Riothamus

Last updated

Riothamus (also spelled Riutimus or Riotimus) [1] was a Romano-British military leader, who was active circa AD 470. He fought against the Goths in alliance with the declining Western Roman Empire. He is called "King of the Britons" by the 6th-century historian Jordanes, but the extent of his realm is unclear. Some Arthurian scholars identify Riothamus as one of the possible sources of the legendary King Arthur.

Contents

Name

Riothamus is a Latinization of the Brythonic *Rigotamos, meaning 'Great King', 'Kingliest'. Alternatively, it may come from Brittonic *Riiotamos, meaning 'Freest'. [2] The Brittonic form survived into Old Welsh as Riatav (Modern Welsh Rhiadaf) and Old Breton Riat(h)am.

Realm

It is not clear whether Jordanes' "Britons" refers to the Britons of Great Britain itself, or of Armorica, which was undergoing significant British settlement and later came to be known as Brittany.

The Old Breton name Riatam, which (like Riothamus) is derived from Brittonic *Rigotamos, appears in medieval Breton records (primarily biographies of early Breton saints) as one of the Princes of Domnonée (a coastal region in Brittany which takes its name from Dumnonia in southern Britain). He is identified as a son of Deroch II. For chronological reasons, this Riatam is probably a different individual from Jordanes' Riothamus, who lived earlier.

Correspondence with Sidonius Apollinaris

More secure information is provided by a letter which has survived that was written to Riothamus from Sidonius Apollinaris, bishop of Clermont, who requested his judgment for "an obscure and humble person" who had had his slaves enticed away by a group of armed Bretons. [3] According to C.E.V. Nixon, the letter is evidence that Armorica at this time was becoming "like a magnet to peasants, coloni, slaves and the hard-pressed" as Roman power weakened. Poorer subjects of Rome with no stake in land ownership found Breton territory to be a safe haven from the Goths. [3]

The letter

Sidonius Riothamo suo salutem.
Servatur nostri consuetudo sermonis: namque miscemus cum salutatione querimoniam, non omnino huic rei studentes, ut stilus noster sit officiosus in titulis, asper in paginis, sed quod ea semper eveniunt, de quibus loci mei aut ordinis hominem constat inconciliari, si loquatur, peccare, si taceat. sed et ipsi sarcinam vestri pudoris inspicimus, cuius haec semper verecundia fuit, ut pro culpis erubesceretis alienis. Gerulus epistularum humilis obscurus despicabilisque etiam usque ad damnum innocentis ignaviae mancipia sua Britannis clam sollicitantibus abducta deplorat. incertum mihi est an sit certa causatio; sed si inter coram positos aequanimiter obiecta discingitis, arbitror hunc laboriosum posse probare quod obicit, si tamen inter argutos armatos tumultuosos, virtute numero contubernio contumaces, poterit ex aequo et bono solus inermis, abiectus rusticus, peregrinus pauper audiri. vale. [4]

Translation

To his friend Riothamus
I will write once more in my usual strain, mingling compliment with grievance. Not that I at all desire to follow up the first words of greeting with disagreeable subjects, but things seem to be always happening which a man of my order and in my position can neither mention without unpleasantness, nor pass over without neglect of duty. Yet I do my best to remember the burdensome and delicate sense of honour which makes you so ready to blush for others' faults. The bearer of this is an obscure and humble person, so harmless, insignificant, and helpless that he seems to invite his own discomfiture; his grievance is that the Bretons are secretly enticing his slaves away. Whether his indictment is a true one, I cannot say; but if you can only confront the parties and decide the matter on its merits, I think the unfortunate man may be able to make good his charge, if indeed a stranger from the country unarmed, abject and impecunious to boot, has ever a chance of a fair or kindly hearing against adversaries with all the advantages he lacks, arms, astuteness, turbulences, and the aggressive spirit of men backed by numerous friends. Farewell. [5]

War with the Goths

Jordanes states that Riothamus supported the Romans against the Visigoths led by Euric (who lived c. 440 – 484). In The Origin and Deeds of the Goths , he states that Riothamus brought a British army to supplement Roman forces but suffered defeat fighting against overwhelming odds when the Goths intercepted his force:

