Florentinus was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

politician who served as

Urban prefect 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 ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 395 to 397 AD.

Career

A native of Augusta Treverorum, Florentinus was possibly a

Notarius A notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents (compare English "notary"). In the Roman Catholic Church there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries. Documents ...

around 379/380 AD. He was the Comes sacrarum largitionum in the west from 385 to 386 and the

Quaestor sacri palatii The ''quaestor sacri palatii'' ( gr, κοιαίστωρ/κυαίστωρ τοῦ ἱεροῦ παλατίου, usually simply ), in English: Quaestor of the Sacred Palace, was the senior legal authority in the late Roman Empire and early Byzant ...

in 395. After this he was given the post of

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 Rome, serving from 395 to the end of 397 AD before he was replaced by Lampadius. During his time as Urban Prefect, Florentinus received numerous missives from the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Honorius concerning the duties, restrictions and rewards for the decurions. He was also reprimanded by the emperor for issuing post warrants without imperial authorisation.Pharr, pg. 203 Soon after his term as Urban Prefect had ended he entered into retirement, living in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

. During his time in office, he received regular correspondence from

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Quintus Aurelius Symmachus signo Eusebius (, ; c. 345 – 402) was a Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters. He held the offices of governor of proconsular Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and consul in 391. Symmachus s ...

, while

Claudian Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian (; c. 370 – c. 404 AD), was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almost ent ...

dedicated to him the second book of ''De raptu Proserpinae''. Florentinus had at least one son, called Minervius.

Sources

* Jones, A. H. M., Martindale, J. R., Morris, J., ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I (1971).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florentinus 4th-century Romans Urban prefects of Rome