Vithicab

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Vithicab (* before 360; † 368; lat. Vithicabius ) was from 360 to 368 Alemannic Gau king of a gens (clan) whose tribal area is believed to be in an area on the right bank of the Rhine near Breisach im Breisgau . He was the son of Vadomar .

Life

After the exile of his father Vadomar by Caesar (lower emperor) Julian, Vithicab took over the royal office and was described by Ammianus Marcellinus as a weak and sickly boy, " but bold and brave, who always stoked the fire of war ".

Vithicab grew up as a hostage in Roman care. After the death of his father Vadomar, he was his successor as Gaukönig. Despite his promise to Caesar Julian to keep constant peace , under Vithicab there were again attacks and attacks on Roman territory, whereupon Emperor Valentinian I had him killed in 368 by a bribed servant. The raids continued for a while after that.

Geographical assignment

In historical specialist literature, Vithicab, like his father Vadomar and his uncle Gundomad , is often referred to as the king of the Breisgauer ( brisgavi ), which was derived solely from Ammianus Marcellinus' geographical information on their activities. However, this assignment is considered to be uncertain, since the existence of a tribe of the Brisgavi cannot be proven during Vithicab's lifetime. The first, albeit indirect, mention of the landscape name brisgavi was only made between 395 and 398 in the Notitia Dignitatum .

swell

  • Ammianus Marcellinus: 27,10,3; 30.7.7

literature

  • Julius Cramer: The history of the Alamanni as a Gau history (= investigations into German state and legal history. H. 57, ISSN  0083-4572 ). Marcus, Breslau 1899, (reprint. Scientia, Aalen 1971, ISBN 3-511-04057-4 ).
  • Dieter Geuenich : The Alemannic Breisgau kings Gundomadus and Vadomarius . In: Sebastian Brather, Dieter Geuenich, Christoph Huth (eds.): Historia archaeologica. Festschrift for Heiko Steuer on his 70th birthday (=  Real Lexicon of Germanic Antiquity . Supplementary volumes . Volume 70 ). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-022337-8 , p. 205-216 .
  • Dieter Geuenich: History of the Alemanni (= Kohlhammer Urban pocket books. 575). 2nd, revised edition. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-17-018227-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cramer: The history of the Alemanni as a Gau story. 1899.
personal data
SURNAME Vithicab
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vithicabius (Latin)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Gau king of the Breisgau (360–368)
DATE OF BIRTH before 360
DATE OF DEATH 368