Virius Nicomachus Flavianus

Virius Nicomachus Flavianus (* about 334; † 394 ) was a late Roman writer and politician. He was also one of the leading figures of the pagan- Roman Senate aristocracy in the late 4th century. The history he wrote has been lost, but in the view of modern research it may have served as an important source for later historians.

Life

Badly damaged wing with the inscription "NICOMACHORUM". The woman depicted is a priestess of Ceres . Her attributes come from the cult of Cybele .

The highly educated Nicomachus Flavianus came from one of the most respected families in Rome . His father was Volusius Venustus, who owned rich land in Apulia . Flavianus successfully completed the civil service, in addition to the usual posts of the official career ( Quaestur and Praetur , where both offices were hardly relevant in the late Roman period), among other things, he belonged to the college of the pontifices maiores , so he was responsible for the exercise of traditional divine services. In 364/65 Flavianus was governor of Sicily , but after 365 he initially devoted himself to private matters. He was then appointed Vicarius Africae by Emperor Gratian in 377 , but soon afterwards fell out of favor due to his toleration of the Donatists in Africa . He enjoyed the benevolence of Theodosius I for this . Theodosius had first come to an understanding with the usurper Magnus Maximus , who ruled the western part of the empire after Gratian's death, but had taken action against him in 388. Also in 388 Flavianus became Quaestor sacri palatii of Theodosius and was thus responsible, among other things, for the drafting of laws; O'Donnell assumes, however, that Flavianus held this office from 381/82 to 383. In 389/90 Flavianus was also given the Praetorian prefecture of Italia, Illyria and Africa, making him one of the highest-ranking civil officials in the empire. He regularly held this office until 392. Due to contradicting sources, it is possible, but rather unlikely, that Flavianus served as Praetorian prefect in 383. Theodosius apparently tried very hard to get Flavianus to reach an understanding with the pagan senate circles in Rome, some of which were still in opposition to the Christian emperors.

Despite the efforts of Theodosius, to whom Flavianus also dedicated his historical work (see below), after the mysterious death of Valentinian II in 392 , Flavianus supported the usurper Eugenius and his most important support, the army master Arbogast , with all his might. In the service of Eugenius he even acted as the highest civil servant in the West. The explanation for Flavianus' actions offers the religious policy of Eugenius, which differed greatly from that of Theodosius. Eugenius (although formally a Christian himself) and Arbogast were close to pagan circles and, after Theodosius was not ready to recognize Eugenius and Ambrosius of Milan also showed himself reserved, enabled the full development of the old belief in gods in the West for the last time (albeit Alan Cameron recently denied that one could speak of a “pagan revival”). However, Christian resistance also formed against this. For a long time it was assumed that the carmen contra paganos (hence also called carmen adversus Flavianum ) by an unknown Christian author was directed against Flavianus , but the addressee is ultimately unknown; but it could have been Vettius Agorius Praetextatus . In 394 Eugenius appointed Flavianus consul for the western part of the empire, which Theodosius did not recognize.

Meanwhile, Flavianus' close friend and relative Symmachus was noticeably reticent, probably due to the fact that he had been too committed to Magnus Maximus in 388 - he had given an eulogy - and had narrowly escaped punishment after the suppression of usurpation . In addition, Symmachus did not share the religious zeal of Flavianus, which sometimes exacerbated the situation unnecessarily. Nevertheless, the already close connection between the two families was further strengthened: Flavianus' son, Nicomachus Flavianus the Younger, married a daughter of Symmachus.

Theodosius took military action against Eugenius and on September 6, 394 destroyed his army in the bloody battle of Frigidus . Flavianus then committed suicide, Eugenius was killed by soldiers. In the following years the composition of the Senate changed; The pagan traditionalists, up to then a group in the Senate that should not be underestimated, soon became an insignificant minority (until the 6th century , however, senators were often accused of secretly adhering to the old cults).

Although the sons and successors of Theodosius I, Arcadius and Honorius , issued a general amnesty for supporters of Eugenius in May 395, referring to an order from their father, Flavianus was subject to a damnatio memoriae (albeit in a milder form), which remained in force. The rebel sons were expected to convert to Christianity in return for a pardon, but Flavianus' son, Nicomachus Flavianus the Younger, initially gave in to this pressure and was able to continue his civil service career as early as 399; According to Alan Cameron, however, in later years the younger Nicomachus Flavianus no longer committed himself to the pagan cults and was at least a superficial Christian. In 431 he and the grandson of Flavianus, the prominent Senator Appius Nicomachus Dexter, succeeded in getting Flavianus publicly rehabilitated with the support of influential Senate circles. A Flavianus statue was erected and the emperor Valentinian III. and Theodosius II declared in tortuous formulations that their grandfather Theodosius I had always valued Flavianus, regretted his death and explained this in the Senate. The damnatio memoriae was due to the resentment of envious people, to whom the emperors put all responsibility.

