Aetius Attila’s Nemesis Page 37

33. The main part of this version of events is taken from Procopius, 3.3.14–22. Although in this version it is Aetius who makes the accusation, it has been assumed that although Procopius has named the wrong individual, the germ of the story is correct.

  34. Prosp. s.a. 427; O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 79.

  35. Prosp. s.a. 427; Mavortius, PLRE Vol. 2, Mavortius 1, 736; Gallio, PLRE Vol. 2, Gallio, 492; Sanoeces, PLRE Vol. 2, Sanoeces, 976; Maenchen-Helfen, World of the Huns, pp. 77, 419-420.

  36. Prosp. s.a. 427; Chron Gall. 452, s.a. 424; Comes, Aug. Coll. Cum Maximino 1, Sermo 140, PLRE Vol. 2, Fl. Sigisvultus, 1010.

  37. Halsall, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, p. 240; Goths in Africa, Aug. Coll. Cum Maximino 1, Sermo 140.

  38. Aug., Coll. Cum Maximino 1, Sermo 140; PLRE Vol. 2, F. Sigisvultus, 1010.

  39. Marc. com. s.a. 427.

  40. Jord. Get. 166.

  41. This campaign is dated to 428 by Prosper and Cassiodorus, but possibly to 432 by Hydatius. On the confusion prevalent in the chronicles, see the Introduction.

  42. Elton in Drinkwater and Elton, Fifth Century Gaul, p. 167.

  43. Prosp. s.a. 425 and 428; Cassiodorus, Chron. s.a. 428

  44. Heinzelmann, in Drinkwater and Elton, Fifth Century Gaul, p. 243.

  45. Halsall, Barbarian Migrations, p. 238.

  46. Const., Vit. Germ. 12.

  47. Prosp. s.a. 429. Wood, ‘Fall of the Western Empire’, pp. 251–252, claims that Prosper associated the mission with a Roman imperative, although a close reading of the two suggests that they are in fact complementary.

  48. Hyd. a. 425, 426 and 428.

  49. Hyd. s.a. 425: the reference is to Mauretania Tingitania.

  50. Hyd. s.a. 428.

  51. It is possible that the Vandals at this stage were actually foederati called up by Felix to supplement the forces of Sigisvult. Blaming Boniface for inviting the Vandals to Africa may be later propaganda aimed at discrediting an enemy of Aetius. Rather than capturing Cartagena, the Vandals may have mustered in southern Spain in accordance with their foedus with the imperial court. This could explain why there was no opposition to their move to Mauretania. However the fact that they had recently been subjected to an unprovoked attack by the Roman government weakens this proposal.

  52. PLRE Vol. 2, Andevotus, 86, cf. Hyd. s.a. 438.

  53. PLRE Vol. 2, Andevotus, 86, cf. Cassiodorus, Variae, 5.29 for a similar-named individual who was an Ostrogoth.

  54. Hyd. s.a. 429.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Dating: Prosp. s.a. 427; Chron. Pasch. s.a. 428; Hyd. s.a. 429; Gall. Chron. 452, s.a. 430. Boniface responsible for the crossing to Africa: Proc. 3.3.22–6; Jord. Get. 33.167.

  57. Hyd. s.a. 429, ‘Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, abandoned the Spanish provinces in the month of May, crossing along with all the Vandals and their families from the coast of the province of Baetica to Mauretania and Africa.’ For a more detailed critical analysis of the accuracy of the ‘chronicles’, see ‘Introduction’. But cf., for example, Cass. Chron. s.a. 427.

  58. See ‘Chronology’.

  59. cf. Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 268.

  60. Schwarcz, “The Settlement of the Vandals in North Africa’, p. 51.

  61. Proc. 3.3.22–6; Jord. Get. 33.167. Jordanes was describing one of the traditional enemies of the Goths and Procopius was discussing the campaigns of his patron, who defeated heretics and barbarians, so their biases are evident.

  62. Mathisen, ‘Sigisvult the Patrician, Maximinus the Arian, and Political Stratagems in the Western Roman Empire c. 425–40’, pp. 189–191.

  63. Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 267.

