Gothic war against Aegidius


The Gothic War against Aegidius is a relatively obscure episode from late Antiquity. The war took place in Gaul during the chaotic years before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Information about this war is scarce and fragmented. Priscus is seen as the main source of the military campaigns against Aegidius. His writings have been largely lost, but fragmentarily handed down by later authors such as Jordanes, Gregory of Tours and Marius of Avenches. Furthermore, Hydatius gives a chronological statement of the events and the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris give insight into the relations between the Roman elite and the Germanic rulers. This makes it possible to reconstruct the course of the war, albeit summarily.

Historical context

Parties involved

The conflict took place during the civil war that broke out shortly after the assassination of Emperor Majorian, and can be seen as a direct consequence of it. The main stakeholders were Aegidius, a Roman general and magister militum per Gallia who actually exerted a semi-independent power in northern Gaul and rex Theodoric II, king of the Goths in Aquitaine who remained loyal to central Roman authority in Italy. In the background was Ricimer, the powerful Roman general who was responsible for the fall of Majorian and the appointment of Libius Severus as emperor.
Aegidius, a supporter of Majorian, resisted the seizure of power. Theodoric II played a key role in this power game of the Romans. His support for Ricimer, in his capacity as foederati of the Western Roman emperor, was of essential importance. Further more historians suggest, because direct evidence is lacking, that the Burgundian rex Gundioc, who was a brother-in-law of Ricimer and like Theodoric II a foederatus, may also be involved in the war against Aegidius, possibly even in a military way.

Situation in Gaul

After the assassination of Emperor Majorian, Roman authority in Italy lost almost all control of Gaul. The Gallic army was under the command of Aegidius, while Ricimer only had the Italian army. He could not deploy this army without risk: the defense of the Italian coast against raids of the Vandals was a priority, and a military confrontation with Aegidius would weaken his own position. In an attempt to get the Gallic army under control, Ricimer on his own initiative had the new emperor in Libius Severus appoint a certain Agrippinus as the new militum per Gallias - as a counterweight to Aegidius.
Other players to be taken into account were the Gothic and Burgundian foederati: the Goths in Aquitania under the direction of Theodoric II and the Burgundians by Gundioc. Through the diplomacy of Agrippinus, Ricimer managed to win Theodoric as an ally. Thedoric's support was mainly motivated by his own interest. After all, a few years earlier, he himself had unleashed a uprising with the aim of gaining more power and territorial expansion.

Size of the armies

Aegidius' army consisted largely troops of the imperial army that had been stationed in the area of Paris. According to Priscus, he had a large army estimated by modern historians at about 6,000 to 10,000 soldiers. In addition to regular units - the comitatenses and limitanei - his force also included units of Alans and Sarmatians, whose settlements were near Orleans. Gregory of Tours suggests in his Historia Francorum that Childeric I operate together with Aegidius.
The Gothic army of Theodoric II was probably smaller than that of his father Theodoric I, who once brought 20,000 men to his feet in collaboration with Aetius. Yet Theodoric II still had 10,000 to 15,000 fighters. This was not a fixed army, but consisted of an armed force of free men who brought their own weapons. The core consisted of infantry, supplemented by a significant cavalry unit formed by the elite. Many of their tactics were taken from those of the Romans.

Course of the war

For Aegidius, who consolidated his power over northern Gaul, Agrippinus was not a threat. Ricimer's plan to separate the Gallic army failed, because the troops remained loyal to Aegidius. Instead of that the alliance that Ricimer forged with Theodoric II was a much greater danger, although it took some time before the Gothic army was on full strength. Most of the Gothic army waged war against the Suevens in Spain. The sources do not report fightings in 462, but there may have been an attack on the city of Narbonne by the Goths where Agrippinus would have been cornered by Aegidius. For this reason, Emperor Libius Serverus would abandon the city of Narbonne in exchange for support, giving the Goths access to the Middle Sea. Except for this battle at Narbonne, it seems that Aegidius in 462 successfully defended his domains against the Goths and even made an attempt to attack Ricimer in Italy.
Agrippinus was replaced in 462 or 463 by the Burgundian rex Gundioc whose foederati had managed to prevent the advance of Aegdius. A reason for this move is not mentioned in the sources. Does this mean that Agrippinus had been ineffective against Aegidius and that the task was given to Gundioc because he had distinguished himself in a fight against Aegidius, or does it simply mean that Ricimer promoted the career of his barbaric relatives?

Battle of Orleans

In the year 463, the struggle for power in Gaul was further sharpened when the Aquitaine Goths invaded the north and clashed with Aegidius' troops. Theodoric had made peace with the Suevens in Spain and was thus able to free troops that could be deployed against Aegidius. This army was led by his younger brother Frederic who had already fought battles in Spain. Aegidius mobilized his army and reinforced it with Frankish and Alanise foederati. According to Marius of Avenches the fighings took place between the Loire and the Loir and ended in a decisive battle near Orléans, the city of great importance for the control over central and northern Gaul. During this battle, the Goths carried out a large-scale attack on the troops of Aegidius, but the Roman with his army was able to hold out. The battle was fierce and bloody, and the Gallo-Roman army managed to break through the Gothic lines. In the chaos of the battle, Frederic, the brother of Theodoric II, was killed in action. His death did not only meant a personal loss for Theodoric, but also undermined the moral position of the Goths in Gaul.

Battles by Childeric

Furthermore it is possible that the Goths were also defeated near Chinon, but the evidence for this is paper thin because the sources do not explicitly mention this. The account of Gregory of Tours indicates several battles in which the Frankish general Childeric was involved.

Afthermath

The defeat at Orléans forced the Goths to withdraw and Aegidius temporarily gave the upron in his territory of power north of the Loire, the "Roman Gaul" which is sometimes called the "Regnum Aegidius". The loss of Frederick was a great personal and strategic defeat for Theodoric II, but it did not stop the Goths from further expanding in the following decades. Shortly afterwards Aegidius died, under mysterious circumstances – possibly poisoned. He was first successed by Paul of Childeric, and eventually by his son Syagrius. They maintained Roman rule for about 20 years, until it was conquered by Clovis in 486 during the Franco-Roman War.