Assignment 01

Jean du Plessis

Student Number 34890963

ANH 305-3

Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire

(b) Comment on the view that the activities of the great generals (generalissimos) in

the period between AD 378 and 410 accelerated the collapse of the Roman Empire in

the West.

During the fourth and fifth century AD we find that much of the military force of the

mighty Roman Empire was under the control of the barbarian generals and officers.

This was the case in the Eastern part as well as the Western part of the Empire.

However the Western emperors were much more isolated from the military than in the

East. After Valetinian I, the Western Empire did not have a military emperor to take

command of the armies and so it fell in the hands of competent generals. The Eastern

Emperors associated themselves much more with the army and to a degree held the

supreme command over the armed forces of the East. The power of the generals in the

East was in check by a system instituted by Theodosius the Great in 388, where the

power of the generals were divided amongst five generals who held equal power and

thus served as a check over each other and then the emperor at the top with supreme

command over all. This system held their ambitions in check but the West did not

have a similar system and the generals managed to gain full military command and

1

with that as their basis they were able to gain control over the administration and thus

over the whole western empire.

Through their military power they were able to shift the supreme power that was in

the hands of the emperor into that of their own. This phenomenon of generals taking

supreme power from the emperor is termed as “generalissimo’ by Johan M. O’Flynn.

After the death of Valentinian I the Western half of the empire was left to his son

Gratian who was still a mere boy of sixteen years of age. Immediately a struggle

erupted for the new power gap that the Western Empire was placed in. Some of the

more prominent figures that wanted to gain power were Theodosius, Maximinus, and

Merobaudes. Under the influence of Merobaudes and Maximinus and other officials

Gratian ordered the execution of Theodosius and soon Meroboudes managed to move

Maximinus out of the way and leaving him in a powerful position from where he

could perform influence over the young Gratian.

We find Merobaudes as one of the leading men who declared the younger son of

Valentinian I, Valentianian II as emperor straight after his father’s death. It took place

on the frontier on the Danube. The reason for this is that it was feared that the troops

might declare Sebastian as emperor. Sebastian was a political enemy of Merobaudes

and so Merobaudes protected his own interest and also the line of Valetinian. Because

Valetinina II was a boy of four or five years of age Merobaudes was capable of

holding full power in the boy’s stead. It was a political move that was accepted by

Valens, Emperor of the East as well as Gratian in the West as it stopped a usurper

who was not of the Imperial line and most probably adverted civil war.

It is obvious that the boy emperor, Valitinian II, would be unable to and unfit to

command an army and the general Merobaudes would exploit this fact.

2

Under Gratian and Valentinian II he held much influence in administration and in

military.

The importance of Merobaudes is reflected in the two consulates he held in 377 and

again in 383. He was the first person not of the imperial family since the time of

Constantine to achieve this honorific title twice. The title long had no real political

power but it reflected prestige and from that influence and it is the reason why the

generalissimos made sure that they held this title. We know that the basis of

Merobaudes’ power was his control over the military and from there he controlled

other matters of state. It was thus his military magisterium that confirmed his power.

As we have noted the power of the generals in the East was held in check by the

equality between the five generals and the emperor holding supreme command over

everything. This was not the case in the West. The Emperors after Valitinian II held

little or no association with the army and the troops. The institution of two generals,

one in command of the cavalry and the other in command of the infantry, by

Constantine was meant as a check on the power of the generals as the one could not

function without the other. But in time the distinction of one as only cavalry

commander and the other in command of the infantry started to disappear. The

cavalry commander soon held mixed troops of infantry and cavalry and so did the

infantry commander. To add to this, the generals in the East held specific territories

but in the West the territories of the generals were overlapping. Soon the stage was set

for one commander, the most able to have dominance over the other. In this case it

was Merobaudes.

During the war against the dangerous usurper, Maximus, Merobaudes attempted to go

over to his side when he saw that the Emperor Gratian Alienated his troops. He did

3

not manage to change sides and was forced to commit suicide by command of

Gratian.

