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¤ BLAESUS, QUINTUS JUNIUS (d. 31 A.D.) General and governor of Pannonia and Africa, whose
military career of successes and failures was ended by association with his nephew, the Praetorian Prefect
SEJANUS. Blaesus was the governor of Pannonia in 14 A.D., a very important frontier post, but when
Emperor Augustus died, his three legions, the VIII Augustus, IX Hispania and XV Apollinaris, mutinied.
Under the urgings of a soldier Percennius, the troops erupted, demanded better service conditions, tried to
kill Blaesus and tortured his slaves. Blaesus sent envoys to the new Emperor Tiberius, informing him that
the frontier was now virtually defenseless. Drusus, Tiberius' son, arrived with several cohorts of the
Praetorian Guard, and only by the good fortune of a lunar eclipse was order restored. Blaesus had lost
control of his legions, but by 21 A.D. was supported by the powerful political arm of his nephew,
Sejanus. He became proconsul of Africa in 21, where he conducted himself well; and his command was
extended. He soon after achieved his greatest success, defeating the famed African pirate TACFARINAS.
In 22, Tiberius granted him the title of IMPERA-TOR. When Sejanus fell from power, however, Blaesus
was one of the first on Tiberius' long list of victims. In 31, Blaesus was killed, and his two sons
committed suicide.
¤ BONA DEA Roman goddess worshiped in festivals attended exclusively, with one famous exception,
by women. She was traditionally the wife or daughter of Faunus, hence her other name, Fauna, and her
role as the patroness of chastity. The VESTAL VIRGINS conducted her festival on the 1st of May,
always in the home of the chief consul or praetor, with his wife presiding. A sow was sacrificed to her. It
was long a tradition that no male was allowed at the sacrifices, made on behalf of the Roman people. On
one occasion this custom was violated. In 62 B.C., CLODIUS PULCHER entered the house of Caesar
dressed as a woman and thus committed a great outrage against the tradition and the religious ideals of
the nation.
¤ BONIFACE (fl. early 5th century A.D.) Also Bonifatius, a MAGISTER MILITUM in Africa. In 421,
Boniface was assigned the task of aiding the general and come domesticorum, CASTINUS, in his
campaigns against the VANDALS in Spain. Already a noted soldier, Boniface quarreled immediately
with Castinus and departed for Africa. Castinus' subsequent defeat was blamed on Boniface and the
influence of the empress, Galla Placidia, wife of Emperor Constantius III. When the powerful Honorius
exiled Placidia in 422, Boniface sent Placidia money and in 423-425 defended Africa loyally for her and
her son, Valentinian III, against the usurper John. John's defeat simply opened the door for the more
cunning magister militum, AETIUS.