Vir illustris

'illustrious man') is used as a formal indication of standing in late antiquity to describe the highest ranks within the senates of Rome and Constantinople.

The custom of Roman senators of late antiquity appending the title of vir clarissimus to their names developed gradually over the first two centuries.

[3] For some decades it was used inconsistently, but then more regularly,[4] perhaps in connection with a formal codification of honours by Emperor Valentinian I in AD 372.

[12] Because the illustres were a subset of the clarissimi, the title is often written as "vir clarissimus et illustris", especially in official documents.

"[14] In Merovingian and Carolingian times, the spellings vir inluster and viri inlustres were common.