Biography

Nomus was magister officiorum

Magister officiorum

The magister officiorum was one of the most senior administrative officials in the late Roman Empire and the early centuries of the Byzantine Empire...

from 443 to 446, and served 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...

 in 445, with Western Emperor Valentinian III

Valentinian III

-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....

 as colleague.

On 12 December 443, Nomus was ordered to strengthen the defence of the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 limes

Limes

A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the boundaries of the Roman Empire.The Latin noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any...

, recently affected by the attacks of the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

 of Attila: the forts were rebuilt and the frontier garrisons restored to their nominal strength. The work, which had to last for the whole year 444, was such that Nomus was appointed consul for the following year in reward. But when Attila resumed his raids in 447, he did through the provinces of Scythia Minor

Scythia Minor

Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and west and the Black Sea at the east, corresponding to today's Dobruja, with a part in Romania and a part in Bulgaria....

 and Moesia Inferior, skirting from east the fortifications arranged by Nomus.

In 448 Nomus was raised to the rank of patricius.

The attack of the 447 ended in a peace in 448, but in 450 Attila was again at war against the Roman Empire. To an attempt at negotiations, he said he would deal only with the ambassadors of consular rank, and mentioned the names of Nomus, Senator

Senator (consul 436)

- Biography :Senator was consul posterior in the year 436.In 442/443 he was sent by Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II as an envoy to the King of the Huns, Attila....

 and Anatolius. Nomus (chosen as loyal supporter of the powerful eunuech Chrysaphius

Chrysaphius

Chrysaphius was a eunuch at the Eastern Roman court, who became the chief minister of Theodosius II . Effectively the ruler of the empire during his ascendancy, he pursued a policy of appeasement towards the Huns, which cost the empire far more gold than any military campaign, while amassing a...

) and his companion went to meet Attila, who treated them badly at the beginning, but later succumbed to their oratorical arts and to the gifts they had bought: Attila would accept the terms of peace of 448, he would stop attacking the Emperor Theodosius II

Theodosius II

Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...

, and give up the strip of land south of the Danube obtained with the peace of 448; it seems that the granting of the release of many Roman prisoners was a concession made personally to the two prestigious guests.

In 449, the monk Eutyches

Eutyches

Eutyches was a presbyter and archimandrite at Constantinople. He first came to notice in 431 at the First Council of Ephesus, for his vehement opposition to the teachings of Nestorius; his condemnation of Nestorianism as heresy precipitated his being denounced as a heretic...

 asked Emperor Theodosius to summon the Council of Chalcedon

Council of Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...

: Chrysaphius and Nomus joined him and obtained the proclamation. He then participated in several sessions of the Council, in 451.

He is said to spend a lot of money to fuel his ambitions. During his tenure as magister officiorum, he was contacted by two nephews of the bishop Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria

Cyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...

; he helped them by lending some money, but he required very high rates of interest. He was the addressee of some letters by Theodoret

Theodoret

Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus was an influential author, theologian, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria . He played a pivotal role in many early Byzantine church controversies that led to various ecumenical acts and schisms...

, as he was very influential with the Emperor.