Flavius

Flāvĭus, a,

• the name of a Roman gens: gens Flavia, Suet. Vesp. 1; Mart. 9, 2, 8.— So in partic. Cn. Flavius, the scribe of the pontifiex maximus, Appius Caecus, who published the Fasti, Liv. 9, 46, 1 sqq.; Plin. 33, 1, 6, § 17; v. fasti. From the gens Flavia were descended the emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, Suet. Vesp. 1.— Hence poet., Flavius ultimus for Domitianus, Juv. 4, 37.—
• II Derivv.
• • A Flā-vĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Flavius: templa, i.e. built by Domitian, Mart. 9, 4, 12; 9, 35, 2.—
  • B Flāvĭālis, e, adj., of or belonging to the college of priests for the Flavian family, instituted by Domitian, Flavial-: FLAMEN, Inscr. Orell. 2220: PONTIFEX, ib. 3672: COMES, ib. 3162: SEXVIR, ib. 3726: XVVIRI, ib. 2375: assidentibus Diali sacerdote et collegio Flavialium, Suet. Dom. 4.—
  • C Flāvĭānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to a Flavius, Flavian: jus civile, named after Cn. Flavius, the publisher of the Fasti, Dig. 1, 2, 2, § 7: partes, i.e. the adherents of Vespasian, Tac. H. 2, 67; 3, 1.

Flāvius, a, um, Name einer röm. gens, aus der die Kaiser Vespasianus, Domitianus u.a. stammten; dah. Flavius = Domitian, Iuven. 4, 37. – Noch ist bekannt Cn. Flavius, ein Freigelassener des Appius Cäcus, der die fasti und die Gebräuche u. Formeln der Prozesse (das sogen. ius Flavianum, bis dahin ein Geheimnis der Patrizier, s. Cic. de or. 1, 186) bekannt machte, wofür er die Würde eines kurulischen Ädilen erhielt, Liv. 9, 46, 1 sqq. u.a. (s. Orelli Onomast. Cic. 2. p. 254 sq.). – Adi. flavisch, gens Fl., Suet. Vesp. 1, 1. Mart. 9, 2, 8. – Dav.: A) Flāviālis, is, m. (mit u. ohne flamen), der Flamen (Eigenpriester) der gens Flavia, Suet. u. Inscr. – B) Flāviānus, a, um, slavianisch, partes, d.i. es mit dem Kaiser Vespasian haltend, Tac.: Fl. ius civile, des Freigelassenen Cn. Flavius, ICt.

Flāvĭus, (9) ĭī, m. , nom dʼune famille rom. ; not^t Cn. Flavius qui publia les Fastes : Liv. 9, 46 ; Plin. 33, 17 || cʼest de la gens Flavia, que descendaient les empereurs Vespasien, Titus et Domitien : Suet. Vesp. 1 || — ultimus Juv. 4, 37, Domitien || -ĭus, a, um, de Flavius, dʼun Flavius : Mart. 9, 3, 12 || v. Flavia || -ĭālis, e, du collège des prêtres institués par Domitien en lʼhonneur de la famille Flavia, un Flaviale : Suet. Dom. 4 || -ĭānus, a, um, de Flavius : Flavianum jus Dig. 1, 2, 2, 7, droit Flavien ; Flavianæ partes Tac. H. 2, 67, parti de Vespasien.

Fla'vius Hera'clius> Constans Ii.

emperor of the East, A. D. 641-668, the elder son of the emperor Constantine III. and the empress Gregoria, was born on the 7th of November, A. D. 630, and his original name was Heraclius. After the death of his father, who reigned but a few months, in A. D. 641, the throne was seized by Heracleonas, the younger brother of Constantine III.; but as Heracleonas was a tool in the hands of his ambitious mother, Martina, he incurred the hatred of the people, and a rebellion broke out, which was headed by Valentinus Caesar. Valentine at first compelled Heracleonas to admit his nephew Heraclius as co-regent, and on this occasion Heraclius adopted the name of Constantine, which he afterwards changed into that of Constans. Not satisfied with this result, Valentine proclaimed Constans sole emperor: Heracleonas and Martina were made prisoners, and, after being mutilated, were sent into exile. Thus Constans II. succeeded in the month of August, A. D. 641, and on account of his youth was obliged to be satisfied with only the name of emperor, and to abandon his authority to Valentine, who is probably identical with one Valentinian, who rebelled in A. D. 644, but was killed in a skirmish in the streets of Constantinople.

The reign of Constans II. is remarkable for the great losses which the empire sustained by the attacks of the Arabs and Longobards or Lombards. Egypt, and at last its capital, Alexandria, had been conquered by 'Amru, the general of the khalif 'Omar, towards the close of the reign of the emperor Heraclius, the grandfather of Constans. (A. D. 610 --641.) Anxious to regain possession of Alexandria, Constans fitted out an expedition against Egypt, and we are informed by the Chinese annalists, that he sent ambassadors to the emperor of China, Taisum, to excite him to a war against the Arabs, by whom the Chinese possessions in Turkistan were then infested. (Comp. De Guignes, Histoire générale des Huns, i. pp. 55, 56.) This emperor reigned from A. D. 627 till 650, and as the Christian religion was preached in China during his reign by Syrian monks, from which we may conclude that an intercourse existed between China and the Greek empire, the fact related by the Chinese annalists seems worthy of belief, especially as the danger from the Arabs was common to both the empires. When Manuel, the commander of the imperial forces, appeared with a powerful fleet off Alexandria, the inhabitants took up arms against the Arabic governor 'Othman, and with their assistance Manuel succeeded in taking the town. (A. D. 646.) But he maintained himself there only a short time. 'Amru approached with a strong army; he took the town by assault, and Manuel fled to Constantinople with the remnants of his forces. A considerable portion of Alexandria was destroyed, and the Greeks never got possession of it again. Encouraged by this success, the khalif 'Omar ordered his lieutenant 'Abdu-l-lah to invade the Greek possessions in northern Africa. 'Abdu-l-lah met with great success; he conquered and killed in battle Gregorius, the imperial governor of Africa, and the Greeks ceded to him Tripolitana, and promised to pay an annual tribute for the remaining part of the imperial dominions in Africa. This treaty was concluded without the consent of Constans, and although it was dictated by necessity, the emperor blamed and punished his officers severely, and shewed so much resentment against his subjects in Africa, that he took revenge upon them seventeen years afterwards, as is mentioned below.

While 'Abdu-l-lah was gaining these advantages in Africa, Mú'awiyah, who subsequently became khalif, drove the Greeks out of Syria, and, after conquering that country, sailed with a fleet of 1700 small craft to Cyprus, conquered the whole island, and imposed upon the inhabitants an annual tribute of 7200 pieces of gold. The island, however, was taken from the Arabs two years after the conquest, by the imperial general Cacorizus. The Arabs made also considerable progress in Cilicia and Isauria, which were ravaged by Bizr, one of their best generals. While the finest provinces of the East thus became a prey to the khalifs, the emperor was giving all his attention towards the protection of monothelism, to which sect he was addicted, and the persecution of the orthodox catholic faith. Unable to finish the religious contest by reasonable means, Constans issued an edict by which he prohibited all discussions on religious subjects, hoping thus to establish monothelism by oppressive measures. This edict, which is known by the name of " Typus," created as much discontent as laughter: it was rejected by the pope and generally by all the churches in Italy, and contributed much to ruin the emperor in public opinion. His subjects manifested publicly their contempt for his character, and the governors of distant provinces paid so little respect to his authority, that they seemed to be independent princes. A revolt broke out in Armenia under Pasagnathus, who made himself completely independent; but he afterwards returned to obedience.

