Life

Probably born in Rome, he was notarius

Notarius

A notarius is a public secretary who is appointed by competent authority to draw up official or authentic documents . In the Roman Catholic Church there have been apostolic notaries and even episcopal notaries...

under Emperor Valentinian I

Valentinian I

Valentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....

 when, in 365, he was sent to Africa to guarantee for the loyalty of that province during the usurpation of Procopius

Procopius (usurper)

Procopius was a Roman usurper against Valens, and member of the Constantinian dynasty.- Life :According to Ammianus Marcellinus, Procopius was a native and spent his youth in Cilicia, probably in Corycus. On his mother's side, Procopius was related, a maternal cousin, to Emperor Julian, since...

, who had rebelled against the Eastern Emperor Valens

Valens

Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...

.

Neoterius was appointed Praetorian prefect of the East between 380 and 381.

Later he is attested as Praetorian prefect of Italy in 385. Putting Neoterius in charge of the Italian prefecture, 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...

 wanted to support the young and inexperienced Emperor Valentinian II

Valentinian II

Flavius Valentinianus , commonly known as Valentinian II, was Roman Emperor from 375 to 392.-Early Life and Accession :...

 from the influence of the Western usurper Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus

Magnus Maximus , also known as Maximianus and Macsen Wledig in Welsh, was Western Roman Emperor from 383 to 388. As commander of Britain, he usurped the throne against Emperor Gratian in 383...

. Neoterius is probably to be identified with the prefect who wanted to give the basilica Portiana of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 to the Arians

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

 but who was opposed by the Nicene bishop Ambrose

Ambrose

Aurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...

.

In 390 he was Praetorian prefect of Gaul, as well as 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...

 with the Emperor Valentinian II

Valentinian II

Flavius Valentinianus , commonly known as Valentinian II, was Roman Emperor from 375 to 392.-Early Life and Accession :...

 as colleague; this appointment can be seen as guard of Theodosius' interests in Gaul.

He knew Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus was a Roman statesman, orator, and man of letters. He held the offices of governor of Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and consul in 391...

, with whom he exchanged letters (he is the addressee of the letters 38-46 by Symmachus); according to these letters, Neoterius was alive in 393 and maybe in 398.

Sources

• Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Flavius Neoterius", Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
  Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
  Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire is a set of three volumes collectively describing every person attested or claimed to have lived in the Roman world from AD 260, the date of the beginning of Gallienus' sole rule, to 641, the date of the death of Heraclius, which is commonly held to mark the...
  
  , Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0521072336, p. 623.