Aetius (fl. 419–425) was a politician of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, ''

praefectus urbi The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, and ...

'' of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

and

praetorian prefect of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient ( la, praefectura praetorio Orientis, el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς ἀνατολῆς) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into whic ...

Life

Aetius was ''

'' of

. He is first attested in office on February 23, 419, when an old man called Cyriacus tried to kill him in the

Great Church The term "Great Church" ( la, ecclesia magna) is used in the historiography of early Christianity to mean the period of about 180 to 313, between that of primitive Christianity and that of the legalization of the Christian religion in the Roman E ...

, and again on October 4 of the same year, when he received a law preserved in the ''

Codex Theodosianus The ''Codex Theodosianus'' (Eng. Theodosian Code) was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. A commission was established by Emperor Theodosius II and his co-emperor Valentinian III on 26 March 429 a ...

''. He also received a law dated to 409, but emended by scholars to 418, 420 or 422, in which he was to reduce the staff of the Great Church (this reduction has been suggested as a possible reason for the assassination attempt).Martindale. In 421 a large open-air water reservoir called "of Aetius" was built in Constantinople; this Aetius might be the ''praefectus urbi'', who could be still in office as his successor, Florentius, is first attested in November 422. A law addressed to him was issued on May 5, 425 that calls him a

praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

;''Codex Theodosianus'', XV, 4.1^a, about the imperial images. it is not clearly stated if he was

or of Illyricum, but the former is more probable.

Notes

Sources

* John Robert Martindale, "Aetius 1", ''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1980, , pp. 19–20. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aetius (praetorian prefect) 5th-century Byzantine people Praetorian prefects of the East Urban prefects of Constantinople