As early as 648, a truce for two years had been concluded between the Arabs and Constans. 'Abdu-l-lah availed himself of that truce to invade and conquer Nubia and Abyssinia; but he returned in 651, renewed hostilities, and sent an expedition against Sicily, where the Arabs took several places, and maintained themselves there. In the same year Mú'awiyah spread terror through both the East and the West by the conquest of Rhodes, and it was on this occasion that the famous colossus was sold to a Jew of Edessa.

The fall of Rhodes failed to rouse Constans from his carelessness. He still endeavoured to compel obedience to his "Typus" in Italy, although it had been condemned by pope Martin I. Theodorus Calliopas, the imperial exarch in Italy, arrested Martin in his own palace in 653, and sent him from thence to Messina, afterwards to the island of Naxos, and at last, in 654, to Constantinople. Here, after a mock trial, he was condemned of holding treacherous correspondence with the infidels, and was mutilated and banished to Cherson, in the Chersonnesus Taurica, where he died in September, A. D. 655. Many other bishops of the orthodox faith were likewise persecuted, among whom was St. Maximus, who died in exile in the Caucasus, in 662.

In 655, the war with the Arabs became alarmingly dangerous. Mú'awiyah, then governor of Syria, fitted out a fleet, which he entrusted to the command of Abú-l-ábár, while he himself with the land forces marched against Caesareia, whence he intended to proceed to the Bosporus. In this imminent danger Constans gave the command of Constantinople to his eldest son, Constantine, and sailed himself with his own ships against the hostile fleet. The two fleets met off the coast of Lycia, and an obstinate battle ensued, in which the Greeks were at last completely defeated. Constantinople seemed to be lost. But the khalif 'Othmán was assassinated in 655, and Mú'awiyah, who was chosen in his stead, was obliged to renounce the conquest of Constantinople, and to defend his own empire against the attempts of 'Alí, and afterwards of his son Hasán, who assumed the title of khalif, and maintained themselves at Kufá till 668. Delivered from the Arabs, Constans made war upon the Slavonian nations south and north of the Danube with great success.

In 661, Constans put his brother Theodosius to death. The reasons for this crime are not well known; for, as Theodosius had taken orders, and was consequently unfit for reigning, political jealousy could not be the cause; perhaps there was some religious difference between the two brothers. The murder of his brother pressed heavily upon him ; he constantly dreamt about him, and often awoke, crying out that Theodosius was standing at his bedside, holding a cup of blood, and saying, " Drink, brother, drink !" His palace at Constantinople was insupportable to him, and he at last resolved to quit the East and to fix his residence in Italy. The political state of this country, however, was as strong a reason for the emperor's presence there as the visions of a murderer.

As early as A. D. 641, Rotharis, king of the Longobards, attacked the imperial dominions in northern Italy, and conquered the greater part of them. One of his successors, Grimoald, had formed designs against the Greek possessions in southern Italy, where the emperor was still master of the duchies of Rome and Naples, with both the Calabrias. Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica belonged likewise to the Greek empire. The emperor's authority in Italy was much shaken by the religious and civil troubles which he had caused there by his absurd edict, the " Typus;" but, on the other hand, the dissensions among the dukes and other great chiefs of the Longobards seemed to afford a favourable chance for the re-establishment of the Roman empire of Italy by the Greeks, an enterprise which one hundred years before the emperor Justinian had so gloriously achieved by his general Narses. Under these circumstances, Constans resolved not only to imitate the example of Justinian, but to make Rome once more the centre of the Roman empire. His resolution caused the greatest surprise, for since the downfall of the Western empire no emperor had resided, nor even made a momentary stay, in Italy. " But," said Constans, " the mother (Rome) is worthier of my care than the daughter (Constantinople);" and, having fitted out a fleet, he fixed the day of his departure, and ordered the empress and his three sons to accompany him. He waited for them on board of his galley, but no sooner had they left the imperial palace, than the people of Constantinople rose in revolt and prevented them by force from joining the emperor. Being informed of this, Constans spit against the city, cursed its inhabitants, and ordered the sailors to weigh anchor. This took place towards the end of 662. Constans stayed the winter at Athens, having previously appointed his eldest son, Constantine, governor of Constantinople. Our space prevents us from giving an account of his campaign in Italy ; it is sufficient to state, that though he met at first with some success, his troops were afterwards defeated by the Longobards, and he was obliged to relinquish his design of subduing them. After plundering the churches and other public buildings of Rome of their finest ornaments and treasures, he took up his residence at Syracuse for a time. In this city also he gratified his love of avarice and cruelty to such an extent, that many thousands fled from the island and settled in different parts of Syria, especially at Damascus, where they adopted the religion of Mohammed. The emperor's absence from the seat of government excited Mú'awiyah to make fresh inroads into the Greek provinces.

It has been already related that Constans was deeply offended on account of the treaty having been concluded without his consent between his officers in Africa and the Arabian general 'Abdu-l-lah. In 665, Mú'awiyah being then chiefly occupied in the eastern part of the Khalifate, Constans resolved to revenge himself upon his subjects in Africa, and accordingly imposed a tribute upon them which was more than double what they had engaged to pay to the Arabs. This avaricious and imprudent measure caused a revolt. They invited the Arabs to take possession of their country, promising to make no resistance. Upon this Mú'awiyah entered Africa, defeated the few troops who were faithful to Constans, and extended his conquests as far as the frontiers of Mauretania. During the same time the Longobards extended their conquests in Italy. Despised and hated by all his subjects, Constans lost his life by the hand of an assassin, at least in a most mysterious manner, perhaps by the intrigues of orthodox priests. On the 15th of July, 668, he was found drowned in his bath at Syracuse. He left three sons, Constantine IV. Pogonatus, his successor, Heraclius, and Tiberius. The name of his wife is not known. (Theophanes, p. 275, &c., ed. Paris ; Cedrenus, p. 429, &c., ed. Paris; Zonaras, vol. ii. p. 87, &c., ed. Paris; Glycas, p. 277, &c., ed. Paris; Philo Byzantinus, Libellus de, Septem Orbis Spectaculis, ed. Orelli, Leipzig, 1816, pp. 15, &c., 30, &c., and the notes of Leo Allatius, p. 97, &c.; Paulus Diaconus (Warnefried), De Gestis Longobardorum, 4.51, &c., v. 6-13, 30; Abulfeda, Vita Mohammed, p. 109, ed. Reiske, Annales, p. 65, &c., ed. Reiske.) [W.P]

Fla'vius Constanti'nus Vi.

