Joannes
| Joannes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern emperor Theodosius II | | ||||
| Died | c. May 425 Aquileia | ||||
| |||||
Joannes or John (
Latin: Iohannes; died 425) was Western Roman emperor
from 423 to 425.
On the death of the Western emperor Honorius, Theodosius II, the last remaining ruler of the Theodosian dynasty, did not immediately announce a successor. In the interregnum, the patrician Castinus elevated Joannes as emperor. Theodosius refused to accept the decision, and deposed Joannes in a civil war.
History
Joannes was a
From the beginning, his control over the empire was insecure. In
"The events of Johannes' reign are as shadowy as its origins," writes
Eastern Empire would strike from that direction. There is a mention of an expedition against Africa, but its fate, presumed unsuccessful, is unrecorded. In Gaul, he appears to have caused offense by submitting clerics to secular courts.[4]
Joannes had hoped that he could come to an agreement with the Eastern Emperor, but when
Aëtius, an important mission. Aëtius, governor of the Palace at the time, was sent to the Huns, with whom he had lived as a hostage earlier, to seek military help.[5]
While Aëtius was away, the army of the Eastern Empire left
John of Antioch states that a shepherd led the army of Aspar safely through the marshes that protected the city.[6] Aspar's father, Ardaburius, who had been captured by Joannes' soldiers, may have convinced the garrison of Ravenna to betray the city.[2] The fallen emperor was brought to Aquileia where first his hand was cut off, then he was paraded on a donkey in the Hippodrome to the insults of the populace. After further insults and injuries, Joannes was finally decapitated in mid 425.[7] His death is sometimes dated to May or June, probably on the basis two laws in the Codex Theodosianus issued by Theodosius II on 5 May 425.[8]
Three days after Joannes's death, Aëtius returned at the head of a substantial Hunnic army. After some skirmishing, Placidia,
East Roman army and navy, in addition to a fair dose of betrayal," to defeat Joannes.[9]
References
- ^ Procopius, De Bellus III.3.6. Translated by H.B. Dewing, Procopius (Cambridge: Loeb Classical Library, 1979), vol. 2 p. 25
- ^ a b c Oost, Stewart (1968). Galla Placidia Augusta: A biographical essay. Chicago: University Press, pp. 186–189ff.
- ^ Olympiodorus, fragment 40. Translated by C.D. Gordon, Age of Attila: Fifth Century Byzantium and the Barbarians (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1966), pp. 44f
- ^ Matthews, John (1990). Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364–425. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 379f.
- ^ Renatus Frigeridus, cited in Gregory of Tours, Decem Libri Historiarum, II.8; translated by Lewis Thorpe, History of the Franks (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974), pp. 118f
- ^ John of Antioch, fragment 195; translated by C.D. Gordon, Age of Attila, p. 47
- ^ Procopius, III.3.9; translated by Dewing, pp. 75ff
- ^ Codex Theodosianus in The Latin Library.
- ^ Goldsworthy, Andrian (2010). The Fall of the West: The Slow Death of the Roman Superpower. Orion Books Ltd, Paperback Edition. London, pp. 305 and 436.
Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ioannes.
- Hugh Elton (1999), "Ioannes", De Imperatoribus Romanis
- ISBN 9780521201599.
