Anicius Acilius Aginantius (or Aginatius) Faustus ( 483–508), also known as Faustus ''albus'' ("white"), was a Roman politician under

Odoacer Odoacer ( ; – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a soldier and statesman of barbarian background, who deposed the child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became Rex/Dux (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus August ...

's rule. His brothers included

Rufius Achilius Maecius Placidus The gens Rufia, occasionally spelled Ruffia, was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are not mentioned in history until imperial times, and they achieved little prominence until the late third century, from which time t ...

, and Rufius Achilius Sividius.

Life

Faustus' career is attested by two inscriptions on seats of the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

. He is attested as ''

praefectus urbi The ''praefectus urbanus'', also called ''praefectus urbi'' or urban prefect in English, was prefect of the city of Rome, and later also of Constantinople. The office originated under the Roman kings, continued during the Republic and Empire, a ...

'' of Rome in an inscription celebrating his work in restoring an image of

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

damaged by a falling roof during a riot. The riot can be identified with the civil war that led to the deposition and death of Emperor

Anthemius Procopius Anthemius (died 11 July 472) was western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Perhaps the last capable Western Roman Emperor, Anthemius attempted to solve the two primary military challenges facing the remains of the Western Roman Empire: ...

in 472, while the restoration could have been performed under

, but before 483. In 483 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 throu ...

, without colleague. It is probable that he was not recognised by the Eastern court. In 502-503 he could have been appointed ''praefectus urbi'' for the second time. In those years he was contacted by

Magnus Felix Ennodius Magnus Felix Ennodius (473 or 47417 July 521 AD) was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet. He was one of four Gallo-Roman aristocrats of the fifth to sixth-century whose letters survive in quantity: the others are Sidonius A ...

to be appointed ''advocatus fisci'' in

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. Ennodius wrote him also in 506 and 508. He might also be the recipient of a letter by

Avitus of Vienne Alcimus Ecdicius Avitus (c. 450 – February 5, 517/518 or 519) was a Latin poet and bishop of Vienne in Gaul. His fame rests in part on his poetry, but also on the role he played as secretary for the Burgundian kings. Avitus was born of a promi ...

, and also of a letter from

Theoderic the Great Theodoric (or Theoderic) the Great (454 – 30 August 526), also called Theodoric the Amal ( got, , *Þiudareiks; Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ), was king of the Ostrogoths (471–526), and ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Ita ...

to Faustus, praepositus.

Notes

Bibliography

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Anicius Acilius Aginantius Faustus iunior (albus) 4", ''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, , p. 451–452. {{end 5th-century Italo-Roman people 6th-century Italo-Roman people 5th-century Roman consuls 6th-century Latin writers Faustus, Anicius Acilius Aginantius Acilii Correspondents of Ecdicius Avitus Correspondents of Ennodius Imperial Roman consuls Urban prefects of Rome