Romanus was a Roman Senator and a Patrician^[1] who had achieved the rank of Magister officiorum during the final decades of the Western Roman Empire.^[2] A known supporter of Ricimer, the Magister militum,^[3] this brought him into conflict with the Emperor Anthemius, who both distrusted and disliked Ricimer.^[4]

In 470, Anthemius fell seriously ill, and it was rumored that sorcery had been used to afflict the emperor.^[5] Ricimer saw an opportunity to install a new puppet emperor, and began to lay the groundwork for the accession of Romanus to the imperial throne.^[6] However, Anthemius eventually recovered, and accused a number of Ricimer's supporters of using sorcery to try to bring about his death, including Romanus, whom he also accused of seeking to usurp his throne.^[7] He had the senator beheaded in 470, an act which he hoped would secure his throne.^[8]

In fact, it did the opposite. Ricimer became furious about the death of Romanus, and was the trigger which he used to move against Anthemius, whom he deposed in 472.^[9]

• Mathisen, Ralph W., "Anthemius (12 April 467 - 11 July 472 A.D.)", De Imperatoribus Romanis, 1998
• Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. II: AD395-527, Cambridge University Press, 1980
• MacGeorge, Penny, Late Roman Warlords, Oxford University Press, 2002