Edobich

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Edobich ( Edobic (h) us ; † 411 in Gaul ) was a late antique Roman officer of Frankish descent.

Little is known about Edobich's career up to 407, but he was evidently an experienced soldier and appears to have had some military talent. From the year 407 he acted as magister militum (army master) under the Western Roman usurper Constantine (III) and fought victoriously against the troops of the regular Western Emperor Flavius ​​Honorius . In 407 Edobich forced the Western Roman general Sarus to lift the siege of Valentia , to which Constantine had withdrawn, after a few days; Sarus had to retire to Italy.

When Gerontius rose against Constantine, Edobich was sent to the Franks and Alamanni to collect troops against Gerontius. In 411, however, Constantine was defeated by loyal Western Roman troops under the command of the later Emperor Constantius III. included in Arelate . Edobich brought in strong formations to lift the siege, but was defeated in a battle by Constantius and Ulfilas. Constantine then surrendered and was executed. Edobich fled to Ecdicius, a distinguished Gallo-Roman whom Edobich had helped in the past and whom he believed to be a friend. Ecdicius, however, wanted to come to terms with the victors and had Edobich murdered and the severed head brought to Constantius in the hope of being rewarded. Ecdicius was formally praised for this act, but received no reward and was indirectly reprimanded for betraying a friend.

The most important sources are Zosimos (book 6, chapter 2) and the church history of Sozomenos (book 9, chapters 13-15) - both apparently based on the now lost work of Olympiodorus of Thebes - as well as the histories of Gregory of Tours (book 2 , Chapter 9; Gregor relied on Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus ).

literature

  • John F. Drinkwater: The Usurpers Constantine III (407-411) and Jovinus (411-413). In: Britannia 29, 1998, pp. 269-298.
  • Kay Ehling: On the history of Constantine III . In: Francia 23, 1996, pp. 1-11 ( online ).
  • Michael Kulikowski: Barbarians in Gaul, Usurpers in Britain. In: Britannia 31, 2000, pp. 325-345.
  • John Martindale, John Morris: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 2. Cambridge 1980, p. 386.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Zosimos 6,2,4.
  2. ↑ PLRE Volume 2, p. 383 ( Ecdicius 1 ).
  3. ↑ Sozomenos 9,14,3f.
personal data
SURNAME Edobich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Edobicus; Edobichus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION late antique Roman officer of Frankish descent
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 411
Place of death Gaul