Agrippinus (''

floruit ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

'' 451–461) was a general of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

, ''

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, ...

per Gallias'' under emperors

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vying ...

Petronius Maximus Petronius Maximus ( 39731 May 455) was Roman emperor of the West for two and a half months in 455. A wealthy senator and a prominent aristocrat, he was instrumental in the murders of the Western Roman ''magister militum'', Aëtius, and the W ...

, Avitus and

Libius Severus Libius Severus (died 465), sometimes enumerated as Severus III, was Roman emperor, emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 461 to his death in 465. A native of Lucania,Cassiodorus, ''Chronicle''; ''Chronica Gallica of 511'', s:la:Chronica galli ...

Biography

Agrippinus was a native of Gaul; Ralph Mathisen points out his attested ties are concentrated in the eastern part of

Lugdunensis Gallia Lugdunensis ( French: ''Gaule Lyonnaise'') was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul formerly known as Celtica. It is named after its capital Lugdunum (today's L ...

; "writers from no other area have anything good to say about him" Mathisen adds in parentheses. He was appointed ''

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 ...

'' and later ''

per Gallias'';

Hydatius Hydatius, also spelled Idacius (c. 400 – c. 469) was a late Western Roman writer and clergyman. The bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia (almost certainly the modern Chaves, Portugal, in the modern district of Vila Real), he ...

records that, as a ''comes'', he received a letter from Euphronius, bishop of

Autun Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...

describing a comet seen at Easter, 451. The ''Vita Aniani'' records that when he was wounded, Anianus, Bishop of ''Aurelianum'' miraculously healed him; as a show of gratitude, Agrippinus freed all his prisoners. When Avitus was deposed by

Majorian Majorian ( la, Iulius Valerius Maiorianus; died 7 August 461) was the western Roman emperor from 457 to 461. A prominent general of the Roman army, Majorian deposed Emperor Avitus in 457 and succeeded him. Majorian was the last emperor to make ...

in 456, Majorian replaced Agrippinus with

Aegidius Aegidius (died 464 or 465) was the ruler of the short-lived Kingdom of Soissons from 461 to 464/465AD. Before his ascension, he became ''magister militum per Gallias'' (Master of the Soldiers for Gaul) serving under Majorian, in 458AD. An arden ...

as ''comes''; Aegidius then accused his predecessor of various kinds of treachery. Accompanied by Lupicinus, abbot of the monastery of St. Claude, Agrippinus was sent to Rome where he was tried and sentenced to death without the possibility to appeal to the Emperor or to the Senate. According to the ''Vita Lupicini'', Agrippinus escaped and took refuge in the church of St. Peter. Later he was pardoned by the Emperor, with the abbot Lupicinus' help, and was sent back to Gaul "exalted with honors." It is possible that Agrippinus, who was considered an enemy by Majorian, was restored in power by one of his successors, either

or the man behind the throne,

Ricimer Flavius Ricimer ( , ; – 18/19 August 472) was a Romanized Germanic general who effectively ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 461 until his death in 472, with a brief interlude in which he contested power with An ...

, who had killed Majorian and put Severus on the throne. As Aegidius had not recognised Severus' authority, the new Emperor restored Agrippinus as ''comes'' (461 or 462). Once invested with the insignia of office, Agrippinus gave the city of

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

to the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...

.Hydatius, 217 Hugh Elton suggests this cession was a bribe from the Emperor Severus to encourage the Visigoths to war against Agrippinus' old rival Aegidius.Elton, "Defence in fifth-century Gaul", in John Drinkwater and Hugh Elton, ''Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1992), p. 172

Biography

Notes

Further reading