Merboudes might not have held as much influence and power as Stilicho but he paved

the way for the succession generalissimos to follow him. Merobaudes was the first

general to attempt to take power without becoming emperor and so was the first of the

generalissimos.

After Valens died at Adrianople, Gratian recalled Theodosius out of retirement and

made him Augustus of the East. Theodosius set out to stabilize the Balkan and

Gratian sent a Frankish general, Bauto, with an army to assist Theodosius in around

380. After Gratian’s death in 383, Bauto returned to the West and serve the brother of

Gratian, Valentinian II. Bauto ruled in the young boy’s stead and managed to fend off

Maximus. Once again we find a general with tremendous power and influence using

the emperor as a puppet. He was even blamed for doing so by Maximus. Bauto kept

the favour of the influential bishop Ambrose by supporting the rejection of the request

to restore the altar of victory in the senate house. He held tremendous influence and

power at court and over all state affairs. He had his daughter educated in the Roman

ways and she became so romanised that she married the Theodosius’ son Arcadius.

His power reached its peak when he was granted the consulate in 385. What happened

to him after this is unknown but he was replaced by the next generalissimo, the Frank

Arbogast.

We know that Arbogast’s took the place of Bauto. He was not instituted by the

emperor but by the troops. This clearly show how the emperors power degenerated

4

and how isolated he had become from the military. Power did not lie with the emperor

but the powerful general and after Bauto it went to Arbogast.

Arbogast was given the task of crushing the last resistance in Gaul of Maximus’ son

Victor. After his success he was placed in charge of the affairs of the parts of the

Empire won back from Maximus as regent for Valentinian II. This position granted to

him by Theodosius clearly demonstrated that he was in the favour of Theodosius. He

held supreme military command in the West as his career flourished with his

successful campaign against the Franks. By placing his friends and trusting members

of his entourage into important administrative positions and so controlled the

administration as well.

When Theodosius returned to Constantinople, Italy Illyricum and Africa returned, in

theory, under the control of Valentinian II. In reality it came under the control of

Arbogast. The whole Western Empire was now under his control.

Valentinian was virtually a hostage of Arbogast, as he was never allowed to leave

Vienne. Relations between the two further deteriorated on a religious level, as

Valetinian was Orthodox Christian and Arbogast a pagan.

Arbogast swept aside all those who opposed him and ruled with an iron fist. He even

killed a councillor of Valentinian with his own hands.

The power of Arbogast is reflected in the plea from Valentinian to Theodosius for aid

against the general but Theodosius sent no aid. Valentinian even attempted to flee to

Constantinople but Arbogast stopped him.

An even greater demonstration of the power Arbogast held in the West was when

Valentinian attempted to dismiss the general, Arbogast simply tore up the dismissal

and told the young Emperor it was not n his power to dismiss him. The unravelling of

the relationship between the Emperor and general reached its peak when Valetinian

5

seized a sword from the guards but was subdued. We will never know for sure

whether the Emperor attempted to kill Arbogast or whether it was as Valentinian

claimed, wanted to use the sword to take his own life.

Valentinian’s body was discovered on 15 May 392. Again we will never know

whether he took is own life or if he was murdered. Whatever the case, Arbogast fell

out of favour by Theodosius.

At first Arbogast did not attempt to replace the emperor and sent an embassy to

Theodosius to state his innocence and ask to rule the West as Theodosius’ lieutenant.

The only answer to this from Theodosius was his continuation of his anti-pagan

policy. Theodosius was rapidly removing pagans from influential positions in the East

and West. Arbogast in fear of being replaced as well instituted an emperor of his own

in the West. His candidate was the Christian Flavius Eugenius.

Theodosius anti-pagan policy finally struck at the heart of paganism as all pagan

celebrations and devotions were declared prohibited.