emperor of the East, A. D. 780-797, the son of Leo IV. Chazarus Isaurus and Irene, was born in 771, and succeeded his father in 780, under the guardianship of his mother, a highly-gifted but ambitious and cruel woman, a native of Athens. The reign of Constantine VI. presents a hideous picture of wars, civil and religious troubles, and pitiless crimes. Elpidus, governor of the thema of Sicily, revolted in 781; and it seems that his intention was either to place himself or one of the four paternal uncles of the young emperor on the throne; but the eunuch Theodore, an able general, defeated him in several engagements in 782, and Elpidus fled with his treasures to the Arabs in Africa, by whom he was treated till his death with the honours due to an emperor. The power of the Arabs grew every year more dangerous to the empire. In 781 they suffered a severe defeat from the eunuch Joannes in Armenia, evacuated that country, and fled in confusion to Syria; but in the following year, a powerful Arabian army, divided into three strong bodies, and commanded by Harún-ar-Rashid, the son of the khalif Mahadí, penetrated as far as the Bosporus, and compelled Irene to pay an annual tribute of 60,000 pieces of gold. The peace, however, was broken some years afterwards, and the new war lasted till the end of the reign of Constantine, who in 790 lost half of his fleet in the gulf of Attalia, but obtained several victories over the Arabs by land. He was likewise victorious in a war with the Slavonians, who had conquered all Greece, but were driven back by Stauracius in 784.

At an early age, Constantine was betrothed to Rotrudis, daughter of Charlemagne; but quarrels having broken out with that emperor on the subject of the Greek dominions in Italy, the match was broken off, and Constantine married Maria, an Armenian lady, whom he repudiated three years afterwards, and married one Theodata. In 787, the sect of the Iconoclasts was condemned in the seventh general council held at Nicaea, and the worship of images was restored throughout the empire. When Constantine came of age, he was of course intrusted with the administration of the empire; but Irene's influence was so great, that she remained the real sovereign. Tired of his vassalage, Constantine intrigued against her, and had already resolved to arrest her, when the plot was discovered; his partisans were severely punished, and he himself received the chastisement of a boy from the hands of his mother. Infuriated by this outrage, the young emperor requested the assistance of his Armenian life-guard, and, having found them all devoted to him, seized upon his mother, and confined her in one of her palaces, where she was kindly treated, but was allowed to have no other company but that of her attendants. A reconciliation took place some time afterwards, but Irene finally contrived the ruin of her son.

After succeeding in being recognized as the lawful master of the empire, Constantine put himself at the head of his army, and set out to meet the Bulgarians, who were plundering all Thrace. He obtained some advantages over them, but lost a pitched battle, saw his army cut to pieces, and with difficulty escaped to Constantinople. There he received intelligence that a conspiracy against his life, formed by his four uncles and supported by the Armenian guard, was on the eve of breaking out. His measures were at once quick and energetic : he seized the conspirators, disarmed the Armenians, whose commander, Alexis, had his eyes put out, and punished his uncles with equal severity : one of them was blinded, and the three others had their tongues cut off, and they were all forced to become ecclesiastics, in order to incapacitate them for reigning. They were afterwards banished, and died in obscurity.

The reconciliation which had taken place between Constantine and his mother was a hollow one; Irene could not forget that she had once ruled, and during an expedition of her son against the Arabs she formed another conspiracy. On Constantine's return in 797, he was suddenly assailed by assassins while he was sitting in the Hippodrome to look at the races. He escaped unhurt, fled from the city, and directed his course to Phrygia. Before arriving there, he was joined by the empress and a host of partisans. Relying on the promises of Irene, he returned to Constantinople, but was surprised in his palace by a band of assassins hired by Irene and her favourite, the general Stauracius. His eyes were put out by their order with so much violence that he died on the same day. By a singular coincidence of circumstances, he was murdered in the " Porphyra," the name of the apartment where the empresses were accustomed to be confined, and where he was born. His only son, Leo, having died in his lifetime, he was succeeded by his mother Irene. Constantine VI. was the last of the Isaurian dynasty. Zonaras and Cedrenus say, that he survived his excaecation for a considerable time; but their opinion seems to be untenable, although Le Beau believes it to be correct. (Theophan. p. 382, &c., ed. Paris ; Cedren. p. 469, &c., ed. Paris; Zonar. vol. ii. p. 93, &c., ed. Paris; Joel, p. 178, ed. Paris; Glycas, p. 285, ed. Paris. [W.P]

Fla'vius Constanti'nus Vii. Porphyroge'nitus or Constanti'nus Vii. Porphyroge'nitus or Constanti'nus Porphyroge'nitus or Constanti'nus Vii. Porphyroge'nitus

(ὁ Πορφυρογέννητος), emperor of the East, A. D. 911-959, the only son of the emperor Leo VI. Philosophus, of the Macedonian dynasty, and his fourth wife, Zoe, was born in A. D. 905; the name Πορφυρογέννητος, that is, " born in the purple," was given to him because he was born in an apartment of the imperial palace called πόρφυρα, in which the empresses awaited their confinement. The name Porphyrogenitus is also given to Constantine VI., but it is generally employed to distinguish the subject of this article. Constantine succeeded his father in 911, and reigned under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, Alexander, who was already Augustus, governed the empire as an absolute monarch, and died in the following year, 912. After his death the government was usurped by Romanus Lecapenus, who excluded Constantine from the administration, leaving him nothing but an honorary retreat in the imperial palace, and who ruled as emperor till 944, when he was deposed and exiled by his sons Stephanus and Constantine, both Augusti, and who expected to be recognised as emperors. [Romanus Lecapenus.] They were deceived; the people declared for the son of Leo; Constantine left his solitude, and, supported by an enthusiastic population, seized upon the usurpers, banished them, and ascended the throne.

In the long period of his retirement Constantine had become a model of learning and theoretical wisdom; but the energy of his character was suppressed ; instead of men he knew books, and when he took the reins of government into his hands, he held them without strength, prudence, and resolution. He would have been an excellent artist or professor, but was an incompetent emperor. Yet the good qualities of his heart, his humanity, his love of justice, his sense of order, his passion for the fine arts and literature, won him the affections of his subjects. His good nature often caused him to trust without discernment, and to confer the high offices of the state upon fools or rogues; but he was not always deceived in his choice, and many of his ministers and generals were able men, and equally devoted to their business and their master. The empire was thus governed much better than could have been expected. In a long and bloody war against the Arabs in Syria, the Greek arms were victorious under Leo and Nicephorus, the sons of Bardas Phocas; the Christian princes of Iberia recognised the supremacy of the emperor; alliances of the Greeks with the Petchenegues or Patzinacitae in southern Russia checked both the Russians and the Bulgarians in their hostile designs against the empire; and Constantine had the satisfaction of receiving in his palace ambassadors of the khalifs of Baghdád and Africa, and of the Roman emperor Otho the Great. Luitprand, the emperor's ambassador, has left us a most interesting account of his mission to Constantinople. (Annales Luitpranli.) One of the most praiseworthy acts of Constantine was the restoration to their lawful proprietors of estates confiscated during rebellions, and held by robbers and swindlers without any titles, or under fraudulent ones. Constantine's end was hastened by poison, administered to him by an ungrateful son, Romanus (his successor), in consequence of which he died on the 15th of November, A. D. 959. His wife was Helena, by whom he had the above-mentioned son Romanus, a daughter Theodora, married to Joannes Züniscus, and other children. Works

