At an unknown date his nephew Pompeius was
defeated
by some enemy
at Hadrianople; and in 507 the long wall across the peninsula on which
Constantinople stands was built to secure the city from attack by land.
at Hadrianople; and in 507 the long wall across the peninsula on which
Constantinople stands was built to secure the city from attack by land.
Cambridge Medieval History - v1 - Christian Roman Empire and Teutonic Kingdoms
476).
Basiliscus and his family fled to St
Sophia ; but they were handed over to some of his enemies, who took
them to Cappadocia and beheaded them all. The promise to Armatus
was kept ; but, as he was entering the circus, where Zeno and the young
Caesar were watching the games, he was assassinated by Onoulf, a man
CH, XVI.
## p. 474 (#504) ############################################
474
Gothic Wars
[472–479
a
who had received great kindness from him and been raised by his influence
to the military command of Illyricum. His son was ordained a reader,
and afterwards became bishop of Cyzicus. Theodoric the Amal, who
from rivalry with his namesake had supported Zeno, was made magister
militum and adopted in Teutonic fashion as Zeno's son in arms.
It was
perhaps these commotions which enabled the Samaritans to set up as
emperor the robber Justasa, who took Caesarea, but was defeated and
killed by the duke of Palestine.
Leo left the treasury full ; and at the beginning of Zeno's reign the
burdens were considerably lightened by the praefect Erythrius; but, as
the sums wanted for the Isaurian favourites could not be raised without
extortion, he resigned, and his successor Sebastian earned a bad reputa-
tion by selling offices to the highest bidder. His administration was
however distinguished by an act providing that all civil and military
governors should remain in their districts for fifty days after the termi-
nation of office, in order that anyone with a grievance might prefer an
accusation against them (9 Oct. 479).
One of Zeno's first tasks after his return was to decide what policy
to follow with regard to the affairs of the West. The concord between
the Courts had been broken by the murder of Anthemius (472); but
Leo shortly before his death nominated as emperor Nepos, the nephew
and successor of Marcellinus, and gave him Verina's niece in marriage.
The fiction of the unity of the Empire was however in part abandoned,
since Nepos' name does not appear in Eastern laws.
After his ex-
pulsion (475) and the dethronement of his successor (476) the Roman
Senate asked Zeno to grant Odovacar the title of patrician, and Nepos
begged for help to recover his throne. Zeno advised Odovacar to apply
to Nepos for the title, but styled him “patrician" in a letter, while
declining to help Nepos.
The son of Triarius, wishing to obtain pay for his men, sought to
make his peace (477): but the Senate, to which Zeno referred the
matter, said they could not pay both Theodorics and left it to him to
choose between them. Zeno then made a violent speech to the army
against the son of Triarius. He did not however immediately break
with him, but protracted negotiations. At last, finding that his strength
was increasing, while that of his rival was diminishing, he summoned
troops from all quarters and announced the appointment of Ilus to the
command ; which was however, probably because of his growing jealousy
of Illus, afterwards transferred to Martinianus. As this change led to
disorder among the Isaurian soldiery, Zeno summoned the Amal to his
aid, promising that, if he would take the field, Martinianus should meet
him at the passes of Mt Haemus and another force at the Hebrus, and
on this understanding Theodoric set out; but either from treachery or
from lack of discipline no army met him, and his Roman guides led
him to a place where he found the heights in front occupied by his rival,
## p. 475 (#505) ############################################
477–479]
Gothic Wars
475
who then easily persuaded him to make common cause against the
Emperor. Both sent to Constantinople to state their terms, the Amal
demanding land and provisions for his men and the emoluments of his
office, and the son of Triarius the terms granted by Leo with the arrears
of
pay
and the restoration of any living members of Aspar's family.
Zeno promised the former in case of victory a large sum down, a yearly
pension, and the hand of Valentinian's granddaughter Juliana, or any
other lady whom he might name, and, this offer being refused, announced
that he would lead the army himself. But circumstances now caused a
change of plan.
The part played by Illus in 475, together with his retention of
Longinus as a hostage and his influence with the Isaurian soldiers, made
him something of a thorn in Zeno's side, and the jealous ambition of
Verina rendered her his deadly enemy. In the summer of 477 Paul, one
of the Emperor's slaves, tried to assassinate him and was surrendered for
punishment. In 478 another attempt was made by an Alan, who under
torture confessed that he had been instigated by Epinicus the praefect, a
client of Urbicius the eunuch-chamberlain and favoured by Verina.
Zeno thereupon surrendered Epinicus also to Illus, who sent him to
Isauria, and then, having obtained leave on the ground of the death of
a brother, withdrew to his native country. Fearing a rebellion on the
part of Illus, Zeno now resolved to secure the support of the son of
Triarius and renounced his intention of taking the field; and, as this
caused disaffection in the army, he on Martinianus' advice recalled it to
winter quarters. Peace was then made. The son of Triarius was to
receive food and pay for 13,000 men, the command of two regiments of
scholarii, the office of magister militum, and the property that had been
taken from him, while any surviving members of Aspar's family were to
retain their property and live in any city that Zeno might choose.
The imperial troops succeeded in expelling the Amal from Thrace ;
but Macedonia was left to his mercy (479). He sacked Stobi; and on
his approaching Thessalonica the citizens, thinking themselves betrayed,
transferred the keys from the praefect to the bishop. Heraclea he was at
first persuaded by large gifts to spare ; but on the refusal of a demand
for corn and wine burnt the greater part of it. He was repulsed from
Lychnidus, but took Scampia, which was deserted, and occupied Dyr-
rachium, which a confederate had induced the garrison by a trick to
abandon. Meanwhile Zeno had again opened negotiations, and the patri-
cian Adamantius, the son of Vivianus, was sent to treat. At Thessalonica
he put down a military tumult directed against the praefect; and at
Edessa handed to Sabinianus the Emperor's commission as magister militum
of Illyricum in place of Onoulf. From Lychnidus he invited Theodoric
either to come to Lychnidus or to send hostages for his own safety if he
went to Dyrrachium. As Sabinianus, who accompanied him, refused
to secure the return of the hostages by oath, this plan failed; but
CH. XVI.
## p. 476 (#506) ############################################
476
Ascendancy of Illus
(479
Adamantius went with a small escort to a wild spot near Dyrrachium
and invited Theodoric to meet him. Theodoric came and stood on the
opposite bank of a river, and Adamantius offered him a settlement in
the district of Pautalia in Dardania, where he would act as a check on
his namesake and be between the Thracian and Illyrian armies. Theo-
doric refused to move before spring, but offered, if supported by a Roman
army, to destroy the Thracian Goths on condition that he might then
be made magister militum and live in Constantinople, or, if preferred, to
go to Dalmatia and restore Nepos. Adamantius however declined to
make terms until he left Epirus. Meanwhile Sabinianus, having received
reinforcements, captured 5000 Goths, and Zeno was encouraged to break
off negotiations. For the next two years Sabinianus held the Goths in
check.
On 25 Sept. 4791 the walls of Constantinople were greatly damaged
by an earthquake ; Zeno in fear of the Goths begged Illus to return, in
order that his Isaurians might assist in defending the city; and the
Emperor and the chief officials came out beyond Chalcedon to meet him.
Having learned from Epinicus that Verina was the author of the plot
against his life, Illus refused to enter Constantinople unless she was
surrendered ; and Zeno, who was clearly in fear of him and was perhaps
not sorry to be rid of his mother-in-law, complied. She was conveyed by
.
Illus' brother-in-law, Matronianus, to Tarsus, where she was compelled to
become a deaconess, and kept in custody at the Isaurian Dalisandus.
Illus was made master of the offices, Epinicus was at his request recalled,
and his client, Pamprepius the philosopher, who had been expelled on
account of his open paganism and the suspicion of inciting his patron to
treason, returned with him and was made quaestor.
The predominance of Illus soon led to a vigorous attempt to throw
off the Isaurian rule. On the pretext of Verina's banishment Marcian,
the son-in-law of Leo, having secured the adhesion of the son of Triarius
and the support of a force of barbarians and a large number of citizens,
rose against Zeno and claimed the crown for himself on the ground that
Leontia was born in the purple while Ariadne was born before Leo's
accession (end of 479). During the day the insurgents, aided by the
people, who hurled missiles from the houses at the soldiers, carried all
before them ; but in the night Illus brought some Isaurians over from
Chalcedon, and on the next day the rising was suppressed, though Illus'
house was burnt. Marcian, who fled to the church of the Apostles, was
compelled to take orders and sent to Caesarea in Cappadocia, while his
brothers, Procopius and Romulus, escaped to Theodoric's camp, and
Leontia sought refuge in a convent. Marcian however escaped and with
a rustic force attacked Ancyra, but was captured by Trocundes and con-
fined in the castle of Cherris, whither his wife and daughters were now
i Theoph. 477, Marc. 480, or by indictional reckoning 479. The chronology
shews 479 to be right.
