Philippikos (general)

Philippikos († 614 ) was a from Armenia originating and with the Eastern Roman Emperor Maurikios verschwägerter General in 6/7. Century AD

Life

The period of service under Maurikios

Maurikios appointed Philippikos, the husband of his sister Gordia, 582 comes excubitorum (ie commander of the guard), one of the most prestigious positions at the imperial court.

In 584 Philippikos was appointed magister militum (army master) and succeeded Johannes Mystakon as commander of the troops in the east, where Ostrom had been at war with the neo-Persian Sassanid Empire since 572 (see Roman-Persian wars ). 585 penetrated Philippikos with his troops into the Persian Arzanene and made great booty. In 586 he went to Amida to negotiate with the Persians , but the Persian great king Hormizd IV demanded that the Romans pay reparations, which Maurikios did not respond to. In the same year Philippikos won over the Persians at Solachon , south of Mardin . A high officer of Armenian descent named Herakleios , the father of the later emperor of the same name, also served under Philippikos . Herakleios the Elder led on Philippicus' orders 586 and 587 attacks on Persian territory.

In the spring of 587 Philippikos fell ill and gave Herakleios the elder the command of two thirds of the Orient Army , the rest he subordinated to the generals Theodoros and Andreas, who were to alarm the Persians with attacks. Shortly afterwards Philip went to Constantinople ; on the way there he learned that in his place Priscus had been appointed the new master of the army. However, the troops rebelled at Easter 588, because Maurikios had cut the wages, and did not recognize Priskos, so that Philippikos again took over the command; the rebellion was finally ended by the beginning of 589. But then the conquest of the city of Martyropolis failed , whereupon Philippicus was replaced by Komentiolus .

The war had stalled when an unexpected opportunity suddenly arose: In Persia, Hormizd IV. Had been dethroned in 590, but General Bahram Chobin had revolted against his son and successor Chosrau II . Chosrau had to flee the Persian capital Ctesiphon and now sought support from Emperor Maurikios. He took the chance and sent 590 Philippikos to Chosrau with a promise. The Roman troops under Narses finally won and Chosrau ascended the throne again. Persia ceded several territories to Ostrom, and for the remainder of Maurikios' reign, relations between the two late ancient great powers were better than ever.

Philippikos does not appear in the sources again until the Balkan campaigns of Maurikios , when he took over command of the troops in the Balkans from Komentiolos in 598 and on this occasion defeated the " Bulgarians " (however, these are probably defensive measures against the Avars , shortly before Constantinople after the capture of Drizipera). Some time later Philippikos was appointed patrician , but at the end of 602 Maurikios and all his male relatives were murdered as a result of a mutiny by the Danube troops; He was succeeded by the low-ranking officer Phokas , who, according to the sources, established a brutal reign of terror. Chosrau II used this and acted as the avenger of Maurikios. From 603 Persian troops invaded the empire, which were able to book incredible successes in the next few years.

Exile in the monastery under Phocas, participation in Phocas' overthrow

Philippicos withdrew from Phocas by becoming a clergyman and entering a monastery built by him near Chrysopolis . In 610 Phocas was overthrown by Herakleios , the son of the aforementioned general Herakleios the Elder, who instructed Philippicus to negotiate with Phocas' brother Komentiolos (not to be confused with the aforementioned general of the same name). Philippikos was arrested and threatened with death, but then Komentiolus was murdered, and Herakleios now assumed unrestricted rule over the empire. However, this continued to be threatened by the Persians, who conquered Damascus in 613 and Jerusalem in 614. The conquest of Jerusalem in particular had a significant shock effect on the Christians, as the alleged Holy Cross was also stolen.

The last few years

Since 612 Philippikos acted again as magister militum per Orientem . Emperor Herakleios seemed to be the best choice for this post, probably also because Philippikos had good contacts and considerable experience. In 613 Philippicus succeeded in luring Persian troops away from Syria by invading Armenia with an army, but the counter-offensive led by Emperor Herakleios failed. After the fall of Jerusalem, Philip went on the offensive one last time: he penetrated deep into Persian territory, which forced the Persian general Shahin to hunt down the Roman troops. Shortly thereafter, however, Philippikos died; his body was buried in a church in Chrysopolis. Ostrom came to the brink of the abyss in the following years: the Persians were also in Egypt until 619.

In the sources, his military ability are mentioned in praise, he also seems to have had extensive knowledge of military history. It has even been considered that Philippicus might have been the author of the so-called Strategikon des Maurikios . It is possible that with his successful diversionary attacks in the backs of the Persians 613 and 614, he inspired Herakleios to seek the decision from 622 through operations in the rear of the Persians. At the beginning of December 627 the emperor won the battle of Nineveh over the Persians, so that peace negotiations finally took place. The Islamic expansion that began soon after, however, sealed the end of antiquity in the east, and medieval Byzantium emerged from the ruins of the late Roman state.

literature

• Walter E. Kaegi: Heraclius. Emperor of Byzantium. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2003, ISBN 0-521-81459-6 .
• John R. Martindale: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire . Volume 3, b: AD 527 - 641. (Kâlâdji - Zudius). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1992, ISBN 0-521-20160-8 , pp. 1022-1026 (with detailed references).
• Michael Whitby : The Emperor Maurice and his Historian. Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1988, ISBN 0-19-822945-3 (Oxford, phil. Dissertation, 1981: The "Historiae" of Theophylact Simocatta. ).

Remarks

1. ↑ General information on Philippikos' career cf. Martindale: The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. 3, b. 1992, p. 1022ff., With references.
2. ↑ See also Whitby: The Emperor Maurice and his Historian. 1988, pp. 195ff., Especially 250ff .; Kaegi: Heraclius. Emperor of Byzantium. 2003, passim.
3. ↑ See Whitby: The Emperor Maurice and his Historian. 1988, p. 280f.
4. ↑ Cf. Kaegi: Heraclius. Emperor of Byzantium. 2003, p. 21ff.
5. ↑ See Whitby: The Emperor Maurice and his Historian. 1988, pp. 288f.
6. ↑ See also Walter Pohl : The Avars. A steppe people in Central Europe 567 - 822 AD 2nd, updated edition. Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-48969-9 , pp. 153f.
7. ↑ According to a Syrian chronicle, Philippikos tried to ingratiate himself with Phocas, but it failed. However, this is a topical accusation: Cf. Andrew Palmer: The Seventh Century in the West-Syrian Chronicles (= Translated Texts for Historians. Vol. 15). Including two Seventh-Century Syriac Apocalyptic Texts, introduced, translated and annotated by Sebastian Brock with added annotation and an historical introduction by Robert Hoyland . Liverpool University Press, Liverpool 1993, ISBN 0-85323-238-5 , p. 120.
8. ↑ Cf. Kaegi: Heraclius. Emperor of Byzantium. 2003, p. 71f.
9. ↑ John Earl Wiita: The Ethnika in Byzantine Military Treatise. University of Minnesota, 1977, pp. 47f. (Dissertation).