  64. Vict. Vit. 1.2.

  65. Proc. 3.5.18–19.

  66. Vict. Vit. 1.2.

  67. Numbers, Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 269. It should be noted that the province of Mauretania Tingitana was classed as part of Hispania, rather than of Africa by the Romans.

  Chapter 7

  1. It may be useful to read this with reference to the Outline Chronology to aid understanding.

  2. Hughes, Stilicho, esp. p. 38.

  3. MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords, p. 5.

  4. Hyd. s.a. 425; PLRE, Fl. Constantius Felix 14, 461. O’Flynn follows Prosper in dating the patricianship to 429 (Prosp. s.a. 429). See also Chapter 5.

  5. Although it is certain that Felix, Aetius and Boniface all had a close company of political supporters, their relative strengths are unknown.

  6. Proc. 3.3.27-30.

  7. The senator Darius the chief peace negotiator: Aug. Ep. 229–231 (www.ccel.org/ ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii. 1.CCXXIX.html): (October 2010).

  8. O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 79.

  9. Cod. Th. 11.30.68.

  10. The fact that messengers were sent to Constantinople asking for help is not explicitly stated in the sources. However, reinforcements arrived in Africa in 431, an event which must have been precipitated by an embassy from the West. See later in the chapter, and Proc. 3.3.35; Theoph. AM 5931.

  11. Aug. Ep. 229.

  12. Cod. Th. 12.6.3; PLRE Vol. 2, Theodosius 8, 1101.

  13. For a further analysis of this appointment, see Chapter X.

  14. Dating: Prosp s.a. 429; Hyd. s.a. 430. On the use of these military titles and their meanings, see Chapter 6 and Hughes, Stilicho, pp. 48–49.

  15. Hughes, Stilicho, pp. 48–49.

  16. For the opposite view, see O’Flynn, Generalissimos, pp. 175–176, n. 25.

  17. Compare with Prosp. s.a. 432, where Boniface is later made comes et magister utriusque militiae to counter Aetius. O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 79.

  18. Hyd. s.a. 430. Anaolsus’ fate is unknown.

  19. Chron. Gall. 452 s.a. 430; Hyd. s.a. 430; Sid App. Carm. 7.233.

  20. See chapters 7 and 8.

  21. PLRE Vol. 2, Octar, 789–790.

  22. Soc. 7.30: ‘Uptaros’ = ‘Octar’.

  23. Prosp. s.a. 430. See also Joh. Ant. fr. 201.3 (referenced in O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 79).

  24. Hyd. s.a. 430.

  25. It is possible that Felix was a Western general who had remained loyal to Placidia. However, the fact that he was killed by the troops implies that this was not the case.

  26. Vict. Vit. 1.8. Some of the buildings Victor claims were destroyed by the Vandals had already been ‘overthrown’ by the Catholics in Africa, whilst others may simply have already been in decline before the advent of the Vandals: cf. Moorhead, Victor of Vita, p. 5, n. 8.

  27. Marcillet-Jaubert, Les Inscriptions D’Altava, no. 147.

  28. Heather, 2005, 269.

  29. Aug. Ep. 230 (AD 429), where Darius, in a reply to Augustine, hopes that the peace with the Vandals will last.

  30. Vict. Vit. 1.1.

  31. Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 268.

  32. Not. Dig. Oc. 25; c.15,000 comitatenses and 15,000 limitanei: Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 268.

  33. This is shown by the fact that after he had been reinforced by Eastern troops Boniface lost another battle against Gaiseric: see below.

  34. Poss. 28.

  35. Merob. Carm. 4, ‘an offspring of heroes, and a descendant of kings’; Sid. Ap. Carm 5, 203ff.

  36. Schwarcz, ‘Settlement of the Vandals’, p. 51.

  37. Proc. 3.3.30–31; 3.3.34.

  38. Possidius (29) states that Augustine died in the ‘third month of the siege’. As Augustine is known to have died on 28 August, this means that the siege began in May or June, depending upon the exact meaning of Possidius’ words.

  39. Poss. 28. It is probable that the Vandals maintained the ships used in the crossing to Africa and that these followed the main body along the North African coast.

