Florentius 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 ...

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 b ...

under the Caesar Julian and later a

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 throu ...

, before falling from grace when Julian became emperor.

Life

Florentius is first heard of when he arrives in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the Eas ...

as a praetorian prefect of

Constantius II Constantius II ( Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germa ...

in 357. He spoke in support of engaging the enemy as the

Battle of Strasbourg The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under the ''Caesar'' (deputy emperor) Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar ...

loomed. Later that year when revenue from Gaul did not reach desired levels from the poll-tax and the land-tax, he took measures to raise special levies to make up for the shortfall. However, Julian opposed the imposition of the extra burden on the people of Gaul and Constantius decided against the policy of his own prefect. Florentius nevertheless continued as prefect in Gaul until early in 360, when an order came from Constantius for Gallic troops to be sent to the eastern front. The order,

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

believed, was at the instigation of Florentius, who unaccountably withdrew to Vienne and busied himself there, Ammianus believing that this was anticipating the disturbances following the arrival of the order. And when Florentius heard that Julian had been raised to Augustus, he abandoned Gaul and sought out Constantius. Constantius must have held him in high regard for first he appointed him praetorian prefect of Illyricum when Anatolius died, then made him a consul in 361. When Julian's rebellion broke out, Florentius fled Italy. Not long after Julian became emperor a tribunal was set up at

Chalcedon Chalcedon ( or ; , sometimes transliterated as ''Chalkedon'') was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the cit ...

early in 362, which condemned Florentius to death in absentia. When two former members of the secret service offered to point out to Julian where Florentius was hiding, Julian rebuked them as informers and refused to hear more, preferring to leave him hiding in fear.Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Res Gestae'', 22.7.5. The latter is the last historical mention of Florentius.

Footnotes

{{end 4th-century Romans 4th-century Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of Gaul Praetorian prefects of the Illyricum Imperial Roman consuls 4th-century Gallo-Roman people People sentenced to death in absentia