The custom of Roman senators of late antiquity appending the title ofvir clarissimus to their names developed gradually over the first two centuries.[1] During the fourth century, the senatorial order greatly increased in number, so that the title became more common and new titles were devised to distinguish senators of a higher dignity, namelyvir spectabilis andvir illustris.[2] The first instance ofvir illustris occurred in AD 354 with its use by thepraefectus praetorio.[3] For some decades it was used inconsistently, but then more regularly,[4] perhaps in connection with a formal codification of honours byEmperor Valentinian I in AD 372.[5]
Comes domesticorum equitum sive peditum ('count of the household cavalry or infantry').[6] Beyond these, the title is also frequently given toconsuls,[7] occasionally to lower offices. In these cases the title may show a broadening of the criteria or may be simply an honorary grant to an individual.[8]
TheIllustres soon were regarded as the active membership of theSenate; and by the middle of the AD fifth century,Spectabiles andClarissimi were no longer expected to participate in the Senate.[9] By the reign ofEmperor Justinian I, all senators were consideredIllustres.[10] At the same time the title of "illustris" had been similarly devalued below that of "clarissimus" in the AD fourth century, and high officials were indicated with the titles of "vir gloriosus" or "gloriosissimus" and "vir magnificus".[11]
In ancient inscriptions and manuscripts, the spelling "inlustris" is more frequent.[12] Because theillustres were a subset of theclarissimi, the title is often written as "vir clarissimus et illustris", especially in official documents.[13] The shorter title was commonly abbreviated "v. i." (pl.: "vv. ii."), "v. inl.", or "vir inl." and the longer title as "v. c. et inl."[14]
^A gloss in theDigest on a passage ofUlpian states (1, 9, 12, 1)senatores … accipiendum est eos, qui a patriciis et consulibus usque ad omnes illustres viros descendunt, quia et hi soli in senatu sententiam dicere possunt ("by senators we should understand those from the patricians and consuls down through to allviri illustres, since these too are the only ones who can give their opinion in the senate").
^T. Mommsen,Theodosiani Libri XVI cum Constitutionibus Sirmondianis, Prolegomena, (Zurich: Weidmann, 1905), p. cxlvii.
^Hirschfeld (1901), pp. 596-8 (=Hirschfeld [1915], pp. 665-7).
^Berger (1916), pp. 1070, 29-38;TLL, Volume 7, 1, p. 397, 1-5.
^Henry d'Arbois de Jubainville, [www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1887_num_31_2_69305 "L'emploi du titre devir inluster ouvir inlustris dans les documents officiels de l'époque mérovingienne"],Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 31, 2 (1887), pp. 167–68.
Berger, A., 'Illustris',R.E. IX (1915), 1070–1085.
Hirschfeld, O., 'Die Rangtitel der römischen Kaiserzeit',Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie (1901), 579–610, reprinted inKleine Schriften (Berlin: Weidemann, 1913), 657–71.
Jones, A.H.M.,The Later Roman Empire 284-602, A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey (Oxford: Blackwell, 1964, repr. Johns Hopkins UP, 1986).
