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19-506: His predecessor, Ataulf , had been mortally wounded in his stables at the palace of Barcelona by an assassin. The assassin was probably a loyal servant of Sarus , a Gothic noble and personal enemy whom Ataulf had earlier slain. At Ataulf's death, Sarus' faction, the Amali , violated the Gothic tradition of succession by immediately making Sigeric, the brother of Sarus, king. After becoming

38-604: A praetorian prefect of Gaul from the early fifth century AD, who was against Jovinus , considered as a usurper of imperial authority. After he had been defeated in Valencia ( Valence, Drôme ) by King of the Goths Ataulf Dardanus had him executed with his brother and co-emperor Sebastianus, sending both of their heads afterwards to Honorius . They were mounted on the walls of Ravenna (before being passed on to Carthage, where they were put on permanent display with

57-483: The Gallaecian bishop Hydatius , and those of Augustine's disciple, Prosper of Aquitaine . The authenticity of Athaulf's declaration at Narbonne , as Orosius reported it in a rhetorical history that was explicitly written "against pagans" (it was completed in 417/18) has been doubted. Antonio Marchetta concludes that the words are indeed Athaulf's and distinguishes them from their interpretation by Orosius, who

76-527: The Mediterranean ports of Gaul . In reply, Athaulf acclaimed Priscus Attalus as Augustus in Bordeaux in 414. But Constantius' naval blockade was successful and, in 415, Athaulf withdrew with his people into northern Hispania . Attalus fled, fell into the hands of Constantius, and was banished to the island of Lipari . Galla Placidia traveled with Athaulf. Their son, Theodosius, died in infancy and

95-625: The Western Roman Empire by the usurper Constantine III . So in 411 Constantius , the magister militum (master of military) of the western emperor, Flavius Augustus Honorius , with Gothic auxiliaries under Ulfilas , crushed the Gallic rebellion with a siege of Arles . There Constantine and his son were offered an honorable capitulation— but were beheaded in September on their way to pay homage to Honorius at Ravenna . In

114-702: The Gothic booty. Priscus Attalus gave the wedding speech, a classical epithalamium . Under Athaulf's rule, the Visigoths couldn't be said to be masters of a settled kingdom until Athaulf took possession of Narbonne and Toulouse in 413. Although Athaulf remained an Arian Christian , his relationship with Roman culture was summed up, from a Catholic Roman perspective, by the words that the contemporary Christian apologist Orosius put into his mouth, Athaulf's Declaration: Honorius's general Constantius (who would later become Emperor Constantius III ), poisoned official relations with Athaulf and gained permission to blockade

133-456: The brother of Sarus, immediately became king—for a mere seven days, when he was also murdered and succeeded by Wallia . Under the latter's reign, Galla Placidia was returned to Ravenna where, in 417, at the urging of Honorius, she remarried, her new husband being the implacable enemy of the Goths, Constantius. The main sources for the career of Athaulf are Paulus Orosius , the chronicles of

152-900: The emperor from delivering on his promise to provide the Visigoths in Gaul. Athaulf, in turn, refused to release Galla Placidia and his army resumed their hostilities against the Romans, taking the cities of Narbonne, Tolosa and Burdígala (present-day Bordeaux). In an attempt to conquer the city of Marseille, Ataulf was injured in a Roman attack led by Bonifatius . Nevertheless the relations between Athaulf and Honorius improved sufficiently for Athaulf to cement them by marrying Galla Placidia at Narbo in January 414, but Jordanes says he married her in Italy, at Forlì (Forum Livii). The nuptials were celebrated with high Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from

171-616: The feud between their families that had begun with Sarus and Alaric. Jovinus then named his brother Sebastianus (Sebastian) as Augustus (co-emperor). This offended Athaulf, who hadn't been consulted. So he allied his Visigoths with Honorius . Jovinus' troops were defeated in battle, Sebastianus was captured, and Jovinus fled for his life. Athaulf then turned Sebastianus over for execution to Honorius' Gallic praetorian prefect (provincial governor), Claudius Postumus Dardanus . After this, Athaulf besieged and captured Jovinus at Valentia ( Valence ) in 413, sending him to Narbo ( Narbonne ), where he