## p. 477 (#507) ############################################
479–483]
Gothic Wars
477
a
brought to join him. Immediately after the rising Theodoric the son
of Triarius appeared before Constantinople under pretence of assisting
the Emperor, thinking that, as the towers and battlements had been
overthrown by the earthquake, he could easily take it; but, finding the
Isaurians manning the wall and ready to burn the city in case of defeat,
he accepted Zeno's gifts and promises and withdrew. He refused however
to surrender the fugitives, and was thereupon superseded in the office of
magister militum by Trocundes. He then plundered Thrace, and Zeno
could only call in the Bulgarians against him. Having defeated the
Bulgarians, Theodoric again appeared before the capital (481); but,
finding the gates strongly guarded by Illus and his Isaurians, tried to
cross to Bithynia and was defeated at sea. Receiving news of a con-
spiracy against him, he returned home and put the conspirators to
death; after which he marched towards Greece to seek new territory,
but on the way was accidentally killed. His son Rekitach, who by
killing his uncles became sole ruler of his people, returned to Thrace and
continued to ravage the country. In 481 Sabinianus died a violent death,
some said by Zeno's contrivance, and Theodoric (the Amal) plundered
Macedonia and Thessaly and sacked Larissa (482). John the Scythian
.
and Moschianus were sent against him; but no great success was obtained.
In consequence of the threatened revolt of Illus Theodoric was invited to
Constantinople, made patrician and magister militum, and designated
consul, and received territory in Dacia and Lower Moesia (483). His
rival Rekitach, who was in the city at the same time, he was allowed
to assassinate, and the Thracian Goths ceased to maintain a separate
existence.
Ariadne, urged by her mother, pressed Zeno to recall Verina ; but
he referred her to Illus, who refused compliance. A third attempt upon
the life of Illus was then made by a scholarian, who succeeded in cutting
off his ear, while he was going to the palace to receive some barbarian
envoys at the Emperor's request. The assassin was put to death, and
Zeno denied on oath all knowledge of the matter ; but Illus, feeling
himself unsafe, asked for leave of absence on the ground of needing
change of air. Zeno then made him magister militum per Orientem with
the right of appointing dukes, and, taking with him Matronianus, Marsus,
who had commanded the land force in the expedition against the Vandals,
Pamprepius, and other powerful men, and a large military force, he with-
drew to Antioch (early in 482), where he set himself to gain popularity
by largesses and lavish expenditure on public buildings. The patrician
Leontius, who was sent to ask for Verina's release, was induced to remain'.
That a civil war was imminent must have been clear to both parties ;
and after the accommodation with Theodoric Zeno demanded the surrender
of Longinus, and on receiving a refusal, sent John the Scythian to super-
1 This is nowhere stated, but I infer it from a comparison of Jo. Mal. , Jordanes,
and “ Joshua. ”
CH. XVI.
## p. 478 (#508) ############################################
478
Revolt of Illus
(483—486
sede Illus, expelled his friends, and confiscated their property, which he
gave to the Isaurian cities. Illus now openly revolted, proclaimed
Marcian emperor, and sent envoys to Odovacar, who refused assistance,
and to the Persians and the satraps of the five provinces annexed in 298,
who promised support to any force that appeared in their neighbourhood
(484). It is clear that he did not intend to head a mere Isaurian revolt,
which could not have any lasting success, but to form a powerful com-
bination against the Emperor; for which purpose he held out hopes to
the heathens through Pamprepius, while he was also on friendly terms
with the Chalcedonians, who had been offended by the issue of the
Henoticon, whereby Zeno soon after his departure tried to placate the
Monophysites (482).
At first, to prevent a revolt in Isauria, Zeno sent a small force under
Illus' bastard brother, Linges, and the Isaurian Conon, who had ex-
changed a military life for the bishopric of Apamea ; whereupon Illus
for some reason dropped Marcian, and brought Verina, who as Augusta
might advance some claim to appoint an emperor, to Tarsus, where she
formally crowned Leontius (19 July)', who eight days later entered
Antioch. The inhabitants of Chalcis refused to accept the new Emperor's
busts, and he attacked the city for 45 days; while at Edessa the citizens
shut the gates against Matronianus. About the same time the great
victory of the Ephthalites precluded all hope of support from Persia.
Theodoric was now sent with a force of Romans and Goths to join
John the Scythian; but Zeno changed his mind and recalled him, though
his Goths remained with the army; and in his place Hermanric the son
of Aspar, who had once revealed a conspiracy to Zeno and had married
a daughter of his illegitimate son, was sent with a contingent of Rugians.
When the force which Illus sent against the imperial army was defeated,
he hastily summoned Leontius from Antioch (Sept. ), and they fled to
the stronghold of Cherris, to which Verina had already been sent. His
confederates then shut themselves up in different fortresses, and many of
his men deserted. Zeno recalled the Goths, who were no longer needed,
and made the Isaurian Cottomenes magister militum in place of Theodoric,
while another Isaurian, Longinus of Cardala, was made master of the
offices. Nine days after the beginning of the siege Verina died, and a
month later Marsus, and Illus left the defence to the owner of the
fortress, Indacus, Trocundes' brother-in-law. Trocundes, who had been
sent to collect reinforcements, was captured by John and beheaded, and
Zeno's brother Longinus was allowed to escape (485).
Theodoric had perhaps been occupied during 485 by a Bulgarian
invasion; but in 486 he raided Thrace, and Odovacar in spite of his
previous refusal shewed signs of wishing to assist Illus, who now in vain
made proposals for peace, while Zeno stirred up the Rugians against
,
Rev. de l'instr. publ. en Belgique, XL. 8. Hence I substitute “July” for the
“June" of Theoph.
## p. 479 (#509) ############################################
487–491]
Accession of Anastasius
479
>
Odovacar. In 487 Theodoric advanced close to Constantinople, and
an agreement was made under which he set out to wrest Italy from
Odovacar, who had defeated the Rugians, and the East was rid of the
Goths for ever (488).
All hope for the besieged was now at an end ; Pamprepius, who had
prophesied success, was put to death, and at last Indacus and others
betrayed the fort. Illus' requests with regard to the burial of his
daughter, who had died during the siege, and the treatment of his
family were granted, and he and Leontius were beheaded, and their heads
exposed at Constantinople (488). The traitors were all killed during
the assault, perhaps by the besieged. Verina's body was taken to
Constantinople and buried with Leo's. Most of the Isaurian fortresses
were dismantled. As the satraps of the five provinces had been in
communication with Illus, the hereditary tenure of the four most
important satrapies was abolished, though the satraps retained their
native forces.
Zeno had by his first wife a son, Zeno; but he had killed himself by
his excesses at an early age, and the Emperor wished to leave the crown
to his brother Longinus. The infamous character of Longinus and
the unpopularity of the Isaurians hindered him from declaring him
Caesar ; but he appointed him magister militum, in the hope that his
military authority and the strength of the Isaurians in the
army
would
secure him the succession. On 9 April 491 Zeno died of dysentery at
the age of 60.
In accordance with the precedent of 450 the choice of a successor
was left to the Augusta Ariadne; and on the next morning, by the
advice of Urbicius, she nominated the silentiary Anastasius of Dyrra-
chium, a man of 61, who had shortly before been one of the three
candidates selected for the see of Antioch. He was crowned the next day;
and, when he appeared before the people, they greeted him with the
acclamation “Reign as you have lived. ” On 20 May he married Ariadne.
The new Emperor began by the popular measures of remitting arrears
of taxation and refusing facilities to informers, and he is credited with
abolishing the sale of offices ; but his reign was constantly disturbed by
serious outbreaks. No immediate opposition was offered to his elevation;
but in Isauria a revolt on a small scale broke out, and at Constantinople
some unpopular action on the part of Julian the city-praefect led to
an uproar; and on an attempt to restore order by force the rioters threw
down the pedestals on which stood the busts of the Emperor and Empress
in front of the circus, and many were killed by the soldiers. To avoid
more bloodshed Anastasius deposed Julian, who had been appointed by
Ariadne on the day of Zeno's death, and named his own brother-in-law
Secundinus, to succeed him. Thinking that peace was impossible while
the Isaurians were in the city, he expelled them and deprived them of
the pay assigned by Zeno. Longinus the brother of Zeno was compelled
CH, XVI.
## p. 480 (#510) ############################################
480
Isaurian Revolt
[491–498
to take orders and exiled to the Thebaid, where he died, it is said of
hunger, eight years later, while his wife and daughter retired to Bithynia
and lived the rest of their life on charity. The property of the late
Emperor, even his imperial robes, was sold by auction, and the castle of
Cherris, which had not yet been occupied by the rebels, was dismantled.
Longinus of Cardala and a certain Athenodorus, who were among those
who had been expelled from the capital, joined the insurgents in Isauria,
among whom were now to be found Linginines, count of Isauria, Conon
the ex-bishop, and another Athenodorus. Reinforced by discontented
Romans and others who served under compulsion, they advanced to
Cotyaeum. Here John the Scythian and John the Hunchback, who had
succeeded Longinus as magister militum in praesenti, met and defeated
them. Linginines fell in the battle, and the Isaurians fled to their native
mountains (end of 492): but the generals waited till spring before crossing
the Taurus. In 493 Diogenes, a kinsman of Ariadne, took Claudiopolis,
but was besieged in it by the Isaurians, and his men were nearly starved.
