Arbogast was a ''comes'' (Count) of

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

origin in the late fifth century. Arbogast is mentioned in letters sent to him by two bishops: one by

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urb ...

probably dating back to 471 or more probably 476-477 and another from 470 by

Auspicius of Toul Auspicius of Toul (; ; d.c.490?) was a 5th-century bishop of Toul, the fifth of those recorded, and a saint of the Roman Catholic church. He was also a poet, known for iambic verse based on stress (rather than quantity, as in the classical Latin ...

who addresses him as ''comes'' of Trier. This latter is found in the '' Austrasian Letters'' collection. Arbogast was born into a Romanized Frankish family and was a Catholic Christian. His father Arigius (mentioned by Auspicius) was possibly a native of Trier, and one of his ancestors was the 4th century ''

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

'' Arbogastes. Arbogast was obviously highly educated, and Sidonius Apollinaris (Epistulae 4.17) praises him as one of the last defenders of the collapsing

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

and Roman culture. Arbogast independently ruled his relatively small domain with the help of remaining Roman troops and Frankish ''

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 ...

'' following the political disintegration of Gaul in the early 460s. Although Trier may have formally pledged allegiance to the

Ripuarian Franks The Rhineland or Ripuarian Franks, also often referred to using the Latin plurals ''Ribuarii'', or ''Ripuarii'', were the Franks who established themselves in and around the formerly Roman city of Cologne, on the Rhine river in what is now Germa ...

by 475, Franz Staab notes that Frankish graves are entirely absent from the area before 500. Arbogast's reign may thus represent a transitional period between Roman and Frankish rule. The culture of late antiquity died out soon afterwards in the sixth century.

Sources

* Penny MacGeorge (2002), ''Late Roman Warlords'', p. 75. * Hans Hubert Anton, "Arbogast. Comes in Trier", ''Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', vol. 1, pp. 388f. * Franz Staab, "Les royaumes francs au ve siècle", ''Clovis – Histoire et Mémoire – Actes du colloque international d'histoire de Reims'', vol. 1, Presses Universitaires de la Sorbonne, December 1997, pp. 541-566, {{ISBN, 2-84050-079-5. 5th-century Christians 5th-century Frankish people 5th-century Gallo-Roman people 5th-century writers in Latin Ancient Roman generals Comites Correspondents of Sidonius Apollinaris Frankish warriors