Europe 408: Stilicho vs Constantine III

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Notes

Akatziri and the “Scythian Kingdom” (Kuban Huns)

Little is known about the region north and east of the Black Sea in the first half of the fifth century, except that in c. 400 a “Scythian King” (almost always assumed to be a Hun) lived in the Kuban region and by the 440s a Hunnic people known as the Akatziri lived east of the Dniester. Although fragmented, the Akatziri were powerful enough that, when the Eastern Romans aligned with all but one of their kingdoms in 447, it took over a year for Attila’s armies to crush them and install his son as their king. After this, Attila contemplated invading Persia, implying that suppressing the Akatziri had bought the periphery of his empire close to the Caucasus. All this suggests that the Akatziri may have extended into the North Caucasus and that the “Scythian King” may have been part of the Akatziri, although this is of course conjecture.

Main Events

407 Hispaniae declares for Constantine III ▲

The provinces of the Diocese of Hispaniae were quick to recognize Constantine III, declaring for him in mid 407. In response, the usurper sent magistrates to Spain, where they were obediently received by the governors. in wikipedia

407? Thorismud vs the Gepids ▲

Around the time of the defeat of Radagaisus (406), the Transdanubian Goths west of the Carpathians became subjects of the Huns. These Goths and/or the eastern Goths then attacked the neighboring Gepids—still holding out in the Carpathians—and won a major victory over them, although the young Gothic king Thorismud was killed when he fell from his horse. Despite this defeat, the Gepids probably continued to retain some independence, because they would ultimately be crushed by Rugila the Hun in the 420s. in wikipedia

407 Alliances of the Barbarians ▲

When Constantine III invaded Gaul in 407, the Vandals, Alans, and Suebi seem to have withdrawn to the Rhine in the vicinity of Argentoratum (Strasbourg), where they were largely ignored by the warring Roman factions. Upon securing his hold over northern Gaul, Constantine made peace with these tribes—as well as the Burgundians and Alemanni—in order to add their manpower to his armies. As a result the Vandals, Alans, and Suebi remained quiet for over a year. in wikipedia

407–408 Alaric in Emona ▲

In the winter of 407–8, having returned from Epirus and the abandoned Illyricum campaign, Alaric arrived in Emona, on the Italian border with Noricum, and sent messengers to Stilicho, asking for payment for his troops. Stilicho immediately proceeded to Rome, where he brought the matter to Emperor Honorius and the Senate. Eventually, despite heated debate among the Senate, Stilicho was able to push the payment through; even so, one senator denounced the final agreement as “not peace, but a bond of servitude”. in wikipedia

408 Didymus and Verinianus ▲

In early 408 Didymus and Verinianus, two young and wealthy brothers related to the Western emperor Honorius, launched a revolt against Constantine III’s rule in the Diocese of Hispaniae. Probably orchestrated by Stilicho, the revolt faced no serious opposition and within a short space of time the brothers had secured Spain as far as the Pyrenees. in wikipedia

408 Sarus vs Constantine III ▲

In early 408, under the orders of Stilicho, the Gothic general Sarus led a contingent of troops across the Alps into Gaul, where he promptly defeated and killed Justinian, one of Constantine III’s two magistri militum. Sarus then besieged Constantine himself in Valentia (Valence)—and even treacherously killed the usurper’s other magister militum Nebiogast during negotiations—but the siege was lifted after just seven days, when Constantine’s reinforcements arrived under the British commanders Gerontius and Edobich. Chased back to Italy, Sarus suffered further humiliation when he was forced to relinquish any spoils he had gained to Bagaudae (bandits) guarding the mountain passes. in wikipedia

? Apr 408–23 Mar 409 Roman–Persian crisis ▲

In early 408 tensions grew between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Persia, possibly to do with either the status of the independent-minded Kingdom of Iberia or the approaching death of Emperor Arcadius and the succession of his young son Thedosius II (who was allegedly under the claimed guardianship of Shah Yazdegerd I). Whatever the reason, the Romans marched troops from the Balkans to the eastern border, where the Persian army had been assembling. War, however, was averted with the signing of a ‘hundred-year truce’ between the two empires by March 409, which restricted Roman merchants to trading no further east than the cities of Nisibis, Callinicum, and Artaxata for reasons of Persian security. The Romans also cut any support to Iberia at about this time, leading to its fall to the Persians in 411. in wikipedia

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Stilicho vs Constantine III