Sebastianus

Sebastianus (Greek: Σεβαστιανός; died 9 August 378) was a Roman general who died at the Battle of Adrianople alongside the Emperor Valens during the Gothic War.

Biography Sebastianus is first mentioned as the dux Aegypti, serving around 356–358. He supported George of Cappadocia and his Arian supporters against Athanasius of Alexandria, expelling the supporters of Athanasius from the churches of Alexandria on 24 December 358. Athanasius, in his own account of the events, attributes this to Sebastianus being a Manichee. While in Egypt, he also received a visit from Libanius.

From 363 to 378, Sebastianus served as comes rei militaris, initially under the emperor Julian. Accompanying the emperor on Julian's Persian expedition against the Sasanian Empire, Julian gave Sebastianus a joint command with Procopius, with 30,000 to initially hold the Tigris before, if possible, joining King Arsaces II of Armenia and march southward, to reach Julian's army in Assyria.

Returning with the defeated army after the death of Julian, he probably accompanied Valentinian I to the western provinces in 364. In 368, while commanding the Illyrian and Italian armies, he was summoned by Valentinian to assist in the campaign against the Alemanni. Then in 375, Sebastianus was sent by Valentinian to aid the magister peditum Merobaudes in conducting some raids against the Quadi. When news of the emperor's death reached Merobaudes, he sent Sebastianus, who was unaware of Valentinian's death, to a distant posting to ensure that Sebastianus could not use his popularity with the troops to interfere with Merobaudes' plans for the succession, mitigating the risk that Sebastianus might possibly be raised by the troops to the rank of Augustus. Accompanying the emperor, he perished along with Valens in the Battle of Adrianople.

He was described by Ammianus Marcellinus as "a quiet and peace-loving man" and "a general of well-known vigilance", while he was praised by Eunapius for his military abilities and his contempt for wealth. Nothing is known about his family apart from the death of his wife in 357.