  40. Poss. 28.

  41. Prosp. s.a. 430.

  42. Hyd. s.a. 430.

  43. Ibid.

  44. Ibid., s.a. 431.

  45. Greg. Tur. 2.9; Clover, Flavius Merobaudes, p. 43.

  46. Hyd. s.a. 432. Although it has been posited that H
ydatius was conflating the campaigns of 428 and 432, this is unlikely since he took a personal part in the embassy to Aetius to request aid against the Sueves, and the campaign of 428 is attested separately by Prosper (s.a. 428), who is usually accurate in these matters.

  47. Hyd. s.a. 431. Aquae Flaviae is almost certainly now Chaves, Portugal: www.portugal-info.net/transmontana/chaves.htm (May 2010).

  48. Hyd. s.a. 431.

  49. Prosp. s.a. 431.

  50. Fourteen-month siege, Vict. Vita, 3.10.

  51. Proc. 3. 3. 35: dating the siege, Possidius notes that Augustine died in the third month of the siege. According to Prosper (s.a. 430) the date of his death was 28 August 430, the third month of the siege. The siege lasted for fourteen months, Vict. Vita, 3.10: therefore, the siege was from May–June 430 to July–August 431.

  52. Dating the arrival to 431, PLRE Vol. 2, Fl. Ardabur Aspar, 166, noting a letter written during the Council of Ephesus in 431; ACOec. 1.4, p. 76. Reinforcements from ‘both Rome and Byzantium’, Proc. 3.3.35.

  53. Aetius responsible for arrangements, Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 285.

  54. Proc. 3.3.35–36; Evagr. 2.1; Theoph. AM 5931, 5943; Zon. 13.24.12.

  55. Evagr. 2.37–38.

  56. Theoph. AM 5931; Evagr. 2.1; Proc. 3.4.2ff.

  57. Poss. 28.

  58. Addit. Ad Prosp. Haun. s.a. 432, Chron. Min. I, 301; Merob., Pan I, fr. IIA.

  59. Hyd. s.a. 432.

  60. Hyd. s.a. 431.

  61. Hyd. s.a. 432.

  62. The order may date to late 431, just after Aetius had left for the campaign in Gaul.

  63. Aspar remained in Africa until at least 434; PLRE Vol. 2, Fl. Ardabur Aspar, 166.

  64. Prosp. s.a. 432; cf. Chron. Gall. 452, s.a. 432; Marcell. com, s.a. 432; Proc. 3.1.3; cf. John Ant. fr. 201.3

  65. Marcell. com. s.a. 432, 435.

  66. cf. Stilicho, Constantius (III).

  67. Hyd. s.a. 432.

  68. Addit. ad Prosp. Haun. s.a. 432: ‘Pugna facta inter Aetium et Bonifatium in V do Arimino.’

  69. Prosp. s.a. 432; Gall. Chron. 452, s.a. 432; Addit. ad Prosp. Haun. s.a. 432; Marcell. com. s.a. 432; John. Ant. fr. 201.3 (who claims that Aetius defeated Boniface); PLRE Vol. 2, Aetius 7, 23.

  70. Marcell. com. s.a. 432. The claim that Aetius was patricius in this entry is probably Marcellinus simply using the title by which he could be definitely identified and anachronistically applying it to the past.

  71. Prosp. s.a. 432.

  72. Illness, Prosp. s.a. 432: ‘Although he fought a battle with Aetius, who was opposing him, and defeated him, he died a few days later of illness.’ Wounds, Gall. Chron. 452, s.a. 432: ‘Boniface was wounded in a battle against Aetius but retired from it to die’; ‘three months later’, Marcell. com. s.a. 432.

  73. Olymp. fr. 40.

  74. cf. Castinus.

  75. Hyd. s.a. 432; cf. Vict. Vit. 1.19

  76. Prosp. s.a. 432.

  77. Prosp. s.a. 432

  78. Chron. Gall. 452, s.a. 432; Maenchen-Helfen, World of the Huns, p. 86.

  79. For a detailed analysis and bibliography of these discussions, see Maenchen-Helfen, World of the Huns, p. 90ff.

  80. Prosp. s.a. 432.

  81. Ibid.: ‘[Aetius] used their [the Huns’] friendship and assistance to obtain the peace of the emperors and get his power restored.’ Chron. Gall. 452, ‘[Aetius] returned to Roman territory with the help he had asked for.’ cf., for example, Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 262: Aetius returned ‘with enough reinforcements to make Sebastian’s position untenable’.

