Junius Annius Bassus

Junius Bassus in a chariot, opus sectile panel from the basilica of Junius Bassus on the Esquiline Hill

Iunius Annius Bassus was a praetorian prefect of the Roman Empire from 318 to 331, during which time he also held the consulate. Several laws in the Codex Theodosianus are addressed to him. His son Junius Bassus was praefectus urbi, and his sarcophagus is the most ancient among those carved with Christian scenes.

He built the basilica of Junius Bassus on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, famous for its opus sectile decoration.

Bibliography

• Elsner, J.R., Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph: The Art of the Roman Empire AD 100-450, Oxford University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-19-284201-3, p. 192.
• Martindale, John Robert, and Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Cambridge University Press, 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6, pp. 154–155.