Odoacer
Odoacer | |
---|---|
King of Italy | |
Reign | 4 September 476 – 15 March 493 |
Successor | Theodoric the Great |
Born | c. 433[1] |
Died | 15 March 493 (aged about 60) Ravenna, Kingdom of Italy |
Spouse | Sunigilda |
Issue | Thela |
Father | Edeko |
Religion | Arianism |
Odoacer
Although he held power over
Odoacer was a military leader in Italy who led the revolt of
When
Ethnicity
Except for the fact that he was not considered Roman, Odoacer's precise ethnic origins are not known.[f] Some scholars believe his origins lie in the multi-ethnic empire of Attila. Most scholars consider him to be at least partly of Germanic descent, while others argue he was entirely Germanic.[4] Early medieval sources such as Theophanes called him a Goth.[5] Likewise, the 6th century chronicler Marcellinus Comes called him "king of the Goths" (Odoacer rex Gothorum).[g]
In a fragment from a history of
Much later, a memorial plate from 1521 found in the
Many historians, such as medieval scholar
Onomastic and other evidence
The origin of the name Odoacer, which may give indications as to his tribal affiliation, is debated. One suggestion is that Odoacer is derived from the Germanic
Before Italy
Possibly the earliest recorded incident involving Odoacer is from a fragment of a chronicle preserved in the History of the Franks of Gregory of Tours. Two different chapters of his work mention military leaders with Odoacer's name, using two different spellings and involving two different regions.[28]
- In the first mention, a confused or confusing report is given of a number of battles fought by King Childeric I of the Franks, Aegidius, Count Paul, and one "Adovacrius" (with an "a") who was leading a group of Saxons based at the mouth of the Loire.[28] Though there is no consensus, some historians, such as Reynolds and Lopez, have suggested that this Adovacrius may be the same person as the future king of Italy.[24]
- In a second mention by Gregory of Tours, an Odovacrius (with an "o") made an alliance with the same Childeric, and together they fought the Alamanni, who had been causing problems in Italy. This Odoacer, with his connection to the region north of Italy, and his "o" spelling, is probably the future king of Italy, before he was king.[29]
The earliest supposed recorded event which is more certainly about Odoacer the future king, was shortly before he arrived in Italy. Eugippius, in his Life of Saint Severinus, records how a group of barbarians on their way to Italy had stopped to pay their respects to the holy man. Odoacer, at the time "a young man, of tall figure, clad in poor clothes", learned from Severinus that he would one day become famous.[30] Despite the fact that Odoacer was an Arian Christian and Severinus was Catholic, the latter left a deep impression on him.[30] When Odoacer took his leave, Severinus made one final comment which proved prophetic: "Go to Italy, go, now covered with mean hides; soon you will make rich gifts to many."[31][k]
Leader of the foederati
By 470, Odoacer had become an officer in what remained of the Roman Army. Although Jordanes writes of Odoacer as invading Italy "as leader of the Sciri, the
When Orestes was in 475 appointed Magister militum and patrician by the Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos, Odoacer became head of the Germanic foederati of Italy (the Scirian – Herulic foederati). Under the command of Orestes were significant contingents of Germanic peoples made up mostly of Rugii and Heruli tribesmen.[35] Before the end of that year Orestes had rebelled and driven Nepos from Italy.[35] Orestes then proclaimed his young son Romulus the new emperor as Romulus Augustus, called "Augustulus" (31 October).[36] At this time, Odoacer was a soldier rising through the ranks.[37] However, Nepos reorganized his court in Salona, Dalmatia and received homage and affirmation from the remaining fragments of the Western Empire beyond Italy and, most importantly, from Constantinople, which refused to accept Augustulus, Zeno having branded him and his father as traitors and usurpers.[38]
About this time the foederati, who had been quartered in Italy all of these years, had grown weary of this arrangement. In the words of
