Flavius Neoterius (''fl''. 365–393) was a politician 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 ...

. He served as

Praetorian prefect of the East The praetorian prefecture of the East, or of the Orient ( la, praefectura praetorio Orientis, el, ἐπαρχότης/ὑπαρχία τῶν πραιτωρίων τῆς ἀνατολῆς) was one of four large praetorian prefectures into whic ...

, of Italy, and of Gaul. In 390 he was co-consul with

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 ...

Life

Probably born in Rome, he was ''

notarius A notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents (compare English " notary"). In the Roman Catholic Church there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries. Documen ...

'' under Emperor

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. Val ...

when, in 365, he was sent to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to guarantee the loyalty of that province during the usurpation of

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 gen ...

, who had rebelled against the eastern 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 ...

. Neoterius was appointed

between 380 and 381. Later he is attested as Praetorian prefect of Italy in 385. Putting Neoterius in charge of the Italian prefecture,

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

wanted to support the young and inexperienced Emperor

from the influence of the Western 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 ...

. Neoterius is probably to be identified with the prefect who wanted to give the ''basilica Portiana'' of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

to the Arians but who was opposed by the Nicene 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 ...

. In 390 he was Praetorian prefect of Gaul, as well 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 ...

with the Emperor

as colleague; this appointment can be seen as protecting Theodosius' interests in Gaul.Robert Malcolm Errington, ''Roman imperial policy from Julian to Theodosius'', UNC Press, 2006, , p. 136. He knew

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 ...

, with whom he exchanged letters (he is the addressee of the letters 38-46 by Symmachus); according to these letters, Neoterius was alive in 393 and maybe in 398.

Notes

Sources

* Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Flavius Neoterius", ''

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 ...

'', Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 1992, , p. 623. {{s-end 4th-century Romans 4th-century Roman consuls Correspondents of Symmachus Imperial Roman consuls Praetorian prefects of the East Praetorian prefects of Gaul Praetorian prefects of Italy