Armatus

Flavius ​​Armatus ( ancient Greek Ἁρμάτος ; † 477 in Constantinople ) was an Eastern Roman military commander, magister militum under the emperors Leo I , Basiliscus and Zenon and consul . He was involved in the usurpation of the basiliscus against Zeno as well as in its overthrow.

Origin and early career

Armatus was a nephew of Basiliscus and Empress Verina , wife of Leo I. He had a son, also Basiliskos said. Towards the end of Leo's rule, Armatus, as magister militum per Thracias, successfully suppressed an uprising in Thrace by chopping off the hands of Thracian prisoners and delivering them to the rebels. It was possibly the rebellion instigated by Theoderich Strabo after the assassination of Aspar (471).

Rise of the Basiliscus

Armatus participated in the usurpation of Basiliscus in 475, where he presumably also obtained the support of Verina, the mother-in-law of the deposed Emperor Zenon, for the rebels. During the short reign of Basiliscus Armatus exerted considerable influence on the emperor and his wife Aelia Zenonis - rumors knew of an intimate relationship between Armatus and Zenonis. The empress arranged for Basiliskos to appoint Armatus as magister militum praesentalis , and in 476 he held the consulate with Basiliscus.

Armatus is portrayed as a vain handsome man who is said to have taken care of his hair and body care with preference, for which he enjoyed the contempt of Theodorich Strabo. Strabo, in turn, was dissatisfied with Basiliscus - whom he had supported against Zeno - because the latter had given such a man a rank equal to his own. As a result of the honors and riches which his uncle Basiliscus had bestowed on him, Armatus is said to have considered himself the bravest of the brave; allegedly he paraded around his house at the hippodrome in an Achilles' elevator .

The fall of Basiliscus and the death of Armate

In the summer of 476 Zenon marched from Isauria to recapture the throne of Byzantium, for which he bought the support of the two generals of Basiliscus, Illus and Trocundes . Basiliscus gathered all the troops from Thrace, Constantinople and even the palace guards and sent them to meet Zeno after Armatus had sworn to him the oath of allegiance. But Armatus also allowed himself to be drawn on Zenon's side when he promised him the rank of magister militum praesentalis for life and the elevation of his son Basiliscus to Caesar and heir to the throne.

After his return to the throne, Zenon kept his promises, probably even elevated Armatus to Patricius and appointed the young Basiliscus under the name of Leo in Nicaea as sub-emperor. In 477 the Isaurian Zenon had another thought, possibly with the intrigues of Illus playing a role, which Armatus stood in the way of his own ambitions. Zenon had Armatus killed by his confidante Hunulf , who owed the dead man, among other things, the office of comes and a command in the Illyricum , but also owed him a large amount of money. Zeno confiscated all of Armate's property and deposed his son Basiliscus, who was put into the priestly robe.

Armatus and Odoacer

A publication by Stefan Krautschick opened up new aspects in the biography of Armatus, in particular the relationship between Armatus and the Basiliscus family on the one hand and Odoacer , who later became Rex Italiae , on the other. According to Krautschick, Armatus was the brother of Hunulf and Odoacer, so that the leader of the Heruli was also a nephew of Basiliscus and Verina. This interpretation would explain why Armatus was so willing to help Hunulf - and why his own brother murdered him; however, it is not shared by all researchers.

The link between Armatus, Odoacer and Hunulf is a fragment of John of Antioch (209.1), in which Hunulf is referred to as the murderer and brother of Armatus. Before the work of Krautschick (and also in the opinion of other researchers) the corresponding text passage was emended as follows: "Odoacer was the brother of Hunulf who killed Armatus." This reading brings the fragment of John in agreement with the statements of other historians, since neither John Malalas nor Malchus of Philadelphia indicate that Armatus was murdered by his own brother or that Odoacer and Basiliscus were related by blood.

Remarks

1. ↑ Also Harmatus and Harmatius , Greek Ἁρμάτιος
2. ^ ^{A b c d e} John Robert Martindale, John Morris: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 2. Cambridge 1980, pp. 148f.
3. ↑ Euagrios Scholastikos , Historia Ecclesiae , 3.24. Euagrios reports that Basiliscus later became bishop of Kyzikos .
4. ^ Patrick Armory: People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489-554. Cambridge et al. 1997, p. 282 f. The proponents of this thesis assume a barbaric origin and a later name change for Basiliskos, in order to illustrate his (possible) turning away from Arianism - a basic requirement for serious intentions to throne. The need for pretenders to the throne to erase any evidence of barbaric descent can also be demonstrated in other figures: The Isaur Tarasicodissa adopted the Greek name Zenon when he married into the imperial family, the son of the Alan Magister militum Aspar settled under the Latinized name Patricius 470 raise to Caesar . Against this background, the almost simultaneous revolts of Odoacer in Italy and of Basiliscus in Constantinople (475) appear in a new light.
5. ^ Penny MacGeorge: Late Roman Warlords. Oxford et al. 2002, pp. 284f.

swell

• Euagrios Scholastikos , Historia Ecclesiastica 3, 24; English translation .

literature

• Patrick Armory: People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489-554 (= Studies in Medieval Life and Thought. Ser. 4, Vol. 33). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1997, ISBN 0-521-52635-3 , pp. 282-283.
• Alexander Demandt : The late antiquity. Roman history from Diocletian to Justinian AD 284-565 (= Handbook of Classical Studies . Dept. 3, Part 6). 2nd, fully revised and expanded edition. Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-55993-8 .
• Stefan Krautschick: Two aspects of the year 476. In: Historia . Vol. 35, Vol. 3, 1986, pp. 344-371, JSTOR 4435971 .
• Penny MacGeorge: Late Roman Warlords (= Oxford Medieval Monographs. ). Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2002, ISBN 0-19-925244-0 , pp. 284-285.
• John Robert Martindale: Armatus. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, ISBN 0-521-20159-4 , pp. 148-149.
• Stephen Williams, Gerald Friell: The Rome That Did Not Fall. The survival of the East in the fifth century. Routledge, London et al. 1999, ISBN 0-415-15403-0 .