Constantine Porphyrogenitus holds a high rank in literature. His productions are no masterworks in point of style and thought, but they treat of important and interesting subjects, and without him our knowledge of his time would be reduced to a few vague notions; for he not only composed works himself, but caused others to be composed or compiled by the most able men among his subjects. His own works are-- I. Ἱστορικρ́ διήγησις τοῦ βίου καί πράξεων τοῦ Βασιλείου τοῦ ἀοιδίμου βασιλέως (Vita Basilii)

The life of Basilius I. Macedo, the grandfather of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a work of great importance for the reign and character of that great emperor, although it contains many things which cannot be relied upon, as Constantine was rather credulous, and embellished the truth from motives of filial piety or vanity. Editions

1. By Leo Allatius in his Σύμμικτοι, with a Latin translation, Cologne, 1653, 8vo.; the text divided into 70 sections or chapters.

2. By Combefisius, in his " Scriptores post Theophanem," Paris, 1685, fol. ; divided into 101 sections or chapters; with a new translation and notes of the editor. II. Περί τῶν Θεμάτων, De Thematibus.

(The origin and signification of the word Δέμα as a new name for " province," is given in the life of Constantinus IV.) This work is divided into two books; the first treats on the Eastern (Eastern and Southern) or Asiatic themas, and the second on the Western (Western and Northern) or European themas. Editions

1. The first book, with a Latin translation and notes, by B. Vulcanius, Leyden, 1588, 8vo.

2. The second book, with a Latin translation and notes by T. Morellus, Paris, 1609, 8vo. Both these editions, and consequently the complete work, were reprinted and edited with some other works of Constantine, by Meursius, Leyden, 1617, 8vo.

3. The same in the sixth volume of " J. Meursii Opera," edited by Lami.

4. The complete work, by Bandurius, in the first volume of his " Imperium Orientale," with notes and a corrected version by the editor.

5. The same in the third volume of the Bonn edition or the works of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, a revised reprint of the edition of Bandurius, but without the map of De I'Isle, edited by Immanuel Bekker, Bonn, 1840. III. De Administrando Imperio

De Administrando Imperio, without a corresponding Greek title. This celebrated work was written by the imperial author for the special purpose of informing his son Romanus of the political state of the empire, its various resources, and the political principles which ought to be followed in its administration, as well as in its relations to foreign nations. It contains abundance of historical, geographical, ethnographical, and political facts of great importance, and without it our knowledge of the times of the author and the nations which were either his subjects or his neighbours would be little more than vagueness, error, or complete darkness. The work is divided into 53 chapters, preceded by a dedication to prince Romanus. In the first 13 chapters the author gives an account of the state of several nations which lived towards the north of the Danube, such as the Petchenegues or Patzinacitae, the Chazars, the Bulgarians, the Turks (by which he means the Majars or present Hungarians), and especially the Russians, who were then the most dangerous enemies of Constantinople. In the 14th and following chapters he speaks of Mohammed, and gives a view of the rising power of the Arabs, which leads him to Spain and the conquest of the West Gothic kingdom by the Arabs. (cc. 23 and 24.) The relations of the Greeks to Italy and to the Frankish kingdoms are related in cc. 26 to 28. In the eight following chapters (29 to 36), which are all very long, he dwells on the history and geography of those parts of the empire which a few centuries before his time were, and are still, occupied by Slavonian nations, viz. Dalmatia, Servia, Croatia, &c. In 100.37 and following he returns to the Patzinacitae, Chazars, and other nations in ancient Scythia--a most valuable and interesting section, on which Bayer wrote the best commentary which we have on the work : it refers likewise to the corresponding part of the Themata and is contained in the ninth volume of the " Commentarii Academiae Petropolitanae." After illustrating that subject, Constantine proceeds to Iberia, Armenia, and some of the adjacent countries in Asia. Chapter 52 contains some remarks on the thema of the Peloponnesus, a country of which the author speaks also occasionally in other chapters ; and in the 53rd and last chapter, which is of considerable length, he gives interesting information respecting the city of Cherson, the Chersonitae, and other adjacent nations. The style of the work is generally clear and simple, but the logical order of the subjects is in some instances broken. Editions

1 and 2. By Meursius, 1610, 8vo. and 1617, 8vo., in his " Opera Const. Porph.," with a Latin translation.

3. By the same, in the sixth volume of " Meursii Opera," edited by Lami, in which, however, only the translation of Meursius is contained, the editor having likewise given the more perfect text and translation of Bandurius.

4. By Bandurius, in his " Imperium Orientale," the best edition, partly on account of a map of the Eastern empire by Guillaume de L'Isle, which belongs both to this work and to that on the Themas. Bandurius added a new translation and an extensive commentary. Having perused better MSS. than Meursius, Bandurius was enabled to add the text with a translation of the 23rd and 24th chapters (" De Iberia" and " De Hispania"), of which Meursius had only fragments, so that he could not translate them.

5. By Immanuel Bekker, Bonn, 1840, in the Bonn collection of the Byzantines, a revised reprint of the edition of Bandurius without the map of Guillaume de L' Isle. The commentary of Bayer cited above belongs likewise to this work. IV. Βιβλίον Τακτικὸν, τάξιν περιέχον τῶν κατὰ Δάλατταν καὶ γῆν μαχομένων

commonly called " Tactica," an essay on the art of warfare by sea and by land, a very interesting treatise. Editions

1 and 2. By Meursius, in " Constantini Opera, " and in the sixth volume of " Meursii Opera," edited by Lami, both cited above. No. 1 gives only the text, but No. 2 has also a Latin translation by Lami. Maffei, who translated a Cod. Veronensis of this work, attributes it to Constantine, the son of the emperor Romanus Lecapenus. V. Βιβλίον Στρατηγικὸν περὶ ἐθῶν διαφόρων ἐθνῶν &c.

commonly called " Strategica," an interesting treatise on the mode of warfare adopted by different nations. Edition

By Meursius, in the sixth volume of his works edited by Lami, with a Latin translation of the editor. VI. Ἔκθεσις τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως, De Ceremoniis Aulae Byzantinae.

