Hortarius (german: Hortar) was an

Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to: * Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers * Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period * Alamanni (surna ...

king in the 4th century. Hortarius is mentioned by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

historian

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...

.Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum Gestarum, XVIII.2.2 After defeating the Roman army master

Barbatio Barbatio (died AD 359) was a Ancient Rome, Roman general of the infantry (Magister Peditum = Master of Foot) under the command of Constantius II. Previously he was a commander of the household troops (''protectores domestici'') under Gallus Caesar, ...

in 357, the Alemannic kings Hortarius, Suomarius,

Urius Urius (german: Ur) was an Alemannic petty king in the 4th century. The Roman writer Ammianus Marcellinus reports that Julian crossed the Rhine at Mainz in 359 and concluded a peace treaty with the Alemannic kings Urius, Hariobaudes, Macrian, Vado ...

, Ursicinus and

Vestralpus Vestralpus (german: Vestralp) was an Alemannic petty king of the Bucinobantes in the 4th century. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus reports that Julian crossed the Rhine at Mainz in 359 and concluded peace treaties with the Alemannic king ...

united under the leadership of

Chnodomarius Chnodomar (Latinized Chnodomarius) was the king of an Alamannic canton in what is now south-west Germany, near the Rhine from sometime before 352 till 357. He seems to have had a recognized position among the other Alamanni. Early career Chnod ...

and

Agenaric Agenaric (german: Agenarich; la, Agenarichus), also called Serapio, was an Alemannic prince in the 4th century. Agenaric was the son of petty king Mederic and the nephew of another petty king, Chnodomarius. In 357, together with his uncle, Age ...

and moved against the Roman commander Severus at the

Battle of Strasbourg The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under the ''Caesar'' (deputy emperor) Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. ...

. After losing the battle, Hortarius was able to escape execution by proving materials to the Romans. In 358,

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Julian made a peace treaty with Hortarius and he remained at peace with the Romans who were allowed to cross his lands. Another Alemannic nobleman called Hortarius served together with Bitheridus, a chieftain of the

Bucinobantes The Bucinobantes (German: ''Bucinobanten'') were an Alemannic tribe in the region of the modern city of Mainz on the river Main. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that Caesar Julian crossed the river Rhine near Mainz in 359 for nego ...

, as a troop leader in the

Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

under Valentinian I. He was soon accused however, by the dux Florentius, of conspiring with Macrian and other Allemanic leaders and was subsequently tortured and burnt alive.

Sources

* Dieter Geuenich: Geschichte der Alemannen (= Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher. 575). 2., überarbeitete Auflage.

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...

, Stuttgart 2005, . * Dieter Geuenich: Hortar. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2. Auflage. Band 15, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2000, , S. 131.

References

364 deaths 4th-century Germanic people Alemannic rulers Alemannic warriors Ancient Roman military personnel {{Germany-noble-stub