Jordanes, Getica, XLV.237–238

Euricus ergo, Vesegotharum rex, crebram mutationem Romanorum principum cernens Gallias suo iure nisus est occupare. Quod conperiens Anthemius imperator Brittonum solacia postulavit. Quorum rex Riotimus cum duodecim milia veniens in Beturigas civitate Oceano e navibus egresso susceptus est. Vad quos rex Vesegotharum Eurichus innumerum ductans advenit exercitum diuque pugnans Riutimum Brittonum rege, antequam Romani in eius societate coniungerentur, effugavit. Qui amplam partem exercitus amissam cum quibus potuit fugiens ad Burgundzonum gentem vicinam Romanisque in eo tempore foederatam advenit. Eurichus vero rex Vesegotharum Arevernam Galliae civitatem occupavit Anthemio principe iam defuncto.... [6]

Translation

"Now Euric, king of the Visigoths, perceived the frequent change of Roman Emperors and strove to hold Gaul by his own right. The Emperor Anthemius heard of it and asked the Brittones for aid. Their King Riotimus came with twelve thousand men into the state of the Bituriges by the way of Ocean, and was received as he disembarked from his ships. (238) Euric, king of the Visigoths, came against them with an innumerable army, and after a long fight he routed Riotimus, King of the Britons, before the Romans could join him. So when he had lost a great part of his army, he fled with all the men he could gather together, and came to the Burgundians, a neighboring tribe then allied to the Romans. But Euric, king of the Visigoths, seized the Gallic city of Arvernum; for the Emperor Anthemius was now dead." [7]

A letter from Sidonius Apollinaris to his friend Vincentius, written circa 468 AD, records that Roman officials intercepted a letter written by the Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, Arvandus, to the Visigothic king Euric stating that "the Britons stationed beyond the Loire should be attacked" and that the Visigoths and Burgundians (who were at the time clients of the Romans) should divide Gaul between them; this has led some scholars (such as Geoffrey Ashe) to suggest that Arvandus betrayed Riothamus. This letter does not mention Riothamus by name, however, and (based on the reconstruction of the chronology of Sidonius' letters), it is possible that Riothamus and his forces were not the direct subject of Arvandus' message to Euric, as Arvandus was already under arrest and on his way to Rome before Riothamus had even entered the fray against the Visigoths, sometime between 470 and 472 AD (the latter being the year of emperor Anthemius' death). [8]

Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, II.18

Gregory of Tours seems to react to the outcome of the battle between the Visigoths and Britons: [9] [10]

II.18. Quod Childericus Aurilianus et Andecavo venit Odovacrius. Igitur Childericus Aurilianis pugnas egit, Adovacrius vero cum Saxonibus Andecavo venit. Magna tunc lues populum devastavit. Mortuus est autem Egidius et reliquit filium Syagrium nomine. Quo defuncto, Adovacrius de Andecavo vel aliis locis obsedes accepit. Brittani de Bituricas a Gothis expulsi sunt, multis apud Dolensim vicum peremptis. Paulos vero comes cum Romanis ac Francis Gothis bella intulit et praedas egit. Veniente vero Adovacrio Andecavus, Childericus rex sequenti die advenit, interemptoque Paulo comite, civitatem obtinuit. Magnum ea die incendio domus aeclesiae concremata est.

Translation

II.18. How Childeric went to Orleans and Odoacer to Angers. Now Childeric fought at Orléans and Odoacer came with the Saxons to Angers. At that time a great plague destroyed the people. Aegidius died and left a son, Syagrius by name. On his death Odoacer received hostages from Angers and other places. The Britanni were driven from Bourges by the Goths, and many were slain at the village of Déols . Count Paul with the Romans and Franks made war on the Goths and took booty. When Odoacer came to Angers, king Childeric came on the following day, and slew count Paul, and took the city. In a great fire on that day the house of the bishop was burned.

Riothamus as King Arthur or Ambrosius Aurelianus

Riothamus has been identified as a candidate for the historical King Arthur by several scholars over the centuries, notably the historian Geoffrey Ashe, [11] [12] primarily due to Riothamus's activities in Gaul, which bear a casual resemblance to King Arthur's Gallic campaign as first recorded by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae . Geoffrey Ashe has suggested a link between Riothamus' alleged betrayal by Arvandus and Arthur's betrayal by Mordred in the Historia Regum Britanniae , and proposes that Riothamus' last known position was near the Burgundian town of Avallon (not noted by any ancient source mentioning Riothamus), which he suggests is the basis for the Arthurian connection to Avalon.