This work is divided into three sections, viz. the first book, an appendix to the first book, and the second book. It gives a detailed account of the ceremonies observed at the imperial court of Constantinople. The appendix to the first book treats of the ceremonies observed in the imperial camp, and when the emperor sets out from his palace for the purpose of leading his army into the field, or returns from it to his capital : it is dedicated to Romanus, the son of Constantine. The first book is divided into 97 chapters, the appendix into 16 sections, or heads, which are not numbered, and the second book into 56 chapters, the last chapter incomplete; and it seems that there were originally some chapters more, which have not been discovered yet. The work is on the whole tedious and wearisome, as we may presume from the nature of the subject and the character of the emperor, who dwells with delight on trifling forms and usages which scarcely anybody but a master of ceremonies would find it worth while to write upon. The style, however, is pure and elegant for the time; but the work abounds with Arabic and other terms strange to the Greek language, which are, however, explained by the commentators. It is impossible to read it through; but if used as a book of reference it answers well, and it contains, besides, a number of important facts, and little stories or anecdotes referring to the life of former emperors. Editions

1. By Leich and Reiske, the first volume containing the first book and the appendix, Leipzig, 1751, fol.; the second volume containing the second book, ibid. 1754, fol., with a Latin translation, an excellent Commentary to the first book by Reiske, and Notes and a " Commentatio de Vita et Rebus Gestis Constantini" by Leich.

2. By Niebuhr, vol. i., Bonn, 1829, 8vo.; vol. ii., ibid. 1830. This is a carefully revised reprint of the editio princeps; it contains the remaining part of Reiske's commentary (to the appendix and the second book), first edited by Niebuhr. The prine cipal laws issued by Constantine (Novellae Constitutiones) have been published by Leunclavius in his " Jus Graeco-Romanum," and by Labbe, Paris, 1606, 8vo. Constantine wrote besides several smaller treatises on religious and other matters Works commissioned by Constantine

Besides his own writings, we owe to Constantine's love of literature the preservation of some works from destruction or oblivion, and the compilation of others at his order. Such are : I. Collectanea et Excerpta Historico-Politica et Moralia

an extensive compilation, of which but the 27th book, Περὶ Πρεσβειῶν, "De Legationibus," and the 50th, Περὶ Ἀρετῆς καὶ Κακίας, "De Virtute et Vitio," have been preserved. A further account of this work is given in the life of Priscus. II. Ἱππιατρικά, De Medicina Veterinaria

compiled from the works of a number of writers, a list of whom is given by Fabricius; it is divided into two books. Editions

1. A Latin translation by J. Ruellius, Paris, 1530, fol.

2. The Greek text, by Simon Grynaeus, Basel, 1537, 4to.

3. By Valesius, together with the "Collectanea," &c., Paris, 1634, 4to. Translations

An Italian translation of it was published at Venice, 1543, 8vo., and a French one at Paris, 1563, 4to. III. Γεωπονικά, De Re Rustica

This is generally attributed to Bassus Cassianus. [Bassus Cassianus.]

Both the Hippiatrica and the Geoponica were held in high esteem in the middle ages as well as in after times, and they were both used for practical purposes, as we may see from the numerous editions and translations, especially of the Geoponica. Editions

The first eight books of this work, which treat on the cure of beasts, and form a kind of domestic veterinary handbook, were separately published in a Latin translation by Andreas a Lacuna, Cologne, 1543, 8vo. Translations

An Italian translation of the complete work appeared at Venice, 1542; French ones at Poitiers, 1545, Lyon, 1557; and a German, by Michael Herr, in 1551, 3rd edition, edited by Ludwig Rabus, Strassburg, 1566, 8vo.

The Annals of Theophanes were continued by Constantine's order [Theophanes], and he also induced Josephus Genesius to write his Annals, which contain the period from Leo Armenus to Basilius Macedo. [Genesius.] An account of Constantine's laws is given in the life of the emperor Leo Philosophus. Further Information

Cedren. pp. 607, &c.,631, &c., ed. Paris; Leo Diaconus, pp. 487, &c., 507, &c., ed. Paris; Zonar. vol. ii. pp. 182, &c., 192, &c., ed. Paris; Joel, pp. 180, 181, ed. Paris; Glycas, pp. 302, 303, ed. Paris; Hanckius, De Script. Byzant. pp. 461-478; Hamberger, Zuverlässige Nachrichten, &c., vol. iii. p. 686, &c.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii. p. l, &c.; Leich, Commentatio de Vita et Rebus Gestis Const. Porphyr., Leipzig, 1746, 4to., and also in his and Reiske's edition of Constantine's works, as well as in the Bonn edition of " De Cerem. Aulae Byzant." [W.P]

Flavius Julius> Consta'ntius Ii.

Roman emperor, A. D. 337-361, whose name is sometimes written Flavius Claudius Constantius, Flavius Valerius Constantius, and Constantinus Constantius. He was the third son of Constantine the Great, and the second whom he had by his second wife, Fausta; he was born at Sirmium in Pannonia on the 6th of August, A. D. 317, in the consulate of Ovidius Gallicanus and Septimius Bassus. He was educated with and received the same careful education as his brothers, Constantine and Con stans, was less proficient in learned pursuits and fine arts, but surpassed them in gymnastic and military exercises. He was created consul in 326, or perhaps as early as 324, and was employed by his father in the administration of the eastern provinces. At the death of his father in 337, Constantius was in Asia, and immediately hastened to Constantinople, where the garrison had already declared that none should reign but the sons of Constantine, excluding thus the nephews of the late emperor, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, from the government of those provinces which had been assigned to them by Constantine, who had placed Dalmatius over Greece, Macedonia, Thrace, and part of Illyricum, and Hannibalianus over Pontus, Cappadocia, and Armenia Minor, with Caesareia as the capital. The declaration of the army, whether preconcerted between them and the sons of Constantine or not, was agreeable to Constantius, who was apparently resolved to act in accordance with the same views. In a wholesale murder, where the troops were the executioners, the male descendants of Constantius Chlorus by his second wife perished through the cruel perfidy of Constantius, who spared the lives of only two princes, Flavius Julius Gallus and Flavius Claudius Julianus, the sons of Flavius Julianus Constantius, youngest son of Constantius Chlorus, who himself became a victim of his nephew's ambition. Besides those princes, the patrician Optatus and the praefectus praetorio Ablavius were likewise massacred. It would be difficult to exculpate Constantius from the part which he took in this bloody affair, even if it were true that his crime was not so much that of a murderer as that of a cool spectator of a massacre which he could have prevented.

After this the three sons of Constantine the Great had an interview at Sirmium in Pannonia, and made a new division of the empire (September, 337), in which Constantine, the eldest, received Gaul, Spain, Britain, and part of Africa ; Constantius, the second and the subject of this article, Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, the Asiatic provinces, and Egypt; and Constans, the youngest, Italy, Illyricum, and the rest of Africa. The ancient world was thus governed by three youths of twenty-one, twenty, and seventeen years of age. Immediately after the death of Constantine the Great a war broke out with the Persian king, Sapor II., which was chiefly carried on in Mesopotamia and on the frontiers of Syria, and, with short interruptions, lasted during the whole reign of C(onstantius. This war was to the disadvantage of the Romans (Greeks), who were vanquished in many battles, especially at Singara, in 343, where Constantius commanded in person, and after having carried the day, was routed with great slaughter of his troops in the succeeding night. On the other hand, the Persians sustained great losses in their fruitless attempts to take the strong fortress of Nisibis, the key of Mesopotamia; and as other fortified places in that country as well as in the mountains of Armenia were equally well defended, Sapor gained victories without making any acquisitions.

