Aristomachus (Byzantium)

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Aristomachos ( Greek  'Ἀριστόμαχος ) was an Eastern Roman official from Egypt . He served in the time of the emperors Tiberius Constantinus (r. 574-582) and Maurikios (r. 582-602). He was promoted to city ​​prefect of Constantinople and curator domus Augustae ("administrator of the Augusta household "). He later lost the imperial favor and ended his life in exile. The main source about his person is John of Nikiu .

biography

Aristomachus was a citizen of the city of Nikiû in Egypt. His father Theodosius, who bore the title praefectus , came from Absay. Theodosius apparently instructed his son to be content with the inherited wealth and to keep himself at his disposal. But the young man was extraordinarily ambitious. He wanted to make a career himself and built his own armed retinue.

He appears to have held a military post in Egypt, which is not mentioned. It was probably bestowed on him by Tiberius Constantinus . Johannes von Nikiu reports on his behavior: “He built ships with which he could visit all the cities of Egypt at will. And so he became proud and forced all military commanders under the rule of the emperor; he had received this command during the reign of Tiberius. And by this command he became more and more presumptuous, and made all the troops obey him, and led a fearless life. He placed cavalry in the city of Nikiu without any authorization from the emperor. The troops under his command were indisciplinary and he confiscated the homes of anyone richer than him. And when emissaries of high or low rank came from the emperor, he would have them stop at the doorstep and only allow their presence for a short time. "

A little later it is reported that Aristomachus successfully undertook campaigns against the Nubians and the Moors . "And he conquered the barbarians in the province of Nubia and Africa , called the Mauritanians, and others called Marikos. He destroyed them, devastated their lands, and took all their possessions to the Gihon River in Egypt; for the battle was on." took place on the banks of the river. " Gihon is another name for the Blue Nile .

It is unclear what John means by "lack of authorization". One possible explanation is that Aristomachus' actual command was in Upper Egypt , close to Nubia, perhaps as the commander of the Thebais . Nikiu was therefore outside of his sphere of influence. Complaints about Aristomachus also reached Tiberius Constantinus. He sent a certain Andreas to arrest Aristomachus.

Aristomachus was summoned to Alexandria. "Aristomachus ... traveled to Alexandria with only a few entourage because he knew nothing of the treacherous plan against him. And when the Patriarch and Andrew saw him, they were delighted and prepared a small ship near St. Mark's Church. They then celebrated ... that Feast of St. Mark And at the end of the service, Andrew and Aristomachus went to the coast, where Andrew gave orders to his servants and soldiers to take Aristomachus and put him into the ship, and immediately they grabbed him and carried him on their shoulders the ship, without his knowing the reason, and set sail to take him to the emperor. "

Aristomachus was transported to Constantinople. But at the hearing the emperor found no guilt in his behavior. He was therefore returned to Egypt and allowed to return to his office. Later he went to the new emperor Maurikios to refute new allegations against himself. He also brought many presents to the emperor and was evidently his favorite. Maurikios made him prefect of Constantinople ; at the same time, the Empress Constantina made him curator domus Augustae ("administrator of Augusta's household "). While the city prefecture was above all a high honor, which was also associated with the rank of vir illustris , the position as curator was associated with great influence.

Aristomachus is credited with building several aqueducts and cisterns in Constantinople. "And he built aqueducts all over the city because the residents had complained about the lack of water. And he had a clever engineer build a bronze cistern that had never existed before. The city became so with the overflowing supply calmed by water, and when a fire broke out in the city it could be put out by the water of the cistern. All the people loved and respected him. He liked building public works and his deeds were noble. "

However, the influential man apparently made many enemies as well. Finally, at an unclear point in time, Aristomachus was apparently the victim of a conspiracy designed to create the appearance of disloyalty to his imperial cartridges. The originator of the conspiracy was, it is said, Leon the Logothet . Allegedly, the conspirators first used an astrologer who predicted a "revolt against the emperor" and the "murder of the emperor". Then they warned Constantina of the alleged conspiracy and machinations of Aristomachus. She told this to the emperor. "And he imagined that Aristomachus was trying to murder him and take his wife away from him. And the emperor became hostile towards Aristomachus, and subjected him to some humiliation, and sent him to the island of Gaul, where he would stay until his death should."

The place of his exile is nowhere mentioned. However, it cannot be ruled out that the "island of Gaul" actually means Gaul , but due to the complicated tradition of the Chronicle of John, other explanations (especially misunderstandings and prescriptions) are possible.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 118-119
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Johannes von Nikiu, Chapter XCV (95)
  3. ^ Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and the Bible (Oxford: University Press for the British Academy, 1968), p. 2.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Aristomachus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Eastern Roman official in Egypt
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century
DATE OF DEATH 7th century