Ricimer (c.67; fl.456-472), Magister Militum (West)
| Battle: Bolia River | Pannonia | Ostrogoths/Germanics (Empire) | 469 |
| Battle: Deols | France | Euric/Riothamus (Empire) | 469 |
| Battle: Arles | France | Childeric/Saxons | 469 |
| Battle: Arles | France | Euric/Anthemiolus | 471 |
| Siege: Rome | Italy | v. Ricimer (s) | 472 |
After the disastrous Roman expedition against the Vandals in 468, the Visigoth king Euric decided to exploit the weakening of the Western Empire and make himself ruler of the whole of Gaul. He probably hoped to gain the support of the Gallo-Roman nobility, who were by no means friendly disposed towards Ricimer. In Gaul itself there were many officials that supported Euric’s plans, like Arvandus (fl.461-472), the praetorian prefect of Gaul (464-469), who was accused of treason on account of a letter he had sent to Euric, advising him not to make peace with Anthemius, but attack the emperor’s allies the Britons and to share their lands with the Burgundians.
In 468 Remismund entered Lusitania at the head of an army and sacked the city of Conimbriga (west Portugal). Euric responded in 469 with a Visigoth army occupying Emerita Augusta (Merida, southwest Spain) making it clear that he was not going to allow the Suevi to regain control of Lusitania.
In 468 the Sciri made a surprise attack on Valamir that resulted in the death of the Ostrogoth king but a victory for his people. He was succeeded as the king of the Pannonian Ostrogoths by his brother Theodemir (r.469-475), who the following year defeated an alliance of Sciri, Rugi, Suebi and Gepids at the Battle of the Bolia River in Pannonia.
Arvandus was taken to Rome where he was tried and sentenced to death by the Senate. Anthemius, in an attempt to gain the support of nobility of Gaul, gave the title of patricius to Ecdicius (>55; fl.469-475+), son of Avitus, and the office of prefect of Rome to Sidonius Apollinaris (c.59; fl.449-489).
Arvandus’ letter urged Euric to attack the ‘Britons on the far side of the Loire’, which implies that the Britons at this time were still north of the Loire. Under their king Riothamus they moved southeast into Aquitanica Prima but were defeated by Euric’s Visigoths at Bourg-de-Deols in Berry (469). Riothamus retreated into Burgundian territory and Euric took control of Caesarodunum (=Tours) and Avaricum (=Bourges).
In 463 Saxons under Adovacrius (=Eadwacer) sailed around northwest Gaul to the Loire River. From there they sailed up river and attacked Andecavorum (=Angers), but failed to take it. In 469 Saxons, now based on islands in the Loire, accompanied by the mercenary general Odoacer (=Odovacar; c.60; fl.469-493), breached the city walls and entered the city. The next day Childeric arrived the next day and in the battle that ensued he together with the comes Paul retook the city.
In 470 Anthemius fell seriously ill and Ricimer and began to lay the groundwork for the accession of install Romanus, a Roman senator who had achieved the rank of magister officiorum, as a new puppet emperor. However, Anthemius recovered and accused a number of Ricimer’s supporters of using sorcery to try to bring about his death, including Romanus. He had the senator beheaded, an act which Anthemius hoped would secure his throne.
In 471 Anthemius, alarmed at the Visigoth expansion from Aquitania after their victory over the Bretons at Deols in 469, sent an army led by his son Anthemiolus (c.18; fl.471) over the Alps against Euric who was besieging Arles. At a place near Arles the Visigoths were victorious, killing Anthemiolus and his generals before laying waste to local territory.
Much of Aquitania Prima, which included the district of Auvergne, fell to Euric but he failed to capture its chief city Arvernis (=Clermont-Ferrand), where the valour of Ecdicius (c.55; fl.469-475+), the son of the earlier emperor Avitus, and exhortations of Ecdicius’ brother-in-law Sidonius Apollinaris, the newly consecrated bishop of the city, inspired stout resistance from its people. Yet Gaul was nonetheless really lost; and failure in Gaul meant the ruin of Anthemius in Italy.
In 472 Ricimer marched on Rome and besieged the city with an army of Germanic mercenaries in which one of the commanders was Odoacer. A certain Bilimer tried to raise the siege of Rome but was killed in battle by Ricimer. After five months of siege and starvation Rome surrendered. Anthemius tried to escape but was recognized, captured and beheaded by the Burgundian, 75Flavius Gundobad (c.54; fl.472-516).
Olybrius had come to Italy in spring, possibly sent by Leo but probably invited by Ricimer, and was proclaimed emperor before the death of Anthemius. Ricimer did not live long enough to savour his triumph, for in August he coughed up blood and died presumably of some sort of haemorrhage.
Theodoric the Great (72; r.475-526), King of the Ostrogoths
Theodemir’s son, Theodoric (72; fl.464-526), from the age of ten was a hostage in Constantinople where he received a privileged education under imperial direction. In 471 he was released and became co-ruler of the Ostrogoths with his father.
The rise of Theodoric Strabo compelled the Pannonia Ostrogoths, if they were to compete for the eventual leadership of all Ostrogoths, to leave their homes and advance into the interior of the Empire. Militarily weaker, father and son had to avoid a direct confrontation. Instead, Theodemir marched unopposed as far as Naissus in Illyria (471).
While Theodemir spent the winter (probably 473/4) at Naissus, Theodoric crossed to the Vardar Valley and marched to Larissa in eastern Greece, capturing cities along the way. In 474 though Theodemir failed to take Thessalonica he managed to negotiate a treaty that agreed to his Ostrogoths settling in northeast Greece.
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