Sabinianus Magnus (died 481) was a general of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, who fought in the rebellion of

Theodoric Strabo Theodoric (or Theoderic) Strabo ( la, Theodericus; died 481) was a Gothic chieftain who was involved in the politics of the Eastern Roman Empire during the reigns of Emperors Leo I, Zeno and Basiliscus. He was a rival for the leadership of the Ost ...

against Emperor

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

Biography

Much of the biography of Sabinianus Magnus is known through the Chronicle of

Marcellinus Comes Marcellinus Comes (Greek: Μαρκελλίνος ό Κόμης, died c. 534) was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople. His only surviving work, the ''Chronicl ...

, who presents a favorable view. Like Marcellinus, he was one of the

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo ...

who were part of the imperial administration and army in the 5th century. The stance of Marcellinus stance towards Sabinianus has been described as reflecting a "clear Illyrian bias". Marcellinus may have held positive view towards Sabinianus because of a personal or familial relationship. His stance may also echo the opinion of the Illyrian community of veterans and refugees in the imperial capital. In 479, in

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

, he received the codicils with his appointment to the rank of ''

Magister militum per Illyricum Magister is Latin for "master" or "teacher". It may refer to: Positions and titles * Magister degree, an academic degree * Magister equitum, or Master of the Horse * Magister militum, a master of the soldiers * Magister officiorum (''master of of ...

'' from the hands of the '' patricius'' Adamantius, succeeding to

Onoulphus Onoulphus, also Onoulf, Unulf and Hunulf (died 493) was a general of the late fifth century of Scirian origin. He served as '' magister militum per Illyricum'' from 477 to 479 as a general of the Eastern Roman Empire, then afterwards was a general f ...

. At that time, the Eastern Emperor

had to manage the revolt of his former general, 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 ...

chieftain

, who did not recognise Zeno's succession in 474. He hampered the negotiations between Theodoric and Adamantius, refusing to swear that the hostages exchanged would be safe from harm, officially for religious reasons, but actually because he opposed the reconciliation policy with the Goths. In fact, as the negotiations went on, he decided to attack the Goths: moving with his army at the back of the enemy, he succeeded in killing many of them and in capturing a great part of their baggages. Once he had returned to

Lychnidus Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhab ...

, he obtained the support of the

Praetorian prefect of Illyricum The praetorian prefecture of Illyricum ( la, praefectura praetorio per Illyricum; el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία �ῶν πραιτωρίωντοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ, also termed simply the Prefecture of Illyricum) was one of f ...

Iohannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

, and successfully suggested the Emperor to reject the truce signed with Theodoric and to keep fighting him. Sabinianus' presence in Illyricum along with the Gothic soldier Gento, prevented Theodoric from pillaging that territory (479), but later he fell out of favour at court, and Emperor Zeno executed him. Sabinianus was the father of Sabinianus, who held the prestigious office of Consul in 505. The 6th-century historian

states that he was a severe commander, but a true defender of the Roman State. The entry about Marcellinus ends with the description that Sabinianus Magnus died "before he could bring fresh help to the exhausted empire".

Bibliography

* * Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Sabinianus Magnus 4", ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 1971, , p. 967. 481 deaths Magistri militum Byzantine generals 5th-century Byzantine people Illyrian people Year of birth unknown Generals of Zeno {{Byzantine-bio-stub