Romanus (usurper)

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Romanus († 470 in Rome ) was a Western Roman usurper who rose up against Emperor Anthemius in Italy in 470 .

Life

Romanus was a member of the Senate and temporarily held the influential office of magister officiorum . In 470 he was involved in a conspiracy in Ravenna against Anthemius, who lived in Rome. Cassiodorus notes: "In this year the patricius Romanus who wanted to make himself emperor was executed." ( "His conss. Romanus patricius affectans imperium capitaliter est punitus." ). Similarly, Paulus Diaconus : "The patricius Romanus, who illegally reached for the imperial dignity, was beheaded on the order of Anthemius." ( "Romanus patricius imperatoriam fraudulent satagens arripere dignitatem praecipiente Anthemio capite caesus est." )

The Eastern Roman historiographer John of Antioch describes Romanus as one of Ricimer's partisans . He could have intended to depose Anthemius, who was seriously ill at the time, and install Romanus as a puppet emperor based on the model of Libius Severus . The execution of Romanus led to a rupture between Ricimer and Anthemius and subsequently to civil war, which culminated in 472 with the proclamation of the anti-emperor Olybrius and Anthemius' assassination.

swell

literature

  • Friedrich Anders: Flavius ​​Ricimer: Power and Powerlessness of the Western Roman Army Master in the Second Half of the 5th Century . Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2010, ISBN 3631612648 (there pp. 217-219).
  • Dirk Henning: Periclitans res Publica: Empire and elites in the crisis of the Western Roman Empire 454 / 5-493 AD. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-515-07485-6 .
  • John Michael O'Flynn: Generalissimos of the Western Roman Empire. University of Alberta 1983, ISBN 0-888-64031-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Romanus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Western Roman Patricius and usurper
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century
DATE OF DEATH 470
Place of death Rome