The History of Rome - 176- The Quote Unquote Emperor

Episode Date: April 16, 2012

From 461-465 the Western Empire was ruled by Ricimer through a puppet Emperor named Libius Severus. Not everyone in the west was supportive of the new regime. 

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And welcome to the history of Rome. Episode 176, the quote, unquote, emperor. When Rickamer arrested and executed the Emperor Majorian in August 461, it is entirely likely that he didn't think it would be that big of a deal. Sure, it might be a little scandalous, but as PR problems go, it would almost certainly blow over. After all, Rickamer was the real power behind the throne. everyone knew it, so it wasn't like this was a coup or something, more like a CEO firing his C-O-O. But Rickamer underestimated the popularity of Majorian.

Living in Italy and surrounded by a bunch of Italian aristocrats who had soured on the emperor, it might have seemed to Rickamer like the whole empire hated Majorian and was ready for him to go. But this was not so. Majorian's policies may have been ticking off Rickamer and the Italian nobility, but that did not mean that they were ticking off anyone else. So when Majorian was killed, these anyone else's were shocked and angry, and as we're about to see, they were not going to take it lying down. Two of these anyone else's are of particular interest. The first was the general I mentioned last week, the guy whose name I told you to remember. Do you remember his name?

That's right. It's Agidius. Eidius had risen up through the ranks with Majorian, and as you'll recall, one of Majorian's first Axis Emperor was to make Egydeus Magister Militum, the commander-in-chief of Gaul. Eidius had then spent four years repacifying the region and getting it back under the thumb of the central imperial government. That mission was about to take an ironic twist.

Ijidius was up in northern Gaul in 461 when word reached him that his old friend Majorian had been killed. Now, I don't know if Aegidius' reaction to Rickamer's coup took the form of a dramatic declaration, or if it was just passive-aggressive, cold-shouldering, but the minute Majorian's head hit the ground, Agidius stopped taking orders from Italy. The general who had just spent four years reminding everyone he came across that the Imperial government was still the legal sovereign, and as such, fealty was not a suggestion, but a duty. Yeah, that guy is declaring his independence from Ravenna. And this would not turn out to be a short-lived thing.

Historians will wind up calling the territory Agidius-controlled in northern Gaul the domain of Switzerland, named after the modern French city of Suisseau, that stands roughly at the center of Agidius' little kingdom. The domain would continue on as a quasi-Roman rump state even after the fall of the Western Empire, until this last little outpost of Roman order was finally overrun by the Franks in 486. Well, okay, said Rickamer. We've got a rogue general up in Gaul refusing to take orders. That's not such a big deal.

I can handle that. But that was not all Ricker was up against. Another of Majorian's generals, a man named Marker. Marcellinus had exactly the same reaction to Rickmer's coup as Agidius. Marcellinus was in control of Dalmatia, which at this point in history had drifted back into the western orbit. Though when Majorian died, Marcellinus was in Sicily. He had been in place there to help run one arm of Majorian's planned invasion of North Africa, the invasion that had stalled when Majorian's Spanish fleet had been sunk by the Vandals.

But when Marcellinus found out that the emperor was dead, he booked it back to his home territory double time. And when he got there, he found out that Rickermur had already tried to bribe the Dalmatian garrisons, mostly hun mercenaries, out from under Marcellinus, which, as you can imagine, did not go over too well with Marcellinus. So like his colleague Agidius up in Gaul, Marcellinus simply stopped taking orders from Italy. But unlike Agidius, who was wedged between a failing empire, some barbarian kingdoms, and the English Channel, Marcellinus was wedged in between the two halves of the empire. So rather than declaring de facto independence, Marcellinus simply turned east,

wrote to Leo and Constantinople and said, Hey, this guy, Rickamer just overthrew the guy, you yourself recognized to be the lawful emperor. I'm not going to follow him anymore, but I'd be happy to follow you. So consider this my declaration of defection. But this was not all Rickamer was now up against. Although most of his problems were caused by people ticked off about his little coup, yet another problem was caused by a guy who was not so much ticked off as excited about the opportunity the coup presented. And here we are talking about our old friend King and Serak of the Vandals.