Literary activity

Symmachuskreis and the new edition of Vita Apollonii

Flavianus belonged to the so-called Symmachuskreis , a group of educated personalities from the pagan senatorial ruling class in Rome, to which Vettius Agorius Praetextatus also belonged. Among other things, they issued a new edition of the historical work of Titus Livius and a new edition of Virgil's Aeneid ; The magnificent late antique manuscript of the Aeneid is now in the Vatican (Cod. Vat. lat. 3225; Vergilius Vaticanus ). Alan Cameron recently emphasized that the “Symmachuskreis” should by no means be misunderstood as a pagan group of scholars who pursued an anti-Christian goal. Rather, Symmachus corresponded only with a small part of the pagan elite and also with some Christians, for whom traditional education was often also important.

Among other things, Flavianus translated Greek works into Latin. He dealt with the Greek biography of the Pythagorean Apollonios of Tyana , which Flavius ​​Philostratos had written in the 3rd century. Flavianus did not translate this work into Latin, as was previously assumed, but only made a copy of it. The erudition of Flavianus is also expressed in the fact that he appears as one of the interlocutors in the Saturnalia of Macrobius .

The Annals of Flavianus

Flavianus wrote a now lost historical work , which was dedicated to the emperor Theodosius I and was entitled Annales . It is to be regarded as the main work of Flavianus, he himself was reverently referred to as historicus disertissimus ("most eloquent historian") on an inscription donated later (albeit by relatives of Flavianus) . Otherwise nothing is known about the work, so that one can only speculate about the structure and content - with more or less good arguments.

The annals have recently been discussed quite intensively in the context of source research for the 4th century. A key question of the discussion is whether Flavianus dealt with the republic or the imperial era in the annals - or perhaps even both periods. The answer to this question and the hypotheses based on it will determine whether or not the work of Flavianus can be considered as a source for several historical works of late antiquity. Several researchers, including Otto Seeck (who assumed that the work went back to the year 366 and was based on Thucydides ), advocate the latter and suspect that the work was used by Ammianus Marcellinus and other historians as a source. While Werner Hartke still assumed that the work extended from the end of the 3rd century to 366 and could be understood as the history of the Constantinian house, the proponents of this thesis today mostly assume that the work passed on; The start and possible end date are still controversial.

Based on the more recent research, provided that it follows the imperial age thesis, the annals probably reached back to Gratian's time . According to Bruno Bleckmann's considerations , treating the imperial era offered several advantages. In this way, Flavianus was able to highlight Emperor Theodosius, who himself had an interest in history, compared to his predecessors, but at the same time demand a conservative government program that was acceptable to the pagan Senate circles. Bleckmann also suspects that the annals were still used by Petros Patrikios in the 6th century and, mediated by this or a similar intermediate Greek- language source, were also used by Middle Byzantine historians such as Johannes Zonaras . This was followed by François Paschoud and Michel Festy, among others, who, along with other researchers, also plead that Flavianus primarily worked on contemporary historical material.

According to a plausible assumption of recent research, the unknown author of the Epitome de Caesaribus , who based his work on the annals , belonged to the circle of the Flavianus family. It is possible that the epitome that the emperors up to Theodosius I dealt with was partly intended as a replacement for the annals , the distribution of which was temporarily not opportune in view of the damnatio memoriae . It was even considered that Flavianus could be the author of the Historia Augusta or that his son (Hartke already) was the author of this mysterious work.

Although the prevailing thesis, especially in Germany, France and Italy, is that the annals dealt with the imperial era and provided an important source for other works, Anglo-American research is much more skeptical in this regard, although some there too support the thesis (such as Anthony R. Birley ). John Matthews, for example, did not rule out that Flavianus was more concerned with the republic. Even Timothy Barnes and Richard Burgess referred to the issue, the Annals to attach so much importance. The title Annales - provided that it is the title of the work and not a description - does not have to indicate that Flavianus followed Tacitus . It can also mean that Flavianus dealt with the more distant past (i.e. the republic) or perhaps both. Alan Cameron recently argued again vehemently against the thesis of Bleckmann and Paschoud; Cameron is of the opinion that the importance of the annals has been completely overestimated, especially since neither content nor scope (Cameron is more likely to assume a concise work) is known.

As a result of more recent research, it can be said that a (probably Latin) historical work with a pro-senatorial tendency from the late 4th century was an important source for several later historians. The traces of this "basic source" (the existence of which is not seriously doubted by opponents of the Flavianus theory) can be traced back to the Byzantine period (see Leo source ). However, it remains to be seen whether these were the annals of Nicomachus Flavianus or not. Bleckmann pointed out, however, that the name Flavianus can only be understood as a label for this source (which most likely existed).

Editions / translations

Entry in Clavis Historicorum Antiquitatis Posterioris (CHAP) .

• Lieve Van Hoof, Peter Van Nuffelen ( eds / translators) : The Fragmentary Latin Histories of Late Antiquity (AD 300-620). Edition, Translation and Commentary. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2020, p. 36 ff. (Regarding the sparse information on the annals )

literature

Overview representations

• Richard Goulet: Nicomachus Flavianus (Virius). In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques . Volume 4, CNRS Éditions, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-271-06386-8 , pp. 684-686.
• Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Virius Nicomachus Flavianus 15. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , pp. 347-349.
• Wolfgang Kuhoff : Virius Nicomachus Flavianus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon 12, 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1442-1456.
• Otto Seeck : Flavianus 14) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VI, 2, Stuttgart 1909, Col. 2506-2511.

