Olybrius (consul 491)

Flavius Olybrius (floruit 491) was an aristocrat of the Eastern Roman Empire during Late Antiquity, and a consul for 491. He is sometimes referred to as "Olybrius Junior" in the sources. Olybrius was through his mother Anicia Juliana a descendant of the conjoined Valentinianic and Theodosian dynasties, grandson of the emperor Olybrius (r. 472) and great-grandson of Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III (r. 425–455), and a potential augustus on the death of the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno (r. 474–491) of the Leonid dynasty.

Life

Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus, Olybrius' father

Anicia Juliana, Olybrius' mother

Olybrius was the son of Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus, Magister Militum from 503 to 504 and consul in 506, and of Anicia Juliana, the daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Olybrius and of Placidia, who was the daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian III.

Alan Cameron explains, "It may be that, alone among the consuls here discussed, Olybrius was actually known as 'Olybrius the younger' in social as well as consular contexts. Nor is it hard to think of a reason why: he became consul as a mere child, barely ten years old, perhaps even less."[1]

He was appointed consul at a very young age in 491. Afterwards, Olybrius married Irene, the daughter of Paulus and niece of Eastern Roman Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518); Anastasius wanted to strengthen his rule through a bond with the Theodosian dynasty through this marriage. Olybrius and Irene had only daughters, including Proba, who married Anicius Probus Iunior.

He was exiled in 532 by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) after being implicated in a plot. His properties were seized, including the Church of St. Polyeuctus which his mother had commissioned and a great house which stood on an adjoining site to the church. He was eventually allowed to return sometime later and his seized properties were returned. Nothing is known about how he or his family faired after this.

Notes

1. Cameron, "Junior Consuls", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 56 (1984), p. 162

References

• Croke, Brian, Count Marcellinus and His Chronicle, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 89.