Being thus engaged in the east, Constantius was prevented from paying due intention to the west, and he was obliged to be a quiet spectator of the civil war between his brothers, in which Constantine was slain at Aquileia, and Constans got possession of the whole share of Constantine in the division of the empire (A. D. 340). In 350, Constans was murdered by the troops of Magnentius, who assumed the purple and was obeyed as emperor in Britain, Gaul, and Spain; at the same time Vetranio, commander of the legions in the extensive province of Illyricum, was forced by his troops to imitate the example of Magnentius, and he likewise assumed the purple. It was now time for Constantius to prove with his sword that none but a son of the great Constantine should rule over Rome. At the head of his army he marched from the Persian frontier to the West. At Heracleia in Thrace ambassadors of Magnentius waited upon him, proposing that he should acknowledge their master as emperor, and cement their alliance by a marriage of Constantius with the daughter of Magnentius, and of Magnentius with Constantina, eldest sister of Constantius; they threatened him with the consequences of a war should he decline those propositions. Constantius dismissed the ambassadors with a haughty refusal, and, sending one of them back to Magnentius, ordered the others to be put in prison as the agents of a rebel. His conduct towards Vetranio tended to a reconciliation; but while he promised to acknowledge him as co-emperor if he would join him against Magnentius, he secretly planned treachery. Having bribed or persuaded the principal officers of Vetranio to forsake their master if it should suit his plans, he advanced towards Sardica, now Sophia, where he met with Vetranio, both of them being at the head of an army, that of Vetranio, however, being by far the stronger. Had Vetranio, a straightforward veteran, who could disobey but was not made for more refined perfidy, now acted in the spirit of Constantius, he could have seized his rival in the midst of his camp; but the result was very different. On a plain near Sardica a tribune was erected, where the two emperors showed themselves to their troops, who filled the plain apparently for the purpose of being witnesses of a ceremony by which the empire was to have two lawful heads. Constantius first addressed the armed crowd, and artfully turning upon his " legitimate" opinion, that a son of the great Constantine was alone worthy to reign, suddenly met with a thunder of applause from his own troops as well as those of Vetranio, who, either spontaneously or in accordance with the instructions of their officers, declared that they would obey no emperor but Constantius. Vetranio at once perceived his situation : he took off his diadem, knelt down before Constantius, and acknowledged him as his master, himself as his guilty subject. Constantius evinced equal wisdom: he raised Vetranio from the ground, embraced him, and, as he despised a throne, assigned him a pension, and allowed him to spend the rest of his days at Prusa. (A. D. 351.)

Constantius now turned his arms against Magnentius, after having appointed his cousin Gallus as Caesar and commander-in-chief of the army against the Persians. At Mursa, now Essek, a town on the river Drave in Hungary, Magnentius was routed (28th of September, A. D. 351) in a bloody battle, in which Constantius evinced more piety than courage; but where the flower of both armies perished. The conquest of Illyricum and Italy was the fruit of that victory, and Magnentius fled into Gaul. There he was attacked in the east by the army under Constantius, and in the west by another army, which, after having conquered Africa and Spain, crossed the Pyrenees and penetrated into Gaul. After another complete defeat at mount Seleucus in the Cossian Alps, and the rebellion of the principal cities in Gaul, Magnentius, reduced to extremity, put an end to his life, and his brother Decentius followed his example. (A. D. 353.) [Magnentius.] Constantius became thus master of the whole West. He avenged the murder of his brother Constans, and established his authority by cruel measures, and neither the guilty nor the innocent were exempt from his resentment.

Once more the immense extent of the Roman empire was ruled by one man. The administration of the government and the public and private life of Constantius, approached more and more those of an Asiatic monarch: eanuchs reigned at the court, and secret murders, dictated by jealousy or suspicion, were committed by order of the emperor, whenever justice disdained or was too weak to assist him in his plans. One of the victims of his malice was his cousin, Gallus Caesar. Guilty of negligence, disobedience, and cruelty in his administration of the East, he deserved punishment; and his guilt became still greater when he put to death the imperial commissioners, Domitian, praefectus praetorio Orientis, and Montius, quaestor palatii, who were sent to his residence, Antioch, to inquire into his conduct, but conducted themselves with the most imprudent haughtines, threatening and defying Gallus, when they ought to have ensnared him with gentle persuasions and intrigues, according to their instructions. They were torn to pieces by the mob excited by Gallus, who after such an atrocious act seemed to have had but one means of saving himself from the emperor's resentment,--rebellion. But deceived by new promises from the artful Constantius, he went to meet him at Milan. At Petovio in Pannonia he was arrested, and sent to Pola in Istria, where he was beheaded in a prison. (A. D. 354.) Julian, the brother of Gallus was likewise arrested; but, after having spent about a year in prison and exile, was pardoned at the intervention of his protectress, the empress Eusebia, and in November, 355, was created Caesar and appointed to the command-in-chief in Gaul, which was suffering from the consequences of the rebellion of Sylvanus, who had assumed the purple, but was ensnared by Ursicinus, by whom he was murdered in the church of St. Severin at Cologne in September, 355.

In 357, Constantius visited Rome, where he celebrated an undeserved triumph. Imitating the example of Augustus, he ordered the great obelisk which stood before the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis to be carried to Rome, where it was erected in the Circus Maximus. (Having been thrown down, it was placed by order of pope Sixtus V. before the portal of the church of St. John Lateran, and is known as the Lateran obelisk.) From Rome Constantius went to Illyricum, where his generals made a successful campaign against the Quadi and Sarmatians, and thence returned in 359 to Asia to meet the armies of Sapor, who had once more invaded Mesopotamia, and taken Amida, now Diyárbekr, and the minor fortresses of Singara and Bezabde. Before Sapor appeared in the field, Gaul was invaded by the Alemanni and the Franks, but their power was broken in a three years' campaign by Julian, who made Chnodomarius, the king of the Alemanni prisoner [Chnodomarius]; and not only by his martial deeds, but also by his excellent administration, which won him the hearts of the inhabitants, he excited the jealousy of Constantius. Accordingly, orders arrived in Gaul that the legions employed there should march to the defence of the East. The pretext for this command was, that Gaul being tranquil, no great army was required there, but the real motive was the fear that Julian might abuse his popularity, and assume the purple. Instead of preventing tnat event, the iniprudent order caused it. The troops refused to march; and Julian having nevertheless brought thicu into motion, they suddenly proclaimed him emperor. (A. D. 360.) It is related in the life of Julian how he acted under these circumstances; his protestations of innocence were misconstrued; his ambassadors, who met with Constantius at Caesareia, were dismissed with anger, and war was declared. Constantius, with the greater part of his army, marched to the West, and the empire was on the eve of being shaken by a dreadful civil war, when the sudden death of Constantius at Mopsocrene, near Tarsus in Cilicia (3rd of November, A. D. 361), prevented that calamity, and made Julian the sole master of the empire [Julianus.] By his third wife, Maxima Faustina, Constantius left one daughter, who was afterwards married to the emperor Gratian. (Amm. Marc. lib. xiv.--xxi.; Zosimus, lib. ii. iii.; Agathias, lib. iv.; Euseb. Vita Constantin. lib. iv.; Eutrop. lib. 10.5, &c.; Julian. Orat. i. ii.; Liban. Orat. iii.-x.; Zonar. lib. xiii.; the authorities referred to under Constantinus 1l. and Constans I.; Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs.)

