Gaudentius (died before AD 425) was the father of the

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 ...

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

Flavius Aetius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

and married to an Italian noblewoman.J. R. Martindale (1980), ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Vol. 2, pp. 493-494. He is described as a native of the Roman province

Scythia Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. His ...

(although some misread this to portray him as an ethnic Scythian).Joseph Cummins, The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks, Fair Winds, 2008 p. 11
Google book
/ref> Gaudentius served under the

Eastern Roman emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

against the usurper

Eugenius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a usurper in the Western Roman Empire (392–394) against Emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious policies targeting p ...

. Later, when his son

was born in 396, Gaudentius served as ''

magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nomi ...

'', or Master of Cavalry, under the

Emperor Honorius Honorius (9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius, Honorius ruled the western half of the empire while ...

. In 399, he served as the ''Comes Africae''. Presumably he was Christian, as

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

claimed that he destroyed pagan temples in Carthage. During the usurpation of

Joannes Joannes or John ( la, Iohannes; died 425) was western Roman emperor from 423 to 425. On the death of the Emperor Honorius (15 August 423), Theodosius II, the remaining ruler of the House of Theodosius, hesitated in announcing his uncle's d ...

, Gaudentius was made

magister militum praesentalis (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

. Gaudentius died in a military uprising in Gaul before 425.

References

5th-century deaths 4th-century Romans 5th-century Romans of Gothic descent Gothic warriors Magistri equitum (Roman Empire) Scythian people Year of birth unknown Flavius Aetius {{AncientRome-bio-stub