  82. ‘The Goths were summoned by the Romans to bring help’, Chron. Gall. 452, s.a. 433. Although there is no mention of a battle in the sources, there is a small chance that a battle occurred but that the sources that have survived simply fail to mention it.

  83. ‘An able advisor and an active soldier’, Vict. Vit. 1.19, but Victor may have idolized Sebastian as the son of the ‘African’ Boniface. ‘Piratical’ activities, Suid. Θ 145; Prisc. fr. 4. Although his later actions do not necessarily mean that he was prey to this activity earlier in his career, it is notable that he was later declared a public enemy by the Romans and fled, finally residing with the Vandals in Africa until Gaiseric had him killed: see PLRE Vol. 2, Sebastianus III, 983–984 for a more detailed account of his life.

  84. Hyd. s.a. 434.

  85. Ibid., 433.

  86. Ibid.

  87. Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 369.

  Chapter 8

  1. Marc. com. s.a. 432; John Ant. fr. 201.

  2. Visigoth, cf. Sid. App. Carm. 5.128, 203–204; Merob. Carm. 4.17. Arian and daughter baptized as an Arian, Aug. Ep. 220.4 (a.427 or 429); PLRE Vol. 2, Pelagia 1, 856.

  3. Greg. Tur. HF. 2.7; PLRE Vol. 2, Pelagia 1, 857

  4. Clover, Flavius Merobaudes, p. 31.

  5. Merob. Carm. 4.17; Clover, Flavius Merobaudes, p. 31.

  6. John. Ant. fr. 201.3.

  7. Although this is nowhere specifically stated, this is the most likely reason for the lack of campaigning represented in the sources. For a similar process undertaken by Stilicho, see Hughes, Stilicho, pp. 30–33.

  8. Comes rei privatae, Cod. Th. 11, 20.4a (19 May 423).

  9. Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, pp. 285–286.

  10. Prosp. s.a. 435; cf. Laterc. Reg. Vand. et Al. (Hispani 1).

  11. The consul for the east was Areobindus.

  12. Proc. 3.4.13–15.

  13. Schwarcz, ‘Settlement of the Vandals’, p. 52.

  14. Prosp. s.a. 435. Isidore in his ‘History of the Vandals’ notes only that the Vandals arrived in Mauretania and Africa: H. Vand. 74: Chron. Min. II, 297.

  15. Halsall, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, p. 243.

  16. Bury, A History of the Later Roman Empire From Arcadius to Irene, vol I, p. 170.

  17. PLRE Vol. 2, Geisericus, 497.

  18. Heather, Fall of the Roman Empire, p. 269, map 10, p. 286.

  19. Prosp, s.a. 437.

  20. Nov. Val. 13 and 34.

  21. C. Courtois, Les Vandales en Afrique (Algeria, 1955), p. 170 and n. 2, cited in Schwarcz, ‘Settlement of the Vandals’, p. 53.

  22. cf. Courtois, Les Vandales, pp. 172–175, cited in Schwarcz, ‘Settlement of the Vandals’, p. 54, n.35.

  23. Schwarcz, ‘Settlement of the Vandals’, p. 53.

  24. In his translation and commentary Moorhead notes that the title dux is ‘surprising’ as Geiseric had ‘become king the previous year’: Moorhead, Victor of Vita, p. 3, n. 2.

  25. Schwarcz, ‘Settlement of the Vandals’, p. 57.

  26. Ibid., pp. 56–57.

  27. Sid. Ap. Carm. 7.234.

  28. Gall. Chron. 452. s.a. 435.

  29. Date, Chron. Gall. 452, s.a. 435.

  30. Comes, Prosp. s.a. 436; O’Flynn, Generalissimos, pp. 83–84.

  31. Sid. Ap. Carm. 7. 246–247.

  32. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602, p. 1434.