Following Romulus Augustus's deposition, according to the historian Malchus, upon hearing of the accession of Zeno to the throne, the Senate in Rome sent an embassy to the Eastern Emperor and bestowed upon him the Western imperial insignia. The message was clear: the West no longer required a separate Emperor, for "one monarch sufficed [to rule] the world". In response, Zeno accepted their gifts and this essentially brought to an end any puppet emperors in the West, with Nepos banished and Anthemius dead.[41] The Eastern Emperor then conferred upon Odoacer the title of Patrician and granted him legal authority to govern Italy in the name of Rome, as dux Italiae.[42] Zeno also suggested that Odoacer should receive Nepos back as Emperor in the West,[43] "if he truly wished to act with justice."[n] Although he accepted the title of Patrician and Dux from Zeno, Odoacer did not invite Julius Nepos to return to Rome, and the latter remained in Dalmatia until his death. Odoacer was careful to observe form, however, and made a pretence of acting on Nepos's authority, even issuing coins with both his image and that of Zeno.[44] Following Nepos's murder in 480, who was killed while waiting in Dalmatia,[45] Zeno became sole Emperor.[46]
Bury, however, disagrees that Odoacer's assumption of power marked the fall of the Western Roman Empire:
It stands out prominently as an important stage in the process of the dismemberment of the Empire. It belongs to the same catalogue of chronological dates which includes A.D. 418, when Honorius settled the Goths in Aquitaine, and A.D. 435, when Valentinian ceded African lands to the Vandals. In A.D. 476 the same principle of disintegration was first applied to Italy. The settlement of Odovacar's East Germans, with Zeno's acquiescence, began the process by which Italian soil was to pass into the hands of Ostrogoths and Lombards, Franks and Normans. And Odovacar's title of king emphasised the significance of the change.[47]
King of Italy
Kingdom of Italy Regnum Italiae | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
476–493 | |||||||||
Latin | |||||||||
Dux | |||||||||
• 476–493 AD | Odoacer | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Odoacer is proclaimed Rex | 23 August 476 | ||||||||
• Romulus Augustulus abdicates | 4 September 476 | ||||||||
• Theoderic assassinates Odoacer | 15 March 493 | ||||||||
Currency | Solidus | ||||||||
|
In 476, Odoacer was proclaimed rex by his soldiers and dux Italiae by emperor Zeno, initiating a new administrative era over Roman lands. Odoacer introduced a few important changes to the administrative system of Italy. According to Jordanes, at the beginning of his reign he "slew Count Bracila at Ravenna that he might inspire a fear of himself among the Romans."[48] He took many military actions to strengthen his control over Italy and its neighbouring areas. He achieved a solid diplomatic coup by inducing the Vandal king Gaiseric to cede Sicily to him. Noting that "Odovacar seized power in August of 476, Gaiseric died in January 477, and the sea usually became closed to navigation around the beginning of November", F. M. Clover dates this cession to September or October 476.[49] When Julius Nepos was murdered by two of his retainers in his country house near Salona (9 May 480), Odoacer assumed the duty of pursuing and executing the assassins, and at the same time established his own rule in Dalmatia.[50]
As Bury points out, "It is highly important to observe that Odovacar established his political power with the co-operation of the Roman Senate, and this body seems to have given him their loyal support throughout his reign, so far as our meagre sources permit us to draw inferences." He regularly nominated members of the Senate to the
Although Odoacer was an
In 487/488, Odoacer led his army to victory against the
Fall and death
As Odoacer's position improved, Zeno, the Eastern Emperor, increasingly saw him as a rival. Odoacer exchanged messages with Illus, who had been in open revolt against Zeno since 484.[57][p] Switching allegiances, Zeno subsequently sought to destroy Odoacer and then promised Theodoric the Great and his Ostrogoths the Italian peninsula if they were to defeat and remove Odoacer. As both Herwig Wolfram and Peter Heather point out, Theodoric had his own reasons to agree to this offer: "Theodoric had enough experience to know (or at least suspect) that Zeno would not, in the long term, tolerate his independent power. When Theodoric rebelled in 485, we are told, he had in mind Zeno's treatment of Armatus. Armatus defected from Basilicus to Zeno in 476, and was made senior imperial general for life. Within a year, Zeno had him assassinated."[58]
In 489, Theodoric led the Ostrogoths across the
The following summer, the Visigothic king
