Tonantius Ferreolus (prefect)

Tonantius Ferreolus (c. 405 – after 469) was the praetorian prefect of Gaul (praefectus praetorio Galliarum) from 451. He lived in the Gard valley on his estate of Prusianum and possessed additional estates at Segondum in Rodez. His father and uncles were famous, and at least one of his ancestors during the 4th century was a patrician. He was either "personally related to" or "connected through (...) relatives" with Sidonius Apollinaris, but see below. His mother was a clarissima femina and daughter of Flavius Afranius Syagrius, Consul in 382.

As praetorian prefect of Gaul he was instrumental in organizing Gaul for the successful defence against the invasion of Attila and the Hun army. At the same time he diplomatically restrained the Patrician and Magister Militum Flavius Aetius from levying excessive taxes against the people of the Gallic Prefecture, receiving public acclaim for his efforts. Following the defeat of the Huns by a Roman-Gothic alliance, Ferreolus resisted the attempts of Visigothic king Thorismund to take advantage of the situation to obtain more territory or privileges in 452-453 when that king besieged Arles. He was associated with Thaumastus and Petronius in conducting the impeachment of Arvandus, a successor in the Gallic Prefecture who had behaved extortionately toward the people of Gaul and who had written a letter to Visigothic King Euric encouraging that monarch to break with his allegiance to Emperor Anthemius and partition Gaul with the Burgundians, presumably with Arvandus' connivance. This prosecution was successful in obtaining a conviction though Arvandus was reprieved, to some extent, it would appear, though the good offices of Sidonius Apollinaris, from execution and he was merely exiled. Ferreolus was apparently living a life of religious contemplation after 469 though there is no indication he ever took orders. He is the first clearly attested historical person bearing the either the name Ferreolus or Tonantius - there are two much earlier martyrs of the name. However his father's marriage into the Syagrii and his own patrician ancestry suggest that the family was well known and powerful under a different name or names during the third and fourth centuries at least. The family was to retain considerable importance and exert considerable influence in Gaul for over a century and perhaps two after the fall of the Roman Empire.

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