Now, before I go on, I would like to say that it sort of feels like Gensaric has been around forever. He first showed up back in 428 AD, which was eight episodes back when we were talking about the rise of E.T. And now here he is 33 years later, still going strong. So he's got to be getting old, right? Like, pretty soon we're going to be dealing with a new king of the vandals, right? Wrong. The dude is going to outlive the way. Western Empire. He isn't going to die until January 477, at the age of 88, and after having ruled

for almost 50 years. Which is just, you know, way to go, Gensaric. So anyway, King Gensaric, who was by a healthy margin now the senior statesman of the Western Empire and father-in-law of the imperial princess Edoxia the younger, took the death of Majorian as an opportunity to influence who would be chosen as a successor. The man Genseric-backed was a senator by the name of Inesius O'Lebrius. Why Anesius O'Lebrius? Well, because he was married to Placidia, the other imperial princess, currently enjoying the hospitality of the vandals.

Once nearly engaged to Majorian and then formally engaged to Ethius' son, Placidia had finally wound up married to Senator. O'Lebrius shortly after the murder of her father, Valentinian III. Though I don't believe there's any firm proof to this one way or the other, it is supposed that O'Lebrius was related to Valentinian's executioner slash successor, Petronius Maximus. You'll recall that when Maximus sees power, he tried to give his new and ultimately short-lived regime the veneer of legitimacy

by marrying the imperial widow Lysinia eudoxia, and then marrying the younger eudoxia to his son. It is supposed that Olibrius was a cousin or something of Maximus's, and his marriage to Placidia was a part of this larger legitimacy project. But so far, the marriage had not really amounted to anything. Olibrius had been in Constantinople when Gensaric sacked Rome, and then spirited away his new bride, so it's not like the two could have spent much time around one another. But because he was in Constantinople when Maximus fell, Olibrius managed to survive the regime change.

And then, because he remained in the east in a sate of semi-exile, he managed to live through the next regime change as well. So when Rickamer initiated the third regime change in six years, Olibrius was still alive, still married to Placidia, and since he had been living in Constantinople for half a decade, on fairly good terms with Leo and the Court of the East. When word came that Majorian was dead, Genseric stepped forward and boldly proclaimed that Senator O'Lebrius was the only man in the empire with any kind of legitimate claim to the imperial throne. A husband of the unjustly deposed Theodosian family, he would return honor and dignity and blah, blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is that O'Lebrius was now as much a part of Gensaric's family as he was at the Adoption family,

so Gensaric, watching him on the throne of the West was a no-brainer. But Rikimer wasn't having this for a second. If the problem with Majorian had been that Rickamer couldn't sufficiently control him, then there was no way the general was going to accept O'Lebrus, who would be part creature of the Vandals and part creature of Constantinople. Plus, Olibrius's legitimacy was going to flow from his marriage to Placidia rather than from the patronage of Rickamer. So in Rickmer's mind, I doubt there was a worse candidate for the throne than Olibrius. Ganseric stepped up the pressure by intensifying vandal raids on the Italian coast,

promising to shut them down only if Olibrius was elevated, but Rickermer refused to budge. After a three-month interregnum, Rickamer finally found a candidate more to his liking. Someone dull, weak-willed, and entirely dependent on Rickamer. Enter Libyus Severus. Dull, weak-willed, entirely dependent on Rickamer, Libyus Severus. We know almost nothing about the new would-be emperor, until he suddenly appears in Ravenna accepting the diadem in November of 461. Not that it really matters.

Libya Severus is not exactly the lynchpin of Roman history. During the reign of Majorian, Rickimer may have fancied himself the power behind the throne, but it's pretty clear that Majorian himself, and a good number of other people, considered it to be more of a partnership. With the elevation of Severus, though, this ambiguity was. was gone. Rickamer was the power behind the throne. These are the years where you have references to King Rickamer, not references mocking his hubris, mind you, but just straight up references to King Rickamer, because that's basically what he now was. As I mentioned a few episodes back,

the famous historian J.B. Berry once said that Rickamer was the link between Stilico and Odoacer, and was the first German to be virtual king of Italy. A 15 years down the road, we're going to have a real German king of Italy, and the pro forma nature of Odoacer's seizure of power finds its roots here in the days of Rikimer, who, during these years, went so far as to possibly coin money in his own name. We're not 100% sure that he coined money in his own name, but there are good reasons to believe that he did. and I think it's telling that if it turns out to be true, no one is going to be surprised in the slightest. The elevation of Severus was, of course, only really recognized in Italy, and so King Rickimer's power did not really extend that far.