By this time, however, Odoacer appeared to have lost all hope of victory. A large-scale sortie he sent out of Ravenna on the night of 9/10 July 491 ended in failure,[67] during which his commander-in-chief, Livilia, along with the best of his Herulian soldiers were killed.[68] On 29 August 492, the Goths were about to assemble enough ships at Rimini to set up an effective blockade of Ravenna. Despite these decisive losses, the war dragged on until 25 February 493 when John, bishop of Ravenna, was able to negotiate a treaty between Theodoric and Odoacer to occupy Ravenna together and share joint rule. After a three-year siege, Theodoric entered the city on 5 March. Odoacer died ten days later, slain by Theodoric while they shared a meal.[68][69] Theodoric had plotted to have a group of his followers kill him while the two kings were feasting together in the imperial palace of Honorius "Ad Laurentum" ("At the Laurel Grove"); when this plan went astray, Theodoric drew his sword and struck him on the collarbone. In response to Odoacer's dying question, "Where is God?" Theodoric cried, "This is what you did to my friends." Theodoric was said to have stood over the body of his dead rival and exclaimed, "The man has no bones in his body."[70][u]
Not only did Theodoric slay Odoacer, he thereafter had the betrayed king's loyal followers hunted down and killed as well, an event which left him as the master of Italy.[71][w] Odoacer's wife Sunigilda was stoned to death,[x] and his brother Onoulphus was killed by archers while seeking refuge in a church. Theodoric exiled Odoacer's son Thela to Gaul, but when he attempted to return to Italy Theodoric had him killed.[y] Despite the tragic ending of his domain, followers, and family, Odoacer left an important legacy, in that, he had laid the foundations for a great kingdom in Italy for Theodoric to exploit.[72]
Later portrayals
- The Old High German Hildebrandslied mentions Odoacer (as Otacher) as the person who drove Hildebrand from his home.[73]
- The Old English poem "Wulf and Eadwacer" has been thought to be a legendary retelling of part of Odoacer's story.[74]
See also
- Alaric I
- Gaiseric
- Germanic peoples
- Barbarian invasions
Notes
- ^ Odoacer is called "Flavius" on a few coins.[1] The name had become a title by the 5th century.[2]
- ^ See the following: "Odoacer". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
- romanized: Odóakros[1]
- ^ "Odoacer was the first barbarian who reigned over Italy, over a people who had once asserted their just superiority above the rest of mankind." Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter XXXVI.[3]
- Papal documents, which come the closest to implying official use of the title, all refer to him as rex. Jordanes at one point refers to him as Gothorum Romanorumque regnator: ruler of the Goths and the Romans. He is called an autokrator (autocrat) and a tyrannos (usurper, tyrant) by Procopius' Bellum Gothicum. The only reference to Odoacer as "King of Italy" is in Victor Vitensis: Odouacro Italiae regi.
- ^ For more on this, see: Stefan Krautschick, "Zwei Aspekte des Jahres 476", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 35 (1986), pp. 344–371.
- ^ Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, s. a. 476.
- ^ See:Jordanes, Romana 344.
- ^ The Anonymus Valesianus agrees that his father's name was Edeko (Edika), and refers to him leading Sciri and Heruli.
- Pannonia about 469.[10] There is also debate regarding the etymology of Edeco, with Omeljan Pritsak considering it Turkic and Peter Heather considering it Germanic.[11][12]
- ^ Translator of Eugippius' The Life of Saint Severin, Ludwig Bieler, explains in a footnote that "make rich gifts to many" refers to the custom of Germanic war leaders giving lavishly to their followers, because "generosity was one of the virtues which a king was supposed to have."[32]
- ^ Also See: John of Antioch, fragment 209; translated by C. D. Gordon, Age of Attila, p. 122. Procopius describes him as one of the Emperor's bodyguards, only agreeing to this position if placed in charge of them.[33]
- ^ Also see: Anonymus Valesianus, 8.38. Text and English translation of this document is in J.C. Rolfe (trans.), Ammianus Marcellinus (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), vol. 3 pp. 531ff
- ^ See:Malchus, fragment 10, translated in C. D. Gordon, The Age of Attila, pp. 127–129.
- argumentum ex silentio to prove that Odoacer was very supportive of the Church. "Ennodius was a loyal supporter of Theodoric the Great. Any oppression, therefore, on the part of Odovacar would not be passed over in silence." She concludes that Ennodius' silence "may be construed as an unintentional tribute to the moderation and tolerance of the barbarian king".[53]
- ^ Also see: John of Antioch, fragment 214; translated by C. D. Gordon, Age of Attila, p. 152.
- ^ For several years the armies of Odoacer and Theodoric marched back and forth as they vied for control of Italy.[60]
- ^ See also: Anonymus Valesianus, 11.50f. This follows how Thomas Hodgkins explains this confusing chronology of the Anonymus Valesianus; Italy and her Invaders (Oxford, 1885), vol. 4 p. 214.
- ^ Also See:Anonymus Valesianus, 11.52.
