SeleucusLenski, ''Failure of Empire: A Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D.'', p. 107 also known as Flavius SeleucusJones, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395'', p. 818 and Count SeleucusBudge, ''Paradise of the Holy Fathers Part 1'', p.163 (; fl. 4th century AD) was a wealthy

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

rhetor Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or writ ...

who was a close friend of Libanius and the Roman emperor Julian.

Family and early life

Seleucus was a

nobleman who was the son of the wealthy

Cretan Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Flavius Ablabius, by an unnamed woman.Moret, ''Sertorius, Libanios, iconographie: a propos de Sertorius, journée d'étude, Toulouse, 7 avril 2000 uivi deautour de Libanios, culture et société dans l'antiquité tardive : actes de la table ronde, Avignon, 27 avril 2000'', p. 207 His family was connected to the ruling

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rule ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

as his father served

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

. Ablabius was one of the most important senators of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

; who held the

praetorian prefecture of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient (, ) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into which the Later Roman Empire, Late Roman Empire was divided. As it comprised the larger part of the Eastern Roman Empire, and its seat w ...

from 329 to 337/338 and served as consul in 331, who was active in public posts in both East and West. Seleucus had at least one known sibling a sister called

Olympias Olympias (; c. 375–316 BC) was a Ancient Greeks, Greek princess of the Molossians, the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip of Macedon, Philip II, the king of Macedonia ...

, who was once engaged to Constantine I's son, the Roman emperor Constans who later married the Roman client king of Arsacid Armenia Arsaces II (Arshak II). Seleucus was born and raised either in Constantinople or

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

, as his father during his political career was based in Antioch. His date of birth is unknown and little is known on his early life.

Julian

Seleucus knew Julian since his student days as his friendship with the nephew of Constantine I and the Rhetor, historian Libanius went back to the early 350s. Seleucus is recorded being with Julian in

Bithynia Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

in c.353 and in 356, Libanius praises Seleucus of his eloquence in his Rhetoric. Although a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

by birth, Seleucus became a zealous pagan of the

ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and Greek mythology, mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and Cult (religious practice), cult practices. The application of the modern concept ...

who was a learned person.''Selected Letter of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian'', p. 265 In November 361, Julian succeeded his paternal cousin

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 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 peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

as Roman emperor and ruled as sole emperor until June 26, 363. Seleucus under Julian's reign was made

Comes ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

by the emperor. In 361, Seleucus was sent to accompany the

Praetorian prefect The praetorian prefect (; ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief ai ...

Priscianus to

Euphratensis Euphratensis (Latin for "Euphrates, Euphratean"; , ''Euphratēsía''), fully Augusta Euphratensis, was a late Roman and then Byzantine province in Syria (region), Syrian region, part of the Byzantine Diocese of the East. History Sometime between ...

to do business as in the city, Seleucus held an administrative office as Priscianus was sent by the emperor to serve as role of governor in Euphratensis. In Euphratensis, Seleucus was a delegate of Priscianus as he was charged with levying uniforms and other supplies from the province. This was all for the upcoming Persian expedition that Julian's predecessor and later Julian had planned. In 362, Seleucus was sent by Julian to Cilicia in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, where the emperor made him either high-priest or perhaps Roman governor in that province. Seleucus accompanied Julian in his Persian expedition in 363 in which Seleucus intended to compose a history of the expedition.

Life after Julian

Julian died in June 363 and Jovian succeeded Julian as Roman emperor. Jovian ruled as Roman emperor from 363 to 364. Sometime into Jovian's reign for unknown reasons and at an unknown date, Jovian dismissed Seleucus from his post and had him prosecuted, fined and exiled to Pontus. After that moment, there is no more known of Seleucus.

Family and issue

Seleucus married an Antiochian Greek noblewoman called

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

. The brother of Alexandra, Calliopius, was a friend of Seleucus and was an assistant teacher with Libanius. Alexandra bore Seleucus two known children: * Daughter

Jones, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260-395'', pp. 175 and 818 who later became a great Christian saint who was born sometime between 361 and 368 * Either a son or daughter, who was a parent of Olympias and

Seleucus Seleucus or Seleukos (Ancient Greek: Σέλευκος) was a Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonian Greek name, possibly meaning "very bright" or “very white”. It is likely related to the ancient name Zaleucus (Ancient Greek language, Ancient ...

References

Sources

De Imperatoribus Romanis - An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors: Constans I (337-350 A.D.)
* A.H.M. Jones, J.R. Martindale & J. Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume 1, AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press, 1971 * M.R. Salzman, The Making of a Christian Aristocracy: Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire, Harvard University Press, 2002 * E.A. Wallis Budge, Paradise of the Holy Fathers Part 1, Kessinger Publishing, 2003 * P. Moret & B. Cabouret, Sertorius, Libanios, iconographie: a propos de Sertorius, journée d'étude, Toulouse, 7 avril 2000 uivi deautour de Libanios, culture et société dans l'antiquité tardive : actes de la table ronde, Avignon, 27 avril 2000, Presses Univ. du Mirail, 2003 * N. Lenski, Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D., University of California Press, 2003 * Selected Letters of Libanius: From the Age of Constantius and Julian, Liverpool University Press, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seleucus 4th-century Romans Constantinian dynasty Ancient Cilicia 4th-century Greek writers Anatolian Greeks Antiochian Greeks Ancient Greek rhetoricians Late-Roman-era pagans Correspondents of Libanius