Up in Gaul, Agidius was essentially in revolt, as was Marcellinus in Dalmatia. The Eastern Augustus Leo, for his part, never recognized Severus, though for the moment, he was not looking to make or break relations with the West over the issue of Majorian's murder and Severus' elevation. Now, Marcellinus was apparently prepared to storm Italy as soon as the spring of 462 arrive and asked for Leo's support. But the Eastern Emperor refused to give it. Instead, counseling patience. Not wanting to make any bold moves without Constantinople's backing, Marcellinus took the council and sat on his hands. But he was done taking orders from Rickamer. The de facto King's first concern, though, was the situation in Gaul. If he tried to attack Marcellinus first, he might incur the wrath of Leo,

so better to settle the north before worrying about the east. But if he wanted to maintain his iron grip on Italy, Rickamer knew he couldn't go marching off to retake Gaul himself. He needed to find a capable subordinate to do the job for him. Now, he couldn't send the quote-unquote Emperor Severus. Not only was he likely thoroughly and experienced in military affairs, but sending an emperor off to Winback Gaul had almost certainly been one of the keys to the breakdown and the relationship between Majorian and Rickamer. Majorian had been starting to forge an independent power base for himself, and we can't have

that. better to find some suitably motivated underling and send him off to get the job done. Rickamer had the perfect candidate and an old soldier named Agripenus. What recommended Agripenus for the job? Well, for starters, he had been Avitas's Magister Militum for Gaul, which meant that he was the one who had been replaced by Adidius when Majorian came to power. But the fun did not stop there. A native of Gaul himself, Agrapinus had not gone quietly into that good night, nor had

Agidius given him any reason to. Eventually, the feud between the two men led Agriotius to accuse Agrippinus of treason. Sent down to Rome to stand for his crime, Agrippinus was found guilty and sentenced to death. He managed to escape his captivity, however, and then seek asylum in the old St. Peter's. where he remained until he was officially pardoned. The details of all this are, of course, really vague. But the assumption is that the official pardon came after the death of Majorian, roundabout the time Rickamer was looking for someone to lead the effort to repacify Gaul

and defeat the rebel Agidius. And what better man to lead that effort than Agripenis, who had lost his job and then very nearly lost his life to Agrietus. When Agrippinus reached Gaul sometime in 462, he did exactly the same thing Majorian had done when he entered Gaul back in 458. He made a beeline for the Goths. But unlike Majorian, who was looking to defeat and repacify the Goths, Agripenis was looking to befriend and reempower them. And when he arrived in Aquitaine, he found the Goths very receptive to the imperial proposals, because said proposals promised the Goths something they had been hankering for since they first put down roots in Gaul,

a Mediterranean port to call their very own. In exchange for Goths support in a campaign against Agidius, the quote-unquote Emperor Severus was willing to cede them the city of Narbonne. The goth king Theodoric II jumped at this offer. All those battles between his father, Theodoric the elder, and ETIAS back in the day, had been all about trying to win a Mediterranean port for the Goths. And now the Romans were just going to hand one over in exchange for, what, beating down a few rebels? Well, sign us up. We'll be there. But Eiddeus was not leading some ramshackle band of Nerdywells.

You'll recall that, as I just mentioned, the little rump state Eidius founded was going to outlast the Western Empire. Well, if it's going to outlast the Western Empire, there isn't really room in the story for a crushing defeat at the hands of Agrippinus and the Goths. I mean, maybe there is, but that would become a pretty complicated story. Lucky for us, they decided to keep things nice and simple. Agripenas and a goth army marched north. Ajidias heard they were coming and drew his line at Orleon. The two sides met in battle at some point in late 462, and Adjidias heard. emerged victorious. Agrapinus and the Goths then fled, and though I have no idea what ultimately

happened to him, that's the last we're going to hear from Agripenis. Whether he died in the battle or simply faded into obscurity, no idea. He just drops off the face of the earth. This nice and simple story is only complicated by one small matter. Agidius had not been idle since the death the Majorian, nor was he blind to the fact that pretty soon Rickamer would be coming for him. So he made a sort of mutual defense pact with the Franks. This pact obviously came into force when the Goths started marching north, and though Frankish support was likely the difference between victory and defeat for Egydeus, it was also likely the difference between victory and total victory.

