Baduarius (Greek:Βαδουάριος) was anEast Roman aristocrat, the son-in-law ofByzantine emperorJustin II (r. 565–578 AD).Theophanes the Confessor erroneously calls him a brother of the Emperor.[1]
Possibly the son or grandson of asimilarly named general active inScythia Minor in 528, Baduarius is recorded by theLatin epic poetFlavius Cresconius Corippus as having succeeded Justin in his post ascuropalates immediately after the latter's rise to the Byzantine throne on November 14, 565. At the time, he was already a holder of the rank ofpatrikios.[1]
In circa 566/567, Baduarius was ordered to raise an army in the lowerDanube (Moesia and Scythia Minor) in order to assist theGepids against theLombards. The Byzantines won the first battle, but then the Gepid kingCunimund refused to hand backSirmium as he had promised. Left unaided against the Lombards andAvars, Cunimund was defeated and killed. The post of Baduarius in this campaign is obscure: he may have been amagister militum per Illyricum, amagister militum without an assigned area, or thequaestor exercitus.[2]
Acomes stabuli ("count of the imperial stables") in 573, he was sent toItaly soon after to resist the Lombard conquest of the peninsula. The Lombards, however, defeated him in battle in 576, and he died soon after.[1]
Baduarius had married Justin's daughterArabia, with whom he may have had a daughter, Firmina, attested in a single inscription dated to 564.[3] The phrasing is obscure: it contains a Greek word that could be seen as "γενημένη" or "γενόμενη" of Arabia. The term "γενημένη" means "born of" and would make the phrase read "Firmina, daughter of Arabia", whilst "γενόμενη" means "who became".Cyril Mango reads the phrase as "Firmina who became thenursemaid of Arabia".[4]