[W.P]

Fla'vius

1. M. Flavius, a Roman, who in B. C. 328, during the funeral solemnity of his mother, distributed meat (visceratio) among the people. It was said that this gift was made as much to honour his mother as to show his gratitude towards the people for having acquitted him some time before, when he had been accused by the aediles of adultery. The people evinced their gratitude in return by electing him at the next cotmitia tribune of the people, although he was absent at the time, and others had offered themselves as candidates. In B. C. 323 he was invested with the same office a second time, and brought forward a rogation to chastise the Tusculans for having incited the Veliternians and Privernatans to make war against Rome. But the Tusculans came to Rome and averted the punishment by their prayers and entreaties. (Liv. 8.22, 27; V. Max. 9.10.1.)

Fla'vius

2. Flavius, a Lucanian, who lived during the second Punic war, and for a time was at the head of the Roman party among the Lucanians. But in B. C. 213 he suddenly turned traitor; and not satisfied with going over to the enemy himself, and making his countrymen follow his example, he resolved to deliver the Roman general, with whom he was connected by hospitality, into the hands of the Carthaginians. He accordingly had an interview with Mago, who commanded the Punic forces in Bruttium, and promised to deliver up to him the proconsul Tib. Sempronius Gracchus, on condition that the Lucanians should be free, and retain their own constitution. A place was then fixed upon where Mago might lay in ambush with an armed force, and whither Flavius promised to lead the proconsul. Flavius now went to Grachus, and promising to bring about a reconciliation between him and those who had recently deserted the cause of the Romans, he prevailed upon him to accompany him to the spot where Mago was concealed. When he arrived there Mago rushed forth from his ambuscade, and Flavius immediately went over to the Carthaginians. A fierce contest then ensued, near a place called Campi Veteres, in which Tib. Sempronius Gracchus was killed. (Liv. 25.16; Appian, Annib. 35; V. Max. 5.1. Ext. § 6.)

Fla'vius

3. Q. Flavius, an augur who, according to Valerius Maximus (8.1.7), was accused before the people by the aedile, C. Valerius, perhaps the same who was curule aedile in B. C. 199. (Liv. 31.50, 32.50.) When fourteen tribes had already voted against Flavius, and the latter again asserted his innocence, Valerius declared that he did not care whether the man was guilty or innocent provided he secured his punishment ; and the people, indignant at such conduct, acquitted Flavius.

Fla'vius

4. Q. Flavius, of Tarquinii, in Etruria, was the murderer of the slave Panurgus (previous to B. C. 77), who belonged to C. Fannius Chaereas, and was to be trained as an actor, according to a contract entered into between Fannius Chaereas and Q. Roscius, the celebrated comedian. (Cic. pro Rosc. Com. 11.)

Fla'vius

5. L. Flavius, a Roman eques, who gave his evidence against Verres. in B. C. 70. He probably lived in Sicily, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits. (Cic. in Verr. 1.5, 5.59.) He appears to be the same as the L. Flavius who is mentioned as the procurator, that is, the agent or steward of C. Matrinius in Sicily. (Cic. in Verr. 5.7.)

Fla'vius

6. C. Flavius, a brother of L. Flavius [No. 5], and likewise a Roman eques, was recommended by Cicero, in B. C. 46, to M'. Acilius, praetor of Sicily, as an intimate friend of C. Calpurnius Piso, the late son-in-law of Cicero. (Ad Fam. 13.31.) In some editions of Cicero's oration for Plancius (100.42), we read the name of C. Flavius; but Garatoni and Wunder have shown that this is only an incorrect reading for C. (Alfius) Flavus.

Fla'vius

7. L. Flavius was tribune of the people in B. C. 60; and on the suggestion of Pompey, he brought forward an agrarian law, which was chiefly intended to benefit the veterans of Pompey, who at the same time very warmly supported the law. It was owing to the favour of Pompey, which he thus acquired, that in B. C. 59 he was elected praetor for the year following. His friendship with Cicero seems likewise to have arisen from his connection with Pompey; and Cicero strongly recommended him to his brother Quintus, who was praetor in Asia, where some bequest had been left to Flavius. Pompey had entrusted to his care young Tigranes of Armenia, but P. Clodius afterwards got possession of hin, and Flavius tried in vain to recover the young prince. Cicero expressly mentions that Flavius was also a friend of Caesar, and hence it is not improbable that he may be the same as the Flavius whom Caesar, in B. C. 49, entrusted with one lesion and the province of Sicily. (Cic. Att. 1.18, 19, 2.1, 10.1; ad Q. Frat. 1.2; Ascon. in Cic. Milon. p. 47, ed. Orelli; D. C. 37.50, 38.50.)

Fla'vius

8. C. Flavius, a friend of M. Junius Brutus, whom he accompanied to Philippi in the capacity of praefectus fabrum. Flavius fell in the battle of Philippi, and Brutus lamented over his death. (C. Nep. Att. 8; Cic. Att. 12.17; Pseudo_Brut. ad Cic. 1.6, 17; Plut. Brut. 51.)

Fla'vius

9. C. Flavius, a Roman eques of Asta, a Roman colony in Spain. He and other equites who had before belonged to the party of Pompey, went over to Caesar in B. C. 45. (Bell. Hispan. 26.) Whether he is the same as the C. Flavius who is mentioned among the enemies of Caesar Octavianus, and was put to death in B. C. 40, after the taking of Perusia, is uncertain. (Appian, App. BC 5.49.) [L.S]

Fla'vius, Cn.

the son of a freedman, who is called by Livy Cneius, by Gellius and Pliny Annius, was born in humble circumstances, but became secretary to App. Claudius Caecus [Claudius, No. 10], and, in consequence of this connection, together with his own shrewdness and eloquence, attained distinguished honours in the commonwealth. He is celebrated in the annals of Roman law for having been the first to divulge certain technicalities of procedure, which previously had been kept secret as the exclusive patrimony of the pontiffs and the patricians. The relative share which the pontiffs, as such, and the patricians, who were not pontiffs, possessed in the administration and interpretation of early Roman law, cannot now be accurately determined. Among the portions of law which were kept in the knowledge of a few, were the greater part of the actus legitimi and the actiones legis. These appear to have included the whole of legal practice, the actus legitimi ordinarily designating the technicalities of private legal transactions, and the actiones legis the ceremonies of judicial procedure, although this distinction is not always observed. To the hidden law of practice belonged the rules of the Kalendar (Fasti), and the greater part of the Formulae. The rules of the Kalendar determined what legal acts were to be done, and what omitted, on particular days. The Formulae related chiefly to technical pleading, or, in other words, to that part of forensic practice which determined the mode of stating a claim and making a defence; but there were also formulae for acts not connected with litigation, as mancipatio, sponsio, adoptio, and formulae of this latter kind cannot be supposed to have been so little known to the people at large as forms of pleading, whether oral or written, may have been. Flavius made himself master of the rules of the Kalendar and the Formulae, either by stealing a book in which they had been laid down and reduced to order by App. Claudius (Dig. 1. tit. 2. s. 2.7), or by frequently consulting those who were able to give advice upon the subject, by noting down their answers, and by applying his sagacious intellect to discover the system from which such detached answers proceeded. Pliny (H.N. 33.1) says that Flavius pursued the latter course, at the recommendation of App. Claudius (ejus hortatu exceperat eos dies, consultando assidue sagaci ingenio). He thus picked the brains of the jurists he consulted (ab ipsis cautis jurisconsultis eorum sapientiam compilavit, Cic. pro Mur. 11). The expressions of some writers who mention the publication of Flavius seem to confine his discoveries to the rules of the Kalendar; but there are other passages which make it likely that he published other rules connected with the legis actiones, especially the formulae of pleading. (Compare Liv. 9.46; Macr. 1.15; Cic. de Fin. 4.27, ad Att. 6.1, de Orat. 1.41.) Works