John the Hunchback however forced the passes, and by a sudden attack,
aided by a sortie on the part of Diogenes, routed the enemy, Bishop
Conon being mortally wounded. The Isaurians were henceforth confined
to their strongholds, and a certain Longinus of Selinus, who resided
in the strong coast town of Antioch and had a large fleet, supplied
them with provisions by sea.
The Emperor's attention was now distracted by an incursion of
barbarians, perhaps Slavs, in Thrace, during which Julian, the magister
militum of Thrace, was killed. Moreover, as his Monophysite opinions
made his rule distasteful to the Chalcedonians, who were strong in
Constantinople, there was perhaps communication between them and the
insurgents, a charge on which the patriarch Euphemius was deprived in
495. At last in 497 Longinus of Cardala and Athenodorus were taken
and beheaded by John the Scythian and their heads sent to Constanti-
nople, while the head of the other Athenodorus, who was captured the
same year, was exhibited at the gates of Tarsus. Longinus of Selinus
held out till 498, and was then made prisoner by Priscus, an officer
serving under John the Hunchback, exhibited in chains at Constantinople,
and tortured to death at Nicaea. Large numbers of Isaurians were
.
settled in Thrace, and the population of Isauria, which had been greatly
thinned by the two wars, was thereby yet further reduced, so that the
necessity which had made the mountaineers the terror of Asia Minor
no longer existed. The Isaurians had done their work of saving the
East from the fate of the West; and, though they still provided useful
recruits for the army, their day of political power was over. The
importance of looking at home for soldiers instead of trusting to the
barbarians had been learned and was never forgotten.
Besides the Isaurian war Anastasius had also been troubled by in-
cursions of Blemmyes in Egypt (491); and in 498 bands of Saracens
## p. 481 (#511) ############################################
491–503]
Invasion of Kawad
481
invaded the eastern provinces. The followers of Nu‘man of Al Hira,
who owed allegiance to Persia, were after an inroad into Euphratesia
defeated by Eugenius, a duke stationed at Melitene, and parties of
Taghlibi and Ghassani Arabs under Hugr and Gabala, the latter at
least a Roman subject, were routed by Romanus, duke of Palestine, who
also recovered Jotaba, which was leased to a company of Roman traders
for a yearly tribute. In 502 a more successful raid was made by Hugr's
brother, Ma'di Kharb; but the outbreak of the Persian war made it
possible to turn the raids in another direction, and peace was made with
the Taghlibi chief, Al Harith, father of Ma'di Kharb (503). In 502
the Tzani also raided Pontus.
Immediately after the accession of Anastasius, Kawad, who became
king of Persia in 488, demanded a contribution towards the defences of
the Caucasian Gates. This was refused ; but the Armenian rising pre-
vented further action, though Anastasius refused to aid the insurgents.
Kawad took advantage of the Isaurian troubles to repeat his demand,
but was soon afterwards deposed (496). Having been restored by the
king of the Ephthalites under a promise of paying a large sum of money
(499), he again applied to Anastasius for help. The Emperor would
only agree to lend the money on a written promise of payment; and
Kawad, refusing this, entered Roman Armenia (22 Aug. 502) and took
and sacked Theodosiopolis, which was surrendered by the treachery of
Constantine, the count of Armenia, who went over to the Persian service.
Having occupied Martyropolis, he passed on to Amida (5 Oct. ), where,
though there was no military force in Mesopotamia except the garrison
of Constantina, a stubborn defence was made by the citizens. Anastasius
sent Rufinus to offer him money to withdraw, but he kept the ambassador
in custody. A Persian force, accompanied by Arabs and Ephthalites, was
sent to the district of Constantina, and, after a small party had been cut to
pieces (19 Nov. ), routed Eugenius of Melitene and Olympius, duke of
Mesopotamia, while Nu'man's Arabs plundered the territory of Carrhae
(26 Nov. ) and advanced to Edessa. Eugenius however retook Theodo-
siopolis. Meanwhile Kawad, despairing of taking Amida, was willing to
retire for a small sum; but the governor and the magistrates refused this
and demanded compensation for the crops that had been destroyed. The
siege therefore continued, until on a dark night the Persians found access
by some aqueducts to a part of the wall which was guarded by some
monks who were in a drunken sleep. They thereupon scaled the wall, and
after hard fighting made themselves masters of the town (11 Jan. 503),
which for three days was given up to massacre. Rufinus was then
released, and Kawad at the beginning of spring retreated to the
neighbourhood of Singara, leaving 3000 men under Glon in Amida.
Further demands for money were rejected by Anastasius (April), who,
having immediately after the fall of Amida sent men to defend the
fortified places, now despatched a considerable army from Thrace to
31
a
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. XVI.
## p. 482 (#512) ############################################
482
Successes of Celer
[503–505
Mesopotamia under Patricius, magister militum in praesenti, Areobindus,
magister militum per Orientem, great-grandson of Aspar, and his own
nephew Hypatius (May), accompanied by Appion the praefect, who
took up his quarters at Edessa to look after the commissariat. Patricius
and Hypatius laid siege to Amida, while Areobindus encamped near
Dara to stop a new invasion, and for some time prevented an advance
on the part of the Persians from Singara, and even drove them in
confusion to Nisibis ; but, when the enemy, reinforced by Arabs and
Ephthalites, prepared to attack him in greater strength under the traitor
Constantine (July), he retreated to Harram near Mardin to be near his
colleagues : his request for assistance being however disregarded, he was
compelled to abandon his camp and flee to Constantina and Edessa.
Patricius and Hypatius on hearing of Areobindus' flight raised the siege
of Amida and met the Persians under Kawad himself at the neighbouring
fort of Apadna (Aug. ), but were routed and fled to Samosata. Hypatius
was then recalled. Kawad's attempts to take Constantina, Edessa, and
Carrhae by assault were unsuccessful, and Patriciolus, who was bringing
reinforcements, destroyed a small Persian force at the Euphrates, while
the Persian Arabs, having ravaged the country up to the river near
Batnae, crossed into Syria. A second attempt upon Edessa fared no
better than the first, and Kawad then advanced to the Euphrates.
Anastasius now sent Celer, the master of the offices, with large
reinforcements; and, though he had hitherto followed a civil career and
was not formally appointed to the chief command, his personal position
gave him practical authority over the other generals and replaced division
by unity. On his approach Kawad marched down the river to Callinicus,
where a detachment was cut to pieces by Timostratus, duke of Osrhoene.
Hearing of an invasion of Caucasian Huns, Kawad then returned home,
upon which Patricius, who was wintering at Melitene, returned to Amida
and routed a force sent against him by Kawad. Celer, and afterwards
Areobindus, then joined Patricius before Amida, where Glon had been
captured by a stratagem and put to death. Seeing how things were
going, Constantine returned to his allegiance (June 504) and was allowed
to take orders and live at Nicaea. "Adid the Arab and Mushel the
Armenian also went over to the Romans. The whole army was now
no longer needed at Amida ; accordingly Areobindus raided Persian
Armenia, while Celer crossed into Arzanene, where he cut some cavalry
to pieces, and burnt the villages, killing the men and taking the women
and children prisoners. Similar raids were made by the Roman Arabs.
Kawad then sent his spahpat (commander-in-chief) to Celer to propose
peace, returning the most important prisoners. Celer at first refused
terms in the hope of taking Amida, and an attempt to revictual it
failed; but during the winter, which was a severe one, there were many
desertions in the army, and he agreed to pay a sum of money for the
surrender of the town, a definite peace being postponed till the Emperor's
a
## p. 483 (#513) ############################################
493–517]
Peace with Persia
483
pleasure should be known. Hostilities were however considered to be
ended, and some Arab sheikhs on the Persian side who had raided Roman
territory were put to death by the Persian marzban, and some sheikhs
of the Roman Arabs who had raided Persian territory were treated
in the same way by Celer, who after a visit to Constantinople had
returned to Syria. Anastasius granted remissions of taxes throughout
Mesopotamia, gave largesses to the districts which had suffered most,
restored the fortifications, and built a new fortified position on the
frontier at Dara. As this was contrary to the treaty of 442, the Persians
tried to prevent it; but Kawad, being engaged in war with the Huns
and the Tamuraye, a tribe of unknown geographical position, was unable
to take active steps in the matter. In April 506 Celer came to Edessa
on his way to meet the spahpat, but, hearing from Persian envoys of
his death, he waited till a successor should be appointed, while his
Gothic soldiers caused much trouble to the citizens : he then went to
Dara (Oct. ) and made peace for seven years with the new spahpat (Nov. ),
the Emperor agreeing to pay compensation for the breach of faith
involved in the fortification of Dara.
In Thrace and Illyricum the departure of the Goths left the way
open to the more savage Bulgarians. In 499 they inflicted a disastrous
defeat on Aristus, magister militum of Illyricum, at the Tzurta ; and in
500 Anastasius thought it wise to give a donative to the Illyrian army.
At an unknown date his nephew Pompeius was defeated by some enemy
at Hadrianople; and in 507 the long wall across the peninsula on which
Constantinople stands was built to secure the city from attack by land.
