| Athaulf | |
|---|---|
| King of the Visigoths | |
| Reign | 411–415 |
| Predecessor | Alaric I |
| Successor | Sigeric |
| Born | c. 370 |
| Died | 415 |
| Spouse | 1) Unknown 2)Galla Placidia |
| Dynasty | Balti dynasty |
| Father | Athanaric |
| Religion | Arianism |
Athaulf (alsoAthavulf,[1]Atawulf,[2] orAtaulf andAdolf,Latinized asAtaulphus) (c. 370 – 15 August 415) wasking of the Visigoths from 411 to 415. During his reign, he transformed theVisigothic state from a tribal kingdom to a major political power oflate antiquity.[3]
He was unanimously elected to the throne to succeed his brother-in-lawAlaric, who had been struck down by a fever suddenly inCalabria. King Athaulf's first act was to halt Alaric's southward expansion of the Goths in Italy.
Meanwhile,Gaul had been separated from theWestern Roman Empire by the usurperConstantine III. So in 411Constantius, themagister militum (master of military) of the western emperor,Flavius Augustus Honorius, with Gothic auxiliaries underUlfilas, crushed the Gallic rebellion with a siege ofArles. There Constantine and his son were offered an honorable capitulation— but were beheaded in September on their way to pay homage to Honorius atRavenna.
In the spring of 412 Constantius pressed Athaulf. Taking the advice ofPriscus Attalus—the former emperor whom Alaric had set up at Rome in opposition to Honorius atRavenna, 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 the form of payments in gold from the Emperor Honorius—since Athaulf carried with him as a respected hostage the emperor's half-sisterGalla Placidia, who had long been his captive.
Once in Gaul, Athaulf opened negotiations with a new usurper, the GallicJovinus. But while on his way to meet Jovinus, Athaulf came acrossSarus and some of his men. Athaulf attacked, captured, and later executed Sarus, continuing the feud between their families that had begun with Sarus and Alaric.[4] Jovinus then named his brotherSebastianus (Sebastian) as Augustus (co-emperor). This offended Athaulf, who hadn't been consulted. So he allied his Visigoths withHonorius. 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 was executed by Dardanus.
The heads of Sebastianus and Jovinus arrived at Honorius' court inRavenna in late August, to be sent forward for displaying among other usurpers on the walls ofCarthage. Despite coming to terms with Honorius, their relationship soon deteriorated due to a new conflict caused by theWar of Heraclianus in Africa. Heraclianus stopped the grain shipments from Africa, which prevented 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 byBonifatius.
Nevertheless the relations between Athaulf and Honorius improved sufficiently for Athaulf to cement them by marryingGalla Placidia atNarbo in January 414, butJordanes says he married her in Italy, atForlì (Forum Livii).[5] The nuptials were celebrated with high Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from the Gothic booty. Priscus Attalus gave the wedding speech, a classicalepithalamium.
Under Athaulf's rule, the Visigoths couldn't be said to be masters of a settled kingdom until Athaulf took possession ofNarbonne andToulouse in 413. Although Athaulf remained anArian Christian, his relationship with Roman culture was summed up, from a Catholic Roman perspective, by the words that the contemporary Christian apologistOrosius put into his mouth, Athaulf's Declaration:
Honorius's general Constantius (who would later become EmperorConstantius III), poisoned official relations with Athaulf and gained permission to blockade theMediterranean ports ofGaul. In reply, Athaulf acclaimed Priscus Attalus as Augustus inBordeaux in 414. But Constantius' naval blockade was successful and, in 415, Athaulf withdrew with his people into northernHispania. Attalus fled, fell into the hands of Constantius, and was banished to the island ofLipari.
Galla Placidia traveled with Athaulf. Their son, Theodosius, died in infancy and was buried in Hispania in a silver-plated coffin,[7] 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 atBarcelona, the man brought Athaulf's reign to a sudden end by killing him while he bathed.
Sigeric, the brother of Sarus, immediately became king—for a mere seven days, when he was also murdered and succeeded byWallia. 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 arePaulus Orosius, the chronicles of theGallaecian bishopHydatius, and those ofAugustine's disciple,Prosper of Aquitaine.
The authenticity of Athaulf's declaration atNarbonne, 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[8] concludes that the words are indeed Athaulf's and distinguishes them from their interpretation by Orosius, who 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.
Athaulf Died: 415 | ||
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| Preceded by | King of the Visigoths 410–415 | Succeeded by |
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