Flavius ​​Albinus iunior

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Flavius ​​Albinus (iunior) was a late antique Roman politician who worked in the late 5th / early 6th century.

Flavius ​​Albinus came from the well-known urban Roman family of the Decier, who had gained considerably in influence since Emperor Majorian and who were able to maintain their prominent position under Odoacer and Theodoric . He was a son of Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius , who had held the consulate in 480 .

Albinus himself acted as consul for the west in 493. His three brothers also held the high office ( Flavius ​​Avienus iunior in 501, Flavius ​​Theodorus 505 and Flavius ​​Inportunus 509), which had long had no real powers, but was still associated with the highest honors. The associated consulate games were associated with considerable costs, which the family could apparently raise without any problems. This also proves the immense wealth of the senatorial elite that still existed during the period of the Goths .

In 500/503 Albinus acted as praefectus praetorio Italiae under Theodoric and had had the honorable title of patricius since 503 at the latest . Together with his brother Avienus, he took over their father's patronage for the Greens' circus party.

Together with his wife Glaphyra he was also involved in religious matters; They had a basilica built on their property near Rome and asked Pope Symmachus to consecrate it. He was also involved in ending the Akakian schism .

Albinus was present several times at the Gothic royal court and was entrusted with various assignments. In this context he was embroiled in a momentous political affair, the background of which is not clear in every detail. Theodoric's referendarius Cyprianus had intercepted letters from Albinus to the Eastern Roman Emperor Justin I in 522/23. The exact content is not known (it may have been questions of ecclesiastical politics and the Gothic succession to the throne), but it was evidently so intrusive that the statements contained could be interpreted as 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. The result was the overthrow of Boethius by his political enemies and the execution carried out in 524/26.

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.

The further fate of Albinus is unknown, but as the suspect in the triggering incident, he will hardly have been unscathed. It is therefore believed that he was also sentenced to death.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ See the relevant evidence in John Robert Martindale, John Morris: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 2, Cambridge 1980, p. 52.
  2. ^ Material-rich overview, for example in Andreas Goltz: Barbar - König - Tyrann. The image of Theodoric the Great in tradition from the 5th to 9th centuries. Berlin 2008, p. 356ff. Cf. also Frank M. Anbüttel: Theoderich der Große. 2nd Edition. Darmstadt 2012, p. 133ff .; John Moorhead: Theoderic in Italy. Oxford 1992, pp. 219ff .; Christoph Schäfer: The Western Roman Senate as the bearer of ancient continuity under the Ostrogothic kings (490-540 AD). St. Katharinen 1991, p. 240ff.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ^ John Moorhead: Theoderic in Italy. Oxford 1992, pp. 234f.
  5. ↑ Frank M. Ausbüttel: Theodoric the Great. 2nd Edition. Darmstadt 2012, p. 135.
personal data
SURNAME Flavius ​​Albinus iunior
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flavius ​​Albinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century
DATE OF DEATH at 525