Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/184

Rh 170 FLAVIANUS. timacy, but not of actual relationship. Gothofredus appears to distinguish between this Flavian and one who was praetorian praefect in 391 and 392 ; but we concur with Tillemont in identifying the two. Tillemont also (and we think justly) refers to this Flavian the inscription given above [No. 5], in which his second praefecture and consulship are recorded. He was, like Symmachus, a zealous pagan, and a supporter of the usurper Eugenius, from whom he and Arbogastes the Frank solicited and obtained the restoration of the Altar of Victory at Milan. It is probable that he was the person mentioned by PauUinus of Milan, as having threat- ened that, if they were successful in the war with Theodosius, they would turn the church of Milan into a stable. The text of PauUinus has, in the notice of this incident, the name Fabianus, which is probably a corruption of Flavianus. He was emi- nent for his political sagacity, and his skill in the pagan methods of divination, in the exercise of which he assured Eugenius of victory ; and when Theodosius had falsified his predictions, by forcing the passes of the Alps, he, according to Rufinus, "judged himself worthy of death," rather for his mistake as Sl soothsayer than his crime as a rebel. Eugenius had appointed him consul (a. d. 394), though his name does not appear in the Fasti ; and Tillemont infers from the passage in Rufinus that he commanded the troops defeated by Theodosius in the Alps, and that he chose to die on the field rather than survive liis defeats ; but this inference is scarcely authorized. It is more likely that, as Gothofredus gathers from the letters of Symma- chus, he survived the war, and that his life was spared, though he was deprived of his praefecture and his property. It is difficult, however, to dis- tinguish from each other the Flavian! mentioned by Symmachus, whose letters are very obscure ; and possibly thisFlavian has been confounded with No. 7. ( Symmach. Epist. passim ; Sozom. Hist. Ecc. vii. 22 ; Rufin. Hist. Ecc. ii. 33 ; PauUin. Mediol. Vita Ambros. c. 26, 31, in Galland. Bihl. Patr. vol. ix.; Cod. Theod. 1. tit. 1. s. 2 ; 3. tit. 1. s. 6 ; 7. tit. 18. s. 8 ; 9. tit. 28. s. 2 ; and tit. 40. s. 13 ; 10. tit. 10. 8. 20 ; 11. tit. 39. s. 11 ; 16. tit. 7. s. 4, 5; Gothofred. Prosop. Cod. Theod.; Tillemont, Hist, des Emp. vol. v.) 7. Proconsul of Asia, A. D. 383, one of the Fla- viani of Symmachus, and apparently the son of No. 6. Either he or his father was praefect of the city (Rome) A. d. 399, and was sent by Honorius (a. d. 414) into Africa to hear the com- plaints of the Provincials, and examine how far they were well-founded. Fabricius regards this proconsul of Asia as the Flavian of Himerius ; but see Nos. 4 and 5. (Cod. Theod. 12. tit. 6. s. 18; Gothofred and Tillemont, as above.) An inscription in Gruter, clxx. 5, speaks of " Vir inlustris Flavianus" as the founder of a secretarium for the senate, which was destroyed by fire, and restored in the time of Honorius and Theodosius II. The inscription possibly refers to No. 6, or No. 7. 8. Praefect of the praetorium under Valentinian III., A. D. 431 and 432. (Cod. Theod. 10. tit. 1. 8. 36 ; 6. tit. 23. s. 3 ; Gothofred. Prosop. Cod. Theod.) [J. C. M.] FLAVIA'NUS, an advocatus fisci in the time of Justinian, by whom he was nominated one of the general judges {koivoX iravTwu Si/cacTTat), who were appointed in lieu of the special judges, for- merly attached by a constitution of Zeno to parti- FLAVIANUS. cular tribunals. The names of the general judges so appointed by Justinian in a. d. 539 are Anato- lius, Flavianus, Alexander, Stephanus, Menas, a second Alexander, Victor, and Theodorus, of Cyzi- cum. At the same time the following persons were appointed superior judges, with high rank : Plato, Victor (different from the former Victor), Phocas, and Marcellus. To these the administration of justice at Constantinople was confided, in subordi- nation to the emperor's ministers of state (apxoi'Tes). Their powers, duties, and emoluments, are pre- scribed by the 82nd Novell. [J. T. G.J FLAVIA'NUS, ecclesiastics. 1. Of Antioch, was born, probably, in that city, and in the earlier part of the fourth century. His parents died when he was 3'oung ; but he resisted the temptations arising from rank, wealth, and early freedom from parental control, and devoted himself to study and ascetic exercises, not carrj'ing the latter, however, to such excess as to injure his constitution. He was re- markable for the early sedateness of his character, so that Chrysostom doubts if he could ever be said to have been a young man. On the deposition of Eustathius, bishop of Antioch, A. d. 329 or 330, or perhaps 331, by the Arian party [Eustathius, No. 1], Flavian is said to have followed him into exile. But this is somewhat doubtful, from the silence of Chrysostom, and from the fact that, though the bishops who succeeded Eustathius were of Arian or Eusebian sentiments, Flavian did not secede from the communion of the church, as the more zealous supporters of Eustathius did. Yet Flavian was a strenuous supporter of orthodoxy, and his opposition, with that of his coadjutor Dio- dorus, though they were both yet laymen, com- pelled the bishop Leontius to prohibit Aetius, who was preaching his heterodox doctrines at Antioch, under the bishop's protection [Aetius], from the exercise of the functions of the deaconship to which he had just been raised. The date of this transac- tion is not fixed ; but the episcopate of Leontius commenced in A. d. 348, and lasted about ten years. Whether Flavian and Diodorus were at this time deacons is not clear. Philostorgius states that they were deposed by Leontius for their op- position to him, but does not say from what office. They first introduced the practice of the alternate singing or chanting of the psalms, and the division of the choir into parts, which afterwards became universal in the church. Flavian was ordained priest by Meletius, who was elected bishop of Antioch, A. d. 361, and held the see, with three intervals of exile, chiefly occa- sioned by his opposition to Arianism, till A. d. 381. His first expulsion, which was soon after his elec- tion, induced Flavian and others to withdraw from the co.mmunion of the church, over which Eu- zoius, an Arian, had been appointed. The seceders still recognised the deposed prelate ; and the church formed by them was, during the third and longest banishment of Meletius, under the care of Flavian and Diodorus, both now in the priesthood. Fla- vian himself did not preach, but he supplied mate- rials to Diodorus and others who did. On the death of Valens, A. D. 378, and the consequent downfal of Arianism, Meletius was restored, and the orthodox party recovered possession of the churches, the Arians, or the more staunch of them, becoming in turn seceders. But the orthodox were divided among themselves ; for the older seceders at the deposition of Eustathius had remained sepjv-