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Flavius Constantius Felix

Flavius Constantius Felix

Male 380 - 430  (50 years)

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  • Name Flavius Constantius Felix  
    Birth 380  Ravenna, Italy Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death May 430  Basilica Ursiana in Ravenna, Italy Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Felix and his wife, Padusia, were murdered in Basilica Ursiana in Ravenna in May 430
    Notes 
    • Source Wikipedia:
      Flavius Felix (died 430) was a general of the Western Roman Empire, who reached the prominent rank of patrician before being killed by order of Flavius 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 Flavius Aetius were considered more significant in this regard.[1] In 426 he ordered the death of Patroclus, bishop of Arelate, and of Titus, deacon in Rome. The following year he opposed Bonifacius' rebellion in Northern Africa sending some troops to this province. This force was defeated by the troops loyal to Bonifacius.[2]

      In 428 he was elected consul for the West. In May 430, Felix, his wife Padusia and a deacon were accused of plotting against Aetius, arrested in Ravenna and killed by order of Aetius himself.[3]

      His carved ivory consular diptych is notable for depicting his clothing in great detail. The diptych, believed to be the earliest yet known,[4] survived intact until the French Revolution, when the right leaf was stolen; it is now believed lost.[5]

      According to a recent reconstruction of his familiar bonds, he was an ancestor of 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 Flavius Julius Agricola, Consul of Rome in 421 and perhaps the father of Emperor Avitus, being the parents of Flavius Magnus, Consul of Rome in 460 and Felix Ennodius, Proconsul in Africa. in ca 420 or 423.[6]

    • Source:
      History of the Later Roman Empire
      by J. B. Bury

      Flavius Felix (380 ? 430), was a Consul of Rome in the West in the year 428. His carved ivory consular diptych is notable for depicting his clothing in great detail. The diptych, believed to be the earliest yet known, survived intact until the French Revolution, when the right leaf was stolen; it is now believed lost.

      Felix served during the reign of emperors Valentinian III and Theodosius II.

      Little is known of his personal life, although records remain of a vow made with his wife Padusia. It is known that he served as commander in defense of Gaul from 425 to 429, but despite a brief mention of one of his military actions in the Notitia Dignitatum, his subordinates were considered more significant in this regard.

      He was an ancestor of Felix, Consul in 511 (?). He was a son of Ennodius and he might have been the son of his father (b. 380) who was the husband of a daughter (b. 385) of Flavius Julius Agricola, Consul of Rome in 421 and perhaps the father of Emperor Avitus, being the parents of Flavius Magnus, Consul of Rome in 460 and Felix Ennodius, Proconsul in Africa in ca 420 or 423.


      Regency of the Empress Placidia. The Defence of Gaul (A.D. 425 430)

      During the first twelve years of the reign of Valentinian, the Empress Placidia ruled the West, and her authority was not threatened or contested. Unbroken concord with her nephew Theodosius, who considered himself responsible for the throne of his young relative, was a decisive fact in the political situation and undoubtedly contributed to her security. The internal difficulties of her administration were caused by the rivalries of candidates not for the purple but for the Mastership of Both Services, the post which gave its holder, if he knew how to take advantage of it, the real political power.

      The man whom Placidia chose to fill the supreme military command was Felix, of whose character and capacities we know nothing. He remained in power for about four years (A.D. 425 429),1 and, so far as we know, did not leave Italy. He did not attempt to play the active and prominent part which had been played by Constantius and by Stilicho. The Germans, who had penetrated into the Empire, were the great pressing problem, and in the dealings with them during these four years it is not the name of Felix that history records, but those of the two p241 subordinate officers whom we have seen taking opposite sides in the struggle for the throne of Honorius ? Boniface and Aetius.

      It was to Aetius that the defence of Gaul was now entrusted; he commanded the field army and soon received the title of p242 Magister Equitum?..The prestige which Aetius gained in Gaul was far from welcome to the Empress Placidia, who never forgave him for his espousal of the cause of John. But now he was able to impose his own terms, and extort from her the deposition of Felix and his own elevation to the post which Felix had occupied. He was appointed Master of Both Services in A.D. 429, and it is said that he then caused Felix to be killed on suspicion of treachery.12 p244 It was, no doubt, the power of the Hunnic forces, which he could summon at his will, that enabled him to force the hand of the Empress.

      The Author's Notes:
      1 Flavius Constantius Felix was consul in 428, and we have portraits of him on the two leaves of his consular diptych. See Gori, Thes. I p129. For a dedicatory inscription, in fulfilment of a vow, by him and his wife Padusia, see de Rossi, II.1, p149: Dessau, 1293.

      To Felix we must attribute the reorganisation of the defences of the Danubian provinces in A.D. 427 428 (for which we find evidence in the Not. dig.; see Seeck, Hermes, XI.75 sqq.), after the Huns restored Valeria, see below, Chap. IX § 2 ad init.

      12 The brief notices we have of these events only excite our curiosity. Prosper says that Felix was created a Patrician and succeeded by Aetius in 429, and was slain by Aetius on suspicion of treachery in 430 along with his wife Padusia. John Ant. (fr. 85, De ins. p126) says that Felix was suborned by Placidia to kill Aetius. Hydatius (94) says that Felix was killed in a military riot.


    Person ID I40861  Johnson & Hanson
    Last Modified 1 Jan 2022 

    Father Ennodius 
    Family ID F4252  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Padusia,   b. 385   d. May 430, Basilica Ursiana in Ravenna Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 45 years) 
    Children 
    +1. Flavius Magnus,   b. 390 - 405, Narbonne, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 475 (Age 70 years)
    Family ID F14577  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 13 Sep 2008 

  • Photos
    Diptych of Flavius Felix
    Diptych of Flavius Felix
    Left leaf of the consular diptych of Flavius Felix