  33. Prosp a. 435; cf. Cass. Chron. s.a. 435.

  34. Hyd. s.a. 443.

  35. Const. Vit. Germ. 25–27.

  36. Wood, ‘The Fall of the Western Empire and the End of Roman Britain’, pp. 252–253.

  37. Date, Ann. Rav. s.a. 435.

  38. On Stilicho’s wars, see Hughes, Stilicho, passim.

  39. MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords, p. 6, n. 3.

  40. Prosp. s.a. 436.

  41. Ibid.

  42. For a more in-depth discussion, see the Introduction.

  43. Hyd. s.a. 436.

  44. There remains the possibility that the two wars were against two different groups of ‘Burgundians’. Although possible, the lack of evidence means that certainty is impossible.

  45. Vetto, Hyd. s.a. 431. See Chapter 9.

  46. Jord. Get. 36.

  47. In 431 the Vandals were still at war with the Romans in Africa, so a Gothic alliance with the Vandals would have been interpreted by Aetius as an extremely hostile move, necessitating action. Si
nce no action was taken at this time, the later date is preferred. Clover, ‘Geiseric and Attila’, p. 106 dates the alliance to between 440 and 442. However Jordanes (36.184) claims that Huneric had children, and there is no mention of any other wife. As a result, time needs to be allowed for their children to be born, so the earlier date is preferred.

  48. Prosp. s.a. 439. It is possible that Vetericus is identical with Vitericus, as attested in PLRE Vol. 2, Vetericus, 1157. For more information on Vetericus see below.

  49. Elton in Drinkwater and Elton, Fifth Century Gaul, p. 169.

  50. Prosp. s.a 436; Hyd. s.a. 436.

  51. Prisc. fr. 11.1.

  52. O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 176 n. 30: ‘around 435 parts of Pannonia officially ceded to the Huns’. The terminology used by Priscus may indicate that by the time of the agreement, Rua was dead and that the treaty was actually agreed with his successor: Prisc. fr. 11.1; Maenchen-Helfen, World of the Huns, p. 87ff. Rua dead in 434, Gall. Chron. s.a. 434.

  53. Sid. Ap. Carm. 7. 246–247. Dates, Chron. Gall. 452, s.a. 435 and 437.

  54. Chron. Gall 452, s.a. 437.

  55. Sid, Ap. Carm. 7.246–248; Prosp. s.a.. 436; Hyd. s.a. 436, s.a. 437.

  56. Prosp. s.a. 436.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Sid. Ap. Carm. 7.244–271, 278–294.

  59. PLRE Vol. 2, Eparchius Avitus, 196–198.

  60. Sid. Ap. Carm. 7.255; PLRE Vol. 2, Eparchius Avitus, 197.

  61. Sid. Ap. Carm. 7.244–294.

  62. Hyd. a. 437.

  63. Chron. Gall. 452, a. 436

  64. Halsall, Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, p. 244; referencing e.g. Barnish in Drinkwater and Elton, Fifth Century Gaul .

  65. Hyd. s.a. 437.

  66. Jord. Get. 34 (176).

  67. Merob. Pan I, fr. IIA 22–23.

  68. Salvian, de Gub. Dei. 6.8; cf. Salvian, Ep. I.

  69. Valentinian travelling to Constantinople, Prosp. s.a. 437.

  70. Chron. Pasch. s.a. 437.

  71. O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 83.

  72. Chron. Pasch. s.a. 437; Ann. Rav. s.a. 437. cf. Soc. 7.44.

  73. Rossi, I 698; inscription, Xystus, Ep. 9–10, CIG, 9427; PLRE Vol. 2, Aetius 7, 25.

  74. For references, PLRE Vol. 2, Sigisvultus, 1010.

  75. This theory may be compared to O’Flynn, ‘For some reason the Eastern government agreed to having two Western consuls’. Generalissimos, p. 81.

  76. Soc. 7.44.

  77. This interpretation of Merobaudes, Panegyric I, fragment IIA is not conclusive: for further analysis, see O’Flynn, Generalissimos, p. 177, n. 45; Clover, Merobaudes, pp. 36–37.