Varronian

Varronian ( Flavius ​​Varronianus ; * 363 ; † probably after 379) was the son of the Roman emperor Jovian and his wife Charito .

Life

Varronian was born in the year of the death of his grandfather of the same name, who had held the office of comes Pannoniae . After Jovian had succeeded Julian's emperor in the Orient after Julian's death , he appointed his newborn son next to him as consul of the year 364 on the march back west on January 1st in Ankyra. The boy also received the title nobilissimus puer , which was him designated as future Caesar and heir to the throne. However, Jovian died on February 17, 364, which meant that the establishment of a new dynasty had failed.

Varronian and his mother probably survived into the reign of Theodosius I. Emperor Valens supposedly had the boy's eye gouged out to ensure that he would never attain imperial dignity.

swell

• John Chrysostom , Ad viduam iuniorem 4. ( English )

literature

• Noel Lenski: Failure of Empire. Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century AD Berkeley 2002, ISBN 0-520-23332-8 , pp. 19-20.