Hariulfus

Gravestone of the imperial bodyguard Hariulfus from the 4th century

Hariulfus or Hariulf lived in the 4th century and, as protector domesticus, was a member of the imperial late Roman bodyguard .

The young man, who came from a Burgundian royal family (“regalis gentis Burgundionum”) and was the son of a prince or sub-king named Hanhavaldus, died at the age of 20. His uncle Reutilo, who apparently did not hold a position in the Roman army himself, placed a Latin tombstone for him in Trier , which was excavated in 1877 and is now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier :

"Hariulfus protector / domes {i} ti <c = G> us <f = F> ilius Han / havaldi regalis genti / s Burgundionum qui / vi {c} xit annos XX et mens / {s} es nove (m) et dies nove (m) / Reutilo avunculu / s ipsius fecit "

“Hariulf, imperial bodyguard, son of Hanhavaldus, from the royal family of the Burgundians, who lived 20 years, 9 months and 9 days. Reutilo, his uncle, put (the epitaph). "

It is the only surviving archaeological finding that proves the existence of a Burgundy on the left bank of the Rhine . In addition, the tombstone is one of the most important inscribed evidence that high-ranking " barbarians " were accepted into the Roman army and were able to rise in it. The entry into this career usually took place as a staff officer in the domestici , from which the generals of the late Roman army were recruited. With Hariulfus his early death probably prevented the continuation of this career.

The inscription probably originated before 392, because from that year no emperor resided in Augusta Treverorum and the protectores domestici were moved to Milan (later Ravenna ) at that time . Because of the place where it was found, the inscription is mostly classified as Christian, although it itself offers no evidence of this.

literature

• Arnold Hugh Martin Jones , John Robert Martindale, John Morris : Hariulfus. In: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE). Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1971, ISBN 0-521-07233-6 , p. 408 (only reproduction of the inscription).
• Dietrich Hoffmann : Wadomar, Bacurius and Hariulf. About the career of noble and princely barbarians in the late Roman armies of the 4th century. In: Museum Helveticum . Volume 35, Number 4, 1978, pp. 307-318, especially pp. 316-318.
• Helmut Castritius :  Hariulf. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 14, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016423-X , p. 14. ( online ).

Web links

• Tomb inscription of Hariulfus at museum-digital rheinland-pfalz

Individual evidence

1. ↑ CIL 13, 3682 , reproduction of the inscription according to the Leiden bracket system .
2. ↑ Hariulfus's epitaph on the grave at museum-digital rheinland-pfalz
3. ↑ ^{a b} Helmut Castritius:  Hariulf. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 14, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1999, ISBN 3-11-016423-X , p. 14.