In 512 the Heruli after their defeat by the Lombards were settled in the
Empire, but afterwards rebelled and had to be put down by force
of arms. In 517 the Slavs plundered Macedonia, Thessaly, and Epirus,
and carried off captives, whom Anastasius ransomed. Libya also suffered
from the incursions of the Mazices.
Though there was little serious hostility with the Goths, relations
were for a large part of the reign unfriendly. In 493 the Emperor
refused Theodoric's request for confirmation of his title to Italy, though
by accepting his consuls he tacitly recognised him. In 498 however he
gave the desired recognition and returned the imperial insignia which
Odovacar had sent to Zeno. But in 505 a conflict was brought about
by a certain Mundo, who had been expelled by the king of the Gepids
and received as a foederatus in the Empire, but afterwards became a
captain of robbers, and being attacked by Sabinianus, magister militum
of Illyricum (son of the Sabinianus who held the same office under Zeno),
with Bulgarian allies, called in a Gothic force which had been fighting
the Gepids. In the battle which followed at Horrea Margi the Romans
were routed; but no further fighting seems to have taken place, and
Mundo entered Theodoric's service. The assistance given to Mundo
caused ill-feeling at Constantinople, and in 508 a fleet raided the coast
CH. XVI.
31-2
## p. 484 (#514) ############################################
484
Financial Administration of Anastasius [493–512
[
of Italy, by which Theodoric was hindered from supporting the Visigoths
against the Frankish king, on whom Anastasius conferred the insignia of
the consulship. Shortly afterwards peace was restored, no doubt by
concessions on the side of Theodoric, who wished to be free to deal
with the Franks.
The domestic administration of Anastasius was distinguished by
several popular measures. The most celebrated of these was the aboli-
tion of the chrysargyron (May 498), a tax on all kinds of stock and
plant in trade, instituted by Constantine, which pressed heavily on
the poorest classes. Instead of this he imposed a land-tax called
chrysoteleia, which he applied to the support of the army, abolishing
the right of requisition. He also attempted by several enactments to
ensure that the soldiers received their full pay. But his chief financial
reform was the abolition, by the advice of the Syrian Marinus, of the
system under which the curiales were responsible for the taxes of the
municipalities, and the institution of tax-collectors called vindices. The
burdens of the curiales were not however wholly removed, for they existed
in some form under Justinian. These measures were no doubt primarily
intended to increase the revenue, and at the end of his reign under the
administration of Marinus complaints were made of heavy extortion ;
but the immediate financial success of the policy is proved by the fact
that at the time of his death the treasury was full. His humanity was
shewn by the abolition of fights between men and beasts (Aug. 499);
but this did not extend to the practice of exposing criminals to beasts,
which existed as late as the time of Maurice.
But, although Anastasius is almost universally praised for mildness
and good administration, his Monophysite opinions were distasteful to
the population of the capital, and the peace was constantly disturbed by
serious riots. In 493 his refusal to release some stone-throwers of the
Green faction who had been arrested by the city-praefect produced an
outbreak, during which a stone was thrown at the Emperor, part of the
circus buildings burnt, and the statues of Anastasius and Ariadne
dragged through the streets. Many of the rioters were arrested and
punished, and the thrower of the stone, a Moor, was killed by the
cxcubitores ; but the Emperor was compelled to appoint a new praefect
in the person of Plato. An occasion for rioting was also provided by
the ancient pagan festival of the Brytae, which was celebrated by
dancing performances every May. Such a riot occurred in the prae-
fecture of Constantine (501), when the Greens attacked the Blues in the
theatre and many were killed, among them an illegitimate son of
Anastasius. After this an order was issued that the celebration of the
Brytae should cease throughout the Empire (502). In 512 the Mono-
physite addition to the Trisagion, made at the instigation of Marinus,
caused the most dangerous outbreak of the reign (6 Nov. ). The rioters
killed the Monophysite monks, threw down the Emperor's statues, and
## p. 485 (#515) ############################################
510–513]
Rebellion of Vitalianus
485
proclaimed emperor the unwilling Areobindus, whose wife Juliana repre-
sented the Theodosian house. When Celer and Patricius were sent to
appease them, they drove them away with stones, burnt the houses of
Marinus and Pompeius, and plundered Marinus' property. On the
third day Anastasius shewed himself in the circus without his crown and
begged them to refrain from massacre, whereupon they demanded that
Marinus and Plato should be thrown to the beasts; but the Emperor
by promising concessions persuaded them to disperse. The banishment
of Ariadne's kinsman, Diogenes, and the ex-praefect Appion (510) may,
as they were recalled by Justin, have been caused by religious troubles.
In Alexandria and Antioch also riots were frequent.
In 513 the religious differences culminated in an armed rising. The
military administration of Hypatius (not the Emperor's nephew)' had
caused discontent in the Thracian army, especially among the Bulgarian
foederati. These foederati were commanded by Vitalianus (son of the
Patriciolus who held a command in the Persian war); who had a grievance
on account of the expulsion of the patriarch Flavianus of Antioch (512),
with whom he was on terms of close friendship. Making use of the
discontent in the army, he murdered two of the general's staff, bribed the
duke of Moesia, and, having seized Carinus, one of the chief confidants
of Hypatius, forced him to place the town of Odessus in his hands. By
means of the money there found he collected a large force of soldiers
and rustics, and, with the cry of justice for the banished patriarchs and
abolition of the addition to the Trisagion, marched on Constantinople,
whither Hypatius had fled. Anastasius, having no army at hand, could
only provide for the defence, while he set up crosses on the gates and
announced the remission of one-fourth of the animal-tax in Asia and
Bithynia. Patricius the magister militum, to whom Vitalianus in large
measure owed his promotion, was sent to confer with him; and next
day some of Vitalianus' chief officers entered the city; who on receiving
a promise that just grievances should be remedied and the Pope asked
to send representatives to settle the religious differences took the oath of
allegiance, returned to Vitalianus, and compelled him to withdraw. Cyril,
a man of some capacity, was now appointed to succeed Hypatius, and,
having entered Odessus, from which Vitalianus had retired, was believed
to be planning an attack on him. Hearing of this, Vitalianus made his
way into the town by night, surprised Cyril while asleep in his house,
and killed him. He was thereupon declared a public enemy by decree
of the Senate, and a large force collected and sent against him under
Hypatius, the Emperor's nephew, though the office of magister militum of
Thrace was given to the barbarian Alathar. Hypatius fought for some
time with varying success, and gained at least one victory (autumn 513).
1 By introducing Anastasius' nephew later as tòv åder 0. 8oûv Tòv éavtoll Jo. Ant.
shews that another man is meant here.
2 Known at Antioch before 18 Nov. (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS. Brit. Mus. 333).
CH. XVI.
## p. 486 (#516) ############################################
486
Death of Anastasius
[513–518
Finally he encamped at Acris on the coast, where, being attacked by the
enemy and routed, he was captured in the sea, into which he had fled.
Alathar was also captured, and was ransomed by Vitalianus himself from
the Bulgarians, whom he permitted to sell the prisoners. Vitalianus
occupied all the fortresses in Scythia and Moesia, among them Sozopolis,
in which he captured some envoys sent with a ransom for Hypatius.
It was now expected that he would be proclaimed emperor ; and further
rioting occurred at Constantinople, in which the praefect of the watch
was killed. Meanwhile he advanced on the capital by land and sea;
but on receiving 5000 lbs. of gold, the Thracian command, and a promise
of satisfaction upon the religious question, he again retired and released
Hypatius, though he refused to disband his army (514). It was clear
that neither party was likely to observe the peace; and in 515 Vitalianus,
having probably promises of support from inside the city, where another
riot had occurred, again appeared before Constantinople, but was defeated
by land and sea and retired to Anchialus, though still remaining at the
head of his barbarian force. Hypatius was sent to the East as magister
militum, and in July 517 went on an embassy to Persia'.
On 9 July 518 Anastasius died suddenly, Ariadne having died three
years before.
1 Wright, op. cit. 536.
.
## p. 487 (#517) ############################################
487
CHAPTER XVII.
RELIGIOUS DISUNION IN THE FIFTH CENTURY.
The importance of the religious controversies of the fifth century
must strike the most casual reader of history : but when we approach
the subject closely, we find it a tangled skein. Questions of dogmatic
theology and of ecclesiastical authority are intermingled with the conflict
of national ideals and the lower strife of personal rivalries. Only later
are the lines of separation seen to indicate ancient ethnic differences.
Nor does this century, more than any other century, form for our
purpose one connected and distinct whole. The antagonistic forces had
been gathering to a head during the preceding period and they had to
fight the battle out in the days that came after. Nevertheless, it is
possible, within limits, to distinguish the more important of the
elements making for ecclesiastical disunion, and also to mark the
chief acts of the drama that fall within the limits assigned.
