Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity) (28 page)

Gainas

Gothic general in Roman service who led the eastern army back to Constantinople in 395, where he organized the murder of Rufinus. Sent to suppress the revolt of Tribigild in 399, he himself rebelled against the government in 400, but was killed trying to flee the empire after being defeated by Fravitta.

Galerius

emperor 293–311 (caesar 293–305; augustus 305–311), he was a general of Diocletian and Maximian made caesar along with
Constantius Ⅰ in 293, when the tetrarchy was created. He disrupted the planned succession of Constantine Ⅰ and Maxentius in 305, thereby precipitating half a decade of civil war.

Galla Placidia

c. 390–450, imperial princess, daughter of Theodosius Ⅰ, sister of Honorius, mother of Valentinian Ⅲ. Captured in the siege of Rome, she married Alaric’s successor Athaulf, but after his murder was returned to the imperial government and married to Constantius Ⅲ.

Gallienus

emperor 253–268, his reign is generally portrayed as a long catalogue of disasters, among them devastating Gothic raids in the eastern provinces.

Gallus

caesar of Constantius Ⅱ 351–354 and elder brother of Julian, he was executed by Constantius in 354.

Gildo

north African aristocrat given a sweeping command as
comes Africae
by Theodosius in order to secure his loyalty during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus. In 398, he switched allegiance from Rome to Constantinople, but was suppressed by Stilicho and executed.

Gouththikas

Gothic priest with whom the martyr Saba intended to spend Easter 372.

Gratian

emperor 367–383. The son of Valentinian Ⅰ, who became the ruler of the western empire after his father’s death in 375. He acquiesced in the proclamation of Theodosius in 379 rather than exacerbate the crisis in the East after Adrianople, but was overthrown and killed in the usurpation of Magnus Maximus in 383.

Guntheric

Gothic king in 249, he invaded the eastern provinces in company of Argaith.

Gunthigis (Baza)

barbarian general in imperial service to whom the sixth-century author Jordanes served as secretary.

Hadrian

emperor 117–138 under whom the expansion of the Roman empire ceased.

Heraclian

comes Africae
408–413 who refused to recognize the regime of Priscus Attalus in 409 and cut off the grain supply of Rome.

Honorius

emperor 393–423. Youngest son of Theodosius, nominally the western emperor after his father’s death in 395, but in reality controlled by Stilicho, whose daughters Maria and Thermantia he
married in succession. After falling out with Stilicho in 408 and sanctioning his murder, his government could not control Alaric, while the many usurpations between 407 and 413 were only suppressed by Constantius Ⅲ.

Ingenuus

usurper against Gallienus in 260.

Jordanes

see
Glossary of Ancient Sources

Jovian

emperor 363–364. He was elected by the officers of Julian’s field army to extract them from Persian territory after Julian’s death, but did so by means of unpopular concessions to the Persians, dying after less than a year on the throne.

Jovius

praetorian prefect of Italy and rival of Olympius at the court of Honorius after the death of Stilicho, he attempted to negotiate a treaty with Alaric in 409.

Julian

emperor 361–363. Nephew of Constantine and by 354 last surviving male relative of Constantius Ⅱ, who made him caesar in 355. After becoming sole emperor in 361, he attempted to de-Christianize the empire, but failed to do so because he died prematurely on campaign in Persia.

Julius

magister militum
of the East at the time of Adrianople, he stopped the Gothic revolt from spreading into Asia by instigating a massacre of Goths in the eastern provinces.

Junius Soranus

dux Scythiae
in 373 who ordered the collection of the relics of the Gothic martyr Saba and sent them to his native province of Cappadocia.

Justina

second wife of Valentinian Ⅰ and mother of Valentinian Ⅱ.

Justinian

emperor 527–565 who reconquered territories in the Latin West that had once been imperial provinces but which had been barbarian kingdoms for many decades.

Licinius

emperor 308–324, rival of Constantine for control of the whole empire after the civil wars of 306–313.

Lupicinus

comes rei militaris
in Thrace in 376 and with Maximus one of two officials primarily responsible for managing the Gothic crossing of the Danube. He organized the banquet at Marcianople which sparked off the Gothic rebellion of 377.

Magnentius

usurper 350–353, he overthrew Constans in 350, but was defeated by Constantius Ⅱ in 353 in a civil war that badly weakened the Rhine frontier.

Magnus Maximus

usurper 383–388, he overthrew Gratian and was briefly tolerated by Theodosius, until his invasion of Italy forced Valentinian Ⅱ to flee to the East and provoked civil war with Theodosius.

Marcus Aurelius

emperor 161–180, his wars against the Marcomanni occupied many years of his reign and disrupted conditions on the middle Danube frontier.

Maria

elder daughter of Stilicho and Serena, married to Honorius in 398.

Maxentius

usurper, 306–312. Son of the augustus Maximian, Maxentius was proclaimed augustus at Rome but never recognized as a legitimate emperor. He died in battle against Constantine in 312.

Maximian

emperor 285–305. Co-emperor of Diocletian from 285, and one of the two augusti in the tetrarchy formed in 293 with the appointment of Constantius Ⅰ and Galerius as caesars, he was the father of Maxentius, who revolted after Maximian’s abdication.

Maximus

Roman
dux
of either Moesia or Scythia in 376 and with Lupicinus one of two officials primarily responsible for managing the Gothic crossing of the Danube.

Modares

Gothic general in imperial service under Theodosius, he won the first success against Fritigern’s followers in 379, a year after Adrianople.

