Mauricius (born before 520–536) was a

Gepid The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the Goths and Vandals. Th ...

general fighting for the

Byzantine 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. He was the son of '' Magister militium'' Mundus. He was presumably an '' MVM vacans''.

Biography

Mauricius was the son of Mundus (Mundo), himself possibly a grandson of

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

, king of the Huns. He was a ''

strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...

'', a military general, in the Byzantine Empire. In 529, he went to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

with his father, where he received gifts from the emperor (

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

). In 532 he fought in the

Nika riots The Nika riots (), Nika revolt or Nika sedition took place against Byzantine emperor Justinian I in Constantinople over the course of a week in 532 AD. They are often regarded as the most violent riots in the city's history, with nearly half of ...

on the side of the Byzantines. In January of that year he commanded his troops in the hippodrome massacre, which ended the riots. In 535, he and his father took part in the Gothic War. That year, he and his father sailed out to Dalmatia, where Mundus led his army against the Goths, while

Belisarius BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...

invaded Italy. His father defeated the Goths, taking the capital of

Salona Salona (, ) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and near to Split, in Croatia. It was one of the largest cities of the late Roman empire with 60,000 inhabitants. It was the last residence of the final western ...

. The next year, a Gothic army arrived, to reconquer the lost province. He ran across the Gothic army while on a scouting expedition with just a few men with him. He was trapped by the Goths and killed in the ensuing skirmish, after a fierce fight. His enraged father sailed out and defeated the Goths, but, too eager in the following pursuit, he was mortally wounded.

Legacy

His son

Theudimund Theodimundus or Theudimund(; ; fl. 541) was a Byzantine official of Barbarian origins. Biography Theodimundus was the son of ''strategos'' (and likely '' MVM vacans'') Mauricius, a son of ''magister militum'' Mundus, himself a possible descenda ...

was part of the barbarian military aristocracy, and fought the Ostrogoths in Treviso in 540.

Family

Mauricius was the son of the Gepid general Mundus and an unknown woman. He had the following offspring: *

* Anonyma, who married Aruth the Herul

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Mauricius (Gepid general) 536 deaths 6th-century Byzantine generals Byzantines killed in battle Byzantine people of Hunnic descent Generals of Justinian I Gepid warriors History of Dalmatia Magistri militum of Hunnic descent People of the Gothic War (535–554) Year of birth unknown