First, then, we have to do with the opposition of two rival schools of
thought, those of Alexandria and of Antioch, the homes of allegorical
and of literal interpretation respectively. Next we have the emphatic
assertion of authority; and rejection of external interference, by the
great sees, which before the end of our period have obtained the title
and status of patriarchates. So far, we seem to be concerned with forces
already known in the Arian controversy. But in both respects there is
a difference. The dogmatic difference between Alexandria and Antioch
was, in the fifth century, quite unlike that of Athanasius and Arius in
the fourth, though the theologian may discern hidden affinities in the
parties severally concerned. The disputants on both sides in the con-
troversies we are to consider were equally ready to accept the creed of
Nicaea, and indeed to accuse their opponents of want of loyalty to that
symbol. And with regard to spheres of authority, a new complication
had arisen. At Nicaea (325), the rights of the great sees of Rome,
Alexandria and Antioch had been maintained. Byzantium counted for
nothing. In fact, authorities differ on the question who was bishop
at that time, and whether he attended the Council in person or by
deputy. But at the Second Council (that of Constantinople in 381)
CH. XVII.
## p. 488 (#518) ############################################
488
Religious Disunion in the Fifth Century
besides a strict injunction against the intervention of bishops in places
beyond their jurisdiction, there was an assertion of the prerogative of
the bishop of Constantinople next after the bishop of Rome; “because
Constantinople is New Rome. ” The last clause asserted an important
principle, that might easily lead to Caesaro-papacy. For the other great
sees were supposed to hold their high position in virtue of apostolic
tradition, not of coincidence with secular dominion. Constantinople
might-and did—discover that it, too, had an apostle for its patron-
namely St Andrew. But St Andrew's claims were vague, and the
imperial authority and court influence were pressing. The decision was
but doubtfully accepted in the East, and the distinction, if allowed at
all, was taken as purely honorary. In Rome it was never received at
all. We cannot wonder that the bishops of Alexandria, in their far-
reaching aims and policy, were unwilling to allow such power or
prestige to the upstart see of the “queenly city," and that sometimes
the bishops of Old Rome might support their actions.
It is not, of course, to be supposed that all the ecclesiastical dissensions
of the period can be comprised in the quarrels between the great sees,
although, for our present purpose, that series of conflicts seems the best
to choose as our guiding line. Though the Arian heresy lived vigorously
all through the century, it had become for the most part a religion of
barbarians. It was not so much a source of disunion within the Empire
as a serious—perhaps insuperable-obstacle to a good understanding
between the Roman and the Teuton. The Arianism of the Ostrogoths
was at least one of the most prominent weaknesses of their kingdom
in Italy. But the Empire, generally speaking, was Nicene. The only
regions which had not adopted or were not soon to adopt the definitions
of the First General Council, lay in the far East, beyond the limits of
undisputed imperial sway. When these are brought into the general
current of church history, they take one side or another in the
prevalent controversies, with very conspicuous results. Again, the
Pelagian controversy on free will and original sin will not here concern
us in proportion to its theological and philosophical interest. Though
its roots lay deep, and ever and anon put forth new shoots, it did not
result in a definite schism.
Taking then the main lines of controversy as already indicated, we
may distinguish four phases or periods within the fifth century. In the
first we have an attack on a bishop of Constantinople, a representative
of the Antiochene school, by an archbishop of Alexandria. Rome
sympathises with Constantinople, but Alexandria triumphs for a time,
in great part by court influence. (Chrysostom controversy. )
In the second, Alexandria again advances against Constantinople, the
bishop of which is again Antiochene. Rome, in this phase of the conflict,
sides with Alexandria, which prevails. Court influence is divided, but
gradually comes over to the Alexandrian side. (Nestorian controversy. )
## p. 489 (#519) ############################################
Periods of Controversy. Chrysostom
489
In the third, Alexandria is again aggressive, and prevails over
Constantinople by violence. Rome fails at first to obtain a hearing,
but helps to get the doctrinal points settled in another Council.
(Eutychian or Monophysite controversy. )
In the fourth, the controversy is caused by an abortive attempt,
started by an emperor, but manipulated by the bishops of Constan-
tinople and of Alexandria working together, to reunite some at least
of the parties alienated by the decision of the last conflict. Rome
disapproves strongly, and the result is a serious blow to imperial
authority in the West. (Henoticon controversy. )
1. The chief persons, then, in the first controversy, are Theophilus
of Alexandria and Chrysostom of Constantinople. The doctrinal question
is not to the front, and the interest is in great part personal. This is
in fact the only one of the controversies in which one side at least-
here the one on defence—has an imposing leader. But perhaps it is the
one in which it is least possible to find any reasons beyond motives of
official ambition or of personal antipathy.
The beginner of the attack, Theophilus, who held the Alexandrian
see from 385 to 412, has earned a bad name in history for violence and
duplicity. He was probably not more unscrupulous than many leading
men among his contemporaries, and excelled most of them in scientific
and literary tastes. But he has incurred the odium which attaches to
every religious persecutor who has not the mitigating plea of personal
fanaticism. Another excuse might be alleged in extenuation of his
unjust actions : the excessively difficult position in which he was placed.
The peculiar character of the government of Egypt—its close and
direct connexion with the imperial authority—and the absence, except
in the city itself, of any civic and municipal institutions, always rendered
a good understanding between bishop and praefect one of the great
desiderata. The history of the see and of its most eminent occupants
had given it a prestige which was not easily kept intact without
encroachments on the secular power.
Alexandria had from the
beginning been a city of mixed populations and cults, and at this time
the factions were more numerous and the occasions of disturbance as
serious as in the days of Athanasius. Arianism may have been quelled,
but paganism was still vigorous, and had adherents both in the academies
of the grammarians and philosophers and also among the most ignorant
of the lower classes, who even anticipated disaster when the measuring
gauge was moved from the temple of Serapis to a church. The Jewish
element was large, and the broad toleration of Alexander, the Ptolemies,
and the pagan Emperors was hardly to be expected in the stormy days
which had followed the conversion of Constantine. But more difficult
to deal with than praefects, town mobs, philosophers or Jews, though
a more powerful weapon to use if tactfully secured, was the vast number
of monks that dwelt in the “desert” and other regions within the
>
CH, XVII.
## p. 490 (#520) ############################################
490
Religious Disunion in the Fifth Century
( 392–394
Alexandrian see. These did not constitute one body, and were very
dissimilar among themselves. The rule of those who had a rule will
be set forth in the following chapter. Here we have to notice the
difficulties which the soaring speculations of some, the crass ignorance
of others, and the detachment of all from worldly convention and
ordinary constituted authority, placed in the way of any attempt to
bring them within the general system of civil and ecclesiastical order.
Theophilus was himself a man of learning and culture, eclectic in
tastes, diplomatic in schemes. He had used his mathematical knowledge
to make an elaborate table of the Easter Cycle. He favoured, in later
days, the candidature of a philosophic pagan (Synesius of Cyrene) for
the bishopric of Ptolemais. He could read and enjoy the works of
writers whose teaching he was publicly anathematising. He appreciated
the force of monastic piety, and endeavoured, by vigorous and even
violent means, to impose episcopal consecration on some leading ascetics
.
He shewed his powers as a pacificator in helping to compose dissension
in the church of Antioch (392) and in that of Bostra (394). He obtained
from the civil authority powers to demolish the great temple of Serapis,
which was done successfully, though not without creating much bitter-
ness of feeling. The great campaign of his life, however, began with an
attack on the followers of Origen at the very beginning of the fifth century.
There seems some paradox in the circumstance that the strife between
the Alexandrian and the Antiochene should have begun (as far as our
present purpose is concerned) by an attack made by an Alexandrian
patriarch on the principles of the most eminent of all Alexandrian
theologians. Theophilus was, both before and after the controversy,
an appreciative student of Origen. He had already aroused a tumultu-
ous opposition from some Egyptian monks who were practically
anthropomorphites by insisting on the doctrine laid down by Origen
as to the incorporeality of the Divine nature, that God is invisible by
reason of His nature, and incomprehensible by reason of the limits of
human intelligence. The line he now took up may have been due to the
influence of Jerome, at that time organising an anti-Origenistic crusade
in Palestine; or else, in his opposition to the philosophic paganism of
Alexandria, he may have become nervous of any concessions as to æons
and gnosis and final restitution; or again, as seems most probable, he
saw a powerful ally in his ambition for his see in the grossest and least
enlightened theology of his day—that of the unhappy monk who wept
that “ they had taken away his God”—when in the earlier stage of the
controversy the doctrines of the anthropomorphites were condemned by
the man who was now their champion.
Having determined to combat Origenism, Theophilus called a synod
to Alexandria, which decreed against it. He followed up the ecclesiastical
censure by securing from the praefect the support of the secular arm.
An attack was made by night on the settlement of those monks, in the
-
## p. 491 (#521) ############################################
397-401]
Chrysostom and Theophilus
491
а
district of Nitria, who were supposed to be imbued with Origenistic
doctrine. The leaders of them were the four " tall brethren," monks of
considerable repute, formerly treated by Theophilus with great respect.