Investigations

• Bruno Bleckmann : Comments on the Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus . In: Historia . Volume 44, 1995, pp. 83-99.
• Herbert Bloch : The Pagan Revival in the West at the End of the Fourth Century . In: Arnaldo Momigliano (Ed.): The Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century . Oxford 1963, pp. 193-218.
• Alan Cameron : The Last Pagans of Rome . Oxford University Press, Oxford-New York 2011.
• Robert Malcolm Errington : The Praetorian Prefectures of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus . In: Historia . Volume 41, 1992, pp. 439-461.
• Thomas Grünewald: The last struggle of paganism in Rome? For the posthumous rehabilitation of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus . In: Historia 41, 1992, pp. 462-487.
• Charles W. Hedrick Jr .: History and Silence: The Purge and Rehabilitation of Memory in Late Antiquity . Austin 2000, ISBN 0-292-73121-3 .
• Tony Honoré , John Matthews: Virius Nicomachus Flavianus . Constance 1989.
• James J. O'Donnell: The Career of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus . In: Phoenix . Volume 32, 1978, pp. 129-143 ( online ).
• Jelle Wytzes: The Last Battle of Paganism in Rome . Brill, Leiden 1977.

Web links

• Literature by and about Virius Nicomachus Flavianus in the catalog of the German National Library

Remarks

1. ^ O'Donnell, The Career of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus , p. 136.
2. ↑ See Hedrick Jr., History and Silence , pp. 20-22.
3. ↑ See Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , passim. For the elevation of Eugenius see Hartmut Leppin : Theodosius der Große . Darmstadt 2003, pp. 205ff.
4. ↑ See Bloch, The Pagan revival .
5. ↑ In detail Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , pp. 273ff.
6. ↑ Cf. Ambrosius of Milan , De obitu Theodsii 4.
7. ^ Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , pp. 197f.
8. ↑ CIL 6, 1783 ; see. also the detailed account by Hedrick Jr., History and Silence , pp. 1ff., engl. Translation of the inscription ibid., P. 2f.
9. ↑ Detailed overview in Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , p. 421ff.
10. ^ Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , pp. 353ff.
11. ↑ On the question of the alleged Philostratus translation, see Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , p. 546ff .; André Loyen (Ed.): Sidoine Apollinaire . Vol. 3: Lettres (Livres VI-IX) . Paris 1970, p. 196f.
12. ↑ On the related dating suggestions, see Bleckmann, remarks , p. 96.
13. ↑ CIL 6, 1782 = Inscriptiones Latinae selectae 2947.
14. ↑ Jörg A. Schlumberger : The lost annals of Nicomachus Flavianus. A work on the history of the Roman republic or the imperial era? . In: Bonner Historia Augusta Colloquium 1982/83 . Bonn 1985, pp. 305-329. Schlumberger advocates viewing the annals as a history of the imperial era.
15. ↑ Seeck, Flavianus , Col. 2508.
16. ↑ See for a summary and with further literature: Bleckmann, Remarks .
17. ↑ In summary Werner Hartke: Römische Kinderkaiser . Berlin 1951, p. 329ff.
18. ↑ See Epitome de Caesaribus 48:11.
19. ↑ Bleckmann, Remarks , p. 97.
20. ↑ See Jörg A. Schlumberger: Die Epitome de Caesaribus. Studies on pagan historiography of the 4th century AD Munich 1974, p. 235ff., Especially p. 245f.
21. ↑ For Flavianus Stéphane Ratti last pleaded : Nicomaque Flavien senior author de l'Histoire Auguste . In: H. Brandt, G. Bonamente (eds.): Historiae Augustae colloquium Bambergense . Bari 2007, pp. 305-317.
22. ^ John F. Matthews: The Roman Empire of Ammianus . London 1989, p. 10 and p. 476f., Note 6.
23. ^ Richard W. Burgess : A Common Source for Jerome, Eutropius, Festus, Ammianus, and the Epitome de Caesaribus between 358 and 378, along with Further Thoughts on the Date and Nature of the Kaisergeschichte . In: Classical Philology 100 (2005), pp. 166-192, here pp. 168f.
24. ↑ Cameron, Last Pagans of Rome , pp. 627 ff.
25. ↑ See also Michael Kulikowski's review of the Ammianus commentary by den Boeft et al. a .: There is a good pragmatic case for avoiding Bleckmann's arguments, inasmuch as they raise the vast red herring of Nicomachus Flavianus' Annales. But Bleckmann has almost certainly shown that behind Peter the Patrician (whose text is identical with the so-called 'Leoquelle' used by Leo the Grammarian) there lies a lost fourth-century source which, on my reading of the evidence, must be Greek , although Bleckmann favors Flavianus.
26. ↑ Bruno Bleckmann: The battle of Mursa and the contemporary interpretation of a civil war in late antiquity . In: Interpreted Reality. Crises, realities, interpretations . Edited by Hartwin Brandt . Stuttgart 1999, pp. 47-102, here p. 91, note 174.