Dalmatius

This article deals with the Roman under-emperor Dalmatius. For his father of the same name, see Flavius ​​Dalmatius .

Follis of Dalmatius

Dalmatius († 337/38), with full name Flavius ​​Dalmatius (on coins and inscriptions Flavius ​​Iulius Delmatius ), was Caesar (sub-emperor) of his uncle Constantine from 335 until his death . After his death in 337 he was murdered by the military as part of a purge .

Contemporary history background

The Roman Empire went through a profound change at the beginning of the 4th century. Dalmatius' uncle Constantine the Great had prevailed in the succession battles that broke out with the end of the tetrarchy founded by Emperor Diocletian , and thus established the Constantinian dynasty , to which Dalmatius also belonged.

Constantine's reign was important primarily for two reasons: On the one hand, he relocated the central power with the new capital Constantinople to the eastern part of the empire, which had already become more and more important. On the other hand, he promoted Christianity and thus initiated the Christianization of the Roman Empire ( Constantinian turn ). Even if the traditional gods were not abolished, they lost their power and influence.

Life

Division of the Roman Empire after the death of Constantine the Great : from west to east the territories of Constantine II (orange), Constans (green), Dalmatius (light yellow) and Constantius II (turquoise)

Dalmatius was the son of Constantine's half-brother Flavius ​​Dalmatius and his wife, whose name is not known. His brother was Hannibalianus . He was the nephew of Constantine I, Julius Constantius and Flavius ​​Hannibalianus , whose name his brother bore. He and his brother were raised in Tolosa, today's Toulouse , where his father also lived. His teacher was the rhetorician Exsuperius . On September 18, 335, Dalmatius was appointed Caesar by his uncle - obviously against the resistance of the army, which had always favored the direct dynastic line. Probably in the same year his brother Hannibalianus received the title of Rex , as which he was supposed to control the client princes on the Persian border from Cappadocia. The area of ​​responsibility of Dalmatius included Thrace , Achaia and Macedonia ; he probably had his residence in Naissus . In this area - on the lower Danube - Dalmatius was supposed to defend the empire against the Goths , who at that time represented a constant threat.

This was an important task, especially since Constantine did not want to leave the Danube border unprotected during his planned Persian campaign . However, Constantine the Great died on May 22, 337 before he could carry out the campaign plan. His death was followed by protracted unrest, in the course of which many relatives of the emperor were killed by the military (cf. Murders after the death of Constantine the Great ). Dalmatius and his father and brother also fell victim to this purge. When exactly Dalmatius died is just as controversial as the question of whether the murders of Constantine's sons were initiated or only tolerated. The part of the empire with the capital Constantinople, which was formerly administered by him, fell to Constans at the Viminacium Conference in 338 , who as Augustus already ruled over Italy and Africa.

literature

• Bruno Bleckmann : Fl. Dalmatius [2]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , Sp. 288.
• Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Fl. Dalmatius 6. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , p. 241.
• Dietmar Kienast , Werner Eck , Matthäus Heil : Roman imperial table. Basic features of a Roman imperial chronology . 6th, completely revised and updated edition. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2017, ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8 , pp. 294 .
• Klaus Rosen : Julian. Emperor, God and haters of Christians . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-608-94296-3 , p. 37, 39, 45, 47-50, 182 .
• Otto Seeck : Delmatius 3 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IV, 2, Stuttgart 1901, Col. 2456.

Web links

Commons : Flavius ​​Iulius Dalmatius  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Michael DiMaio, Jr .: Short biography (English) at De Imperatoribus Romanis (with references).

Remarks

1. ↑ So Dietmar Kienast among others: Roman emperor table . 6th edition. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2017, ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8 , pp. 294 .
2. ↑ Ausonius , Commemoratio professorum Burdigalensium 17.8–11.
3. ↑ On the dating cf. Thomas Grünewald : Constantinus Maximus Augustus . Stuttgart 1990, p. 150 ff .
4. ↑ Aurelius Victor 41.15: "obsistentibus valid militaribus".
5. ↑ So suspected Timothy D. Barnes : The New Empire of Diocletian and Constantine . Harvard University Press, Cambridge / London 1982, ISBN 0-674-61126-8 , pp. 87 .
6. ↑ Anonymous Valesianus 35.
7. ^ So Bruno Bleckmann : Fl. Dalmatius [2]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 3, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01473-8 , Sp. 288.
8. ↑ On these questions see for example Richard Klein : The struggles for the succession after the death of Constantine the Great . In: Roma versa per aevum. Selected writings on pagan and Christian late antiquity . Edited by Raban von Haehling and Klaus Scherberich (=  Spudasmata . Volume 74 ). Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1999, p. 1-49 .