Lucius Tiberius
Lucius Tiberius († 541 , also Lucius Hiberius ) is a fictional Roman general and procurator of the 6th century .
Life
The figure of Lucius Tiberius comes from books 9 and 10 by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae . There it is stated that he was the procurator of the - also fictional - Roman emperor Leo . After King Arthur had defeated Flollo (or Frollo ), the Roman governor in Gaul in a campaign and conquered parts of the province in 539 , Lucius Tiberius sent him a missive. In it he stated that Britain was still a tributary province of the empire, but Arthur no longer paid the tribute and thus rebelled against Roman authority. He also accused him of the campaign against Flollo and the submission of parts of Gaul as a rebellion, and asked Arthur to appear in Rome the following year and submit to the verdict of his masters. Should Arthur not obey these orders, Lucius wanted to declare war on him.
Since Arthur refused to obey the order and instead gathered an army and threatened to move to Italy and take Rome, Lucius let the senate make preparations for war. Under his command, the Roman armed forces were assembled, which consisted of both Roman troops under the command of senatorial officers and contingents of the princes allied with Rome, mainly from the eastern Mediterranean . The total strength of his troops was 40,160 men. In August 541, Lucius and his army moved north through Europe to cross over to Britain.
At the Aube he met Arthur's ambassadors who asked him to leave Gaul. The negotiations resulted in riots in which Lucius' nephew Caius Quintilianus was killed by Arthur's emissary, Gawan . This resulted in a series of skirmishes in which the Roman troops suffered defeats against Arthur's soldiers, who were more familiar with the local conditions.
Given the situation, Lucius Tiberius was faced with the choice of quickly seeking a decisive battle against Arthur or retreating to Autun and waiting there until Emperor Leo arrived personally with reinforcements. Eventually he preferred caution and retreated south, his first destination being the town of Langres . Arthur received reports of Lucius' movements and blocked his way in a valley near Saussy , which the Roman army had to pass.
Lucius recognized the situation and initially considered fleeing, but then turned to battle. The fighting was tough and extremely costly for both sides, with Lucius being in the midst of his troops and spurring them on. The British finally achieved victory with difficulty after Lucius Tiberius was killed by the lance of an anonymous soldier. The Roman army turned to flee, whereby Arthur achieved victory.
background
The figure of Lucius Tiberius is a mystery because it is anachronistic within Geoffrey von Monmouth's portrayal: At the time in which he settles the events, there had been no Roman rule in Gaul for more than six decades, and neither did the Western Roman Empire . Nevertheless, Geoffrey's account gives the impression that the empire still exists, is extraordinarily powerful, capable and efficient.
Since Italy was under Eastern Roman rule in the corresponding epoch , Lucius Tiberius could embody the governor of Justinian I. This is supported by the fact that the allied troops that Lucius is gathering come from areas that were actually Eastern Roman territory or areas of influence at the time. However, this contradicts the fact that the fictional Emperor Leo is supposed to reside in Rome himself and the decision-making Senate also meets there. In addition, Geoffrey von Monmouth has an answer to the emperors in book 9, paragraph 20 of his work Arthur - the plural suggests that in the context of the representation there are a western and eastern Roman empire as well as two emperors, as was the case until 476 .
The detail with which Geoffrey enumerates the names and countries of the allied princes under Lucius' high command and the names of the senatorial sub-commanders further reinforces the anachronism, since the persons named all lack historical plausibility, but their alleged existence in the form of completely unmythically formulated shorts Assertions of fact are presented.
Ultimately, it cannot be clarified on what Geoffrey von Monmouth based his seemingly alternative historical representation of a Western Roman Empire still existing in the 6th century and its representative Lucius Tiberius.
literature
- Daniel Mersey: Arthur, King of the Britons . Summersdale Publishers, 2004. ISBN 978-1840244038