Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius

Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius (fl. 395–397) was a politician and aristocrat of the Roman Empire.

Olybrius was the son of Sextus Petronius Probus, one of the most influential men of his era and consul in 371, and of Anicia Faltonia Proba; his brothers were Anicius Probinus, Anicius Petronius Probus and his sister was Anicia Proba.

Olybrius was raised with his brother Probinus in Rome, where he was born.[1] He and his brother Anicius Probinus shared the consulate in 395, while both were very young;[2] Claudian dedicated Panegyricus de consulatu Probini et Olybrii to the brothers on this occasion. Although they belonged to a traditionally pagan senatorial family, Olybrius and Probinus were Christians.

Arusianus Messius dedicated his Exempla elocutionem to both brothers, and Quintus Aurelius Symmachus addressed a letter to both in 397 (Epistles, v).

He married his relative Anicia Iuliana and had one son and one daughter, Demetrias.[3]

Notes

1. Claudian, Panegyricus de consulatu Probini et Olybrii, 143-146.
2. Claudian, 143-67-70.
3. Anne Kurdok, "Demetrias ancilla dei: Anicia Demetrias and the problem of the missing patron", in Kate Cooper, Julia Hillner, Religion, dynasty and patronage in early Christian Rome, 300-900, Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-521-87641-9, pp. 190-224.

Sources

• Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Martindale, John Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). vol. 1, Cambridge 1971, p. 639.
• Hartmut Leppin, Theodosius der Große. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2003, p. 222.