Arbitio

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Flavius ​​Arbitio (also Arbetio ) was a Roman army master (magister militum) of late antiquity . In the 350s he was the most important and influential army master of Emperor Constantius II (337–361) and was honored with the consulate in 355 . Arbitio was permanently at the imperial court until the death of Constantius in 361 and used this position to intrigue against rival army masters such as Silvanus , Ursicinus and Barbatio . In 355 he fought against the Alemanni on Lake Constance . Even under Constantius' successor Julian , he initially remained in office and participated as a judge in the trials that resulted in the death or exile of many of Julian's enemies. After he retired in 362, he once again played an important role in the usurpation of Procopius , which he helped put down. The main source for the life of Arbitios is the historian Ammianus Marcellinus , who describes him mostly very negatively.

Contemporary history background

Constantine the Great, Colossal Statue , Capitoline Museums , Rome

In 284 Diocletian became emperor. He immediately introduced numerous reforms in order to end the imperial crisis of the 3rd century , which had been smoldering for decades . In addition to financial and administrative reforms, he reorganized imperial rule by establishing the system of tetrarchy : now, instead of one, but four emperors - two Augusti and two subordinate Caesares - ruled over the huge empire, which was divided into four districts. However, after Diocletian's abdication in 305 , the tetrarchy quickly fell apart . In 306, contrary to the actual order, Constantine was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers and in the same year the usurper Maxentius rose in Rome .

A civil war that lasted for years followed, from which in 324 Constantine emerged as sole ruler. This was the beginning of a relatively stable time, in which Arbitio probably rose up in the army. On May 22, 337, however, Constantine died of natural causes without having made a clear settlement on the question of his successor. The result was a series of murders in which several members of the Constantinian dynasty were killed. The beneficiaries of these purges were Constantine's sons Constans , Constantine II. And Constantine II. , Who eventually came to power and the kingdom divided up among themselves.

As early as 340 there was a fratricidal war between Constantine II and Constans, in which Constantine was killed. In the following years Constans ruled in the west of the empire, Constantius II in the east. However, in 350 the officer had Magnentius Constans murdered and made himself emperor in Gaul. Constantine II. Then appointed his cousin Constantius Gallus to Caesar to his reign of the Emperor, and made him the borders in the east against the Persian Sassanids secure. Constantius himself went against the usurper and defeated him in 351 in the battle of Mursa . Magnentius retired to Gaul, where he committed suicide after his troops were finally wiped out in 353 at the Battle of Mons Seleucus .

Life

Promotion to Consul

Arbitio's career began under Constantine the Great . After joining the army, he was initially a common soldier, and under Constantine he rose to dux , the "army leader". When Constantine died in 337, Arbitio appears to have been transferred to the army of his son Constantius II. At first, especially for the 340s, there is no news about him, he doesn't seem to have distinguished himself. It was not until the civil war, probably in the one against the counter-emperor Magnentius , that Arbitio distinguished himself and was finally promoted. In 354 he can be proven for the first time as magister equitum , as commander of the cavalry, a post that he could have held before. The army masters (magistri militum) , to which Arbitio now belonged, were the highest military commanders in the Roman Empire.

In 354 Constantius II lost patience with his Caesar Constantius Gallus . He had made numerous political mistakes in the east and was also suspected of planning a usurpation. Constantius then lured him to the west and had him executed. Subsequently, the supporters of Gallus were tried. For this purpose, the emperor sent Arbitio to Aquileia , where he and Eusebius , the chamberlain of Constantius, were supposed to lead the trial of numerous followers of the executed Gallus. The trials often ended with executions, exile and demotion. Probably primarily as a reward for his deeds in the civil war, Arbitio obtained the consulate together with the Praetorian prefect Egnatius Lollianus in 355 .

In his consular year 355, Arbitio led a campaign together with Constantius II against two Alemannic tribes, including the Lentiens , after they had repeatedly invaded and plundered Roman areas. In Raetien , the starting point for the operation, Constantius divided the troops into two divisions: he himself remained with part of the army in the background, while he let the other part advance into the area around Lake Constance under Arbitio . There Arbitio's department was ambushed and initially blown up. However, overnight he managed to regroup the troops, repel further attacks and set up a camp. The Teutons, who became more and more brisk and careless because of the previous day's success, were ultimately overrun in the event of a failure.

At the court of Constantius II.

Constantius II is described in several sources (especially Ammianus Marcellinus ) as an emperor whose policy depended heavily on the inspiration of his courtiers. Arbitio also belonged to this court camarilla, along with others, such as the eunuch Eusebius . He used his position to intrigue against rivals. The victim of these schemes was, for example, the army master Silvanus , who resided in Cologne in 355 as a magister militum . Arbitio and other courtiers tried to convince the emperor that Silvanus was planning a usurpation. When the slandered person found out about the machinations, he felt so pressured that he saw no other way out than to actually proclaim himself emperor. However, this uprising was soon put down and Silvanus was killed. Arbitio had eliminated a rival.

