Flavio Gaudencio

Flavius Gaudentius (Flavius Gaudentius in the original Latin) (fl. 399-407) was a Western Roman military man known primarily as for having been the father of Flavio Aecio. He held the position of magister equitum per Gallias between the years ca. 400 and 407 under the rule of Honorius.

Biography

He was born in Scythia Minor into one of the most important families of this Roman province. He moved to Constantinople where he began his career within the protectors domesticus, something that allowed him to come into contact with the main personalities of the imperial government and cultivate relationships that would facilitate his later career. He married a wealthy Italian nobleman from whom Flavio Aetius would be born around the year 390.

He was part of the expedition organized by Theodosius to put an end to the usurpation of Eugenius and managed to decisively defeat him at the Battle of the Frigid in September 394. After the victory, Theodosius reunited both halves of the Empire in his person for a few months until his death in January 395 in Milan. Gaudentius did not return to Constantinople but remained on the Italian peninsula where he entered the service of Honorius, the new western emperor.

He was named comes Africae and moved to the province of Africa in the year 399 where, together with Jovio, he took care of reestablishing the imperial administration after the defeat of the usurper Gildo the previous year.

After his service in Africa, he was assigned to Gaul in the year 400 and was named magister equitum per Gallias. There he took charge of the Comitatense troops until the year 407 when he was assassinated during a mutiny of his soldiers. He was succeeded in office by Sarus, sent by Stilicho to lead an expedition whose objective was to destroy the usurper Constantine of Britain.

The date of his death, which occurred before the year 425, is not clear. Due to the lack of sources, two possibilities are being considered: either he died between the years 423 and 425 within the context of John's usurpation; or rather, in the year 407 when, after the invasion of Gaul by a conglomerate of barbarian tribes, Constantine of Britannia landed in Gaul and the troops stationed there went over to his side en masse. more probable because of its logical fit with the events that occurred during this invasion and because of the abnormality of not having news about Gaudencio for a period of time as long as the 17 years between 407 and 424.

Bibliography used in the article