Academic historian Léon Fleuriot argued that Riothamus is identical to Ambrosius Aurelianus, an historical figure in Britain around this time who, in the early narratives containing Arthur, preceded Arthur. [13] Fleuriot suggested that "Riothamus" was Aurelianus' title as overlord of all Brythonic territories. He noted that "Riothamus" and Aurelianus are contemporaneous and that Aurelianus is the only British leader of the time who is identified (much later) as ruling both Brythons and Franks, which could only be the case if he ruled territory in Brittany. He also suggested that the name "Abros" in Breton genealogies is a contraction of "Ambrosius" and that Nennius indicates that Ambrosius was supreme ruler of the Britons, which, Fleuriot argues, would translate as "Riothamus". [13] Fleuriot suggested that Ambrosius led the Britons in the battle against the Goths, but then returned to Britain to continue the war against the Saxons. [13]

Notes

  1. ↑ Riothamus (Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistulae III, 9); Riutimus or Riotimus (Jordanes, Getica 237-8).
  2. ↑ Delamarre, Xavier. Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Paris, éditions Errance, 2003. p. 29. ISBN   2-87772-237-6.
  3. 1 2 C.E.V. Nixon, "Relations Between Visigoths and Romans in Fifth Century Gaul", in John Drinkwater, Hugh Elton (eds) Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?, Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 69
  4. ↑ Luetjohann, Christian (ed.), Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi Vol VIII, Apollinaris Sidonii Epistulae et Carmina, Weidmann, Berlin, 1887, p. 46.
  5. ↑ Dalton, O. M. (ed., trans.), The Letters of Sidonius, Volume I, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1915, p. 76
  6. ↑ Mommsen, Theodor, Jordanis Romana et Gethica, Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Auctores antiquissimi, 5.1. Berlin, Weidmann, 1882, p. 118-119.
  7. ↑ Geary, Patrick J. Readings in Medieval History: The Early Middle Ages, University of Toronto Press, 2010, p. 100.
  8. ↑ Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistulae I, 7, 5.
  9. ↑ Gregory of Tours, Decem libri historiarum ii, 18.
  10. ↑ Brehaut, E. (trans.), Gregory of Tours: History of the Franks, Columbia University Press, 1916, p. 35.
  11. ↑ The Discovery of King Arthur, Guild Publishing, London, 1985.
  12. ↑ Polidoro, Massimo (March–April 2020). "Notes on a Strange World: King Arthur Found?". Skeptical Inquirer. 44: 26–27.
  13. 1 2 3 Léon Fleuriot, Les origines de la Bretagne: l’émigration, Paris, Payot, 1980, p. 170

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambrosius Aurelianus</span> 5th-century Romano-British warlord

Ambrosius Aurelianus was a war leader of the Romano-British who won an important battle against the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, according to Gildas. He also appeared independently in the legends of the Britons, beginning with the 9th-century Historia Brittonum. Eventually, he was transformed by Geoffrey of Monmouth into the uncle of King Arthur, the brother of Arthur's father Uther Pendragon, as a ruler who precedes and predeceases them both. He also appears as a young prophet who meets the tyrant Vortigern; in this guise, he was later transformed into the wizard Merlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgundians</span> Historical East Germanic ethnic group

The Burgundians were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and were later moved into the empire, in the western Alps and eastern Gaul. They were possibly mentioned much earlier in the time of the Roman Empire as living in part of the region of Germania that is now part of Poland.

The 470s decade ran from January 1, 470, to December 31, 479.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">470</span> Calendar year

Year 470 (CDLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Iordanes. The denomination 470 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Nepos</span> Roman emperor from 474 to 475/480

Julius Nepos, or simply Nepos, ruled as Roman emperor of the West from 24 June 474 to 28 August 475. After losing power in Italy, Nepos retreated to his home province of Dalmatia, from which he continued to claim the western imperial title, with recognition from the Eastern Roman Empire, until he was murdered in 480. Though Nepos' successor in Italy, Romulus Augustulus, is traditionally deemed the last western Roman emperor, Nepos is regarded by some historians as the true last emperor of the west, being the last widely recognised claimant to the position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricimer</span> General and ruler of the Western Roman Empire (c. 418–472)

Ricimer, sometimes called Flavius Ricimer was a Romanized Germanic general who effectively ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 456 after defeating Avitus, until his death in 472, with a brief interlude in which he contested power with Anthemius. Deriving his power from his position as magister militum of the Western Empire, Ricimer exercised political control through a series of puppet emperors. Ricimer's death led to unrest across Italy and the establishment of a Germanic kingdom on the Italian Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euric</span> King of the Visigoths from 466 to 484