Another victim of the intrigues of Arbitios was the army master Ursicinus . He was also suspected of striving for the dignity of the emperor, so that Constantius gradually lost confidence in the successful general. He was eventually charged in 354 and temporarily disempowered. Also Barbatio , another Heermeister, 359 fell to the court intrigues, where Arbitio actively was involved, the victim and was executed. Arbitio was also a member of the commission investigating responsibility for the fall of the fortress Amida , which had been captured by the Persian Sassanids . Despite evidence to the contrary, which indicated the inability of the army master Sabinianus , the meanwhile rehabilitated Ursicinus was again accused, who then had to resign from the army. Arbitio was finally rid of its unpleasant competitors. In 356, however, he himself almost fell victim to the courtly intrigues: The comes Verissimus and others charged that Arbitio was striving for the imperial purple. The process was already prepared when the imperial chamberlain announced their decision, apparently without further discussion of the allegations: Arbitio was exonerated.

When Constantius secured the east of the empire against the Sassanids in 361, he sent Arbitio together with Agilo , another army master, as vanguard to the border. Meanwhile, the empire was on the brink of civil war: Julian , until then Caesar Constantius II, had been proclaimed Augustus in Gaul in the spring of 360 . Since then he had tried to come to terms with Constantius; but he did not want to know anything about an understanding. In the summer of 361 the armies of the two emperors finally marched against each other. Arbitio was in the vanguard of Constantius when he died unexpectedly of natural causes in November, which saved the empire from a civil war.

Chalcedony and Procopius

After the death of Constantius, Julian became sole ruler. He left Arbitio and Agilo, who had just marched against him, in office. They were even entrusted with an important task: they acted as judges - together with the Praetorian prefects Mamertinus and Salutius as well as in the trials that Julian launched in Chalcedon against all who had intrigued against him during his time as Caesar (355-360) the new army masters Nevitta and Iovinus . According to the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, Arbitio is said to have been the secret head of this tribunal, making him the main person responsible for the judgments, which Ammianus believed were unnecessarily cruel. The fact that Arbitio was not accused himself could have been because he reacted quickly after the death of Constantius and swore his soldiers in on the new emperor Julian, or because Julian had to make concessions to the soldiers he was on his side wanted to move and with whom Arbitio was in high regard. In addition, by appointing Arbitio and Agilo as judges, Julian was able to publicly pretend neutrality and impartiality and thus prevent the accusation that it was pure show and revenge trials.

After the trials of Chalcedony, which probably lasted until 362, Arbitio seems to have retired, because he no longer appears in the sources as an army master, his position was soon filled by Hormisdas . The sources only mention him again in 365, when the usurper Procopius tried to win him over. Procopius was a relative of Emperor Julian, who died in 363 on a Persian campaign . He had been proclaimed Augustus on September 28, 365 and was now fighting against Emperor Valens . Procopius initially believed Arbitio, the former general of his relative Julian, on his side and asked for his support. Arbitio, however, was not interested in participating in a dangerous insurrection and pretended to be too old and ill at that. Procopius got angry about this and had the house of Arbitios ransacked.

Arbitio then sided with Valens. His support for Valens is presented differently in different ancient sources: According to Ammianus Marcellinus, he spoke to the soldiers of Procopius and explained to them that they had been "led astray" by a "nefarious swindler". You should turn away from Procopius and rather follow him, the veteran army master of Constantine and Constantius. His reputation helped Arbitio to succeed, so that Gomoarius , an army master of Procopius, was captured with his troops. When shortly afterwards the rest of the usurper's army defected to Valens, Procopius was lost. In the case of Zosimos , who is based on the report of Eunapios of Sardis , Valens even appoints Arbitio to be in command of his army. Here, too, Arbitio succeeds in getting several of Procopius' soldiers to his side so that they can tell him about the usurper's plans. However, Gomoarius only betrays Procopius to Zosimos during the Battle of Thyatira . Here, too, the rest of Procopius' troops under Agilo finally run over to Valens.

swell

The most important source for the life and work of Arbitios is Ammianus Marcellinus . Towards the end of the 4th century, the former officer wrote an extensive historical work, the surviving parts of which cover the years 353 to 378, i.e. also the time when Arbitio was army master and consul. Ammian, however, paints a very negative picture of the general: In connection with the trials against the followers of Gallus, he describes him as haughty, unjust and cruel (15,3,2); elsewhere he is accused of greed (16: 9, 13). Arbitio was jealous for no reason and became an intriguer for low motives (about 15,2,4). There could be various reasons for Ammian's aversion to Arbitio: On the one hand, Arbitio was a competitor of Ursicinus, whom Ammian revered as his superior and who is usually described extremely positively. On the other hand, the historian criticized the Emperor Constantius II again and again for allowing himself to be influenced too much by his courtiers (e.g. 15,2,2; 21,16,15), and Arbitio was one of them.

