Sigeric (? – 22 August 415) was a

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 ...

king for seven days in 415 AD.

Biography

His predecessor, Ataulf, had been mortally wounded in his stables at the palace of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

by an assassin. The assassin was probably a loyal servant of Sarus, a Gothic noble and personal enemy whom Ataulf had earlier slain. At Ataulf's death, Sarus' faction, the Amali, violated the Gothic tradition of succession by immediately making Sigeric, the brother of Sarus, king. After becoming the king, Sigeric murdered Ataulf's children by his first wife. He also forced

Galla Placidia Galla Placidia (392/3 – 27 November 450), daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was the mother and a tutor and advisor to emperor Valentinian III. She was queen consort to Ataulf, King of the Visigoths from 414 until his death in 415, ...

, widow to Ataulf and daughter of Roman Emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

and sister to Emperor

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

to walk more than twelve miles on foot among the crowd of captives driven ahead of the mounted Sigeric. On the seventh day after his accession, Sigeric was assassinated and replaced him with Ataulf's relative,

Wallia Wallia, Walha or Vallia ( Spanish: ''Walia'', Portuguese ''Vália''), ( 385 – 418) was king of the Visigoths from 415 to 418, earning a reputation as a great warrior and prudent ruler. He was elected to the throne after Athaulf and Sigeric w ...

.Olympiodorus Fragment 26 Because Sigeric was an Amali, a member of a rival clan-based subgroup among the Visigoths to the Balti (of which Ataulf and Wallia were part), Sigeric is the only one who does not belong in the succession of kings usually labeled the Balti dynasty, if the kingship is defined by Balti dynastic connections. Due to this, as well as to the fact that his reign was a usurpation, and brief, Sigeric does not appear on some Visigothic king lists.

References and external links

* Henry Bradley, ''The Goths: from the Earliest Times to the End of the Gothic Dominion in Spain.'' Second edition, 1883, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, chapter 11.
Edward Gibbon, ''History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,'' chapter 31
Specific {{Authority control Amali dynasty Assassinated Gothic people 415 deaths 5th-century Visigothic monarchs Year of birth unknown 5th-century murdered monarchs