Eagles in the Dust

by Adrian Coombs-Hoar

  In AD 371 Sharpur again led his army into Roman territory, this time he invaded Mesopotamia with an army much larger than the one that he had invaded Armenia with in AD 368. Valens despatched Trajanus and Vadomarius, who had formerly been a King of the Alamanni, with an equally large force and both armies met at a place called Vagabanta where Sharpur and his army were defeated by the Romans.33 A truce was called and Sharpur returned back with his army to winter at his capital of Ctesiphon.34 Valens moved to Antioch where he narrowly missed being assassinated by Sallustus, who was a trooper in the Equites Scutarii guard unit.35 Valens meted out terrible punishments to both the innocent and guilty in response to having nearly lost his life to an assassin’s blade. Accusations of sorcery reared its head again and many noble men of all stations were accused of crimes linked to such practices and most suffered terrible fates.36 Whilst Valens appeared to abandon reason in the East, in the West Valentinian, spurred on by Maximinus, was also abusing his power by meting out punishments to both civil and military men for what were in essence fairly trivial matters.37 The acts committed by those two Emperors were an indication of the two brothers’ imperfect natures. On the one hand they could be both fair and wise in their dealings with others, yet, if the circumstances were right, and spurred on by those with other agendas, the unpredictable and rather unpleasant sides to their characters could reveal themselves, to the detriment of many within the Empire.

  During AD 372 Valentinian again attempted to deal with Macrianus, King of the Alamanni. Valentinian had learnt from deserters of the location of Macrianus, and he had a pontoon made of boats thrown across the Rhine and sent Severus with the infantry to Mattiacae Aquea (Wiesbaden) where Severus waited for Valentinian and the rest of the army to catch up.38 Theodosius and the cavalry under his command were then sent out ahead of the main force, probably to scout the way and ensure no one alerted Macrianus of the coming of the Roman army. The whole venture came to nought as the infantry disobeyed Valentinian’s orders to remain quiet in the presence of the enemy. They, when coming upon the site where Macrianus was based, plundered and set fire to the area, alerting the Alamanni to the Romans’ presence. The Alamanni warriors managed to prevent Macrianus’ capture by spiriting him away in cart and hiding him in the hills. Valentinian ordered the region to be devastated for fifty miles around before returning to his base at Treves. In order to frustrate the designs of Macrianus, Valentinian placed Fraomarius, an Alamannic noble loyal to Valentinian, as King over the Bucinobantes, who were an Alamannic tribe living near to Mainz.39

  I have already noted above that there were problems in Africa, and another cause of this was the revenge sought by Romanus on Firmus, a Prince of the Moorish people in Africa. Firmus had murdered one of his brothers, Zammac, who was a favourite of Romanus, and Romanus did everything in his power to bring Firmus down, including sending continuous reports of Firmus’ alleged wrong-doings to the court of Valentinian.40 Firmus believed the only way to ensure his safety was to rebel and sought support from the other Moorish peoples. Theodosius was despatched in AD 372 from Arles with auxiliary troops to Africa where he met up with Romanus in Sitifian Mauritania (Setif).41 Theodosius rebuked Romanus for causing the current problems in Africa and he sent Romanus to take charge of the border defences. Later, after the successful conclusion of his campaign against Firmus, Theodosius had both Romanus and his second in command Vincentius arrested for their crimes. When Firmus learnt of the arrival of Theodosius and his army he sent envoys with a letter explaining his side of the story.42 At first it appeared as if Theodosius looked favourably on this as he accepted hostages and gave an indication he was willing to accept peace between them. Theodosius then went to Pancharia to ostensibly inspect the legions stationed there, but in reality he was preparing them for war.43 He then returned to Sitifis where he gathered a combined army of the troops he had brought over from Europe and troops raised from the local tribes, and then began his campaign against Firmus. Theodosius marched to Tubusuptum, near Mount Ferratus, where Firmus sent a second delegation but Theodosius refused this one as no hostages accompanied it as had previously been agreed. Theodosius then shortly afterwards met in battle two of Firmus’ brothers, Dius and Mascizel, who were leading the tribes of the Tyndenses and the Masinissenses, and defeated them.44 The victorious Theodosius destroyed the nearby estate of Petrensis, that belonged to another of Firmus’ brothers, and captured the town of Lamfoctum, which he made a base for his food stores. Mascizel, having escaped capture, attacked the Romans again with a hastily raised force and was again routed in battle and barely escaped Theodosius’ men.45 After this disaster Firmus resorted to a novel approach. He sent hostages along with Christian priests to sue for peace. This delegation was accepted by Theodosius and such were the promises given that Firmus himself came to Sitifis and prostrated himself before Theodosius, begging for forgiveness and pardon. This being granted to Firmus, that same Prince left some of his relatives as hostages with Theodosius. Firmus himself went away and returned two days later to the town of Icosium where he gave back not only those prisoners he had captured since the beginning of his revolt but also all the Roman standards, booty and the Coronam Sacerdotalem (Priestly Crown that was worn by the high priest of that province).46

