Diptych Rufus Gennadius Probus Orestes VandA 139-1866

Rufius Gennadius Probus Orestes (died 552) was a Roman aristocrat. He was appointed

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 throug ...

of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the year 530, which he held alongside Flavius Lampadius. Johannes Sundwall believed Orestes was the son of

Rufius Magnus Faustus Avienus Rufius Magnus Faustus Avienus was a politician of the Western Roman Empire. He was appointed consul for 502 with Flavius Probus as his colleague. His father was Anicius Probus Faustus, who was the leading supporter of Pope Symmachus in the Lauren ...

, the consul of 502, and this view has been supported by more recent writers. On 17 December 546 Orestes was in

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 ...

when the

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

ic King

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the t ...

captured the city. Orestes,

Anicius Olybrius Anicius Olybrius (died 2 November 472) was Roman emperor from July 472 until his death later that same year; his rule as ''Augustus'' in the western Roman Empire was not recognised as legitimate by the ruling ''Augustus'' in the eastern Roman ...

(who had been consul in 526),

Anicius Maximus (Anicius) Maximus (died 552) was a Roman senator and patrician during the Ostrogothic kingdom, who celebrated the last games in the Flavian Amphitheater. Biography Maximus was a descendant of Roman emperor Petronius Maximus, and of the noble An ...

(who had been consul in 523), and other ''patricii'' sought refuge in

Old St. Peter's Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began durin ...

. He afterwards joined a group of refugees who followed the Byzantine army as far as

Portus Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber, on the Tyrrhenian coast, it was established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. The archae ...

. The following year, when some Byzantine soldiers were patrolling in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

and encountered captured senators, who were freed and afterward sent to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, he was left behind due to a lack of horses. Orestes was still a prisoner of the Ostrogoths when

Narses , image=Narses.jpg , image_size=250 , caption=Man traditionally identified as Narses, from the mosaic depicting Justinian and his entourage in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna , birth_date=478 or 480 , death_date=566 or 573 (aged 86/95) , allegi ...

conquered Rome in 552; the senators were preparing to return to Rome, but, enraged by the death of Totila, the Goths who guarded them killed them all.Procopius, ''De Bello'
VIII.34.5-6
translated by Dewing, ''Procopius'', vol. 5 pp. 399ff

Notes

{{s-end 6th-century Italo-Roman people 6th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Empire 552 deaths Year of birth unknown