Gundomad

Gundomad (* before 354; † 357 ; also Gundomar , Latin Gundomadus ) was the Alemannic minor king of a gens (ethnic group) that is believed to be in an area on the right bank of the Rhine near Breisach im Breisgau . He was a brother of Vadomar .

Life

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports that Gundomad and his brother Vadomar concluded a peace treaty in 354 after a lost battle against Emperor Constantius II near Augst . In 357 Gundomad was killed by his own followers because they did not agree with his peaceful policy towards the Romans. Then they rose up against Caesar (in late antiquity : lower emperor) Julian . According to Ammianus, this revolt was supposedly initiated by Constantius, who harbored a considerable dislike for Julian. However, this may be a propagandistic and subjective view of Ammian, who worshiped Julian.

In historical specialist literature, Gundomad is often referred to as the king of the northern Breisgauer ( brisgavi ), which was derived solely from Ammianus Marcellinus' geographical information on Gundomad and Vadomar's activities. However, this assignment is considered uncertain, since the existence of a tribe of the Brisgavi cannot be proven during Gundomad's lifetime. The first, albeit indirect, mention of the landscape name brisgavi was only made between 395 and 398 in the Notitia Dignitatum .

literature

• Dieter Geuenich :  Gundomad. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 13, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016315-2 , p. 216. ( online ).
• Dieter Geuenich: History of the Alemanni (= Kohlhammer Urban pocket books. 575). 2nd, revised edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018227-7 .
• Dieter Geuenich: The Alemannic Breisgau kings Gundomadus and Vadomarius . In: Sebastian Brather, Dieter Geuenich, Christoph Huth (eds.): Historia archaeologica. Festschrift for Heiko Steuer on his 70th birthday (=  Real Lexicon of Germanic Antiquity. Supplementary volumes . Volume 70 ). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-022337-8 , p. 205-216 .