Flavius ​​Hypatius

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Flavius ​​Hypatius ( Ancient Greek Ὑπάτιος ; died January 19, 532 in Constantinople ) was an Eastern Roman senator and nephew of Emperor Anastasius . He was proclaimed anti- emperor during the Nika Uprising .

Life

Hypatius was one of the most influential aristocrats of late antiquity . Already in the year 500 he had held the regular consulate , which he owed not least to the protection of his childless uncle, Emperor Anastasius (his two brothers held honorary posts in the years that followed). When war broke out with the Sassanids in 502 , Hypatius was among the generals who commanded the massive Roman army in 503, which was to launch a counterattack. The campaign failed, however, and Hypatius was blamed for this, which is why he was recalled from the Persian front.

Hypatius remained a loyal helper to his uncle in the period that followed, but was hardly able to support him effectively during the serious crisis around 515, when General Vitalian rose up against Anastasius: On the contrary, after a defeat he fell into the hands of the enemies and had to leave be ransomed from his uncle with a large ransom. Hypatius remained remarkably unsuccessful as a general throughout his life, and he also did not cut a good figure in connection with religious unrest in the Holy Land. It seems that he did not owe his prominent position to his own achievements, but to the protection of Anastasius and his good contacts within the Eastern Roman aristocracy.

When his uncle died in 518, Hypatius was not in Constantinople , so he played no part in settling the succession. Although he may have felt left out, he also held the highest offices under the new Emperor Justin I. When around 525 the Persian king Kavadh I suggested that the emperor adopt his son Chosrau I , the magister militum per Orientem Hypatius was one of the negotiators on the Roman side. According to the contemporary historian Procopius of Caesarea , Hypatius deliberately sabotaged the negotiations. As punishment, Justin temporarily removed him from his post.

Even after Justin's nephew Justinian became emperor in 527, the patricius Hypatius remained one of the most influential men in the Roman Empire . Evidently the hopes of those senators who did not approve of the new emperor were pinned on him. The high point of power politics and the end of his life came in January 532, when he was proclaimed anti-emperor by the rebels at the Constantine Forum during the Nika uprising . The sources do not agree on whether Hypatius put on the purple against his will or only for appearances (such as Procopius), or whether he, as the actual mastermind behind the revolt, was striving from the start for the empire (such as Marcellinus Comes ). When Hypatius and his followers went to the hippodrome to receive the acclamations of the people, troops loyal to the emperor invaded the circus and caused a bloodbath. Hypatius was arrested together with his brother Pompeius and executed after a short detention on January 19, his body was thrown into the sea. It was only some time later that Justinian returned much of their confiscated property to their families.

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