Sebastianus (died 9 August 378) was a Roman general who died at 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 ...

alongside 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 ...

during the Gothic War.

Biography

Sebastianus is first mentioned as the ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

Aegypti'', serving around 356–358. He supported

George of Cappadocia George of Cappadocia (Greek: Γεώργιος ό Καππάδοκης) died 24 December 361) was the intruding Arian bishop of Alexandria from 356 until his martyrdom. George was born, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, at Epiphania in Cilicia ...

and his

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...

supporters against

Athanasius of Alexandria Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

, expelling the supporters of Athanasius from the churches of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

on 24 December 358.Jones, A.; Martindale, J.; Morris, J., ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I, (1971) p. 812 Athanasius, in his own account of the events, attributes this to Sebastianus being a

Manichee 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 prophet Mani (AD ...

.Portmann, Werner (Berlin) and Groß-Albenhausen, Kirsten (Frankfurt/Main), “Sebastianus”, in: ''Brill's New Pauly, Antiquity'' volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 11 December 2018; first on-line publication 2006; citing Athanasius, ''History of the Arians'', chapters 59 and 61. While in Egypt, he also received a visit from

Libanius Libanius ( grc-gre, Λιβάνιος, Libanios; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a criti ...

. From 363 to 378, Sebastianus served as ''

comes rei militaris ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

'', initially under the emperor Julian. Accompanying the emperor on

Julian's Persian expedition Julian's Persian expedition was the last military undertaking of the Roman emperor Julian which began in March 363. It was a war against the Sasanian Empire which was ruled by Shapur II. Aiming for the Sasanian winter capital Ctesiphon, Julia ...

against the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

, Julian gave Sebastianus a joint command with

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gener ...

, with 30,000 to initially hold the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

before, if possible, joining King Arsaces II of Armenia and march southward, to reach Julian's army in Assyria. Returning with the defeated army after the death of Julian, he probably accompanied

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. Vale ...

to the western provinces in 364. In 368, while commanding the Illyrian and Italian armies, he was summoned by Valentinian to assist in the campaign against the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

. Then in 375, Sebastianus was sent by Valentinian to aid the ''

magister peditum (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, ...

'' Merobaudes in conducting some raids against the

Quadi The Quadi were a Germanic * * * people who lived approximately in the area of modern Moravia in the time of the Roman Empire. The only surviving contemporary reports about the Germanic tribe are those of the Romans, whose empire had its bord ...

. When news of the emperor's death reached Merobaudes, he sent Sebastianus, who was unaware of Valentinian's death, to a distant posting to ensure that Sebastianus could not use his popularity with the troops to interfere with Merobaudes' plans for the succession, mitigating the risk that Sebastianus might possibly be raised by the troops to the rank of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

. Sometime in 378, either through his own volition or through the intrigues of the imperial court eunuchs in the west, Sebastianus resigned his commission and travelled to the court of

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 (" ...

. There, he was asked by the emperor for help in the Gothic War, appointing him to the post of ''magister peditum'' in the process. Gathering together a select band of infantry and cavalry, under Sebastianus' leadership the Romans wrested back some of the initiative by conducting a successful semi-

guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tact ...

type campaign against the Goths, with Sebastianus operating primarily in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

. As a result of his successful encounters, he forced the Gothic leader

Fritigern Fritigern (fl. 370s) was a Thervingian Gothic chieftain whose decisive victory at Adrianople during the Gothic War (376–382) led to favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian and Theodosius I in 382. Name ''Fritigern'' appe ...

to withdraw. However, his boasting of his military exploits encouraged Valens to seek a military encounter where the emperor would win a victory over the Goths. In the subsequent council of war, he was the principal officer who advised Valens not to wait until the forces of 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 wa ...

arrived before bringing the Goths to a battle. Accompanying the emperor, he perished along with Valens in the

. He was described by

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...

as "a quiet and peace-loving man" and "a general of well-known vigilance",Ammianus, 31:11.1
/ref> while he was praised by

Eunapius Eunapius ( el, Εὐνάπιος; fl. 4th–5th century AD) was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century AD. His principal surviving work is the ''Lives of Philosophers and Sophists'' ( grc-gre, Βίοι Φιλοσόφων καὶ Σο� ...

for his military abilities and his contempt for wealth.Jones, A.; Martindale, J.; Morris, J., ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I, (1971) p. 813 Nothing is known about his family apart from the death of his wife in 357.

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Sebastianus (''magister peditum'') 378 deaths 4th-century Romans Comites rei militaris Julian's Persian expedition Magistri peditum Romans from unknown gentes Year of birth unknown