Flavius Fravitta (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ; died 404/405) was a leader of the

Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...

and a top-ranking officer in the army of the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantino ...

. Fravitta was a member of the Visigoth aristocracy. He was also a pagan, and for this reason he was praised by

Eunapius Eunapius ( el, Εὐνάπιος; fl. 4th–5th century AD) was a Greek sophist and historian of the 4th century AD. His principal surviving work is the ''Lives of Philosophers and Sophists'' ( grc-gre, Βίοι Φιλοσόφων καὶ Σ� ...

, a Greek historian of the 4th–5th centuries. In 382, the Visigoths had signed a treaty with Roman Emperor

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 ...

, according to which the Visigoths were allowed to live in the Roman territory at the mouth of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, with the rank of ''

foederati ''Foederati'' (, singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the ''socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign stat ...

'', thus providing the Roman army with troops. However, within the Goths there were two parties, which grew more and more hostile to each other. One was formed by the Arian Christian majority, the "Gothic party", led by

Eriulf Eriulf (died 391) was a Gothic warlord. He was a leader of the Thervingi, who under emperor Theodosius I had been settled as foederati along the lower Danube through a treaty concluded in 382. Eriulf led one of the factions among the Goths who cros ...

and opposed to the assimilation of the Goths in the Roman culture. Fravitta, on the other side, led those Goths who wanted to stay faithful to the treaty and who wanted to be assimilated. In 391, while Eriulf and Fravitta were both dining with Theodosius, they quarreled, and Fravitta killed Eriulf, and only the intervention of the imperial guards saved him from the vengeful followers of Eriulf; while his support among the Goths decreased, his position at court was strengthened. Later he married a Roman woman of high rank, thus helping his own assimilation into Roman society, as well as his people's. He was loyal to the Empire for all of his life, and rose through the ranks of the army, until he reached the office of ''

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, ...

'', with the task of suppressing the revolts in the East (395). According to Zosimus, Fravitta was responsible for having "freed the entire East, from

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

and Palestine, from the plague of brigands".Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius, Alan Cameron, Jacqueline Long
/ref> In 400 he led the fleet of the Eastern Roman Emperor

Arcadius Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ...

and decisively defeated the fleet of the rebel Arian Goth

Gainas Gainas ( Greek: Γαϊνάς) was a Gothic leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire as '' magister militum'' during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius. Gainas began his military career as a common foot-soldier, but later commanded the ...

, in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

, while they were trying to pass to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. As a reward, he asked to be allowed to worship the Pagan gods freely; the Emperor granted him his wish and designated him as consul for 401. He later fell out of favour because of several intrigues in the Eastern court, as the imperial policy towards the Goths changed because of the rebellion of Gainas. Fravitta was unjustly accused of treachery and put to death.

Bibliography

* Wolfram, Herwig, ''History of the Goths'', University of California Press, 1998, , pp. 146–147, 149. * Arnold Hugh Martin Jones, John Martindale, John Morris, '' Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', volume 1, Cambridge 1971, p. 372. * E. W. Brooks, "Le province dell'oriente da Arcadio ad Anastasio", ''Storia del mondo medievale'', volume I, 1999, pp. 445–479 * M. Manitius, "Le migrazioni germaniche 378-412", ''Storia del mondo medievale'', volume I, 1999, pp. 246–274

References

{{Authority control 4th-century births 400s deaths 4th-century Gothic people 4th-century Romans 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century Visigothic people 5th-century Roman consuls Gothic warriors Imperial Roman consuls Magistri militum Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain Late-Roman-era pagans

See also

Bibliography

References