Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/629

Rh JOVIANUS. scent 'from Alexander, but that tlie insurrection was speedily suppressed. Victor assigns these events, or at least the death of the pretender, to the reign of Decius. [Pacatianus.] (Zosim. i. 21 ; Victor, de Caes. 29.) [W. R.] JOVIA'NUS, FLA'VIUS CLAU'DIUS, Ro- man emperor (a. d. 363— 364), was the son of the Comes Viirronianus, one of the most distinguished generals of his time, who had retired from public life when the accession of his son took place. Jovianus was primus ordinis domesticorum, or captain of the lifeguards of the emperor Julian, and accompanied him on his unhappy campaign against the Persians. Julian having been slain on the field of battle, on the 26 th of June, a. d. 363, and the election of an- other emperor being urgent, on account of the danger in which the Roman army was placed, the choice of the leaders fell first upon their veteran brother Salliistius Secundus, who, however, de- clined the honour, and proposed Jovian. The merits of his father more than his own induced the Roman generals to follow the advice of their col- league, and Jovian was proclaimed emperor on the day after the death of Julian. He immediately professed himself to be a Christian. The principal and most difficult task of the new emperor was to lead his army back into the old Roman terri- tories. No sooner had he begun his retreat, than Sapor, the Persian king, who had been informed of the death of Julian, made a general attack upon the Romans. Jovian won the day, continued his re- treat under constant attacks, and at last reached the Tigris, but was unable with all his efforts to cross that broad, deep, and rapid river in presence of the Persian army. In this extremity he listened to the propositions of Sapor, who was afraid to rouse the despair of the Romans. After four days' negotiations he purchased the safety of his army by giving up to the Persian king the five pro- vinces, or rather districts, beyond the Tigris, which Galerius had united to the Roman empire in a. d. 297, viz. Arzanene, Moxoene, Zabdicene, Rehimene and Corduene, as well as Nisibis and several other fortresses in Mesopotamia. Great blame has been thrown upon Jovian for having made such a disgraceful peace ; but the circum- stances in which he was placed rendered it neces- sary, and he was, moreover, anxious to secure his crown, and establish his authority in the western provinces. He had no sooner crossed the Tigris than he despatched officers to the West, investing his father-in-law Lucillianus with the supreme command in Italy, and Malaricus with that in Gaul. On the western banks of the Tigris he was joined by Procopius with the troops stationed in Me- sopotamia, and being now out of danger, he devoted some time to administrative and legislative busi- ness. His chief measure was the celebrated edict, by which he placed the Christian religion on a legal basis, and thus put an end to the persecutions to which the Christians had been exposed during the short reign of Julian. The heathens were, however, equally protected, and no superiority was allowed to the one over the other. The different sectaries assailed him with petitions to help them against each other, but he declined interfering, and referred them to the decision of a general council ; and the Arians showing themselves most trouble- some, he gave them to understand that impartiality was the first duty of an emperor. His friend Athanasiiis was restored to his see at Alexandria. JO VI US, au After having abandoned Nisibis to tlie Persians, he marched through Edessa, Antioch, Tarsus, and Tyana in Cappadocia, where he learnt that Mala- ricus having declined the command of Gaul, Lu- cillianus had hastened thither from Italy, and had been slain in a riot by the soldiers, but that the army had been restored to obedience by Jovinus. From Tyana Jovian pursued his march to Con- stantinople, in spite of an unusually severe winter. On the 1st of January, 364, he celebrated at Ancyra his promotion to the consulship, taking as colleague his infant son Varroniauus, whom he called nobilissimus on the occasion. Having ar- rived at Dadastana, a small town in Galatia, on the borders of Bithynia, he indulged in a hearty supper and copious libations of wine, and endeavoured to obtain sound repose in an apartment which had lately been whitewashed, by ordering burning charcoals to be placed in the damp room. On the following morning (17th of February, 364) he was found dead in his bed. His death is ascribed to various causes — to intemperance, the coal-gas, and the poison of an assassin. It is possible, though not probable, that he died a violent death, to which Ammianus Marcellinus (xxv. 10) seems to allude when he compares his death with that of Aemilianus Scipio. (Amm. Marc. xxv. 5 — 10; Eutrop. X. 17, 18 ; Zosim. iii. p. 190, &c., ed. Paris ; Zonar. vol. ii. pp. 28, 29, ed. Paris ; Oros. vii. 31 ; Sozomen. vi. 3 ; Philostorg. viii. 5 ; Agathias, iv. p. 135, «&c., ed. Paris; The- mistius dwells upon the history of Jovian in several orations, especially Or. 5 and 7, and bestows all the praise on him which we might expect from a panegyrist; De la Bl^terie, Histoire de Jovien^Am- sterd. 1740, the best work on the subject.) [W.P.] JOVINIA'NUS, a name sometimes, but errone- ously, given to the emperor Jovianus. [W. P.] JO' VI US, a bold and faithless intriguer, was Praefectus Praetorio of lUyricum, under the em- peror Honorius, and was promoted to that office by Stilicho, who made use of him in his negotiations with Alaric. In a. d. 608, Jovius was appointed Patricius and Praefectus Praetorio of Italy, in conse- quence of the fall of the eunuch Olympius, who held the office of prime minister of Honorius. Through his intrigues, Jovius soon became sole master of the administration of the empire, and made great changes among its principal officers. When Rome was besieged by Alaric in a. d. 409, Honorius charged Jovius with arranging a peace. He accordingly went to Rimini for that purpose, and there had an interview with Alaric, with whom he was on friendly terms. Jovius proposed to Heraclius to settle the differences by appointing Alaric commander-in-chief of the Roman armies, and informed Alaric of this step, with which the Gothic king was of course quite satisfied. Honorius, however, declined conferring that important office upon the already too powerful Alaric,and wrote a let- ter to that effect to Jovius, who had the imprudence to read it aloud in presence of Alaric and his chiefs. Alaric had never demanded the supreme command of the Roman armies, but the refusal of the em- peror was quite sufficient to rouse his anger, and the differences between him and Honorius now as- sumed a still more dangerous character. Jovius consequently returned to Ravenna, where he con- tinued to exercise his important functions, though he lost much of his former influence. No sooner had Alaric induced Attalus to assume the purple, R R 4