Nepotianus

Nepotianus
Nepotianus on a coin bearing his claimed title of Augustus
Roman emperor (usurper)
Reign	3–30 June 350 (in competition with Magnentius)[1]
Died	30 June 350 Rome
Regnal name Flavius Julius Popilius Nepotianus Constantinus[2]
Dynasty	Constantinian
Father	Virius Nepotianus
Mother	Eutropia

Julius Nepotianus (died 30 June 350),^[1] sometimes known in English as Nepotian, was a member of the Constantinian dynasty who reigned as a short-lived usurper of the Roman Empire. He ruled the city of Rome for twenty-eight days, before being killed by his rival usurper Magnentius' general Marcellinus.^[1]

Background[]

Nepotianus was the son of Eutropia, half-sister of Emperor Constantine I,^[3] and of Virius Nepotianus. On his mother's side, he was the grandson of Emperor Constantius Chlorus and Flavia Maximiana Theodora.^[4]

Events[]

After the revolt of Magnentius, Nepotianus proclaimed himself emperor and entered Rome with a band of gladiators^[3] on 3 June 350.^[1] After attempting to resist Nepotianus with an undisciplined force of Roman citizens, the defeated praefectus urbi Titianus (or Anicius, or Anicetus), a supporter of Magnentius, fled the city.

Magnentius quickly dealt with this revolt^[3] by sending his trusted magister officiorum Marcellinus to Rome. According to Eutropius, Nepotianus was killed in the resulting struggle (on 30 June), his head put on a lance and borne around the city.^[3] In the following days, his mother Eutropia was also killed alongside the supporters of Nepotianus.^[4]

See also[]

• List of Roman Emperors
• List of Roman usurpers

Notes[]

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nepotianus.

• Aurelius Victor De Caesaribus 42.6, Epitome 42.3
• Zosimus, ii.59