Silvanus (died 7 September 355) was a

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 lette ...

general of

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

descent,

usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it as ...

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 ...

against Emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...

for 28 days in AD 355.

Origin and career

Silvanus was born in

, the son of Bonitus, a

Laeti Laeti , the plural form of laetus , was a term used in the late Roman Empire to denote communities of ''barbari'' (" barbarians"), i.e. foreigners, or people from outside the Empire, permitted to settle on, and granted land in, imperial territory ...

c Frankish general who had supported

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

in the civil war against

Licinius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 265 – 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan, AD 313, that granted official toleration to C ...

. Like so many other Franks of his times, and like his father before him, he was a loyal and thoroughly romanized "barbarian" in the military service of the Empire. By AD 351, he held the rank of

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

and was one of the senior officers who defected to Emperor

at the Battle of Mursa Major, after initially supporting the usurper

Magnentius Magnus Magnentius ( 303 – 11 August 353) was a Roman general and usurper against Constantius II from 350 to 353. Of Germanic descent, Magnentius served with distinction in Gaul under the Western emperor Constans. On 18 January 350 Magnentius ...

. An able soldier, Silvanus was eventually promoted to the rank of ''magister peditum per Gallias'', a crucial post, then in AD 352–353, Constantius personally entrusted him with the difficult task of driving the Alamanni tribesmen raiding and looting in Gaul back beyond the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, and restoring the fast eroding Roman authority in the province. This Silvanus fulfilled partly by bribing the Alamanni chieftains with the taxes he had collected, partly by defeating the Alamanni in battle and partly by suppressing the local bagaudae insurrections flaring up again in central and northern Gaul.

Trial and usurpation

The corrupt '' coterie'' of Constantius II managed to persuade the suspicious, paranoid emperor, that Silvanus was planning to seize power. According to

Ammianus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gest ...

, the praetorian prefect Lampadius and the ex-treasurer of the privy purse, Eusebius, used a sponge to alter a letter sent by Silvanus to his friends in Rome. The altered letter suggested that Silvanus was attempting to win support within the Senate for a coup. Constantius' court clique, with the exception of fellow Frankish generals Malarich and Mallobaudes, was uniformly against Silvanus. Courtiers Apodemius and Dynamius forged further correspondence that cast doubt on Silvanus' loyalty. Constantius then held a trial where Silvanus' allies were successful in defeating the spurious charges against the general. But Silvanus, unaware of the success of his supporters, responded to the threat of condemnation and execution by actually proclaiming himself emperor on 11 August 355 in Colonia Agrippina (modern

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

). Late Roman historian Michael Kulikowski has argued that the entire episode was a later invention, created as an excuse to rid Constantius II of Silvanus before he became a threat. His primary basis of this argument is the fact that no coins minted with Silvanus' image have been found to date, since virtually every usurper minted coins as an attempt to legitimize his authority.

Death of Silvanus

Constantius II, who was staying in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, ordered Silvanus to present himself at court, then sent Ursicinus to take over Silvanus' post. Ursicinus was himself at odds with Constantius' clique, and Silvanus no doubt trusted the veteran general. The letter that Ursicinus gave to Silvanus did not indicate that Constantius already knew of Silvanus' bid for power, so Silvanus considered himself safe. However it seems that Ursicinus betrayed and then arranged for the murder of Silvanus by co-opting some of the rebel soldiery. These men killed the usurper's guards and cornered Silvanus, who was on his way to church, then hacked him to death with their weapons.

Ammianus's report of Silvanus' death

It has been suggested by at least one scholar that Ammianus invented the entire coup attempt to gloss over the role played by his patron, Ursicinus, in the murder of a fellow general. This theory suggests that Constantius had grown suspicious of the popular Frankish general and so offered his post to Ursicinus, who then murdered his peer in the course of a botched change of command. It has been noted that Silvanus did not mint any coinage (which would have been a clear indication of a usurpation attempt), unlike other equally short-lived usurpers of the era, such as Poemenius. However, the thesis of a concocted coup attempt is generally rejected by scholars.Syme; Matthews. The lack of numismatic evidence is not determinative, because Trier, the nearest minting centre to Colonia Agrippina, closed its gates to Silvanus. Ammianus concludes his treatment of the Silvanus episode:

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* The story of Silvanus short reign is told by

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

in his ''History'', at 15.5, with further details scattered through the rest of his work
Biography of Silvanus DiMaio, Michael, "Silvanus (355 A.D.)", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''
* Cameron, Averil and Garnsey, Peter (Eds.). (1998). ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 13, the Late Empire, AD 337–425''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Sir Ronald Syme, Ammianus and the Historia Augusta (Oxford: 1968). * J.F. Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus (London: 1989). * T.D. Barnes, "Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality" (Ithaca: 1998). * Jan Willem Drijvers and David Hunt, eds., The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus (London, 1999). * D.C. Nutt, "Silvanus and the Emperor Constantius II" 7 9 (1973) Antichthon 80–89. {{Authority control 355 deaths 4th-century Frankish people 4th-century Roman usurpers Assassinated Roman politicians Frankish warriors Generals of Constantius II Magistri peditum Year of birth unknown