Flavius Castinus held the position of ''patricius'' in the court of Roman Emperor Honorius at the time of the Emperor's death, and most likely for some time before. He also served as

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 ...

for the year 424.

Career

In 422 he fought an unsuccessful campaign in

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hi ...

to subdue the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

. He was sent to support the

Suevi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...

or Suebians, enemies of the Vandals, and came with a force of Gothic

foederati ''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...

. However, the campaign was compromised at the very beginning when, according to one source, "his haughty and inept exercise of command" led to a quarrel between him and the military tribune

Bonifacius Bonifatius (or Bonifacius; also known as Count Boniface; died 432) was a Roman general and governor of the diocese of Africa. He campaigned against the Visigoths in Gaul and the Vandals in North Africa. An ally of Galla Placidia, mother and adv ...

, a protégé of Empress

Galla Placidia Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was queen consort ...

. Bonifacius abruptly left the expedition, eventually arriving in Africa, where he began to build up a power base. Castinus continued on to Hispania, where at first he had considerable success against the Vandals in

Baetica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basi ...

, managing to put them under a blockade and coming close to forcing them to surrender. Unfortunately at this point the Gothic auxiliaries betrayed him in some unspecified manner, which led to his defeat at the

Battle of Tarraco The Battle of Tarraco was fought between the Vandals and the Western Roman Empire at Tarraco, Hispania Tarraconensis in 422. Campaigning in eastern Hispania, the Vandal king Gunderic had earlier defeated the Suebi. He met the Roman commander Fla ...

; Castinus was forced to fall back to Tarraco (

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

). The sudden death of the nonentity Emperor Honorius 15 August 423, which followed the death of the more active

Constantius III Constantius III was briefly Western Roman emperor of the West in 421. He earned his position as Emperor due to his capability as a general under Honorius, achieving the rank of ''magister militum'' by 411. That same year, he suppressed the r ...

(421) and the exile of Empress Galla Placidia to

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 (" ...

(Spring 423), created a power vacuum "if it can be so described", observes John Matthews, which "was filled, as we should expect, by usurpation."Matthews, ''Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364 - 425'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990), p. 379 The

Eastern Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as l ...

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

hesitated to nominate a new emperor of the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

; Stewart Oost points out that with Honorius' death, "technically and legally he became sole ruler of the whole Roman Empire". Oost also argues that Theodosius reached an agreement with Castinus, where Castinus would act as his vice-regent in the West and in return Theodosius appointed Castinus and the Easterner Victor consuls for 424. If such an agreement was made, Castinus broke it when he joined in declaring

Joannes Joannes or John ( la, Iohannes; died 425) was western Roman emperor from 423 to 425. On the death of the Emperor Honorius (15 August 423), Theodosius II, the remaining ruler of the House of Theodosius, hesitated in announcing his uncle's d ...

, the senior civil servant, as the new Western Emperor in late 423. Joannes was an insecure emperor. The Emperor Theodosius invested his young cousin

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vying ...

with the honor of Caesar the next year, then dispatched an army against Joannes. The usurper was captured and executed in June/July 425. Castinus's role in these events is unknown; Oost notes of his "acts during the usurper's reign we hear absolutely nothing."Oost, ''Galla Placidia Augusta'', p. 190 Matthews succinctly states that Castinus was sent into exile;Matthews, ''Western Aristocracies'', p.381 while agreeing with Matthews, Oost adds that a "doubtful source says that he found refuge in the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

magnanimity of another old foe, Count Boniface of Africa."

References

{{end 420s deaths 5th-century Romans 5th-century Roman consuls Imperial Roman consuls Patricii Year of birth unknown