  Theodosius then led his army against the Mazices, a tribe that had sided with Firmus. The Mazices gave up without a fight and Theodosius was then able to enter the city of Caesarea which had been abandoned and neglected. On arrival Theodosius stationed several legions there.47

  At this point one could be forgiven for thinking that was an end to the revolt and to the problems in Africa, but this was far from the truth. Once word spread of Theodosius’ success, various officials, including Vincentius, came from where they had been hiding to Caesarea. He received terrible news from them. Firmus had been stirring up the local tribes in preparation for a further conflict with the Romans. And what was worse, a unit of Roman horse archers, the Equites Quartae Sagittariorum Cohortis, and part of an infantry unit, the Auxilia Palatina Constantiani, had not only fled to join Firmus, but one of the tribunes of the Constantiani had crowned Firmus with an impromptu diadem. Theodosius induced those units with ‘mild punishment’ to return back to Roman service and they surprisingly complied, going to the designated town of Tigaviae where Theodosius was waiting. When those units arrived before Theodosius the mild punishment he had promised proved anything but; he allowed the troops under his command to slay the infantry of the Constantiani ‘in the old-fashioned way’ (probably the old system of decimation where every tenth man in a unit that was chosen for this punishment would be slain by the rest of the army). The fate of the Quartae Sagittariorum was different in that Theodosius had the horse archers’ officers hands cut off and the rest of the troopers slain. In a similar way Theodosius had a chief and a prefect of the Mazices tribe slain.48 At this point Theodosius led his army on the offensive against those Moorish tribes who supported Firmus. He spent most of AD 373 hunting Firmus down, in the process fighting a battle against the Mazices’ tribe and thoroughly routing them at Castellum Tingitanum, forcing them to accept a Roman pardon, and a promise to support Theodosius.49 At the town of Adda Theodosius encountered a large army composed of a number of tribes led by Firmus’ sister Cyria. Theodosius’ army of 3,500 men was no match for the much larger force he faced and he was initially forced to retreat. However, Cyria’s armies’ pursuit caught Theodosius and his men who were then forced to turn and fight a hasty battle; the Romans would have been slain to a man had not Cyria’s army been surprised by the arrival of a combined Roman and Mazices force, throwing Cyria’s army into a panic and allowing Theodosius and his surviving men to escape.50 Theodosius, having reached the town of Tipasa, set about the task of rebuilding his army, sending men ‘experienced in persuasion’ to most of the surrounding tribes with the intention of bribing or bullying them into entering a treaty. Firmus, learning of this, fled for the safety of the Caprariensian mountains.51 This allowed Theodosius to attack Fi
rmus’ now leaderless and scattered army, easily defeating them, capturing their camp and then placing new leaders over the tribesmen of the country he was moving through. Theodosius set off in pursuit of Firmus once again, easily brushing aside the tribes of the Caprarienses and the Abanni who attacked him near the fortress of Audia, Theodosius learned that the nearby hills were full of enemy tribesmen, which caused him to retreat, further allowing the tribes to gather more reinforcements from the Aethiopians. The combined tribesmen army initially drove Theodosius and his men into headlong retreat. Theodosius recovered his nerves and returned to face the tribesmen in the ‘hollow square’ formation which allowed him and his army to reach the city of Conta where Firmus had placed all the Roman prisoners he had captured, all of whom were freed by Theodosius and his men.52

