Flavius Richomeres or Ricomer (died 393) was a

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

who lived in the late 4th century. He took service in the Roman army and made a career as ''

comes ''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 i ...

'', ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'', and ''

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

''. He was an uncle of the general Arbogastes. He is possibly to be identified with the Richomeres who married Ascyla, whose son Theodemer later became king of the Franks.

Life

Around the years 377/378, Richomeres was ''

comes domesticorum The origins of the word ''domesticus'' can be traced to the late 3rd century of the Late Roman army. They often held high ranks in various fields, whether it was the servants of a noble house on the civilian side, or a high-ranking military pos ...

'' of Emperor

Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and wa ...

and was transferred from

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek ...

, where he was involved in the Gothic wars of Emperor

Valens Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...

. At

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

, he tried to persuade Valens to wait on

for support. When the Gothic leader

Fritigern Fritigern (fl. 370s) was a Thervingian Gothic chieftain whose decisive victory at Adrianople during the Gothic War (376–382) led to favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian and Theodosius I in 382. Name ''Fritigern'' appe ...

demanded hostages to secure peace from the Romans, he volunteered and departed the Roman camp to bring the other hostages safely to Fritigern, but before he arrived, some elements of the two armies got out of control and engaged, starting the famous

Battle of Adrianople The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic A ...

. Richomeres ended up at a battlefield in complete chaos, but he saved himself by withdrawing and survived. However, Valens' army was largely destroyed and many officers fell, including Valens himself. Around 383, he was general in the east (''magister militum per orientem''), and became

in 384. In 388,

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 ...

sent him together with his nephew Arbogastes and

Promotus Flavius Promotus was a Roman general who served under Theodosius I until his death in 391 AD. Career In 386 he had a command in Africa. Later the same year, he was ''magister peditum per Thracias''. The Greuthungi of King Odotheus gathered on t ...

and

Timasius Flavius Timasius (died 396) was a general of the Roman Empire, a relative of the Empress Aelia Flaccilla, wife of Emperor Theodosius I (r. 379–395). Biography Timasius was a Roman officer, serving under the command of Emperor Valens (r. 364–378 ...

against the usurper

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 B ...

, who was defeated. From the year 388, he served as supreme commander in the Eastern portion of the Empire (''comes et magister utriusque militiae'') until his death in 393. Richomeres was interested in literature, and was acquainted with rhetoricians, such as

Libanius Libanius ( grc-gre, Λιβάνιος, Libanios; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a criti ...

and Augustinus. He introduced the rhetorician

Eugenius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a usurper in the Western Roman Empire (392–394) against Emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious policies targeting p ...

to his nephew Arbogastes. A few years later, Arbogastes seized power in the western portions of the Empire. After the death of

Valentinian II Valentinian II ( la, Valentinianus; 37115 May 392) was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his brother, was then sidelined by a usurper, and only after 388 sole rule ...

, Arbogastes promoted Eugenius to be his Emperor, while he himself remained the leader and generalissimo. In 393, Theodosius I organised a campaign against Arbogastes, and Richomeres was asked to lead the cavalry against his nephew. On the way from the East to the West, he died before the battle took place. Arbogastes lost the battle and committed suicide with his own sword.

References

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 ...

, ''History'', Loeb Classical Library, translated by John C. Rolfe. *Jones, Martindale, and Morris. ''

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

''. (PLRE I) {{s-end Year of birth unknown 393 deaths 4th-century Frankish people 4th-century Roman consuls Comites domesticorum Frankish warriors Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum