|
Comes Britanniarum
The (Latin for "Count of the Britains") was a military post in Roman Britain with command over the mobile field army from the mid-4th century onwards. It is listed in the List of Offices as being one of the three commands in Britain, along with the Dux Britanniarum and the Comes litoris Saxonici. His troops were the main field army (''comitatenses'') in Britain and not the frontier guards ('' limitanei'') commanded by the other two. Appointment Archaeologists Timothy W. Potter and Catherine Johns believe that the ''Comes Britanniarum'' led an ''ad hoc'' force created to deal with a particular situation. They seem to have been appointed during times of crisis. It appears the title was temporary and did not remain for long, and certainly did not have the permanence of the Dux Britanniarum and the Comes litoris Saxonici, but for the duration of the crisis the ''Comes Britannarum'' had chief command of Roman military forces in Britain. The first "Count" in Britain was Gratianus F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valentinian I
Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Valentinian retained the west. During his reign, Valentinian fought successfully against the Alamanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 367 at the Battle of Solicinium. His general Count Theodosius defeated a revolt in Africa and the Great Conspiracy, a coordinated assault on Roman Britain by Picts, Scots, and Saxons. Valentinian was also the last emperor to conduct campaigns across both the Rhine and Danube rivers. Valentinian rebuilt and improved the fortifications along the frontiers, even building fortresses in enemy territory. He founded the Valentinianic dynasty, with his sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeding him in the western half of the empire. Early life Valentinian was born in 321 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comites Rei Militaris
''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either individually or as a member of a collective denominated a "''Comitatus (classical meaning), comitatus''", especially the suite of a magnate, being in some instances sufficiently large and/or formal to justify specific denomination, e.g. a "''cohors amicorum''". "''Comes''" derives from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Ancient Roman religion ''Comes'' was a common epithet or title that was added to the name of a hero or god in order to denote relation with another god. The coinage of Constantine I (emperor), Roman Emperor Constantine I declared him "''comes''" to Sol Invictus ("Unconquered Sun") ''qua'' god. Imperial Roman curial titles and offices styled ''Comites'' Historically more significant, "''comes''" became a secular ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnus Maximus
Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in Britannia and Gaul the next year while Gratian's brother Valentinian II retained Italy, Pannonia, Hispania, and Africa. In 387, Maximus's ambitions led him to invade Italy, resulting in his defeat by Theodosius I at the Battle of Poetovio in 388. In the view of some historians, his death marked the end of direct imperial presence in Northern Gaul and Britain. Life Birth, army career Maximus was born in Gallaecia, on the estates of Count Theodosius (the Elder) of the Theodosian dynasty, to whom he claimed to be related.J. B. Bury ed. (1924)''The Cambridge Medieval History'' p. 238 Maximus was a distinguished general; he was probably a junior officer in Britain in 368, during the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. He served under Count Theodos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Withdrawal From Britain
The end of Roman rule in Britain was the transition from Roman Britain to post-Roman Britain. Roman rule ended in different parts of Britain at different times, and under different circumstances. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus withdrew troops from northern and western Britain, probably leaving local warlords in charge. Around 410, the Romano-British expelled the magistrates of the usurper Constantine III. He had previously stripped the Roman garrison from Britain and taken it to Gaul in response to the Crossing of the Rhine in late 406, leaving the island a victim to barbarian attacks. Roman Emperor Honorius (emperor), Honorius replied to a request for assistance with the ''Rescript of Honorius'', telling the Romano-British culture, Roman cities to see to their own defence, a tacit acceptance of temporary British self-government. Honorius was fighting a large-scale war in Roman Italy, Italy against the Visigoths under their leader Alaric I, Alaric, with Rome itself under s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britannia
Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great Britain, and the Roman province of Britain during the Roman Empire. Typically depicted reclining or seated with spear and shield since appearing thus on Roman coins of the 2nd century AD, the classical national allegory was revived in the early modern period. On coins of the pound sterling issued by Charles II of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Britannia appears with her shield bearing the Union Flag. To symbolise the Royal Navy's victories, Britannia's spear became the characteristic trident in 1797, and a helmet was added to the coinage in 1825. By the 1st century BC, Britannia replaced Albion as the prevalent Latin name for the island of Great Britain. After the Roman conquest in 43 AD, ''Britannia'' also came to refer to the Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honorius (emperor)
Honorius (9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius, Honorius ruled the western half of the empire while his brother Arcadius ruled the eastern half. In 410, during Honorius's reign over the Western Roman Empire, Rome was sacked for the first time in almost 800 years. Even by the standards of the Western Empire, Honorius's reign was precarious and chaotic. His early reign was supported by his principal general, Stilicho, who was successively Honorius's guardian (during his childhood) and his father-in-law (after the emperor became an adult). Family Honorius was born to Emperor Theodosius I and Empress Aelia Flaccilla on 9 September 384 in Constantinople. He was brother to Arcadius and Pulcheria. In 386, his mother died, and in 387, Theodosius married Galla who had taken a temporary refuge in Thessaloniki with her family, including her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho (; c. 359 – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He became guardian for the underage Honorius. After nine years of struggle against barbarian and Roman enemies, political and military disasters finally allowed his enemies in the court of Honorius to remove him from power. His fall culminated in his arrest and execution in 408. Origins and rise to power Stilicho (Στιλίχων ''Stilíchōn'' in Greek) was the son of a Vandal cavalry officer and a provincial woman of Roman birth. Despite his father's origins there is little to suggest that Stilicho considered himself anything other than a Roman, and his high rank within the empire suggests that he was probably not an Arian like many Germanic Christians but rather a Nicene Christian like his patron Theodosius I, who declared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two civil wars, and recognized the Catholic orthodoxy of Nicene Christians as the Roman Empire's state religion. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between two separate courts (one western, the other eastern). Born in Hispania, Theodosius was the son of a high-ranking general, Theodosius the Elder, under whose guidance he rose through the ranks of the Roman Army. Theodosius held independent command in Moesia in 374, where he had some success against the invading Sarmatians. Not long afterwards, he was forced into retirement, and his father was executed under obscure circumstances. Theodosius soon regained his position following a series of intrigues and executions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Theodosius
Flavius Theodosius (died 376), also known as Count Theodosius ( la, Theodosius comes) or Theodosius the Elder ( la, Theodosius Major), was a senior military officer serving Valentinian I () and the western Roman empire during Late Antiquity. Under his command the Roman army defeated numerous threats, incursions, and usurpations. Theodosius was patriarch of the imperial Theodosian dynasty () and father of the emperor Theodosius the Great (). He was granted the title of '' comes rei militaris per Britanniarum'' (Commander of the Troops of the Diocese of the Britains) by the emperor Valentinian for his work there; putting down the Great Conspiracy (367–368) and the usurpation of Valentinus. After restoring order in Britain he returned to continental Europe and fought against the Alemanni; as Valentinian's ''magister equitum'' (Master of Horse) he successfully invaded Alemannic territory (371 or 370). In 372 Theodosius led a successful campaign against the Sarmatians.Hughes, I, ''I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Conspiracy
The Great Conspiracy was a year-long state of war and disorder that occurred near the end of Roman Britain. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a ''barbarica conspiratio'', which capitalised on a depleted military force in the province that had been brought about by Magnentius' losses at the Battle of Mursa Major in Pannonia after his unsuccessful bid to become emperor. It is difficult to ascertain the exact chronology of the events because their main source, Ammianus, was living in Antioch at that time. His information looks second-hand and confused and is in addition inconsistent with that produced by other sources. As a consequence, there are several different views of what happened. Conspiracy In the winter of 367, the Roman garrison on Hadrian's Wall apparently rebelled and allowed Picts from Caledonia to enter Britannia. Simultaneously, Attacotti, the Scotti from Hibernia and Saxons from Germania landed in what might have been coordinated and pre-arra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constans
Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of ''caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great. After his father's death, he was made ''augustus'' alongside his brothers in September 337. Constans was given the administration of the praetorian prefectures of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa. He defeated the Sarmatians in a campaign shortly afterwards. Quarrels over the sharing of power led to a civil war with his eldest brother and co-emperor Constantine II, who invaded Italy in 340 and was killed in battle with Constans's forces near Aquileia. Constans gained from him the praetorian prefecture of Gaul. Thereafter there were tensions with his remaining brother and co-''augustus'' Constantius II (), including over the exiled bishop Athanasius of Alexandria. In the following years he campaigned against the Franks, and in 343 he visited Roman Britain, the last legitimate emp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_A_king%2C_possibly_Magnus_Maximus%2C_holding_a_sceptre.jpg "Click for more on -> Magnus Maximus")