- ^ Wolfram suggests that sometime in 492 or 493, Fredericus and Tufa quarrelled and fought a battle, during which both were killed. To this Wolfram adds, that the Rugians "rejoined the Gothic king" (by whom, he means Theodoric).[64]
- ^ John of Antioch, fragment 214a; translated by C. D. Gordon, reports the statement as "There certainly wasn't a bone in this wretched fellow". Age of Attila, pp. 182f. Both the Anonymus Valesianus (11.55) and Andreas Agnellus (Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis, ch. 39) places the murder in Ad Laurentum. Herwig Wolfram explains Theodoric's claim of avenging his "friends" as recompense for the death of a Rugian royal couple – "it apparently did not matter that their son was at that very moment in open rebellion against Theodoric."[68]
- ^ See:Anonymus Valesianus 11.56
- ^ According to one account, "That same day, all of Odoacer's army who could be found anywhere were killed by order of Theodoric, as well as all of his family".[v]
- ^ However, Wolfram writes that Sunigilda was starved to death.[68]
- ^ See: John of Antioch, fragment 214a.
References
- ^ a b c d e Martindale 1980.
- ^ Cameron 1988.
- ^ Gibbon 1998, p. 716.
- ^ Heather 2018, pp. 1340–1341.
- ^ MacGeorge 2002, p. 284.
- ^ a b Jordanes 1915, p. 119 [XLVI.242].
- ^ Jordanes 1915, p. 135 [LVII.291].
- ^ a b Reynolds & Lopez 1946, p. 44.
- ^ Kim 2013, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Heather 2005, pp. 314–317.
- ^ Pritsak 1982, pp. 456–457.
- ^ Heather 2005, p. 329.
- ^ Friedhof und Katakomben im Stift St. Peter
- ^ Sotiroff 1974, p. 93.
- ^ Magocsi 2015, pp. 50–51.
- ^ a b Frassetto 2003, p. 275.
- ^ Kim 2013, pp. 98–101.
- ^ Macbain 1983, p. 325.
- ^ MacGeorge 2002, p. 286.
- ^ Amory 1997, p. 282.
- ^ Jensen 2018, p. 16.
- ^ Waldman & Mason 2006, p. 699.
- ^ Voyles 1992, p. 141.
- ^ a b Reynolds & Lopez 1946, p. 45.
- ^ Macbain 1983, p. 324.
- ^ Macbain 1983, p. 326.
- ^ Macbain 1983, p. 327.
- ^ a b Gregory of Tours 1974, p. 132 [II.18–19].
- ^ MacGeorge 2002, p. 110.
- ^ a b Thompson 1982, p. 63.
- ^ Eugippius 1965, p. 64.
- ^ Eugippius 1965, p. 65fn.
- ^ Prokopios 2014, p. 251 [5.1.6].
- ^ Wolfram 1997, p. 184.
- ^ a b Goldsworthy 2009, p. 367.
- ^ Bury 1923, p. 405.
- ^ Thompson 1982, pp. 63–64.
- ^ Bury 1958, p. 190.
- ^ a b Bury 1923, p. 406.
- ^ Bernard 1970, p. 19.
- ^ Bury 1923, p. 407.
- ^ Heather 2005, pp. 428–429.
- ^ Heather 2005, p. 429.
- ^ Elton 2018, p. 219.
- ^ Bunson 1995, p. 292.
- ^ Grant 1998, pp. 46–47.
- ^ a b Bury 1923, p. 409.
- ^ Jordanes 1915, p. 119 [XLVI.243].
- ^ Clover 1999, p. 237.
- ^ Bury 1923, p. 410.
- ^ Jones 1964, p. 253.
- ^ Jones 1964, p. 254.
- ^ a b Ennodius 1942, p. 12fn.
- ^ Davis 2001, p. 41fn.
- ^ Amory 1997, p. 121.
- ^ Paul the Deacon 2003, pp. 31–33 [XIX].
- ^ Lee 2013, p. 100.
- ^ Heather 1996, p. 217.
- ^ Heather 2013, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Delbrück 1990, p. 289.
- ^ Heather 2013, p. 51.
- ^ Frassetto 2003, p. 337.
- ^ a b c Wolfram 1988, p. 281.
- ^ a b c d Wolfram 1988, p. 282.
- ^ Prokopios 2014, pp. 252–253 [5.1.18–23].
- ^ Heather 1996, p. 219.
- ^ Wolfram 1997, p. 188.
- ^ a b c d Wolfram 1988, p. 283.
- ^ Bury 1923, p. 426.
- ^ Amory 1997, p. 69.
- ^ Halsall 2007, p. 287.
- ^ Frassetto 2003, p. 276.
- ^ Shiels 2022, p. 410.
- ^ Shiels 2022, pp. 373–420.
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Further reading
- Gregory, Timothy E. (2005). A History of Byzantium. Malden, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-63123-513-2.