  Theodosius received a report that Firmus had fled to the tribe of the Isaflenses, along with his brother Mazuca and the rest of his surviving family members. Theodosius demanded that tribe to hand over Firmus and his family and when this demand was refused he engaged that tribe in battle, defeated them, and captured Mazuca.53 Firmus yet again managed to escape capture, whilst Mazuca, badly wounded, died on the way to captivity in Caesarea, only his severed head arriving there as proof of his death. Theodosius pressed his attack on the Isaflenses and conquered them, killing many of that tribe’s leaders who had sided with Firmus. Theodosius then marched against the Iubaleni tribe, from whence Firmus’ father, Nubel, came. That tribe sought refuge in the local mountains and Theodosius returned back to Audia. Whilst there another tribe, the Iesalenses, approached and offered to side with Theodosius and his army, which was granted.54

  Theodosius then marched to Medianum where he spent some time resting his men and devising plans for Firmus’ capture. Reports reached him that Firmus had made his way back to the tribe of the Isaflenses, where he was sheltered by Igmazen, king of that tribe. Theodosius gathered his army and force marched to engage Igmazen and his tribesmen. Theodosius met with Igmazen, who proceeded to pour a torrent of abuse upon Theodosius before departing. The next day saw Theodosius facing an army of over 20,000 tribesmen, who were also supported by auxiliaries supplied by the Iesalenses who just a short while beforehand had promised to aid Theodosius. Although outnumbered, Theodosius’ men fought valiantly, until evening fell when suddenly Firmus appeared on his horse wearing a purple cloak, shouting to Theodosius’ men to hand over their leader in exchange for their lives. This caused some of Theodosius men to desert, only the darkness of night allowing Theodosius and the rest of his army to retreat to the fortress of Duodia. He beat off a night attack by the tribesmen and the next day, instead of remaining holed up, he marched his army with great speed out of Duodia to the land of the Iesalenses where he wreaked a terrible revenge on that traitorous tribe. After this he marched all the way back to Sitifis, where he had originally landed in Africa, to replenish his troops and deal with Martinianus and Castor, who were associates of Romanus.55

  Once rested and replenished, Theodosius again marched against Igmazen and the Isaflenses. Theodosius’ attack was so successful that Igmazen not only fled the battlefield, leaving his tribesmen to be slaughtered, but he secretly made his way to Theodosius’ camp where he conspired with Theodosius and Masilla, a chieftain of the Mazices tribe, to not only wear down the resolve of the Isaflenses to continue the war, but also allow Igmazen to capture Firmus. The plan was agreed and was entirely successful, Theodosius’ constant attacks on the Isaflenses broke that tribe’s will to fight and Firmus was captured whilst trying to escape once more and was held captive by Igmazen. Masilla informed Firmus of Igmazen’s treachery and in order to prevent being handed over to Theodosius he hanged himself. Igmazen, no doubt fearing the wrath of Theodosius for allowing Firmus to escape justice, took the corpse to Theodosius’ camp at the fortress of Subicara where it was paraded before his troops and the local tribesmen in order to prove that indeed Firmus was now dead. Theodosius then returned back to Sitifis where he was greeted like a conquering hero.56 This episode demonstrated that even when vastly outnumbered Roman armies could defeat their more undisciplined barbarian foes, if led by a competent commander.

