cyprianus also seems to have accused Albinus because he was part of the traditional and very wealthy senatorial class (like Boethius) who had different goals than the climber Cyprianus. In this sense, the motive was probably not least to secure one's own political position at court. It also seems to have been the case that Albinus, despite the high positions he had previously held, was far less friendly to the gods than, say, Cyprianus and other climbers. In this sense, the old senatorial elite not only represented a political opponent to the pro-Gothic court party, but also made itself vulnerable. For the majority of the senatorial ruling class, on the other hand, the condemnation was a “fall from man” and put a lasting strain on the relationship with the king.

In any case, Cyprianus' career continued to be brilliant in the period that followed. In 524/525 he acted as treasurer ( comes sacrarum largitionum ) and thus rose to the senate. In 527 he held the title of patricius and held the high office of magister officiorum .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ All relevant sources ( Cassiodor , Anonymus Valesianus etc.) can be found in John Robert Martindale: Cyprianus 2. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-521-20159-4 , pp. 332-333.
  2. ↑ Cf. Gideon Maier: Officials and rulers in Romania Gothica. Comparative studies of the institutions of the East Germanic migration empires (= Historia individual writings. Volume 181). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-515-08505-2 , pp. 140 f.
  3. ^ Material-rich overview, for example in Andreas Goltz: Barbar - König - Tyrann. The image of Theodoric the Great in the tradition of the 5th to 9th centuries (= Millennium Studies. Volume 12). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-110-21012-5 , pp. 356 ff. Cf. also Frank M. Ausbüttel: Theoderich der Große. 2nd Edition. Darmstadt 2012, p. 133 ff .; John Moorhead: Theoderic in Italy. Oxford 1992, p. 219 ff .; Christoph Schäfer: The Western Roman Senate as the bearer of ancient continuity under the Ostrogothic kings (490-540 AD). St. Katharinen 1991, p. 240 ff .; Hans-Ulrich Wiemer: Theodoric the great. King of the Goths, ruler of the Romans. Munich 2018, p. 544 ff.
  4. ↑ So at least John Moorhead: Theoderic in Italy. Oxford 1992, p. 234 f.
  5. ↑ Cf. Christoph Schäfer: The Western Roman Senate as the bearer of ancient continuity under the Ostrogothic kings (490-540 AD). St. Katharinen 1991, p. 156.
  6. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Wiemer: Theodoric the Great. King of the Goths, ruler of the Romans. Munich 2018, p. 550.
personal data
SURNAME Cyprian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cyprianus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century
DATE OF DEATH after 527