Gessius was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire, brother of the Empress Aelia Eudocia

Aelia Eudocia

Aelia Eudocia Augusta was the wife of Theodosius II, and a prominent historical figure in understanding the rise of Christianity during the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. Eudocia lived in a world where Greek paganism and Christianity were still coming together...

.

Life

Gessius was born in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, son of the pagan and sophist philosopher Leontius, and brother of Valerius

Valerius (consul 432)

Valerius was a politician of the Eastern Roman Empire, brother of the Empress Aelia Eudocia.- Life :Valerius was born in Athens, son of the pagan and sophist philosopher Leontius, and brother of Gessius and Athenais...

 and Athenais. In 421 Athenais changed her name in Aelia Eudocia

Aelia Eudocia

Aelia Eudocia Augusta was the wife of Theodosius II, and a prominent historical figure in understanding the rise of Christianity during the beginning of the Byzantine Empire. Eudocia lived in a world where Greek paganism and Christianity were still coming together...

 and married the Emperor Theodosius II

Theodosius II

Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...

; as result, Valerius and Gessius received several honours. Gessius become Praetorian prefect of Illyricum, an office he probably lost after his sister lost her influence on the Emperor in 443 and went to Jerusalem.

Sources

• Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Robert Martindale, John Morris, "Gessius 2", Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
  Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
  Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire is a set of three volumes collectively describing every person attested or claimed to have lived in the Roman world from AD 260, the date of the beginning of Gallienus' sole rule, to 641, the date of the death of Heraclius, which is commonly held to mark the...
  
  , Cambridge University Press, 1971, ISBN 0521201594, pp. 510–511.