Nero

emperor 54–68 and the last member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Nicomachus Flavianus

Roman aristocrat who joined the rebellion of Arbogast in 392, lending legitimacy to the usurpation of Eugenius, he killed himself after defeat at the battle of the Frigidus.

Olympius

magister officiorum
of Honorius, and opposed to any compromise with Alaric, he instigated the murder of Stilicho and replaced him as the most powerful figure at court.

Paria

grandfather of Jordanes and secretary to the barbarian chieftain Candac.

Postumus

usurper 260–269. Proclaimed emperor after successfully defeating a barbarian invasion, he ruled a separate ‘Gallic empire’ that was not suppressed until the reign of Aurelian.

Priscus Attalus

Roman senator of Greek origin who led the senatorial embassy requesting that Honorius negotiate with Alaric. Made urban prefect by Honorius, he then became a usurper with Alaric as his sponsor. He was deposed by Alaric in 410, remaining with the Goths until 415 when Wallia handed him over to Honorius, who allowed Attalus to retire to the island of Lipari.

Probus

emperor 276–282. His reign is little known, but he fought many frontier wars against various barbarians, including the Goths.

Procopius

usurper 365–366, he could claim kinship with the Constantinian dynasty and rebelled against Valens, but was suppressed in 366. The fact that some Tervingian leaders supported Procopius provided the excuse for Valens’ Gothic war of 367–369.

Profuturus

general of Valens sent to Thrace with Traianus in 377 to fight the Goths, he was killed at the battle of Ad Salices.

Promotus

general of Theodosius sent to suppress the Balkan revolt of 391, but killed there in an ambush and replaced by Stilicho.

Radagaisus

Gothic king who appeared suddenly in 405 leading an invasion across the Alps through Raetia into Italy until his defeat by Stilicho outside Florence in 406.

Rausimod

Sarmatian king defeated by Constantine at Campona in 323.

Richomeres

comes domesticorum
and senior general of Gratian, sent to the Balkans with Frigeridus in 377 to fight against the Goths, and in 378 leader of Gratian’s advance guard before Adrianople. Surviving the battle, he later prevented the Gothic revolt from spreading to the West.

Rothesteus

Gothic king and father of Atharid, the Gothic noble who commanded the death of Saba in 372.

Rufinus

praetorian prefect of the East, left behind in Constantinople by Theodosius to run the East during the imperial campaign against Eugenius, but killed in 395 by the eastern troops returning under the command of Gainas.

Saba

Gothic Christian and martyr under the
iudex
Athanaric, killed at the orders of Rothesteus’ son Atharid on 12 April 372.

Sansalas

Gothic priest in the village of the martyr Saba.

Saphrax

Gothic
dux
and co-regent with Alatheus for the Greuthungian child-king Videric. Together they led some of the Greuthungi across the Danube in 376, eventually joining forces with the Tervingi of Fritigern and fighting at the battle of Adrianople in 378.

Sarus

Gothic general in Roman service beginning in 407, he caused the final breakdown of negotiations between Alaric and Honorius and was later killed in battle with his long-standing enemy Athaulf in 412.

Saturninus

magister equitum
and senior general of Valens, promoted to lead the Thracian campaign against Fritigern’s Goths after the failures of Traianus and Profuturus. After Adrianople, he continued in the service of Theodosius and helped negotiate the emperor’s Gothic peace of 382.

Sebastianus

retired western general promoted by Valens in spring 378 to take overall command of the Gothic war, he won some victories but was killed in the battle of Adrianople.

Septimius Severus

emperor 193–211, North African emperor of Punic origin and the father of Caracalla.

Serena

Theodosius’ niece and adopted daughter, wife of Stilicho and mother of Eucherius, Maria and Thermantia, she was murdered during Alaric’s first siege of Rome with the approval of her cousin Galla Placidia.

Shapur Ⅰ

Sassanian king of Persia 240–272 and the most dangerous enemy of the Roman empire in this period.

Sigesarius

Gothic homoean priest in the entourage of Alaric and Athaulf who baptised Priscus Attalus.

Stilicho

Roman general and member of the imperial family, husband of Theodosius’ niece and adopted daughter Serena, father of Eucherius, Maria and Thermantia. Stilicho was regent for Honorius after Theodosius’ death in 395, but his claims to similar regency over Arcadius in the East were rejected by the eastern court. The death of Arcadius
in 408 caused a final breach between Stilicho and Honorius, after which Stilicho was killed.

Sueridus

Gothic commander of a regular unit in the Roman army along with Colias, he joined the revolt of Fritigern in 377 after a dispute with the
curia
of Adrianople.

Tacitus

emperor 275–276, assassinated while campaigning against Gothic invaders in Asia.

Tacitus (historian)

see
Glossary of Ancient Sources

Themistius

see
Glossary of Ancient Sources

Theoderic Ⅰ

Gothic king 418–451. A relative by marriage of Alaric, he led the Goths after their settlement in Aquitania in 418.

Theodoric

(“the Great”) Ostrogothic king of Italy 489–526. The lost Gothic history of Cassiodorus was dedicated to him.

Theodosius Ⅰ

emperor 379–395. Proclaimed emperor and recognized by Gratian shortly after emerging from retirement, he concluded the Balkan Gothic war in 382, thereafter facing the western usurpations of Magnus Maximus and Eugenius, before his premature death.

Theodosius ‘the Elder’

father of Theodosius Ⅰ and the best general of Valentinian Ⅰ, executed in obscure circumstances after Valentinian’s death in 375.

Thermantia

younger daughter of Stilicho and Serena, married to Honorius in 408 after the death of his first wife, Thermantia’s elder sister Maria.