
Athaulf (also ''Athavulf'', ''Atawulf'', or ''Ataulf'' and ''Adolf'',
Latinized as ''Ataulphus'') ( 37015 August 415) was
king of the Visigoths from 411 to 415. During his reign, he transformed the Visigothic state from a tribal kingdom to a major political power of
Late Antiquity.
Life
He was unanimously elected to the throne to succeed his brother-in-law
Alaric, who had been struck down by a fever suddenly in
Calabria
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
. King Athaulf's first act was to halt Alaric's southward expansion of the Goths in Italy.
Meanwhile,
Gaul had been separated from the
Western Roman Empire by the usurper
Constantine III Constantine III may refer to:
* Constantine III (Western Roman Emperor), self-proclaimed western Roman Emperor 407–411
* Heraclius Constantine, Byzantine Emperor in 641
* Constans II, Byzantine emperor 641–668, sometimes referred to under this ...
. So in 411
Constantius, the ''
magister militum'' (master of military) of the western emperor,
Flavius Augustus Honorius, with Gothic auxiliaries under
Ulfilas, crushed the Gallic rebellion with a siege of
Arles. There Constantine and his son were offered an honorable capitulation— but were beheaded in September on their way to pay homage to Honorius at
Ravenna.
In the spring of 412 Constantius pressed Athaulf. Taking the advice of
Priscus Attalus—the former emperor whom Alaric had set up at Rome in opposition to Honorius at
Ravenna, and who had remained with the Visigoths after he'd been deposed—Athaulf led his followers out of Italy. Moving north into a momentarily pacified Gaul, the Visigoths lived off the countryside in the usual way. Athaulf may have received some additional encouragement in the form of payments in gold from the Emperor Honorius—since Athaulf carried with him as a respected hostage the emperor's half-sister
Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was List of Visigothi ...
, who had long been his captive.
Once in Gaul, Athaulf opened negotiations with a new usurper, the Gallic
Jovinus. But while on his way to meet Jovinus, Athaulf came across
Sarus and some of his men. Athaulf attacked, captured, and later executed Sarus, continuing the feud between their families that had begun with Sarus and Alaric. Jovinus then named his brother
Sebastianus (Sebastian) as Augustus (co-emperor). This offended Athaulf, who hadn't been consulted. So he allied his Visigoths with
Honorius. Jovinus' troops were defeated in battle,
Sebastianus was captured, and Jovinus fled for his life. Athaulf then turned Sebastianus over for execution to Honorius' Gallic praetorian prefect (provincial governor),
Claudius Postumus Dardanus. After this, Athaulf besieged and captured Jovinus at Valentia (
Valence
Valence or valency may refer to:
Science
* Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms
* Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory
* Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...
) in 413, sending him to Narbo (
Narbonne), where he was executed by Dardanus.
After the heads of Sebastianus and Jovinus arrived at Honorius' court in
Ravenna in late August, to be forwarded for display among other usurpers on the walls of
Carthage, relations between Athaulf and Honorius improved sufficiently for Athaulf to cement them by marrying
Galla Placidia
Galla Placidia (388–89/392–93 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life. She was List of Visigothi ...
at
Narbo in January 414, but
Jordanes says he married her in Italy, at
Forlì (Forum Livii). The nuptials were celebrated with high Roman festivities and magnificent gifts from the Gothic booty. Priscus Attalus gave the wedding speech, a classical
epithalamium.
Under Athaulf's rule, the Visigoths couldn't be said to be masters of a settled kingdom until Athaulf took possession of
Narbonne and
Toulouse in 413. Although Athaulf remained an
Arian Christian, his relationship with Roman culture was summed up, from a Catholic Roman perspective, by the words that the contemporary Christian apologist
Orosius
Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...
put into his mouth, Athaulf's Declaration:
:At first I wanted to erase the Roman name and convert all Roman territory into a Gothic empire: I longed for Romania to become Gothia, and Athaulf to be what Caesar Augustus had been. But long experience has taught me that the ungoverned wildness of the Goths will never submit to laws, and that without law a state is not a state. Therefore I have more prudently chosen the different glory of reviving the Roman name with Gothic vigour, and I hope to be acknowledged by posterity as the initiator of a Roman restoration, since it is impossible for me to alter the character of this Empire.
Honorius's general Constantius (who would later become Emperor
Constantius III
Constantius III was briefly Western Roman emperor of the West in 421. He earned his position as Emperor due to his capability as a general under Honorius, achieving the rank of ''magister militum'' by 411. That same year, he suppressed the r ...
), poisoned official relations with Athaulf and gained permission to blockade the
Mediterranean ports of
Gaul. In reply, Athaulf acclaimed Priscus Attalus as Augustus in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
in 414. But Constantius' naval blockade was successful and, in 415, Athaulf withdrew with his people into northern
Hispania. Attalus fled, fell into the hands of Constantius, and was banished to the island of
Lipari.
Galla Placidia traveled with Athaulf. Their son, Theodosius, died in infancy and was buried in Hispania in a silver-plated coffin, thus eliminating an opportunity for a Romano-Visigothic line.
Death and aftermath
In Hispania, Athaulf imprudently accepted into his service one of the late Sarus' followers, unaware that the man harbored a secret desire to avenge the death of his beloved patron. And so, in the palace at
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...
, the man brought Athaulf's reign to a sudden end by killing him while he bathed.
Sigeric, the brother of Sarus, immediately became king—for a mere seven days, when he was also murdered and succeeded by
Wallia. Under the latter's reign, Galla Placidia was returned to Ravenna where, in 417, at the urging of Honorius, she remarried, her new husband being the implacable enemy of the Goths, Constantius.
The main sources for the career of Athaulf are
Paulus Orosius, the chronicles of the
Gallaecian bishop
Hydatius, and those of
Augustine's disciple,
Prosper of Aquitaine.
Declaration
The authenticity of Athaulf's declaration at
Narbonne, as Orosius reported it in a rhetorical history that was explicitly written "against pagans" (it was completed in 417/18) has been doubted. Antonio Marchetta
[Antonio Marchetta, ''Orosio e Athaulfo nell'ideologia dei rapporti romano-barbarici'' (Rome: Istituto Isorico per il Medio Evo) 1987. The first chapter deals with the doubts raised by previous historians as to the authenticity of the discourse.] concludes that the words are indeed Athaulf's and distinguishes them from their interpretation by Orosius, who was preparing his readers for a conclusion that Christian times were felicitous and who attributed Athaulf's apparent change of heart to the power of his love for Galla Placidia, the instrument of divine intervention in God's plan for an eternal Roman Empire. Marchetta finds the marriage instead an act of hard-headed politics.
References
External links
De Imperatoribus Romanis: Hugh Elton, "Western Roman Emperors of the First Quarter of the Fifth Century"(in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athaulf
Balt dynasty
Theodosian dynasty
Arian Christians
Christian monarchs
Gothic warriors
5th-century murdered monarchs
Assassinated Gothic people
415 deaths
5th-century Arian Christians
5th-century Visigothic monarchs
Year of birth unknown