Hounded out by soldiers and by the rival “ Anthropomorphite ” monks,
the Tall Brothers fled for their lives, and after many vicissitudes arrived
in Constantinople and appealed to the protection of the bishop, John
Chrysostom.
In position and in character Chrysostom bears a marked contrast to
his opponent Theophilus. Both, it is true, were men of learning and
culture; both were exposed to the caprices of a pleasure-loving and
much-divided populace. But Chrysostom had one disadvantage more:
he was under the immediate eye of a Court. It was by court influence,
unsought on his part, that he had been elevated, and the same influence
could easily be turned against him. The Emperor Arcadius was of
sluggish temperament, but his wife, Eudoxia, a Frankish lady, was
violent in her likes and dislikes, sensitive, ambitious, and inspired by a
showy and aggressive piety. John had held the see since 397. In early
days he had studied under the pagan Libanius at Antioch, and later he
had been trained in the theological school of that city. He was an
intimate friend of Theodore of Mopsuestia, the most eminent leader of
Antiochene thought, whose principles in the next stage of the controversy
came to the front. Himself a practical teacher rather than a theological
systematiser, he had devoted his power and eloquence, both in Antioch
and Constantinople, to the restraint of violence and the denunciation of
vice and frivolity. He had in earlier days followed for some years the
monastic life, and was always ascetic in self-discipline, and tactless
towards those under his authority. He had been brought into public
prominence, during the anxious time in 387 at Antioch, after the riot.
On his appointment at Constantinople, he shewed great firmness in
resisting the demands made upon him by the minister Eutropius, and
subsequently in negotiations with the Gothic general Gaïnas. He
preached much, and his sermons were intensely popular, for the people
of Byzantium, however mixed, were sufficiently Greek to enjoy good
speaking But John seems to have done more than excite a transient
enthusiasm. A good many Constantinopolitans, particularly some well-
born women, devoted their lives to the works he commended to them.
By his clergy, as might be expected, he was both well beloved and well
hated.
Just at the time when Theophilus was beginning his attacks on the
Origenistic monks, Chrysostom was starting on an expedition which was
the beginning of all his troubles. Complaints had been brought to him
.
of the bad conduct of the bishop of Ephesus. He sent to make
inquiries, and though the accused bishop had in the meantime died,
Chrysostom was requested by the clergy and people of Ephesus to
come and settle their affairs. Accordingly the first three months of the
OH. XVII.
## p. 492 (#522) ############################################
492
Religious Disunion in the Fifth Century
[401
year 401 were spent by him in a visitation of Asia, in the removal of
many clergy, and the putting down of much corruption. No doubt he
considered that he was acting within his rights, according to the canon
of Constantinople and the precedent set by the previous bishop.
But he had given a handle to the rival see of Alexandria. Worse
than this, his absence had led to difficulties at home, where Severianus,
a wandering bishop whom he had left as locum tenens, and Serapion,
Chrysostom's archdeacon and friend, had quarrelled beyond hope of
reconciliation. On his return, Chrysostom judged Severianus to be in
fault, and thereby affronted the Empress, who had taken delight in
Severianus' sermons. With so much of combustible elements about, the
arrivals from Egypt were likely to cause a general conflagration.
Chrysostom received the Tall Brethren courteously, and admitted
them to some of the church services, though he hesitated to receive them
into full communion till the charge of heresy hanging over them had
been removed. He seems to have wished to avoid any provocative
measures. But the Brothers, anxious to remove the slur, or perhaps
stirred up by some sinister interest, appealed to the Empress, as she
rode down the streets in her chariot. The result was that Theophilus
himself was summoned to Constantinople to stand a charge of calumny
and persecution, with darker accusations in the background. He came,
but, though nominally accused, he actually took the rôle of accuser.
Sophia ; but they were handed over to some of his enemies, who took
them to Cappadocia and beheaded them all. The promise to Armatus
was kept ; but, as he was entering the circus, where Zeno and the young
Caesar were watching the games, he was assassinated by Onoulf, a man
CH, XVI.
## p. 474 (#504) ############################################
474
Gothic Wars
[472–479
a
who had received great kindness from him and been raised by his influence
to the military command of Illyricum. His son was ordained a reader,
and afterwards became bishop of Cyzicus. Theodoric the Amal, who
from rivalry with his namesake had supported Zeno, was made magister
militum and adopted in Teutonic fashion as Zeno's son in arms.
It was
perhaps these commotions which enabled the Samaritans to set up as
emperor the robber Justasa, who took Caesarea, but was defeated and
killed by the duke of Palestine.
Leo left the treasury full ; and at the beginning of Zeno's reign the
burdens were considerably lightened by the praefect Erythrius; but, as
the sums wanted for the Isaurian favourites could not be raised without
extortion, he resigned, and his successor Sebastian earned a bad reputa-
tion by selling offices to the highest bidder. His administration was
however distinguished by an act providing that all civil and military
governors should remain in their districts for fifty days after the termi-
nation of office, in order that anyone with a grievance might prefer an
accusation against them (9 Oct. 479).
One of Zeno's first tasks after his return was to decide what policy
to follow with regard to the affairs of the West. The concord between
the Courts had been broken by the murder of Anthemius (472); but
Leo shortly before his death nominated as emperor Nepos, the nephew
and successor of Marcellinus, and gave him Verina's niece in marriage.
The fiction of the unity of the Empire was however in part abandoned,
since Nepos' name does not appear in Eastern laws.
After his ex-
pulsion (475) and the dethronement of his successor (476) the Roman
Senate asked Zeno to grant Odovacar the title of patrician, and Nepos
begged for help to recover his throne. Zeno advised Odovacar to apply
to Nepos for the title, but styled him “patrician" in a letter, while
declining to help Nepos.
The son of Triarius, wishing to obtain pay for his men, sought to
make his peace (477): but the Senate, to which Zeno referred the
matter, said they could not pay both Theodorics and left it to him to
choose between them. Zeno then made a violent speech to the army
against the son of Triarius. He did not however immediately break
with him, but protracted negotiations. At last, finding that his strength
was increasing, while that of his rival was diminishing, he summoned
troops from all quarters and announced the appointment of Ilus to the
command ; which was however, probably because of his growing jealousy
of Illus, afterwards transferred to Martinianus. As this change led to
disorder among the Isaurian soldiery, Zeno summoned the Amal to his
aid, promising that, if he would take the field, Martinianus should meet
him at the passes of Mt Haemus and another force at the Hebrus, and
on this understanding Theodoric set out; but either from treachery or
from lack of discipline no army met him, and his Roman guides led
him to a place where he found the heights in front occupied by his rival,
## p. 475 (#505) ############################################
477–479]
Gothic Wars
475
who then easily persuaded him to make common cause against the
Emperor. Both sent to Constantinople to state their terms, the Amal
demanding land and provisions for his men and the emoluments of his
office, and the son of Triarius the terms granted by Leo with the arrears
of
pay
and the restoration of any living members of Aspar's family.
Zeno promised the former in case of victory a large sum down, a yearly
pension, and the hand of Valentinian's granddaughter Juliana, or any
other lady whom he might name, and, this offer being refused, announced
that he would lead the army himself. But circumstances now caused a
change of plan.
The part played by Illus in 475, together with his retention of
Longinus as a hostage and his influence with the Isaurian soldiers, made
him something of a thorn in Zeno's side, and the jealous ambition of
Verina rendered her his deadly enemy. In the summer of 477 Paul, one
of the Emperor's slaves, tried to assassinate him and was surrendered for
punishment. In 478 another attempt was made by an Alan, who under
torture confessed that he had been instigated by Epinicus the praefect, a
client of Urbicius the eunuch-chamberlain and favoured by Verina.
Zeno thereupon surrendered Epinicus also to Illus, who sent him to
Isauria, and then, having obtained leave on the ground of the death of
a brother, withdrew to his native country. Fearing a rebellion on the
part of Illus, Zeno now resolved to secure the support of the son of
Triarius and renounced his intention of taking the field; and, as this
caused disaffection in the army, he on Martinianus' advice recalled it to
winter quarters. Peace was then made. The son of Triarius was to
receive food and pay for 13,000 men, the command of two regiments of
scholarii, the office of magister militum, and the property that had been
taken from him, while any surviving members of Aspar's family were to
retain their property and live in any city that Zeno might choose.
The imperial troops succeeded in expelling the Amal from Thrace ;
but Macedonia was left to his mercy (479). He sacked Stobi; and on
his approaching Thessalonica the citizens, thinking themselves betrayed,
transferred the keys from the praefect to the bishop. Heraclea he was at
first persuaded by large gifts to spare ; but on the refusal of a demand
for corn and wine burnt the greater part of it. He was repulsed from
Lychnidus, but took Scampia, which was deserted, and occupied Dyr-
rachium, which a confederate had induced the garrison by a trick to
abandon. Meanwhile Zeno had again opened negotiations, and the patri-
cian Adamantius, the son of Vivianus, was sent to treat. At Thessalonica
he put down a military tumult directed against the praefect; and at
Edessa handed to Sabinianus the Emperor's commission as magister militum
of Illyricum in place of Onoulf. From Lychnidus he invited Theodoric
either to come to Lychnidus or to send hostages for his own safety if he
went to Dyrrachium. As Sabinianus, who accompanied him, refused
to secure the return of the hostages by oath, this plan failed; but
CH. XVI.
