Adovacrius

Adovacrius was a leader of Saxon raiders who in the 60 years of the fifth century in Gaul were active.

Adovacrius led a group of Saxon looters who had established themselves on several of the Loir islands . Their raiding campaigns were favored by the looming collapse of Western Roman rule in Gaul. The former magister militum Aegidius , who fell out with the Western Roman government in 461, established his own domain around Soissons in northern Gaul , which under his son Syagrius was able to hold out against the attacking Salfranken under Clovis I until 486/87 . This Gallo-Roman special empire apparently at least preserved remnants of the late Roman administrative order and culture in this area, although details on it have not been passed down.

Originally Adovacrius is only mentioned by Gregory of Tours in his Historiae , all descriptions by later authors (such as pseudo- Fredegar ) depend on Gregory. In the 60s of the 5th century Adovacrius took action against the city of Andecavus ( Angers ). Gregor describes these events very succinctly, but apparently on the basis of a now lost source, which is referred to in research as the Annals of Angers due to strong contextual references :

“ Childerich now fought at Orléans, but Adovacrius and his Saxons came against Angers. There was a great plague among the people at that time. Aegidius also died, leaving a son named Syagrius. But since that [ie Aegidius] had died, Adovacrius received hostages from Angers and other places. "

Since the Battle of Orléans took place in 463 (in which Aegidius won against the Visigoths , which is mentioned in contemporary sources) and Aegidius died in 464/65, this representation obviously refers to events in 463 and 464/65. Gregor then describes events that are often dated to the year 469/70, although the dating is problematic:

“Then Paul, the Roman commander, attacked the Goths with the Romans and Franks and made rich booty. But when Adovacrius came to Angers, King Childeric appeared the next day and, after Paul was killed, won the city. That day the church house went up in flames. "

The Roman commander Paulus mentioned here is otherwise unknown. In research it was often assumed that he was acting on behalf of Syagrius or that Paul even acted as governor in Soissons in his place. But this is pure speculation, because it does not emerge from Gregory's report whether Paul acted on behalf of someone else (in which case it cannot be ruled out that he was active as a representative of the legitimate Western Roman government) or perhaps not on his own initiative. All of this must ultimately remain open.

What is certain is that a few years after his first attack, Adovacrius again took action against Angers and there was fighting against Gallo-Roman (and allied Franconian?) Troops as well as against Sal-Franconian troops under Childerich. Paul fell in battle, but the Saxons were pushed back by Childerich. It is unclear whether Childeric fought under Paul's command or at least was allied with him; It is also possible that Childerich fought both against the Saxons and against Roman troops to protect his own interests. However, Gregor also reported that the Saxons were subsequently defeated by the Romans and the Saxon bases on the Loir islands were destroyed by the Franks. At least Gallo-Roman troops cooperated with the Franks, although Childerich is not mentioned here.

Adovacrius is then no longer mentioned by Gregory, but a certain Odovacrius , with whom Childeric entered into an alliance, and who, however , is identified with Odoacer , the later ruler in Italy , without substantiated evidence . In research, attempts have now been made to connect Adovacrius with this same Odovacrius, but this is controversial. A certain similarity of names is not compelling proof, since the Latin original text obviously distinguishes between the two, unlike in various modern translations, where Adovacrius and Odovacrius are often reproduced in the same name form. In addition, Odoaker is sometimes referred to as Skire , Thuringian, etc., but never as a Saxon. So one would have to construct a connection that is only based on a certain similarity of names and is therefore rather unlikely.

According to Ulrich Nonn , there is insufficient evidence about Adovacrius or Odovacrius for an equation with Theodoric's opponent Odoaker, which was not ruled out by Matthias Springer . Nonn refers to Gregor and the Liber Historiae Francorum insofar as neither refer to the Italian Odoacer anywhere in the context of their tradition. After his critical evaluations of the text, Fredegar names him four times and always without handwritten variants as Odoagrus , while the Saxon leader as Childerich's spatial contemporary is only called Odovacrus . Nonn also cites Herwig Wolfram , who considers a common identity of both characters to be a “prosopographic relationship mania”.

literature

• David Frye: Aegidius, Childeric, Odovacer and Paul. In: Nottingham Medieval Studies. 36, 1992, ISSN  0078-2122 , pp. 1-14.
• Edward James: The Franks. Blackwell, Oxford et al. 1988, ISBN 0-631-14872-8 ( The peoples of Europe ).
• Penny MacGeorge: Late Roman Warlords. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2002, ISBN 0-19-925244-0 ( Oxford classical monographs ).

Remarks

1. ↑ MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords , pp. 82ff.
2. ↑ General see MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords , pp. 111ff.
3. ^ ^{A b} Gregory of Tours, Historiae 2.18; Translation after Wilhelm von Giesebrecht (slightly modified based on the text of the basic MGH edition by Bruno Krusch ).
4. ^ Frye, Aegidius, Childeric, Odovacer and Paul , p. 7.
5. ↑ On the dating cf. also MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords , p. 102 f.
6. ↑ See also Frye, Aegidius, Childeric, Odovacer and Paul .
7. ↑ See James, The Franks , pp. 69f .; MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords , p. 104.
8. ^ ^{A b} Gregory of Tours, Historiae 2,19.
9. ↑ So in the English standard translations, but also von Giesebrecht referred to both men in his first translation (1851) as Odovaker , but in the second edition changed this to Adovaker in both cases , which is still inaccurate because the Latin text between distinguishes two people.
10. ↑ Alexander Demandt , for example, advocates equating Adovacrius with Odovacrius / Odoacer : Die Spätantike . 2nd edition, Munich 2007, p. 212 and note 70. Undecided James, The Franks , p. 69f. In contrast, among others: Guy Halsall: Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West . Cambridge 2007, pp. 270f .; Stéphane Lebecq: The two faces of King Childeric: History, archeology, historiography . In: Walter Pohl , Maximilianhabenberger (ed.): Integration and rule . Vienna 2002, pp. 119–132, here p. 121; MacGeorge, Late Roman Warlords , pp. 102ff .; Herwig Wolfram : The Empire and the Teutons. Between antiquity and the Middle Ages . Berlin 1998, p. 265.
11. ↑ Matthias Springer: Die Sachsen , Stuttgart 2004, p. 52f., Where he does not differentiate between Odovacrius and Adovacrius , but argues consistently on the basis of the name form Odowakar .
12. ^ Ulrich Nonn: The Franks. Stuttgart 2010, here p. 103.
13. ↑ Article Odowakar in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 21, here p. 574.