Flavius Felix (died 430), sometimes erroneously called Constantius Felix, [1] was a general of the Western Roman Empire, who reached the prominent rank of patrician before being killed probably by order of Aetius. For his consulate in 428 he issued some consular diptychs, one of which has been preserved until modern times.
Felix served during the reign of emperors Valentinian III and Theodosius II. Between 425 (year in which he was made patricius) and 429 he served as magister utriusque militae in defense of Italy, but despite a brief mention of one of his military actions in the Notitia Dignitatum , his subordinates Bonifacius and Aetius were considered more significant in this regard. [2] In the forcefield in which Felix was living, there was constant intrigue, rivalry and murder. In Ravenna, a powerful ruler was missing, because the emperor Valentinian III was a minor and the empire was ruled by his mother Galla Placidia. The empress-mother had her guided by her advisers, in addition to Felix, the generals Bonifacius and Aetius also for her favors. In addition, Felix was not indifferen, in 426 he ordered the death of Patroclus, bishop of Arelate, and of Titus, deacon in Rome. There was a great rivalry between him and Aetius. In 429, Felix seems to be overshadowed by Aetius. Although he acquires the pretentious function of particius in 430, he seems to have lost his grip on the army when Aetius is appointed by Galla Placida as magister equitum praesentalis, an equivalent military rank. [3]
Between 425 and 429, Felix was the most important soldier in the west. During that period there was a major uprising among the Visigoths in Gallia and Hispania. He mainly stood in Italy and left the control of his armies to the younger and ambitious generals Bonifacius and Flavius Aetius. [4] We must attribute to Felix the reorganization of the defenses of the Danube provinces in 427-428 AD (for which we find evidence in the Notitia dignitatum).
When Bonifacius revolted in Northern Africa in 427, Felix sent some troops to this province commanded by three generals: Mavortius, Gallio and Sanoeces. This force was defeated by the troops loyal to Bonifacius. [5] Afther this Felix sent a new force to Africa under the command of the Gothic general Sigisvult.
The promotion of Felix by Galla Placidia to patrician in 430 cannot be seen as a reward for his efforts to neutralize the danger that Boniface posed (which was actually a failure), but to prevent even more envy by the growing power of Aetius who was now equivalent in rank. [6] There had been rivalry between the generals for some time. It is believed that Aetius deliberately kept himself away during the civil war against Boniface by campaigning against the Franks. Evidence that he was actively involved in the civil war is lacking.
We see the same pattern as the imperial government orders Aetius to cease the campaign in Gaul, to go with his troops to Italy to prepare with Felix in the war against the Vandals. Aetius refused to supply troops and instead campaigned in Noricum against the rebellious population. The main evidence of this lies in the timing of the murders and Aëtius immediate route thereafter. Aetius had Felix murdered, around the same time the Vandals had cornered Boniface's troops. [7]
Felix, his wife Padusia and a deacon named Grunnitus were murdered in May 430 in Basilica Ursiana in Ravenna. [8] Priscus suggests Felix was accused of plotting against Aetius with the emperor's mother Galla Placidia and was killed by order of Aetius himself. [9]
His carved ivory consular diptych is notable for depicting his clothing in great detail. The diptych survived intact until the French Revolution, when the right leaf was stolen; it is now believed lost. [10]
According to a recent reconstruction of his familial bonds, he was an ancestor of Arcadius Placidus Magnus Felix, consul in 511, and a son of Ennodius. Born about 380 he might have been the man who was the husband of a daughter (born 385) of Agricola, consul in 421 and perhaps the father of Emperor Avitus, being the parents of Magnus, consul in 460 and Felix Ennodius, proconsul in Africa in about 420 or 423. [11]
Galla Placidia, daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III. She was queen consort to Ataulf, king of the Visigoths from 414 until his death in 415, briefly empress consort to Constantius III in 421, and managed the government administration as a regent during the early reign of Valentinian III until her death.
The 430s decade ran from January 1, 430, to December 31, 439.
The 420s decade ran from January 1, 420, to December 31, 429.
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Valentinian III was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Starting in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by civil wars among powerful generals and the invasions of late antiquity's Migration Period.
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Joannes or John was Western Roman emperor from 423 to 425.
Bonifatius was a Roman general and governor of the diocese of Africa. He campaigned against the Visigoths in Gaul and the Vandals in North Africa. An ally of Galla Placidia, mother and advisor of Valentinian III, Bonifacius engaged in Roman civil wars on her behalf against the generals Felix in 427-429 and Aetius in 432. Although he defeated the latter at the Battle of Rimini, Bonifacius suffered a fatal wound and was succeeded by his son-in-law Sebastianus as patricius of the Western Roman Empire.
Placidia was a daughter of Valentinian III, Roman emperor of the West from 425 to 455, and from 454/455 the wife of Olybrius, who became western Roman emperor in 472. She was one of the last imperial spouses in the Roman west, during the Fall of the Western Roman Empire during Late Antiquity.
Licinia Eudoxia was a Roman Empress, daughter of Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II. Her husbands included the Western Roman Emperors Valentinian III and Petronius Maximus.
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The Valentinian dynasty was a ruling house of five generations of dynasts, including five Roman emperors during late antiquity, lasting nearly a hundred years from the mid fourth to the mid fifth century. They succeeded the Constantinian dynasty and reigned over the Roman Empire from 364 to 392 and from 425 to 455, with an interregnum (392–423), during which the Theodosian dynasty ruled and eventually succeeded them. The Theodosians, who intermarried into the Valentinian house, ruled concurrently in the east after 379.
The Battle of Rimini was fought in 432 between the two strong men of the Western Roman Empire, the very recently deposed Magister Utriusque Militiae Flavius Aetius and the newly appointed Magister Utriusque Militiae Bonifatius.
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Gothic revolt of Theodoric I was an uprising of the Gothic Fouderati in Aquitaine during the regime of Emperor Valentinian III (425-455). That rebellion was led by Theodoric I, King of the Visigoths and took place in the South of France. The uprising took place between 425 and 426, in the period shortly after the death of usurpator John and was terminated by a military operation under the command of Aëtius.
The Roman Civil War (432) was a military conflict between the Roman generals Aëtius and Bonifatius during the reign of Emperor Valentinian III. This war took place on Italian soil and was decided in the Battle of Rimini. Despite Aëtius losing the battle, the civil war ended in his favor, because Bonifatius was wounded in battle and eventually died of his injuries.
The Roman civil war of 427-429 was a civil war during the reign of the West Roman emperor Valentinian III. In that period there was a power struggle going on between the generals Felix and Bonifatius that degenerated into an armed conflict. When the central government tried to deput Bonifatius as governor of North-Africa, he separated his territory from the empire without proclaiming himself emperor. He carried the personal loyalty of the African troops and lead them at his discretion during this war. Bonifatius was able to successfully defy and resist state authority. The civil war ended with a truce after which peace was made.
The Frankish War (428) was a short military conflict between the Frankish people the Salians and the West Roman Empire under Emperor Valentinian III. The protagonists in this conflict were the captain of the Franks' king Clodio and the Roman general Aetius. The war ended in a Roman victory.
Aëtius Campaign in the Alps was a military campaign of the Roman army in the northern Alpine region, where the dioceses Raetia and Noricum were situated. The campaign was directed against the Juthungi and the rebellious population of Noricum. The command of the campaign was in the hands of magister militium Aëtius and it began in the spring of 430. In May, the campaign was interrupted to continued the following year.
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