Spectatus

Spectatus was a native of Antioch and a kinsman (cousin) of the orator Libanius, with whom he maintained a close and affectionate correspondence in the mid-fourth century AD. A man of curial rank who entered imperial service, he is remembered above all for his role on the embassy sent to the Persian court of Shapur II, and he went on to hold administrative posts that drew him into the wider business of the eastern provinces under Constantius II and Julian. He is one of the more vividly drawn figures in Libanius's letters, where the orator writes to him with the warmth owed to a relative and the frankness owed to a trusted insider at court.