(Decius) Basilius Venantius (''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

'' 508–533), was a Roman aristocrat who lived during

Ostrogothic The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

rule.

Biography

He was probably the son of

Decius Marius Venantius Basilius Decius Marius Venantius Basilius ( 484) was a Roman official under Odoacer's rule. Biography He was the son of Caecina Decius Basilius and the brother of Caecina Mavortius Basilius Decius and Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, all Roman Consuls. ...

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

in 484. Venantius had several sons who became consuls, including

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...

, the consul of 529, and

Decius Paulinus Decius Paulinus (''floruit'' 534) was a Roman aristocrat and politician who served as the last consul of the Roman Senate. After his term, consuls would be appointed in the East alone. Family Paulinus was a member of the Decia gens, the son of Basi ...

, the consul of 534. Venantius himself was consul in 508. Later, but before 511, he was raised to the rank of '' patricius''. In 533 he was still alive and still held the patriciate, on the occasion King

Athalaric Athalaric (; 5162 October 534) was the king of the Ostrogoths in Italy between 526 and 534. He was a son of Eutharic and Amalasuntha, the youngest daughter of Theoderic the Great, whom Athalaric succeeded as king in 526. As Athalaric was only ...

congratulated him on the promotion of his son Decius Paulinus to the consulate, and (more importantly) the wealth to finance the celebrations that accompanied both his promotion and those of his brothers.

Bibliography

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Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' w ...

, ''Variae epistolae''
IX, 23
{{Byzantine-bio-stub People of the Ostrogothic Kingdom 6th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Patricii Decii