Euric, also known as Evaric, son of Theodoric I, ruled as king (rex) of the Visigoths, after murdering his brother, Theodoric II, from 466 until his death in 484. Sometimes he is called Euric II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthemius</span> Roman emperor from 467 to 472

Anthemius was Western Roman Emperor from 467 to 472. Born in the Eastern Roman Empire as a distant descendant of Julian, and thus as a member of the Constantinian dynasty, Anthemius quickly worked his way up the ranks. He married into the Theodosian dynasty through Marcia Euphemia, daughter of Eastern emperor Marcian. He soon received a significant number of promotions to various posts, and was presumed to be Marcian's planned successor. However, Marcian's sudden death in 457, together with that of Western emperor Avitus, left the imperial succession in the hands of Aspar, who instead appointed a low-ranking officer known as Leo to the Eastern throne out of fear that Anthemius would be too independent. Eventually, this same Leo would designate Anthemius as Western emperor in 467, following a two-year interregnum that started in 465.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidonius Apollinaris</span> 5th-century Gallic poet, diplomat, bishop, and Catholic saint

Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris, was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urban prefect of Rome by Emperor Anthemius in 468. In 469 he was appointed Bishop of Clermont and he led the defence of the city from Euric, King of the Visigoths, from 473 to 475. He retained his position as bishop after the city's conquest, until his death in the 480s. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic church, with his feast day on 21 August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Catalaunian Plains</span> Part of the Hunnic invasion of the Roman province of Gaul

The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition – led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius and by the Visigothic king Theodoric I – against the Huns and their vassals – commanded by their king Attila. It proved one of the last major military operations of the Western Roman Empire, although Germanic foederati composed the majority of the coalition army. Whether the battle was of strategic significance is disputed; historians generally agree that the Siege of Orleans was the decisive moment in the campaign and stopped the Huns' attempt to advance any further into Roman territory or establish vassals in Roman Gaul. However, the Huns successfully looted and pillaged much of Gaul and crippled the military capacity of the Romans and Visigoths. Attila died only two years later, in 453; after the Battle of Nedao in 454, the coalition of the Huns and the incorporated Germanic vassals gradually disintegrated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historicity of King Arthur</span> Debate about whether King Arthur was a historical person

The historicity of King Arthur has been debated both by academics and popular writers. While there have been many suggestions that Arthur was a real historical person, current consensus among academic historians holds him to be a mythological or folkloric figure. However, non-specialists and a few academic historians continue to defend Arthur's historicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avallon</span> Subprefecture and commune in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

Avallon is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in central-eastern France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Léon Fleuriot</span> French linguist and Celtic scholar

Léon Fleuriot was a French linguist and Celtic scholar, specializing in Celtic languages and the history of Gallo-Roman and Early Medieval Brittany.

Arvandus was a Gaul who rose through the hierarchy of Imperial Roman society to twice be appointed Praetorian prefect of Gaul.

Ecdicius Avitus was an Arverni aristocrat, senator, and magister militum praesentalis from 474 until 475.

Anthemiolus was the son of the Western Roman Emperor Anthemius (467–472) and Marcia Euphemia, daughter of the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian.

Tonantius Ferreolus was the praetorian prefect of Gaul from 451.

Goeznovius, also known as Goueznou, was a Cornish-born Bishop of Léon in Brittany, who is venerated as a saint in the region around Brest and the diocese of Léon. According to his Legenda he was born in Cornwall and became one of many of his countrymen who moved to the continent in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon invasions and helped found the Brittonic settlement in Armorica that became established as Brittany. His feast day is celebrated on 25 October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodoric I</span> King of the Visigoths

Theodoric I was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. Theodoric is famous for his part in stopping Attila at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, where he was killed.

The Battle of Arles was fought between the Visigoths and the Western Roman Empire in 471. Prior to the battle, the Visigoths had defeated the Bretons at the Battle of Déols in 469, and were expanding into Aquitaine. Alarmed with this development, Emperor Anthemius sent an expedition under Anthemiolus across the Alps against the Visigothic king Euric, who was besieging Arles. Euric crushed the Roman army and killed Anthemiolus and three Roman counts. Euric subsequently captured Arles and much of southern Gaul. The defeat in Gaul was a direct cause of the subsequent overthrow of Anthemius as emperor by Ricimer.

References

Primary sources
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.