## p. 476 (#506) ############################################
476
Ascendancy of Illus
(479
Adamantius went with a small escort to a wild spot near Dyrrachium
and invited Theodoric to meet him. Theodoric came and stood on the
opposite bank of a river, and Adamantius offered him a settlement in
the district of Pautalia in Dardania, where he would act as a check on
his namesake and be between the Thracian and Illyrian armies. Theo-
doric refused to move before spring, but offered, if supported by a Roman
army, to destroy the Thracian Goths on condition that he might then
be made magister militum and live in Constantinople, or, if preferred, to
go to Dalmatia and restore Nepos. Adamantius however declined to
make terms until he left Epirus. Meanwhile Sabinianus, having received
reinforcements, captured 5000 Goths, and Zeno was encouraged to break
off negotiations. For the next two years Sabinianus held the Goths in
check.
On 25 Sept. 4791 the walls of Constantinople were greatly damaged
by an earthquake ; Zeno in fear of the Goths begged Illus to return, in
order that his Isaurians might assist in defending the city; and the
Emperor and the chief officials came out beyond Chalcedon to meet him.
Having learned from Epinicus that Verina was the author of the plot
against his life, Illus refused to enter Constantinople unless she was
surrendered ; and Zeno, who was clearly in fear of him and was perhaps
not sorry to be rid of his mother-in-law, complied. She was conveyed by
.
Illus' brother-in-law, Matronianus, to Tarsus, where she was compelled to
become a deaconess, and kept in custody at the Isaurian Dalisandus.
Illus was made master of the offices, Epinicus was at his request recalled,
and his client, Pamprepius the philosopher, who had been expelled on
account of his open paganism and the suspicion of inciting his patron to
treason, returned with him and was made quaestor.
The predominance of Illus soon led to a vigorous attempt to throw
off the Isaurian rule. On the pretext of Verina's banishment Marcian,
the son-in-law of Leo, having secured the adhesion of the son of Triarius
and the support of a force of barbarians and a large number of citizens,
rose against Zeno and claimed the crown for himself on the ground that
Leontia was born in the purple while Ariadne was born before Leo's
accession (end of 479). During the day the insurgents, aided by the
people, who hurled missiles from the houses at the soldiers, carried all
before them ; but in the night Illus brought some Isaurians over from
Chalcedon, and on the next day the rising was suppressed, though Illus'
house was burnt. Marcian, who fled to the church of the Apostles, was
compelled to take orders and sent to Caesarea in Cappadocia, while his
brothers, Procopius and Romulus, escaped to Theodoric's camp, and
Leontia sought refuge in a convent. Marcian however escaped and with
a rustic force attacked Ancyra, but was captured by Trocundes and con-
fined in the castle of Cherris, whither his wife and daughters were now
i Theoph. 477, Marc. 480, or by indictional reckoning 479. The chronology
shews 479 to be right.
## p. 477 (#507) ############################################
479–483]
Gothic Wars
477
a
brought to join him. Immediately after the rising Theodoric the son
of Triarius appeared before Constantinople under pretence of assisting
the Emperor, thinking that, as the towers and battlements had been
overthrown by the earthquake, he could easily take it; but, finding the
Isaurians manning the wall and ready to burn the city in case of defeat,
he accepted Zeno's gifts and promises and withdrew. He refused however
to surrender the fugitives, and was thereupon superseded in the office of
magister militum by Trocundes. He then plundered Thrace, and Zeno
could only call in the Bulgarians against him. Having defeated the
Bulgarians, Theodoric again appeared before the capital (481); but,
finding the gates strongly guarded by Illus and his Isaurians, tried to
cross to Bithynia and was defeated at sea. Receiving news of a con-
spiracy against him, he returned home and put the conspirators to
death; after which he marched towards Greece to seek new territory,
but on the way was accidentally killed. His son Rekitach, who by
killing his uncles became sole ruler of his people, returned to Thrace and
continued to ravage the country. In 481 Sabinianus died a violent death,
some said by Zeno's contrivance, and Theodoric (the Amal) plundered
Macedonia and Thessaly and sacked Larissa (482). John the Scythian
.
and Moschianus were sent against him; but no great success was obtained.
In consequence of the threatened revolt of Illus Theodoric was invited to
Constantinople, made patrician and magister militum, and designated
consul, and received territory in Dacia and Lower Moesia (483). His
rival Rekitach, who was in the city at the same time, he was allowed
to assassinate, and the Thracian Goths ceased to maintain a separate
existence.
Ariadne, urged by her mother, pressed Zeno to recall Verina ; but
he referred her to Illus, who refused compliance. A third attempt upon
the life of Illus was then made by a scholarian, who succeeded in cutting
off his ear, while he was going to the palace to receive some barbarian
envoys at the Emperor's request. The assassin was put to death, and
Zeno denied on oath all knowledge of the matter ; but Illus, feeling
himself unsafe, asked for leave of absence on the ground of needing
change of air. Zeno then made him magister militum per Orientem with
the right of appointing dukes, and, taking with him Matronianus, Marsus,
who had commanded the land force in the expedition against the Vandals,
Pamprepius, and other powerful men, and a large military force, he with-
drew to Antioch (early in 482), where he set himself to gain popularity
by largesses and lavish expenditure on public buildings. The patrician
Leontius, who was sent to ask for Verina's release, was induced to remain'.
That a civil war was imminent must have been clear to both parties ;
and after the accommodation with Theodoric Zeno demanded the surrender
of Longinus, and on receiving a refusal, sent John the Scythian to super-
1 This is nowhere stated, but I infer it from a comparison of Jo. Mal. , Jordanes,
and “ Joshua. ”
CH. XVI.
## p. 478 (#508) ############################################
478
Revolt of Illus
(483—486
sede Illus, expelled his friends, and confiscated their property, which he
gave to the Isaurian cities. Illus now openly revolted, proclaimed
Marcian emperor, and sent envoys to Odovacar, who refused assistance,
and to the Persians and the satraps of the five provinces annexed in 298,
who promised support to any force that appeared in their neighbourhood
(484). It is clear that he did not intend to head a mere Isaurian revolt,
which could not have any lasting success, but to form a powerful com-
bination against the Emperor; for which purpose he held out hopes to
the heathens through Pamprepius, while he was also on friendly terms
with the Chalcedonians, who had been offended by the issue of the
Henoticon, whereby Zeno soon after his departure tried to placate the
Monophysites (482).
At first, to prevent a revolt in Isauria, Zeno sent a small force under
Illus' bastard brother, Linges, and the Isaurian Conon, who had ex-
changed a military life for the bishopric of Apamea ; whereupon Illus
for some reason dropped Marcian, and brought Verina, who as Augusta
might advance some claim to appoint an emperor, to Tarsus, where she
formally crowned Leontius (19 July)', who eight days later entered
Antioch. The inhabitants of Chalcis refused to accept the new Emperor's
busts, and he attacked the city for 45 days; while at Edessa the citizens
shut the gates against Matronianus. About the same time the great
victory of the Ephthalites precluded all hope of support from Persia.
Theodoric was now sent with a force of Romans and Goths to join
John the Scythian; but Zeno changed his mind and recalled him, though
his Goths remained with the army; and in his place Hermanric the son
of Aspar, who had once revealed a conspiracy to Zeno and had married
a daughter of his illegitimate son, was sent with a contingent of Rugians.
When the force which Illus sent against the imperial army was defeated,
he hastily summoned Leontius from Antioch (Sept. ), and they fled to
the stronghold of Cherris, to which Verina had already been sent. His
confederates then shut themselves up in different fortresses, and many of
his men deserted. Zeno recalled the Goths, who were no longer needed,
and made the Isaurian Cottomenes magister militum in place of Theodoric,
while another Isaurian, Longinus of Cardala, was made master of the
offices. Nine days after the beginning of the siege Verina died, and a
month later Marsus, and Illus left the defence to the owner of the
fortress, Indacus, Trocundes' brother-in-law. Trocundes, who had been
sent to collect reinforcements, was captured by John and beheaded, and
Zeno's brother Longinus was allowed to escape (485).
Theodoric had perhaps been occupied during 485 by a Bulgarian
invasion; but in 486 he raided Thrace, and Odovacar in spite of his
previous refusal shewed signs of wishing to assist Illus, who now in vain
made proposals for peace, while Zeno stirred up the Rugians against
,
Rev. de l'instr. publ. en Belgique, XL. 8. Hence I substitute “July” for the
“June" of Theoph.
## p. 479 (#509) ############################################
487–491]
Accession of Anastasius
479
>
Odovacar. In 487 Theodoric advanced close to Constantinople, and
an agreement was made under which he set out to wrest Italy from
Odovacar, who had defeated the Rugians, and the East was rid of the
Goths for ever (488).
