Guntarith (
Vandalic: ''Gontharis''; died 546), sometimes referred to as Guntharic, was an
Eastern Roman military officer and rebel of
Vandalic descent.
Life
After the
conquest of the
Vandal Kingdom by
Belisarius
Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean ter ...
in 533/534, 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 Constantin ...
was faced with numerous
Moorish and
Vandalic revolts. Only after the defeat of
Stotzas's rebellion (545), would Guntarith, the
dux of
Numidia, play a leading role. With Moorish and
Numidian support, he seized the province of
Africa proconsularis and killed the imperial governor
Areobindus in
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...
. The wife of Areobindus,
Praejecta, niece of
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
, was however spared. The goal of the rebels was probably the secession of the African provinces from the rule of
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
and the restoration of Vandal royal rule. When Guntarith began to consolidate his power with purges and mass executions, the ''strategos''
Artabanes, probably with the approval of the
praetorian prefect Athanasius, organized the assassination of Guntarith. His Moorish supporter
Stotzas the Younger was executed in Constantinople.
Sources
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6th-century Byzantine military personnel
6th-century Germanic people
546 deaths
People murdered in Tunisia
Assassinated military personnel
Year of birth unknown
Byzantine North Africa
Byzantine rebels
Generals of Justinian I
Vandal warriors
{{Byzantine-mil-bio-stub