Dalmatius
Flavius Julius Dalmatius, sometimes spelled Delmatius, was caesar of the Roman Empire from 335 to 337, under Augustus Constantine the Great. He oversaw Thrace, Macedonia, and Achaea.
The son of Flavius Dalmatius, Dalmatius was educated by Exuperius while his family was in exile in Toulouse and by Aemilius Magnus Arborius in Constantinople. His family came to Constantinople in the 330s and Dalmatius was raised to be the fourth caesar under Constantine, alongside Constantine II, Constans I, and Constantius II. Dalmatius was murdered by his soldiers during a massacre of the male members of the Constantinian dynasty after the death of Constantine. His territory was divided between Constantius II and Constans I.
Early life
Flavius Julius Dalmatius, sometimes spelled Delmatius, was born in an unknown year. Moysés Marcos hypotized that Dalmatius was born between 290 and 317. Dalmatius was the son of Flavius Dalmatius, who was the son of Constantius Chlorus and Flavia Maximiana Theodora. Constantine the Great was the uncle of Dalmatius. Constantius Chlorus might have named Flavius Dalmatius after the province of Dalmatia, which he once governed.Flavius Dalmatius, having been born in the purple unlike Constantine, was a threat to Constantine and lived in exile in Toulouse until the later portion of Constantine's reign when he was made consul in 333, and administrator in Antioch. In Narbo or Toulouse, Dalmatius and his brother Hannibalianus were educated by Exuperius. After coming to Constantinople the brothers were educated by Aemilius Magnus Arborius.
Caesar
, Constans I, and Constantius II were made caesars by Constantine in 317, 324, and 333. Constantine raised Dalmatius to the rank of caesar in Ripa Gothica on 18 September 335, and was given control of Thrace, Macedonia, and Achaea. This date coincided with the eleventh annivarsry of Constantine's victory at the Battle of Chrysopolis. At the same time as Dalmatius' appointment, Hannibalianus was made rex regum et gentium ponticarum. His appointment as caesar may have been part of an attempt by Constantine to restore the Tetrarchy.As caesar Dalmatius was in charge of an army near the Danube and used Naissus as his base. Naissus was a central hub in the Balkans and Constantine used it as his base for campaigns against the Sarmatians and Limigantes in 334, and was later used by Julian during his campaign against Constantius II in 361. Fortissimo, a honorific meaning "most courageous" was given to Dalmatius; Constantius II was the only other caesar to receive this title. He might have participated in Constantine's campaigns in Dacia due to a coin bearing his name featuring a prince holding the legionary standard and parazonium while two prisoners of war lay at his feet.
Coinage in the name of Dalmatius was produced in Trier, Lyons, Arles, Rome, Siscia, Thessalonica, Heraclea, Constatinople, Nicomedia, Cyzicus, Alexandira, and Antioch. Dalmatius and his fellow caesars were included in all imperials laws as superscription, but were removed by the compilers of the Codex Theodosianus, who only included the name of Constantine. Theophanes the Confessor claimed that Dalmatius and his soldiers saved Athanasius of Alexandria from being murdered at the First Synod of Tyre, but other historians believe that Theophanes mistook Dalmatius for his father, who was present in Antioch, and the event most likely occurred before Dalmatius was made caesar.
T.D. Barnes believed that Valerius Maximus was the praetorian prefect for Dalmatius due to a rescript featuring his name being removed in 337, but other historians believe that the praetorian prefect removed from this rescript was Valerius Felix and that it was done in 355/356. Flavius Dalmatius might have served as Dalmatius' praetorian prefect similar to how Gaius Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus served as the praetorian prefect for his son-in-law Gordian III.
Death
Dalmatius was murdered after the death of Constantine, but before 9 September 337; Jerome wrote that Dalmatius was killed in 338, but this is unlikely as the new augusti were declared on 9 September 337. Hannibalianus and Flavius Dalmatius were killed as well. Their deaths occurred in the midst of a massacre of the Constantinian family that killed all of the male members of the family except for Constantine II, Constans I, and Constantius II, Constantius Gallus and Julian. The territory assigned to Dalmatius was divided between Constantius II and Constans I.Zosimus, Jerome, Eunapius, and the now-lost Enmannsche Kaisergeschichte reported that Dalmatius was killed by his soldiers with the support of Constantius II, but Aurelius Victor was uncertain about who was responsible for Dalmatius' death.
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Category:4th-century murdered monarchs
Category:Constantinian dynasty
Category:Flavii
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Caesars