The Kingdom or Domain of Soissons is the

historiographical Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

name for the de facto independent

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

remnant of the

Diocese of Gaul The Diocese of Gaul (Latin: Dioecesis Galliarum, "diocese of the Gaul rovince") was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, under the praetorian prefecture of Gaul. It encompassed northern and eastern Gaul, that is, modern France north and east of ...

, which existed during

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

as a

rump state A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state that was reduced in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case, a government st ...

of the

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. ...

until its conquest by the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

in AD 486. Its capital was at Noviodunum, today the town of

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

in France. The rulers of the rump state, notably its final ruler

Syagrius Syagrius (c. 430 – 486 or 487 or 493–4) was a Roman general and the last ruler of a Western Roman rump state in northern Gaul, now called the Kingdom of Soissons. Gregory of Tours referred to him as King of the Romans. Syagrius's defeat by K ...

, were referred to as "kings of the Romans" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ) by the Germanic peoples surrounding Soissons, with the polity itself being identified as the , "Kingdom of the Romans", by the Gallo-Roman historian

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

. Whether the title of king was used by Syagrius himself or was applied to him by the barbarians surrounding his realm (in a similar way to how they referred to their own leaders as kings) is unknown. The emergence of a visibly autonomous Roman polity based around Noviodunum can be traced back to the appointment of

Aegidius Aegidius (died 464 or 465) was the ruler of the short-lived Kingdom of Soissons from 461 to 464/465. Before his ascension he was an ardent supporter of the Western Roman emperor Majorian, who appointed him '' magister militum per Gallias'' (" ...

as of

Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century B ...

by Emperor

Majorian Majorian (; 7 August 461) was Western Roman emperor from 457 to 461. A prominent commander in the Late Roman army, Western military, Majorian deposed Avitus in 457 with the aid of his ally Ricimer at the Battle of Placentia (456), Battle of Place ...

. When Majorian was killed on the orders of

Ricimer Ricimer ( , ; – 19 August 472) was a Romanized Germanic general, who ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 456 after defeating Avitus, until his death in 472, with a brief interlude in which he contested power wit ...

in 461, Aegidius maintained his own power in the remnants of Roman Gaul against Franks to his east and

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

to his south. Aegidius died in 464 or 465. His son

succeeded to the rule. In 486, Syagrius lost the Battle of Soissons to the Frankish king

Clovis I Clovis (; reconstructed Old Frankish, Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first List of Frankish kings, king of the Franks to unite all of the Franks under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a ...

and the

domain A domain is a geographic area controlled by a single person or organization. Domain may also refer to: Law and human geography * Demesne, in English common law and other Medieval European contexts, lands directly managed by their holder rather ...

was thereafter under the control of the Franks.

History

The Kingdom of Soissons originated in the reign of the Western Emperor

(457–461). Majorian appointed

to be ''

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 ...

'' of the Gallic provinces. The remaining Roman territory in Gaul in the northwest was connected with the Roman possessions in the Auvergne, Provence and Languedoc which connected these to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. During Majorian's reign, that corridor was annexed by the Germanic tribes now occupying Gaul, thus effectively cutting off Aegidius and his citizens from the Empire. Majorian and Aegidius had recovered the Roman position in most of Gaul, but with the death of Majorian in 461 the Roman position in the center and south deteriorated. These provinces were annexed by the Visigoths and

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

in the years 462–477, which left the remaining Roman territories in Gaul isolated. Aegidius was allied with the

Alans The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...

, and with

Childeric I Childeric I (died 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''rex''), both on his Roman-style seal ring, which was buried with him, and in fragm ...

, king of the

Salian Franks The Salian Franks, or Salians, sometimes referred to using the Latin word or , were a Frankish people who lived in what was is now the Netherlands in the fourth century. They are only mentioned under this name in historical records relating to ...

of Tournai, and helped them defeat the

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...

, Aegidius even ruled the Franks during Childeric's banishment, but Childeric later returned from exile. It is possible that the '' Groans of the Britons'', referring to a

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

request for military assistance after the Roman departure from Britain, may have been addressed to Aegidius. Aegidius continued to govern until his death in 464. His

comes ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

, Paulus of

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

, was killed shortly afterwards, possibly on the same campaign. At that point Aegidius's son,

, took his place as ruler. Syagrius governed using the title of ''

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

'' (a provincial military commander), but the neighboring Germanic tribes referred to him as "King of the Romans"; hence one of the nicknames of his enclave. In 476, under the rule of Syagrius, the Kingdom of Soissons failed to accept the new rule of

Odoacer Odoacer ( – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube who deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became the ruler of Italy (476–493). Odoacer' ...

who had dethroned the Western Emperor earlier that year. While both Syagrius and Odoacer sent messengers to the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, the Eastern emperor

Zeno Zeno may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the given name * Zeno (surname) Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 B ...

chose to offer legitimacy to Odoacer instead of Syagrius. The Kingdom of Soissons cut all ties with Italy and had no further recorded contact with the Eastern Roman Empire. Even after 476, Syagrius continued to maintain that he was merely governing a

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

. Childeric died about 481, and his son

became the Frankish king. Clovis made continual war against Syagrius, and in the end took over all his territory. Syagrius lost the final Battle of Soissons in 486; many historians consider this Clovis' greatest victory. Syagrius fled to the Visigothic king

Alaric II Alaric II (, , 'ruler of all'; ; – August 507) was the King of the Visigoths from 484 until 507. He succeeded his father Euric as King of the Visigoths in Toulouse on 28 December 484; he was the great-grandson of the more famous Alaric I, who ...

, but the Franks threatened war if Syagrius were not surrendered to them. Syagrius was sent back to Clovis, who had him executed in 486 or 487. Map Gaul divisions 481-fr

Clovis I ruled the Franks until his death in 511. When he died, the

Frankish realm The Kingdom of the Franks (), also known as the Frankish Kingdom, or just Francia, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Frankish Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the Early Middle A ...

was divided into four kingdoms, one for each of his sons.

Clothar I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" (French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire from the original French version, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. With his eldes ...

received a portion centred in Soissons, where he had been born a decade after Syagrius' death. Clothar survived all his brothers and their families – in one case by murdering the sons of a deceased brother – and eventually reunited the realm in 555. When Clothar died in 561, the Frankish realm was divided into three kingdoms, one for each son. The portions centred around Soissons and Paris eventually developed into the kingdom of

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the Early Middle Ages, in contrast to the eastern Frankish kingdom, Austrasia. It initially included land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, in the north of present-day ...

, which remained one of the key divisions of the Frankish realm.

Structure

Very little is known about the realm ruled by Aegidius and Syagrius, resulting in considerable debates among historians about the structure and nature of the Kingdom of Soissons. These tend to move between a maximalist approach, viewing it as a state controlling most of northern Gaul to a minimalist approach describing it as an insignificant polity. The latter view was first advocated by historian Edward James who concluded that Syagrius was little more than a "Count of Soissons" who had controlled a tiny area and whose importance had been propagandistically enhanced by Gregory of Tours.

Army

When Aegidius was appointed of

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

by Emperor Majorian, he took control of the remaining Roman troops in Gaul. According to

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

writer

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

, Aegidius and Syagrius both commanded a "large force". At one point, Aegidius and/or Syagrius even threatened the Western Roman Empire with an invasion of Italy if the empire did not grant their requests. Their forces also offered effective resistance to the power of the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

Kingdom, to the south and west of Soissons. MacGeorge (2002) estimates that Syagrius had around 6,000 troops at his disposal as of 486.

References

Notes

Cited works