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In this study, the terms “noble,” “aristocrat,” and “member of the (senatorial) aristocracy” are used interchangeably to refer to someone of senatorial birth or senatorial origin, by which is meant someone whose father at least was a clarissimus (literally highly distinguished). While this usage of the term “noble” is a departure from the strict Republican use of nobilis to refer to the holder of a consulate or one of his descendants, it accords with the meaning of the word as used in the fourth century by writers such as Symmachus (c. 345–402) and the historian Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330–c. 400). (Symm. Rel. III.7; Amm. XVI.10.13.)

While all nobles were clarissimi, not all clarissimi were nobles. By the time of Diocletian, the title vir clarissimus had been in common use for well over a century to refer to a senator or a man of senatorial rank. The title was hereditary as we know from the examples that we have of the title clarissimus puer (highly distinguished boy), dating back at least to 197 (ILS 1143). The clarissimate was not confined to men and boys, for we also find the titles clarissima puella (highly distinguished girl) and clarissima femina (highly distinguished lady), the latter title coming to a woman from her father or her husband.

The clarissimate was the late Empire’s equivalent to the laticlavium of the Principate, referring to the broad purple stripe on the tunic worn by senators. Just as, in that period, a novus homo (new man) could be awarded this honor by the emperor or be “adlected” (added), by the emperor to men of senatorial rank, a practice that appears to have been initiated by the Emperor Claudius (r. 41–54); so, in the late Empire individuals could be raised to the clarissimate by an imperial codicillus clarissimatus (diploma of clarissimate status), and the title could be extended to the holders of an ever-increasing number of hitherto equestrian state posts. (See CTh XII.74.5 (371); Cassiodorus Variae 6.14.)

Clarissimi became senators proper in the traditional way, namely by holding one or other of the republican magistracies, and it was still normal practice for young nobles to become senators unless too poor to be able to afford the expenditure which the tenure of a republican magistracy now entailed. Membership of the Senate was no longer of any practical significance because the Senate as an institution was powerless, and it is hardly surprising that its meetings were so unattractive to its members that the quorum had to be fixed at fifty. (Symm. Or. VI.)

Under the tetrarchy, the senatorial order formed a reasonably homogeneous group comprising men of senatorial birth, since, in the latter part of the third century, praetorian prefects were evidently the only novi homines to join its ranks. When, however, the senatorial cursus honorum (“career”), which Diocletian had turned into a cul-de-sac, became once again an important avenue of advancement under Constantine and his successors, this homogeneity came to an end. For now, in addition to men of senatorial birth, the order was flooded with office-holders whose positions had given them the clarissimate automatically and, as the fourth century passed, more and more offices came to carry senatorial rank with them.

This influx of new men into the clarissimate eventually reduced its significance, and as a result, office-holders in the upper echelons of power began to differentiate themselves from ordinary clarissimi, by adding to their titles spectabilis (notable) in the case of vicars and proconsuls and those equated with them in rank in the military and court hierarchies and illustris (illustrious) in the case of the praetorian and urban prefects, magistri militum (generals), and the major palatine officials. These new titles were not hereditary, and the son of an illustris would be a mere clarissimus until he earned a higher title through office. (See CTh 16.5.52 412.)

In the pre-Constantinian era, therefore, titles are much more precise indices of a man’s social background than they are in the period from Constantine onward. The equestrian titles egregius and perfectissimus are, of course, always signs of non-senatorial birth, but the gradual increase during the fourth century in the number of posts carrying with them an automatic clarissimate made the equestrian titles obsolete and gave many men of non-senatorial origin the same title as that of the nobles. Thus, while under the tetrarchy, the clarissmate alone is sufficient evidence of nobility (except in the case of praetorian prefects)later, especially in the post-Constantinian period, it usually throws no light on a man’s origins, and other criteria of nobility must be employed.

In the case of low-ranking governors such as praesides, however, the title clarissimus is a pointer to senatorial origin. Up to at least 379, the normal title for a praeses was perfectissimus, and any praesides who were clarissimi may be assumed to have been of senatorial origin, as it is inconceivable that the emperor would elevate a novus homo to senatorial rank just to appoint him a praeses, a position which he could and indeed should hold as an equestrian. In fact, the only datable cases known of praesides with the clarissimate under Diocletian were three praesides of Syria.