It seems that once they had the Goths on the run, the various Frank-nizabeths, the various Frank nobles fell into squabbling amongst themselves about who knows what, shutting down any chance Agidius had of really crushing the Goths once and for all. Had the Franks held it together, it is possible that Agiteus could have made what was left of the Goths into his personal vassals. Then, between his alliance with the Franks, his mastery over the Goths, and his control over the rest of Gaul, well, he might well have marched into Italy and overthrown Rickamer. Get Marcellinus on board with that plan. You know, you invade Italy from the east while I invade from the north, and Rickamer and his quote-unquote emperor don't stand a chance. But instead,

Agidius's army got vapor-locked at Orleone. And though Igidius would never lose his domain in Northern Gaul, neither would he ever expand it. While this drawing, he was a lot of the army. While this drawn, was unfolding in the north, Rickamer was kept busy by Genseric and the Vandals, who were not taking his failure to elevate O'Lebrius lightly. Throughout 462 and then into 463 and 64 and 465, the Vandals continued to harass the Italian coastline, hitting and running and staying and fighting and then sailing off again before popping up here and then there and then here again. The new fleet built by Majorian was maybe somewhat effective, but it clearly wasn't the

silver bullet the Romans were looking for to shut down the vandals. Plus, Gensaric was now moving forward with an ever more ambitious political program. Above and beyond his stated goal that Elibrius ought to be Emperor of the West, Gensaric now began to make very Attila the Hun-esque claims on Roman property. After all, his son Hunrik had married Edoxia the younger, so wasn't he entitled to some kind of dowry? Now Gensaric was not so bold as to demand half the Western Empire as Attila had, but he did claim a good chunk of the personal fortune controlled by the emperors, which he further claimed had been stolen by Rickimer and his ilk. That fortune belonged to the imperial women under his charge, or at the very least, their husbands. Not a bunch of thugs who murdered Valentinian III.

That Rickamer didn't have anything to do with Valentinian's death was immaterial. The Theodotian family fortune belonged to the Theodotian family. It was just that simple. Now, these sorts of legalistic arguments fell on deaf ears in the West. It's not like Rickerman was going to just hand over the imperial fortune to Gensaric and the exiled princesses. So it seems reasonable to assume that these arguments were mostly directed at Constantinople. Gensaric was well aware of the fact that Leo was not recognizing the legitimacy of Severus, which meant that there would probably, eventually, be some sort of effort to remove him.

When that day came, Genseric wanted to make sure that his own demands were on record. Plus, he wanted to make it super obvious to everyone what the price for his help in any push to dislodge Rickamer and Severus was going to be. But Leo was in no hurry to go to war with Rickamer, even if Italy was increasingly politically, economically, and militarily isolated. So the simmering tensions of the early 460s hit a nice equilibrium. Skirmishing, jockeying, and maneuvering amongst the fractured power centers of the West ruled the day, with no one really taking anyone else down or suddenly grabbing up more territory. Even the death of a jidious in 464 did not disrupt things too much. Whether he died naturally or was poisoned by enemies within the Frankish kingdom is unknown,

both stories are reported, but everyone reports that he was simply succeeded by his son, who continued the independent rule of his father, and who would continue this independent rule until he and what was left of his little Roman kingdom were overrun by the Franks in 486. This new equilibrium further survived an even more potentially transformative death in 465. During that summer, the quote-unquote Emperor Severus apparently died of natural causes. There is some dark hinting that Rickamer did him in, but there is little reason to believe this story. We have no idea how old Severus was when he died, but he was allowed to call himself Emperor for four years. His death would do little to impact the wider political and military dynamics of the Mediterranean world,

a testament to just how insignificant he was. He was so insignificant, in fact, that following his death, the West was going to get a sneak preview of what the political order of the future was going to be. Rikimer had stalled for months before picking a new emperor after the deposition of Avita. and then stalled for months again after the execution of Majorian, testing the waters to perhaps see what would happen if he just left the office vacant. Next week, Rickamer will wade out even further into the post-imperial waters. After the death of Severus, the German general will refuse to elevate a successor

and then keep on refusing to elevate a successor for two full years, until finally Leo had to step in and put an end to this unprecedented interregnum.