Flavius Hypatius (c. 336died after AD 383) 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 lette ...

Senator, who was the brother-in-law of the Roman emperor

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 Germanic ...

Biography

Born into a family originating from the city of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, and of Macedonian descent, Hypatius was the son of Flavius Eusebius, the

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

of AD 347. Probably through the influence of his sister Eusebia, the wife of the emperor

, Hypatius was appointed ''consul posterior'' alongside his brother Flavius Eusebius in AD 359, while still an adolescent. Possibly appointed the '' vicarius urbi Romae'' on 21 February 363, at some point he moved to the city of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

. Here, in AD 371, Hypatius and his brother were accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and put on trial during the reign of the emperor

Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

. The accusation involved their involvement in a supposed prophecy which indicated that

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 ...

Theodorus would succeed Valens as emperor. Although Hypatius and Eusebius were found guilty, fined and exiled, they was soon recalled from their exile by the emperor through the intercession of the ''

praepositus sacri cubiculi The ''praepositus sacri cubiculi'' (Latin: "provost of the sacred bedchamber", in gr, πραιπόσιτος τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου κοιτῶνος, praipositos tou eusebestatou koitōnos) was one of the senior palace offices in the L ...

'' Heliodorus, the official who had accused Hypatius and his brother in the first place. Although his wealth and position were restored, Hypatius' career suffered while Valens still lived. Hypatius was still in Antioch when he received notification from the emperor

Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...

of his appointment as ''

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, an ...

'' of

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 ...

, shortly after the

Battle of Adrianople The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic A ...

. He held this post from late AD 378 until 5 April 379. In AD 381, he was in

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 ( ...

, where he was notified that he had been appointed the Praetorian Prefect of both Illyricum and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, a command he held from AD 382 to 383. During his time as Praetorian prefect he received a number of laws to promulgate, including one from Gratian on 21 May 383, which condemned anyone who converted from

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

to either Paganism,

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

, or

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

. A Christian who corresponded with

Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...

, Hypatius was praised highly by the historian

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 ...

, who described him as gentle, placid, upright and honest. He was also honoured by the people of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. At some point he was raised to the rank of

Patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

by the emperor.Martindale & Jones, pg. 448

Sources

* Chastagnol, André, ''Les Fastes Par Andre Chastagnol'' (1962) * Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press (1971)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hypatius, Flavius 340 births 4th-century Romans Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown Late Roman Empire political office-holders Imperial Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of the Illyricum Praetorian prefects of Italy Urban prefects of Rome Flavii