Otherwise Arbitio is mentioned in the ancient sources mainly as consul of the year 355 without further comments. Several consular fasts (consular lists; including the chronograph from 354 ) as well as around 14 laws and numerous inscriptions from the city of Rome mention him . The church father Athanasios , the church historian Socrates Scholastikos and the Historia Acephala also refer to him as consul. The only sources that describe Arbitio - apart from Ammian - as an acting person are the pagan historians Zosimos and Eunapios of Sardis , who take a more neutral stance towards him.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ The form Arbetio can be found mainly in the Ammian manuscript of the Codex Fuldensis from the Middle Ages and in an inscription from the city of Rome. Arbitio , on the other hand, is more common and can be found on most inscriptions and laws (an overview in Roger S. Bagnall , Alan Cameron , Seth R. Schwartz, Klaas A. Worp, Consuls of the Later Roman Empire , Atlanta / Georgia 1987, p. 244 -245).
  2. ↑ Ammian 16: 6,1: "Gregarius".
  3. ↑ Ammian 26,9,4 describes Arbitio as "Constantiniani dux". The district of Arbitios as dux is not known.
  4. ↑ Ammian 21,13,16 reports that Arbitio "was already known from earlier deeds as bringing good luck", "when it came to stifling civil wars" (ex. After Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman history , Latin and German and with one Commentary provided by Wolfgang Seyfarth , Vol. 2, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1970, p. 165). Already Otto Seeck , in:. RE II, 1 (1895), Sp 412, this position interpreted as coined for Magnentius. This was done by Wilhelm Enßlin , Die magistri militum of the 4th century , in: Klio 24, 1931, pp. 102-147, here p. 108 and Alexander Demandt , magister militum , in: RE Suppl. XII, Sp. 553-790, here col. 567.
  5. ↑ Ammian 15,2,4; 15.4.1. So also Demandt, in: RE Suppl. XII, Sp. 567.
  6. ↑ Ammian 15,3,2. Also Klaus Rosen , Julian. Kaiser, Gott und Christenhasser , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2006, p. 112.
  7. ↑ a b Zum Konsulat Bagnall, Cameron, Schwartz, Worp, Consuls of the Later Roman Empire , pp. 244–245 (with sources).
  8. ↑ Ammian 15.4.1. The name of the other Alemannic tribe cannot be read in the handwriting.
  9. ↑ Description of the Alemanni campaign at Ammian 15.4. In addition Robert Rollinger , On Constantius II's Alamannenfeldzug on Lake Constance and the Rhine in AD 355 and on Julian's first stay in Italy. Reflections on Ammianus Marcellinus 15.4 , in: Klio 80, 1998, pp. 163–194. See also Pedro Barceló , Constantius II and his time. The beginnings of the state church , Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2004, p. 117f.
  10. ↑ On the usurpation of Silvanus Ammian 15.5.
  11. ↑ Arbitios intrigues against Ursicinus: Ammian 14,11,2; 15.2.4.
  12. ↑ Arbito's part in it: Ammian 18,3,3.
  13. ↑ On this Ammian 20.2.
  14. ↑ Ammian 16.6.
  15. ↑ Ammian 21,13,3.
  16. ↑ Arbitio in the vanguard against Julian: 21,14,16.
  17. ↑ Ammian 22: 3, 1-2; 22.3.9.
  18. ↑ So Rosen, Julian. Kaiser, Gott und Christenhasser , p. 238.
  19. ^ So Glen Bowersock , Julian the Apostate , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1978, p. 67f.
  20. ^ So Joseph Bidez , Julian der Abtrünnige , translation by Hermann Rinn, 3rd edition, Verlag Georg DW Callwey, Munich 1940, pp. 219f.
  21. ↑ On this Demandt, in: RE Suppl. XII, Sp. 581f.
  22. ↑ Ammian 26: 8,13.
  23. ↑ Ammian 26,9,4–7 (quotations from Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman History , Latin and German and with a commentary by Wolfgang Seyfarth, Vol. 4, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1971, p. 43).
  24. ↑ a b Zosimos 4,7.3–8.3; Eunapios, fragment 33.
  25. ↑ Athanasius, Index 16.4; Socrates, Historia ecclesiastica 2.34; Historia Acephala 1.9.
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 16, 2008 in this version .
personal data
SURNAME Arbitio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arbetio; Flavius ​​Arbitio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman army master and consul
DATE OF BIRTH before 337
DATE OF DEATH after 361