Maternus Cynegius
Encyclopedia
Maternus Cynegius was a praetorian prefect of the East and consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 at the end of the 4th century, best known for destroying some of the most sacred sites of Hellenic religion.

Life

Cynegius is thought to originate from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and was a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

. Between 381 and 383 he was appointed comes sacrarum largitionum
Comes sacrarum largitionum
The comes sacrarum largitionum was one of the senior fiscal officials of the late Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire....

, the imperial treasurer, by Emperor Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...

. Later he was appointed quaestor sacri palatii
Quaestor sacri palatii
The quaestor sacri palatii , in English Quaestor of the Sacred Palace, was the senior legal authority in the late Roman and early Byzantine empires, responsible for drafting laws. In the later Byzantine Empire, the office of the quaestor was altered and it became a senior judicial official for the...

and, in 384, Praetorian prefect of the East. He issued laws that forbade Pagan sacrifices and closed and destroyed non-Christian temples in Egypt and Syria (386). As a deviation from Theodosius' policy, he issued anti-Jewish laws.

On his second visitation - to the East (including Egypt) - he was accompanied by Bishop Marcellus of Apamea. With Marcellus' encouragement, he destroyed, among other things,
  • the temple of Edessa
    Edessa, Mesopotamia
    Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...

  • the Cabeireion
    Cabeiri
    In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephaestus, centered in the north Aegean islands of Lemnos and possibly Samothrace —at the Samothrace temple complex— and at Thebes...

     of Imbros
    Imbros
    Imbros or Imroz, officially referred to as Gökçeada since July 29, 1970 , is an island in the Aegean Sea and the largest island of Turkey, part of Çanakkale Province. It is located at the entrance of Saros Bay and is also the westernmost point of Turkey...

  • the temple of Zeus Belos
    Belus (Babylonian)
    Belus or Belos in classical Greek or classical Latin texts in a Babylonian context refers to the Babylonian god Bel Marduk. Though often identified with Greek Zeus and Latin Jupiter as Zeus Belos or Jupiter Belus, in other cases Belus is euhemerized as an ancient king who founded Babylon and...

     in Apamea
    Apamea (Syria)
    Apamea was a treasure city and stud-depot of the Seleucid kings, was capital of Apamene, on the right bank of the Orontes River. . Its site is found about to the northwest of Hama, Syria, overlooking the Ghab valley...

    , which had included a famed oracle
    Oracle
    In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....

    , which Septimus Severus, among others, had consulted
  • the temple of Apollo in Didyma
    Didyma
    Didyma was an ancient Ionian sanctuary, the modern Didim, Turkey, containing a temple and oracle of Apollo, the Didymaion. In Greek didyma means "twin", but the Greeks who sought a "twin" at Didyma ignored the Carian origin of the name...

    , which also included a famed oracle (the Didymaion), which was second only to the Delphic Oracle in importance
  • all the temples in Palmyra
    Palmyra
    Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...

    .


In 388 he was appointed Roman consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

, though he died that same year.

Maternus has been identified with the high official who received the Missorium of Theodosius I
Missorium of Theodosius I
The Missorium of Theodosius I is a large ceremonial silver dish preserved in the Real Academia de la Historia, in Madrid, Spain. It was probably made in Constantinople for the tenth anniversary in 388 of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I, the last Emperor to rule both the Eastern and Western...

 and was probably depicted on it. A country house found by archaeologists near Carranque
Carranque
Carranque is a town in the Toledo province, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is located in the area of the province bordering the province of Madrid called the Alta Sagra.-Archeological park:...

, in Spain, has been attributed to Maternus.

Sources

  • Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin
    Arnold Hugh Martin Jones
    Arnold Hugh Martin Jones — known as A.H.M. Jones — was a prominent 20th century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.-Biography:...

    , John Robert Martindale, John Morris
    John Morris (historian)
    John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain...

    , The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0521072336, p. 235-236.
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