The Nicene Age · AD 313–400 · External witness
Flavius Butheric
d. AD 390 (killed in the Thessalonica riot) · Magister militum per Illyricum · Thessalonica, Macedonia
External witness
Who Flavius Butheric was
The Roman commander in Illyricum, lynched by the crowd at Thessalonica in 390 after he arrested a popular charioteer. Theodosius answered by letting his troops loose in the circus and killing some seven thousand people, and Ambrose then refused him communion until he did public penance — the most famous confrontation between a bishop and an emperor in the whole period. The archive held the penance and neither of the men whose deaths caused it.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Flavius Butheric die?
Flavius Butheric is dated d. AD 390 (killed in the Thessalonica riot) in the archive, which places Flavius Butheric in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400).
Which early sources mention Flavius Butheric?
Flavius Butheric is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Ambrose of Milan and Theodoret of Cyrus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Flavius Butheric from?
The archive associates Flavius Butheric with Thessalonica, Macedonia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Flavius Butheric’s contemporaries?
The archive links Flavius Butheric to 3 other figures, including Emperor Theodosius I, Ambrose of Milan and Ascholius (Acholius) of Thessalonica. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Letter 51, to the emperor Theodosius after the massacre
c. AD 390[Ambrose writes to Theodosius that he cannot offer the sacrifice in his presence while the blood of Thessalonica is unatoned.]Ambrose of Milan · Ambrose, Ep. 51 · source text
Ecclesiastical History V.17 (the riot, the massacre and the penance)
c. AD 449[Theodoret gives the fullest narrative of the killing of the commander and the reprisal that followed.]Theodoret of Cyrus · Ecclesiastical History V.17 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Flavius Butheric in the sources
This figure is placed with Flavius Butheric by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Flavius Butheric naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Flavius Butheric, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Thessalonica
- 2Macedoniaprovince only