Theodosius did not recognise Eugenius as co-emperor and it became clear that war

was inevitable when Theodosius raised his son to emperor who would be ruling in the

West.

Finally Arbogast and Eugenius stood in favour to paganism to win as much support as

they could.

Theodosius in 394 finally invaded Italy and Arbogast and Eugenius were decisively

defeated at the Battle of the Frigid River. Eugenius perished in the battle and

Arbogast committed suicide two days later.

The generalissimo Arbogast ruled the Western Empire through the incompetent young

Valetinian II and then through his own puppet Emperor Eugenius.

6

After the defeat of Arbogast, Theodosius instituted his ten-year-old son Honorius as

Emperor of the West. However, he did not learn from the past and again place one of

his generals in charge of the boy. Honorius was placed in the care of Theodosius’ son-

in-law Stilicho and his wife, the adoptive daughter of Theodosius, Serena. Stilicho

received the magister peditum from Theodosius. Stilicho was now placed in a

powerful position as he was given control over the affairs of state by Theodosius, he

was in command of the army he brought from the East to fight Arbogast as well as the

military forces in the West. Unlike his position in the East where military command

was divided equally, he now held supreme military command. Another factor that

gave Stilicho great influence and power was the fact that he was married into the

Imperial family. Along with this is his claim that Theodosius gave him the

guardianship of Arcadius as well as Honorius.

On these power bases Stilicho built up his power and influence so that he became the

real ruler of the Western Empire and also had much influence in the East.

We know that Stilicho used the title parens principum that embodied his claim to

power, which might have been even surpassing in power than the title of Augustus.

We see that later generalissimos also conferred on themselves titles to embody their

claims to power. We know that according to the Notitia Dignitatum that Stilicho held

supreme military command in the West. All military affairs were under his direct

command. Stilicho followed the principle set by the first Generalissimo, Merobaudes,

and held the consulate twice in 400 and 405.

Stilicho filled all military and administrative positions with his nominees and so

became in full control over the administration of the Western Empire. This is reflected

7

by a political move against Stilicho was an attack on high officials and ministers who

was part of Stilicho’s entourage.

The generalissimo Stilicho became comes and magister utriusque militiae which

gave him full powers over the military and from their he gained control over the

administration ad justified his position with the title parens principum.

Eventually Stilicho was executed partly in fear of his powerful position and also the

anti-barbarian policy that developed after the Gothic invasion, as Stilicho was half

Vandal from his father’s side.

Through these three examples we can see how the generalissimos managed to gain

power through their military command. With the influence and power the

accumulated as generals they were able to take supreme control of not only the

military of the West but also of the administration. They thus became ambitious

politicians and took control of the whole Western Empire. They did not take the

Imperial Purple as many would expect but ruled through incompetent and

inexperienced emperors who had little or no association with the army. They as Sulla,

Pompey and Caesar made use of the fact that true power lied in the armies of the

Empire and so used it to gain supreme power.

It is clear that the emperors of the period had little power and authority as we can see

in the example of the attempt by Valentinian II to dismiss Arbogast and Arbogast’s

reaction to it. These generalissimos paved a road through their ambition for Odoacer,

as Sulla did for Caesar, but instead to the fall of the Rupublic, it led to the fall of the

Roman Empire in the West. Odoacer followed the road paved for him by previous

generalissimos and took supreme power through his military authority. By what the

previous generalissimos has shown him he relished the emperor is obsolete. He

8

dethroned Romulus Augustulus, last Emperor of the West and ushered in the first

kingdom in Italy after many centuries with himself as king. His action led to the Dark

Ages of history.

9

Bibliography

Prof CPT Naude, Prof U Vogel Study Guide 1 for ANHS305-3, Roman History.

Decline and fall of the Roman Empire. University of South Africa 1995.

O’Flynn, JM. 1983. Generalissimos of the Western Roman Empire, Alberta ix-

xii, 1-24. UNISA Study Package. ANH 305-3.

10