  Whilst Theodosius was dealing with Firmus’ revolt in Africa, the Quadi, a Germanic Tribe who lived north of the Danube and who had been quiet since being dealt with by Constantius II, suddenly erupted in violence against the Romans.57 The cause of this eruption was due to Valentinian, who, as part of his plan of protecting the frontiers with a string of fortresses, ordered one built across the Danube in the territory of the Quadi. The matter was made worse by Maximinus having his son Marcellianus promoted to the rank of Dux per Valeriam, or Duke of the province of Valeria, and then arranging for him to replace Aequitius to take charge of the forts construction.58 Marcellianus ignored the Quadi’s protests until their king, Gabinius, protested in person. Marcellianus’ response was to invite Gabinius to a banquet where Marcellianus had Gabinius murdered.59 This heinous act roused the entire Quadi tribe to murderous indignation and in AD 374 large numbers of them unexpectedly crossed the Danube into Roman territory where they killed many Romans who were at that time busy with the harvest, and those who were not killed were driven back over the Danube along with their animals as prisoners. This act of retribution was almost crowned when the Quadi narrowly missed capturing the soon-to-be wife of Gratian, she only escaping capture by being taken at high speed in a carriage to Sirmium for her safety.60 The Quadi then allied themselves to their former allies the Sarmatians and the combined horde ravaged widely across the Danube, plundering at will. The barbarian force headed towards Sirmium in Illyricum but discovered that the walls and other defences of that city had been fully repaired under the orders of Probus, the Praetorian Prefect stationed in that city. The Quadi and Sarmatians had no means of taking a city by storm, and frustrated at being unable to do so, they set off in pursuit of Aequitius who they mistakenly blamed for the murder of Gabinius. Two legions, the Pannonica and the Moesiaca (presumably the Legio Palatina Pannoniciani seniores and the Legio Palatina Moesiaci seniores), were sent to assist Aequitius. Unfortunately those two units quarrelled and in the resultant confusion the Sarmatians attacked the Mosiaca, killing many of them, and then charged and broke through the Pannoniciani, routing both legions in the process.61 The son of Theodosius, himself called Theodosius, who was at that time Dux Moesiae, or Duke of Moesia, and who was soon to become the future emperor known as Theodosius the Great, was despatched to deal with the Sarmatians. He defeated all those tribesmen who had crossed into Roman territory in a number of battles and crossed over the Danube to deal with the rest. Theodosius’ campaign against the Sarmatians was so successful that the Sarmatians were forced to beg for peace, which was granted, and they remained quiet for a long time afterwards, especially when troops from Gaul were moved into Illyricum as a deterrence.62

  Over in the East, a plot was hatched against Pap, King of the Armenians. One of the ringleaders was Terentius, at that time a Dux, he conspired with the ‘Gentiles’ to bring accusations to Valens of extreme cruelty by Pap against his subjects, and other falsehoods.63 Valens, believing the accusations, summoned Pap under the pretext of wanting to discuss matters of State. However, once Pap and his escort reached Tarsus he was put under house arrest. At Tarsus Pap learnt that Terentius was advising Valens to appoint a new ruler over Armenia to prevent Armenia falling into the hands of Sharpur, King of the Sassanids.64 After learning of this plot, Pap fled Tarsus with 300 of his cavalry. Pap and his bodyguard were pursued by one of the legions stationed at Tarsus, who Pap and his men turned and fought, easily routing the legion.65 Pap rode swiftly East for two days where after some difficulty he managed to escape across the Euphrates with his men. Valens, fearing Pap would now flee to Sharpur, sent 1,000 archers under the command of the General Danielus, and also Barzimeres, a Tribune of the Equites Scutarii (a guard cavalry unit that Barzimers was presumably leading) to bring back Pap. This force managed to overtake Pap and his men, who had made slow pro
gress due to the unfamiliarity of the country they were travelling through. Danielus set up an ambush on the two roads Pap would have to take through the rough terrain in that region, so that no matter what road Pap took he and his men would face an ambushing force. However, the ambush failed due to the ambushing troops being seen by a traveller who, taking a path between the two roads, was captured by Pap’s men who led him before Pap where he told that king what he had seen. Pap despatched a rider down both roads with an order to secure accommodation for Pap, which was really a ruse to fool the Roman ambushing force should any of the riders be captured. The traveller led Pap and his men back along the path between the roads where they then made their escape back to Armenia where the Armenian people greeted him with open arms.66

  Danielus and Barzimeres returned empty handed to Tarsus where they were berated for letting Pap escape. They concocted a story that Pap had used magic to transform both himself and his men into unrecognizable forms, wrapping themselves in a cloak of darkness and so evaded capture. Valens, ever roused to anger by these kinds of accusations, discussed ways of finally dealing with Pap. It was agreed that Trajanus, who was now in charge of the military forces in Armenia, should deal with Pap. This general, taking a lead from how King Gabinus was dealt with, lured Pap to a lunch in his honour. Trajanus excused himself during the meal to supposedly relieve himself and taking this as the signal to act, one of the Germanic guards attending Trajanus without warning attacked Pap with his sword. Pap attempted to defend himself with a dagger but he was no match for his assailant and he was brutally slain.67