The collection of legal rules thus published by Flavius was called the Jus Flavianum ; and, next to the Jus Civile Papirianum, it was the earliest private work in Roman law. The patrician jurists were grieved and indignant when they saw that their advice and intervention were rendered unnecessary by this publication. In order to regain their lost powers, they framed new rules relating to the legis actiones, and, in order to keep the new rules secret, invented a cypher (notae) to preserve them in. (Cic. pro Mur. 11, where by notae some commentators understand, not a secret notation or cypher, but the new formulae invented by the jurists). These new rules in another century underwent the same fate with their predecessors, for in the year B. C. 200 they were made known to the people at large by Sex. Aelius Catus, in a publication termed Jas Aelianum.

Flavius was not content with divulging the legal mysteries through the medium of a book, but, according to Livy, he exposed the Fasti to view on a whited tablet in the Forum. (Fastos circa Forum in albo proposuit, 9.46.) It is not unlikely, from a comparison of the narrative of Livy with the accounts of other writers, that the latter exposure took place after he had been promoted to the office of curule aedile, in consequence of the popularity he had acquired by the previous publication of his book. Results of his popularity

The first fruits of his popularity were his appointments to the offices of triumvir nocturnus and triumvir coloniae deducendae ; and, in order to qualify himself for the acceptance of such honours, he ceased to practise his former business of scribe. He was afterwards made a senator by App. Claudius, in spite of his ignominious birth, and was elected curule aedile in the year B. C. 303. His election was carried by the forensis factio, which had been created and had gained strength during the censorship of App. Claudius, and now became a distinct party in the state, in opposition to those who called themselves the fautores bonorum. From Licinius Macer, quoted by Livy, it would appear that he had been previously tribune, whereas Pliny (Plin. Nat. 33.1) states that the tribunate of the plebs was conferred upon him in addition to the aedileship. The circumstance of his election so disgusted the greater part of the senate and the nobles, that they laid aside their golden rings and other ornaments (phalerae). Flavius met the contemptuous treatment of the nobles with equal hauteur. He consecrated the Temple of Concordia, on which occasion the Pontifex Maximus, Cornelius Barbatus, was obliged by the populace to take a leading part in the ceremony, notwithstanding his previous declaration that none but a consul or an imperator ought, according to ancient custom, to dedicate a temple. When Flavius went to visit his colleague, who was unwell, a party of young nobles, who were present, refused to rise on his entrance, whereupon he sent for his curule chair, and, from his seat of rank, looked down with triumph upon his jealous enemies. (Liv. 9.46; Gel. 6.9.) Valerius Maximus (9.3) says that he was made praetor. Further Information

Puchta, Cursus der Institutionen, vol. i. p. 677. [J.T.G]

Fla'vius

a brother of Arminius, chief of the Cheruscans. In the summer of A. D. 16, the Romans and the Cheruscans were drawn up on the opposite banks of the Weser (Visurgis), when Arminius, prince of the Cheruscans, stepped forth from a group of chieftains, and demanded to speak with his brother, a distinguished officer in the Roman army. Flavius had lost an eye in the service of Rome. The brothers, after their followers had fallen back, conversed across the stream. On learning the cause of his brother's disfigurement, Arminius asked what had been its compensation. Flavius replied, increased pay, and the usual rewards of valour. Arminius derided his chains and chaplet, as the gear of a slave; and now began between therm an angry colloquy, which, but for the stream between, would have passed into blows. (Tac. Ann. 2.9.) A descendant of Flavius, named Italicus, became in A. D. 47 chieftain of the Cheruscans. (Ibid. 11.16.) [W.B.D]

Fla'vius Avia'nus

[Avianus.]

Fla'vius Calvi'sius

[Calvisius.]

Fla'vius Caper

[Caper.]

Fla'vius Clemens

[Clemens.]

Fla'vius Dexter

a Spaniard, the son of Pacian. He was praetorian praefect, and a devoted advocate of Christianity. He was a contemporary of St. Jerom, who dedicated to him his book De Viris Illustribus. Works Omnimoda Historia

He was said, according to Jerom, to have written a book entitled Omnimoda Historia, but Jerom had not seen it. This book had been long considered as lost; when, in the end of the sixteenth century, a rumour was spread of its discovery, and a work under that title was published, first at Saragossa, A. D. 1619, and has been since repeatedly reprinted, but it is now generally regarded as a forgery. Further Information

Hieron. De viris Illus., Praef. and 100.132, apud Fabric. Bibl. Eccles., with the notes of the editor; Cave, Hist. Lit. vol. i. p. 283, ed. Ox. 1740-43. [J.C.M]

Fla'vius Felix

[Felix.]

Fla'vius Hera'cleo

[Heracleo.]

Fla'vius Jose'phus

[Josephus.]

Fla'vius Ma'llius Theodo'rus

[Theodorus.]

Fla'vius Maternia'nus

[Maternianus.]

Fla'vius Philo'stratus

[Philostratus.]

Fla'vius Priscus

[Priscus.]

Fla'vius Sabi'nus

[Sabinus.]

Fla'vius Scevi'nus

[Scevinus.]

Fla'vius Su'brius

[Flavus.]

Fla'vius Sulpicia'nus

[Sulpicianus.]

Fla'vius Vopiscus

[Vopiscus.]

Flavius , Gnaeus

The secretary to the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, and memorable for having made public certain technicalities of legal procedure that had previously been known to the patricians alone. These were the actiones legis, the rules of the Calendar, the formulae, etc. He was made a senator by Claudius, and was curule aedile in B.C. 303, a choice which so disgusted the patricians that the greater part of the nobles laid aside their insignia—the gold rings and phalerae. Flavius met their contemptuous treatment with great coolness and hauteur, and a number of anecdotes are preserved of this rivalry. See Pliny, H. N. xxxiii. 1; Cic. Pro Mur. 11; Livy, ix. 46; Gell.vii. 9.

Flavius

A brother of the German patriot Arminius (q.v.) and a distinguished officer in the Roman army (Tac. Ann. ii. 9).