Nevitta

Flavius Nevitta was a Roman army master ( magister militum ) in the 4th century AD.

Nevitta, like many late Roman officers, was of Germanic descent and a pagan . He served in Gaul in 357 under the later emperor Julian , where he successfully fought against the Alemanni . In 361 he was appointed magister equitum per Gallias , so he was in command of the cavalry troops in the local Sprengelkommando. This can be seen as a reward for Nevitta's loyal service to Julian. When Julian mobilized against Emperor Constantius II , Nevitta commanded the middle army group; However, Constantius died before the fight began, so that Julian could succeed his relative as emperor without much difficulty.

Nevitta was a member of the “special court” in Chalkedon , which was supposed to “sift out” supporters of the late emperor. In 362, Nevitta also held the prestigious consulate and in the following year accompanied Julian on his Persian campaign , which finally ended in a catastrophe: The Roman army was driven out by the Persians, and on June 26, 363 Julian died of a combat injury.

In the subsequent emperor election - this fell to a college of officers consisting of Nevitta, Victor , Dagalaifus and Arintheus - he spoke out against the guard officer Jovian , who was ultimately proclaimed the new emperor, whereupon Nevitta had to resign from military service due to his resistance .

literature

Alexander Demandt : Magister Militum. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Supplement volume XII, Stuttgart 1970, Sp. 580 ff. (With discussion of the most important sources and the older literature).
Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Flavius Nevitta. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , pp. 626-627.
Klaus Rosen : Julian. Emperor, God and haters of Christians . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-608-94296-3 , p. 189, 213, 215, 220, 238, 246, 351, 367, 376 .

Remarks

↑ On the background and the course of the campaign cf. Rosen, Julian , p. 333 ff. With additional literature. Special mention should be made to Gerhard Wirth , Julian's Persian War. Criteria of a catastrophe , in: Richard Klein (Ed.), Julian Apostata , Darmstadt 1978, p. 455 ff. Pointed out.

personal data
SURNAME	Nevitta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Flavius Nevitta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman army master
DATE OF BIRTH	before 357
DATE OF DEATH	after 363

[1] On the background and the course of the campaign cf. Rosen, Julian , p. 333 ff. With additional literature. Special mention should be made to Gerhard Wirth , Julian's Persian War. Criteria of a catastrophe , in: Richard Klein (Ed.), Julian Apostata , Darmstadt 1978, p. 455 ff. Pointed out.