190-558: The form of payments in gold from the Emperor Honorius—since Athaulf carried with him as a respected hostage the emperor's half-sister Galla Placidia , who had long been his captive. Once in Gaul, Athaulf opened negotiations with a new usurper, the Gallic Jovinus . But while on his way to meet Jovinus, Athaulf came across Sarus and some of his men. Athaulf attacked, captured, and later executed Sarus, continuing

209-518: The heads of four other usurpers). In all likelihood, Dardanus came from a modest background and due to his studies and abilities reached the status of a patrician (an honorary position in the Lower Empire related to the acquisition of effective status as a senator), and access to the post of prefect of the Gauls twice, probably the first time in 401-404 or 406-407 and 412–413 in a second time after

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228-428: The king, Sigeric murdered Ataulf's children by his first wife. He also forced Galla Placidia , widow to Ataulf and daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius I and sister to Emperor Honorius to walk more than twelve miles on foot among the crowd of captives driven ahead of the mounted Sigeric. On the seventh day after his accession, Sigeric was assassinated and replaced him with Ataulf's relative, Wallia . Because Sigeric

247-443: The spring of 412 Constantius pressed Athaulf. Taking the advice of Priscus Attalus —the former emperor whom Alaric had set up at Rome in opposition to Honorius at Ravenna , and who had remained with the Visigoths after he'd been deposed—Athaulf led his followers out of Italy. Moving north into a momentarily pacified Gaul, the Visigoths lived off the countryside in the usual way. Athaulf may have received some additional encouragement in

266-503: The transfer in 407 of the seat of praetorian prefecture of Gaul from Augusta Treverorum (Trier) to Arelate (Arles). Dardanus was converted to Christianity and then retired to the Alps with his wife Nevia Galla, where he began a correspondence with Jerome and Augustine of Hippo . An admirer of St. Augustine, with whom he had established a correspondence, he founded an institution called Theopolis (Greek: "City of God"). This institution

285-560: Was king of the Visigoths from 411 to 415. During his reign, he transformed the Visigothic state from a tribal kingdom to a major political power of late antiquity . He was unanimously elected to the throne to succeed his brother-in-law Alaric , who had been struck down by a fever suddenly in Calabria . King Athaulf's first act was to halt Alaric's southward expansion of the Goths in Italy. Meanwhile, Gaul had been separated from

304-700: Was an Amali, a member of a rival clan-based subgroup among the Visigoths to the Balti (of which Ataulf and Wallia were part), Sigeric is the only one who does not belong in the succession of kings usually labeled the Balti dynasty , if the kingship is defined by Balti dynastic connections. Due to this, as well as to the fact that his reign was a usurpation, and brief, Sigeric does not appear on some Visigothic king lists. Specific Ataulf Athaulf (also Athavulf , Atawulf , or Ataulf and Adolf , Latinized as Ataulphus ) ( c. 370 – 15 August 415)

323-483: Was buried in Hispania in a silver-plated coffin, thus eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line. In Hispania, Athaulf imprudently accepted into his service one of the late Sarus' followers, unaware that the man harbored a secret desire to avenge the death of his beloved patron. And so, in the palace at Barcelona , the man brought Athaulf's reign to a sudden end by killing him while he bathed. Sigeric ,

342-571: Was executed by Dardanus. The heads of Sebastianus and Jovinus arrived at Honorius' court in Ravenna in late August, to be sent forward for displaying among other usurpers on the walls of Carthage . Despite coming to terms with Honorius, their relationship soon deteriorated due to a new conflict caused by the War of Heraclianus in Africa. Heraclianus stopped the grain shipments from Africa, which prevented

361-448: Was preparing his readers for a conclusion that Christian times were felicitous and who attributed Athaulf's apparent change of heart to the power of his love for Galla Placidia, the instrument of divine intervention in God's plan for an eternal Roman Empire. Marchetta finds the marriage instead an act of hard-headed politics. Claudius Postumus Dardanus Claudius Postumus Dardanus was

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