Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology/Barbatio

BARBA'TIO, commander of the household troops under the Caesar Gallus, arrested his master, by command of Constantius, at Petovium in Noricum, and thence, after stripping him of the ensigns of his dignity, conducted him to Pola in Istria, A. D. 354. In return for his services, he was promoted, upon the death of Silvanus, to the rank of general of the infantry (peditum magister), and was sent with an army of 25,000 or 30,000 men to cooperate with Julian in the campaign against the Alemanni in 356 ; but he treacherously deserted him, either through envy of Julian, or in accordance with the secret instructions of the emperor. In 358, he defeated the Juthungi, who had invaded Rhaetia; and, in the following year, he was beheaded by command of Constantius, in consequence of an imprudent letter which his wife had written him, and which the emperor thought indicated treasonable designs on his part. (Amm. Marc. xiv. 11, xvi. 11, xvii. 6, xviii. 3; Liban. Orat. x. p. 273.)