# Flavian — Marius the Epicurean character guide

> Flavian in Marius the Epicurean by Walter Pater.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Hadrian, The Emperor Hadrian to his Soul Flavian, the archaic Hadrian

**First appearance:** 0004-part-i-ii-white-nights

## Snapshot

Marius's dazzling older schoolmate, a poet of exquisite diction and shameless vanity, who first teaches him that words and beauty might be enough.

## Who they are

Flavian, poor but patronized by a mysterious benefactor, rules the younger Marius through a fascination that is half intellectual and half sentimental, granting him an intimacy withheld from everyone else. He cultivates foppery of phrase, dainty food, and the archaisms of a self-consciously literary age, and his genuine power is inseparable from his pose. In introducing Marius to Lucian and the golden book of euphuistic verse, he opens the door to a life of aesthetic sensation that the novel will spend its length testing.

## Relationships

### [Marcus Aurelius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/characters/marcus_aurelius)

_social_

Flavian and Marcus Aurelius are distant acquaintances through court circles, with Flavian's hedonism contrasting the emperor's Stoicism.

## In the story

### [IV: The Tree of Knowledge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-i-iv-the-tree-of-knowledge)

A brilliant and charismatic fellow student of servile birth, who becomes Marius's close friend and intellectual guide. He embodies the spirit of unbelief and sensuous paganism.

### [Euphuism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-i-vi-euphuism)

Flavian is the leader of the new literary school, designing a program to revive the Latin language through careful word choice and style. He composes a mystic hymn to the vernal principle of life.

### [VII: A Pagan End](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-i-vii-a-pagan-end)

Dies of the plague after composing a nuptial hymn; his death deeply affects Marius.

### [VIII: Animula Vagula](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-ii-viii-animula-vagula)

Flavian's death is the catalyst for Marius's philosophical retreat and meditation on mortality and the nature of experience.

### [X: On the Way](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-ii-x-on-the-way)

Recalled in memory as Marius reflects on his early days with Flavian and the vivid personal presence that broke through his idealism.

### [The Ceremony of the Dart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-iii-xviii-the-ceremony-of-the-dart)

Flavian is not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### [XIX: The Will as Vision](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-iii-xix-the-will-as-vision)

His armour is worn by Aurelius, and his collection of gems is sold at auction.

### [II: The Church in Cecilia’s House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-iv-ii-the-church-in-cecilia-s-house)

Flavian is recalled by Marius when he hears the novel singing, reminiscent of Flavian's early poetic experiments.

### [XXVIII: Anima Naturaliter Christiana](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/chapters/part-iv-xxviii-anima-naturaliter-christiana)

Flavian is referenced in the context of Marius's past, as part of the vision of persons and places that Marius recalls.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/characters/flavian
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/marius_the_epicurean_se/characters