Mallobaudes

Mallobaudes was a Frankish king ( rex Francorum ) who lived in the 4th century AD. He served as a military leader in the Roman army of the West and carried the title of comes domesticorum . However, it is still controversial today whether the name denotes a single person or two different people.

At that time, the Roman army not only consisted to a considerable extent of Germanic tribes, but was also commanded by them. Before it was mainly Alamanni who had risen to high ranks in the army, it appears that they were replaced by Franks in the second half of the 4th century AD.

Mallobaudes led the interrogation of the lower emperor Constantius Gallus in 354 , who was accused of conspiracy. As a tribunus armaturarum of the Roman army in Gaul , Mallobaudes was an important ally of Silvanus from 354 , who was proclaimed anti-emperor in 355. When Silvanus was deposed after 28 days, Mallobaudes stood up for him, but still retained his position of power. Whether he is identical to Mallobaudes, who was appointed by Gratian to comes domesticorum , commander of one of the imperial guard units, is controversial. However, due to the time lag, this is rather unlikely.

In 378 a Mallobaudes is listed as deputy commander of the army in Gaul. However, it could be another senior officer with the same name. In the battle of Argentovaria he commanded the troops with great bravery, which threw the king of the Alamannischen Lentienser Priarius back over the Rhine. It is possible that Mallobaudes soon returned to his tribe, which presumably settled on the Middle Rhine, and was installed there as king. In 380 he killed the king of the Alemannic Bukinobants , Makrian , who, according to the late antique historian Ammianus Marcellinus, was a loyal Roman ally ( Foederat ) and - possibly relying on the support of the Romans - had invaded Franconian territory. Mallobaudes may have turned away from the Romans, but it could just as well have been a quarrel between two barbarian princes.

swell

• Ammianus Marcellinus 14,11,21; 15,6,6; 30,3,7; 31,10,6f.

literature

• Felix Dahn:  Mellobaud . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, p. 301 f.
• Adolf Lippold : Mallobaudes. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 3, Stuttgart 1969, column 935.
• Helmut Castritius :  Mallobaudes. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 19, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2001, ISBN 3-11-017163-5 , pp. 186-187. ( online )
• Matthias Becher: Clovis I. The rise of the Merovingians and the end of the ancient world . CH Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 9783406613708 , pp. 63-65.

Remarks

1. ^ Matthias Becher: Clovis I. The rise of the Merovingians and the end of the ancient world . Munich 2011, p. 64.
2. ^ Matthias Becher: Clovis I. The rise of the Merovingians and the end of the ancient world . Munich 2011, p. 64.