Apollinaris

Contents

Personal and Family Information

Apollinaris was born about 0380 in Lugdunum, Gaul, Roman Empire [Lyon, France], the son of unknown parents.

He died after 0449. The place is not known.

His wife is not known. They were married, but the date and place have not been found. Their two known children were Thaumastus (c0400-?) and Apollinaris (c0405-?).

Events

EventDateDetailsSourceMultimediaNotes
BirthABT 380
Place: Lugdunum, Gaul, Roman Empire [Lyon, France]
DeathAFT 449

Notes

Note 1

!StyleName: Apollinaris Praetorian Prefect of Gaul [~380 - >449]

!Source: Apollinaris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollinaris_

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Gallo-Roman poet, see Sidonius Apollinaris.

Apollinaris was Praetorian Prefect of Gaul from May 408 or earlier until 409 AD,[1] when he was succeeded by his friend Decimus Rusticus. He was the grandfather of Sidonius Apollinaris and was the son or grandson of another Apollinaris who was Prefect of Gaul under Constantine II between 337 and 340.

Life

Little is known of Apollinaris' early life. It is suggested that he was born in about 380 AD in Lugdunum .[2]

In 407, Flavius Claudius Constantinus was declared emperor in Roman Britain and crossed the channel into Gaul , taking all of the mobile troops from Britain under Gerontius. With a mixture of fighting and diplomacy Constantine stabilised the situation and established control over Gaul and Hispania in May 408. He had made Arles his capital, where he appointed Apollinaris as chief minister . The sitting emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Honorius, sent an army under Sarus the Goth to expel Constantine's forces. After initial victories, however, Sarus was repulsed.

Apollinaris was the father two children: Apollinaris, who was Prefect of Gaul under Valentinian III , and Thaumastus, another Prefect of Gaul under Valentinian III and father of Eulalia, born in 425.[4]

His tenure lasted until 409, when he was ousted in favor of Decimus Rusticus, who was also Master of the Offices. When Honorius appointed a new general, Flavius Constantius in another attempt to suppress Constantine, he defeated Constantine and besieged Arles. Despite Constantius' assurances that Constantine would be able to safely retire to a clerical office, Constantius had him imprisoned, and further had him beheaded during his return to Ravenna, in either August or September 411.[5] Decimus Rusticus was also captured and put to death.

Descendants

Apollinaris' grandson, Sidonius Apollinaris, was the son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was the Bishop of Clermont in 469, which he retained until his death in the 480s.

Administration

Apollinaris served as the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, a position of significant power and responsibility in the Late Roman Empire. The Praetorian Prefecture of Gaul was one of four large prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. It comprised not only Gaul but also Roman Britain, Hispania, and Mauretania Tingitana in Africa Proconsulare.