Flavius Jovinus (around 310-370 AD), was a Roman general and consul of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

. He was of Gaulic or Germanic origin, born and buried in Durocortorum (present day Reims). He was named Magister equitum in Gaul by emperor Julian. He became

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, ...

under emperor Jovian (363-364), kept his rank under

Valentinian I Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Val ...

(364-375), and pushed back several incursions of the Alemanni such as the one in 366 in Scarponna (Dieulouard). In 367 he became consul.

Biography

Jovinus was named Magister equitum (head of cavalry) in Gaul by emperor Julian. When in 363 emperor Jovian wants to replace him by one of his own men, Jovinus is proclaimed (emperor ???) by the legions 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 ...

, but he refuses the

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

and calms his troops. A grateful Jovian reinstates him as ''

'' (top military commander). On three occasions in 366, he gave battle to the Allemanni that had crossed the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

: in '' Scarponna'' (Dieulouard), on a river Ammianus Marcellinus, Res gestae, XXVII 2(likely the Moselle), and finally at Châlons en Champagne. In 367 he became consul of the west Roman empire together with Lupicinus. Having converted to

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 ...

, he lets build the church of Saint-Agricole and Saint-Vital on the location of the current Saint-Nicaise de Reims abbey church. In this church he was buried in 370, in a white Marmara marble sarcophagus which he had brought from Italy. The sarcophagus of size 1.48m x 2.85m x 1.33m weighs approximately 2 metric tons and is decorated with a lion-hunt scene, and a scene of the dead man preparing to leave. Since 1958 it is in the musée d'archéologie de Saint-Rémi in Reims. Since 1880, the attestation of the tomb to Jovinus is disputed, however. He is also attributed to the foundation of Joigny (''Joviniacum''), and

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina, in the Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitiba and Porto Alegre. Joinville is also a ...

. Reims, musée Saint-Remi."> Reims - musée Saint-Remi (19).JPG, View of the whole sarcophage. Reims - musée Saint-Remi (20).JPG, Detail of a lion. Tombeau de Jovin Musée Saint-Remi 90208 04.jpg, Detail of one of the horsemen. Tombeau de Jovin 09010.jpg, The tomb of Jovinus as it was presented in the old church of Saint-Nicaise in Reims, gravure (1878), Reims, Carnegie library (Reims)

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{{Authority control 310s births 370s deaths 4th-century Gallo-Roman people 4th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Magistri equitum (Roman Empire)

Biography

See also

References

External links