Flavius Bauto (died c. 385) was a

Romanised Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

Frank who served as a ''

magister militum (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, ...

'' of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

and imperial advisor under

Valentinian II Valentinian II ( la, Valentinianus; 37115 May 392) was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his brother, was then sidelined by a usurper, and only after 388 sole rul ...

Biography

When the usurper

Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in B ...

invaded

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in an attempt to replace

, Bauto led military defence against him. According to bishop

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...

, Maximus accused Bauto of attacking him with barbarian troops and intending to establish a puppet emperor in the figure of Valentinian II to acquire sovereignty for himself. In matters of religion, Bauto was likely a Christian. He and Rumoridus, who was pagan, were present before Valentinian II when Ambrose successfully convinced the emperor against

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus Quintus Aurelius Symmachus signo Eusebius (, ; c. 345 – 402) was a Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters. He held the offices of governor of proconsular Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and consul in 391. Symmachus ...

' proposal to restore the pagan

Altar of Victory The Altar of Victory () was located in the Roman Senate House (the Curia) and bore a gold statue of the goddess Victory. The altar was established by Octavian (later Augustus) in 29 BC to commemorate the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the B ...

, which had been earlier removed from the Senate of Rome. Afterwards, the two men went along with Valentinian II's decision. He became a

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 ...

in 385 but died soon after, likely of natural causes. Afterwards, his daughter

Aelia Eudoxia Aelia Eudoxia (; ; died 6 October 404) was a Roman empress consort by marriage to the Roman emperor Arcadius. The marriage was the source of some controversy, as it was arranged by Eutropius, one of the eunuch court officials, who was attempt ...

resided in the house of a son of Promotus, a nemesis of Rufinus, and later married Emperor Arcadius in 395, becoming one of the more powerful empresses of the period. His military office was succeeded by Arbogastes, who went on to influence Valentinian II and is claimed by John of Antioch to be Bauto's son.John of Antioch's assertion has been rejected in ''PLRE'' but accepted in Cameron, Alan (2010) ''The Last Pagans of Rome'' Oxford University Press. p. 85 note 228

Notes

{{s-end 380s deaths 4th-century Frankish people 4th-century Romans 4th-century Roman consuls Frankish warriors Generals of Theodosius I Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum Year of death uncertain Year of birth unknown