In the last few posts we have been exploring the period atthe end of the Roman Empire. I plan to continue down this road until we have laidit all out and analyzed it using several posts. It remains for us to discuss thereasons for the fall, the impact of Christianity on the empire, and thetransition of Europe to the Dark Ages.
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This post is narrow by design, intended to make a singlepoint about the Roman army and its commanders. In the narrative below I haveconstructed a chronology of the last ninety years of the empire. Each commanderwho is German has his name in bolded text. You will see for yourself how theGermans permeated the Roman military.
Following the death of Valens, the co-emperor in the west, Gratian,appointed a Spanish officer, Theodosius, to serve as emperor of the easternprovinces. His sixteen year reign was efficient but marked by the dubiousdecision to let the Goths settle south of the Danube in Roman territory (382A.D.) under their own commanders rather than those of the empire.
Meanwhile Gratian and his commander Mallobaudes (Frank) defeated the Alamanni in May 378 A.D.
September 5-6 394 Battle of Frigidus. Theodosius defeatedEugenius, a western usurper, and his commander Arbogast (Frank). Site northeast of Aquileia.
With the death of Theodosius in 395 A.D, the empire would foreverbe divided into two parts. Arcadius, son of Theodosius was named emperor in theeast while his other son, Honorius (age 10), was named emperor in the west.
During 395-7, the Visigoths raided the Balkans and Greece. Stilicho (half Vandal) pins them inElis but Alaric escapes.
In 401, The Visigoths, under their king Alaric, moved fromsouth of the Danube and attacked northern Italy, before being driven back by Stilicho, Honorius’ commander.
In 402 Ravenna became the capital of the western empire,replacing Rome.
Rome can no longer defend the provinces. Only the Italianpeninsula.
In 405 German tribes attack Italy. Many cities pillaged onthe way to Florence.
23 August 406 A.D. Radagaisus defeated by Stilicho atFlorence and executed. Stilicho’s armyincludes Alani, Huns, and Goths. The survivors of the army of Radagaisusjoin Alaric.
In 406 Vandals, Sueves, Alans, and Burgundians crossed thefrozen Rhine and attacked Gaul. This army is the remnants of the army ofRadagaisus.
Arcadius died in 408 and was succeeded by his son TheodosiusII who reigned for 40 years in the east.
In 408 Stilichokilled.
In 409, the Vandals settle in Spain
In 410, Alaric attacked Italy once again making it all theway to Rome where he sacked the city. Alaric dies at Bruttii.
Visigoths attack Gaul in 412.
Visigoths attack Spain in 415. Trying to protect the Spaniards from theVandals. (Eurich) They subdue the Burgundians.
The Visigoths withdraw to Tolosa in 418.
Honorius dies in 423 to be succeeded by Valentinian IIInephew of Honorius (age 6) who is controlled by Galla Placidia, daughter ofTheodosius I, and the general Aetius (Scythian).
Vandals arrive in north Africa 429 invited by Boniface. Theytake Carthage in 439. They attack Rome in 455.
Aetius and hisallied Goths defeat the Huns in 451 at Catalunian Fields.
Attila died in 453 A.D.
Ricimer (Suevic/Visigoth) essentially controlsthe emperorship for 16 years starting in 456. He appoints Majorian but has tooverthrow him in 461. He appoints Severus III who dies in 465. The easternemperor, Leo, nominated, Anthemius in 467, but his loss to the Vandals meantthe end and Ricimer marched to Rome in 472 and killed him. Ricimer nowappointed Olybrius that same year but then both men died.
Power passed to the PrinceGundobad (Burgundian) whonominated Glycerius as his puppet in 473.
The eastern emperor Zeno I dispatched a new candidate JuliusNepos who took power in 474 but was murdered by his commander the next year.
The last in line was Romulus Augustulus who abdicated in 476ended the line of Roman emperors.
The senate told Zeno he was now emperor in the west but itwas Odacer (Scirii), leader of theGerman mercenaries, who became king of Italy.
Note: Scirii were from the area of Poland, allied with theHuns until their fall, then the Carpathian Mountain area.
Rome in the west was now only a piece of the Italianpeninsula. Gaul was controlled by the Franks, Burgundians, and Visigoths. Spainwas controlled by the Visigoths and Sueves. The Vandals controlled northAfrica. Roman Britain was on the way to becoming Anglo-Saxon England.
In 493, Theodoric sieges Ravenna, captures it, and putsOdacer to death. On the advice of the eastern emperor, Zeno, Theodoric becomes king of Italy, rulingover the Goths and Romans.
As I said in thebeginning, a trend developed where the late Roman emperors began to use Germangenerals to run their army. This was really the culmination of the advancementof the Germans over time. Since a substantial part of the empire was adjacentto German territory, Germans were recruited (at first enslaved) to fight forRome. After a time, there were more Germans than Italians in the Roman army soall that remained was for the commanders to become Germans too.
This development blurs the definition of the “end of theempire” because if the Germans were commanding a Roman army of Germans, weren’tthey essentially controlling Rome? The emperors from Honorius on were puppets.
I also want to mention once again the attitude of the Gothstoward Rome, which was essentially respectful. The Goths wanted to settle inmore fertile areas south of the Alps and sought peaceful coexistence with the empire.It was only when Rome offended them repeatedly (as in 410 A.D.) that they becamemore militant. The Goths fought for Rome many more times than they foughtagainst Rome.
The Vandals, of course, are another story – we named wantondestruction after them.