All hope for the besieged was now at an end ; Pamprepius, who had
prophesied success, was put to death, and at last Indacus and others
betrayed the fort. Illus' requests with regard to the burial of his
daughter, who had died during the siege, and the treatment of his
family were granted, and he and Leontius were beheaded, and their heads
exposed at Constantinople (488). The traitors were all killed during
the assault, perhaps by the besieged. Verina's body was taken to
Constantinople and buried with Leo's. Most of the Isaurian fortresses
were dismantled. As the satraps of the five provinces had been in
communication with Illus, the hereditary tenure of the four most
important satrapies was abolished, though the satraps retained their
native forces.
Zeno had by his first wife a son, Zeno; but he had killed himself by
his excesses at an early age, and the Emperor wished to leave the crown
to his brother Longinus. The infamous character of Longinus and
the unpopularity of the Isaurians hindered him from declaring him
Caesar ; but he appointed him magister militum, in the hope that his
military authority and the strength of the Isaurians in the
army
would
secure him the succession. On 9 April 491 Zeno died of dysentery at
the age of 60.
In accordance with the precedent of 450 the choice of a successor
was left to the Augusta Ariadne; and on the next morning, by the
advice of Urbicius, she nominated the silentiary Anastasius of Dyrra-
chium, a man of 61, who had shortly before been one of the three
candidates selected for the see of Antioch. He was crowned the next day;
and, when he appeared before the people, they greeted him with the
acclamation “Reign as you have lived. ” On 20 May he married Ariadne.
The new Emperor began by the popular measures of remitting arrears
of taxation and refusing facilities to informers, and he is credited with
abolishing the sale of offices ; but his reign was constantly disturbed by
serious outbreaks. No immediate opposition was offered to his elevation;
but in Isauria a revolt on a small scale broke out, and at Constantinople
some unpopular action on the part of Julian the city-praefect led to
an uproar; and on an attempt to restore order by force the rioters threw
down the pedestals on which stood the busts of the Emperor and Empress
in front of the circus, and many were killed by the soldiers. To avoid
more bloodshed Anastasius deposed Julian, who had been appointed by
Ariadne on the day of Zeno's death, and named his own brother-in-law
Secundinus, to succeed him. Thinking that peace was impossible while
the Isaurians were in the city, he expelled them and deprived them of
the pay assigned by Zeno. Longinus the brother of Zeno was compelled
CH, XVI.
## p. 480 (#510) ############################################
480
Isaurian Revolt
[491–498
to take orders and exiled to the Thebaid, where he died, it is said of
hunger, eight years later, while his wife and daughter retired to Bithynia
and lived the rest of their life on charity. The property of the late
Emperor, even his imperial robes, was sold by auction, and the castle of
Cherris, which had not yet been occupied by the rebels, was dismantled.
Longinus of Cardala and a certain Athenodorus, who were among those
who had been expelled from the capital, joined the insurgents in Isauria,
among whom were now to be found Linginines, count of Isauria, Conon
the ex-bishop, and another Athenodorus. Reinforced by discontented
Romans and others who served under compulsion, they advanced to
Cotyaeum. Here John the Scythian and John the Hunchback, who had
succeeded Longinus as magister militum in praesenti, met and defeated
them. Linginines fell in the battle, and the Isaurians fled to their native
mountains (end of 492): but the generals waited till spring before crossing
the Taurus. In 493 Diogenes, a kinsman of Ariadne, took Claudiopolis,
but was besieged in it by the Isaurians, and his men were nearly starved.
John the Hunchback however forced the passes, and by a sudden attack,
aided by a sortie on the part of Diogenes, routed the enemy, Bishop
Conon being mortally wounded. The Isaurians were henceforth confined
to their strongholds, and a certain Longinus of Selinus, who resided
in the strong coast town of Antioch and had a large fleet, supplied
them with provisions by sea.
The Emperor's attention was now distracted by an incursion of
barbarians, perhaps Slavs, in Thrace, during which Julian, the magister
militum of Thrace, was killed. Moreover, as his Monophysite opinions
made his rule distasteful to the Chalcedonians, who were strong in
Constantinople, there was perhaps communication between them and the
insurgents, a charge on which the patriarch Euphemius was deprived in
495. At last in 497 Longinus of Cardala and Athenodorus were taken
and beheaded by John the Scythian and their heads sent to Constanti-
nople, while the head of the other Athenodorus, who was captured the
same year, was exhibited at the gates of Tarsus. Longinus of Selinus
held out till 498, and was then made prisoner by Priscus, an officer
serving under John the Hunchback, exhibited in chains at Constantinople,
and tortured to death at Nicaea. Large numbers of Isaurians were
.
settled in Thrace, and the population of Isauria, which had been greatly
thinned by the two wars, was thereby yet further reduced, so that the
necessity which had made the mountaineers the terror of Asia Minor
no longer existed. The Isaurians had done their work of saving the
East from the fate of the West; and, though they still provided useful
recruits for the army, their day of political power was over. The
importance of looking at home for soldiers instead of trusting to the
barbarians had been learned and was never forgotten.
Besides the Isaurian war Anastasius had also been troubled by in-
cursions of Blemmyes in Egypt (491); and in 498 bands of Saracens
## p. 481 (#511) ############################################
491–503]
Invasion of Kawad
481
invaded the eastern provinces. The followers of Nu‘man of Al Hira,
who owed allegiance to Persia, were after an inroad into Euphratesia
defeated by Eugenius, a duke stationed at Melitene, and parties of
Taghlibi and Ghassani Arabs under Hugr and Gabala, the latter at
least a Roman subject, were routed by Romanus, duke of Palestine, who
also recovered Jotaba, which was leased to a company of Roman traders
for a yearly tribute. In 502 a more successful raid was made by Hugr's
brother, Ma'di Kharb; but the outbreak of the Persian war made it
possible to turn the raids in another direction, and peace was made with
the Taghlibi chief, Al Harith, father of Ma'di Kharb (503). In 502
the Tzani also raided Pontus.
Immediately after the accession of Anastasius, Kawad, who became
king of Persia in 488, demanded a contribution towards the defences of
the Caucasian Gates. This was refused ; but the Armenian rising pre-
vented further action, though Anastasius refused to aid the insurgents.
Kawad took advantage of the Isaurian troubles to repeat his demand,
but was soon afterwards deposed (496). Having been restored by the
king of the Ephthalites under a promise of paying a large sum of money
(499), he again applied to Anastasius for help. The Emperor would
only agree to lend the money on a written promise of payment; and
Kawad, refusing this, entered Roman Armenia (22 Aug. 502) and took
and sacked Theodosiopolis, which was surrendered by the treachery of
Constantine, the count of Armenia, who went over to the Persian service.
Having occupied Martyropolis, he passed on to Amida (5 Oct. ), where,
though there was no military force in Mesopotamia except the garrison
of Constantina, a stubborn defence was made by the citizens. Anastasius
sent Rufinus to offer him money to withdraw, but he kept the ambassador
in custody. A Persian force, accompanied by Arabs and Ephthalites, was
sent to the district of Constantina, and, after a small party had been cut to
pieces (19 Nov. ), routed Eugenius of Melitene and Olympius, duke of
Mesopotamia, while Nu'man's Arabs plundered the territory of Carrhae
(26 Nov. ) and advanced to Edessa. Eugenius however retook Theodo-
siopolis. Meanwhile Kawad, despairing of taking Amida, was willing to
retire for a small sum; but the governor and the magistrates refused this
and demanded compensation for the crops that had been destroyed. The
siege therefore continued, until on a dark night the Persians found access
by some aqueducts to a part of the wall which was guarded by some
monks who were in a drunken sleep. They thereupon scaled the wall, and
after hard fighting made themselves masters of the town (11 Jan. 503),
which for three days was given up to massacre. Rufinus was then
released, and Kawad at the beginning of spring retreated to the
neighbourhood of Singara, leaving 3000 men under Glon in Amida.
Further demands for money were rejected by Anastasius (April), who,
having immediately after the fall of Amida sent men to defend the
fortified places, now despatched a considerable army from Thrace to
31
a
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. XVI.
## p. 482 (#512) ############################################
482
Successes of Celer
[503–505
Mesopotamia under Patricius, magister militum in praesenti, Areobindus,
magister militum per Orientem, great-grandson of Aspar, and his own
nephew Hypatius (May), accompanied by Appion the praefect, who
took up his quarters at Edessa to look after the commissariat. Patricius
and Hypatius laid siege to Amida, while Areobindus encamped near
Dara to stop a new invasion, and for some time prevented an advance
on the part of the Persians from Singara, and even drove them in
confusion to Nisibis ; but, when the enemy, reinforced by Arabs and
Ephthalites, prepared to attack him in greater strength under the traitor
Constantine (July), he retreated to Harram near Mardin to be near his
colleagues : his request for assistance being however disregarded, he was
compelled to abandon his camp and flee to Constantina and Edessa.
Patricius and Hypatius on hearing of Areobindus' flight raised the siege
of Amida and met the Persians under Kawad himself at the neighbouring
fort of Apadna (Aug. ), but were routed and fled to Samosata. Hypatius
was then recalled. Kawad's attempts to take Constantina, Edessa, and
Carrhae by assault were unsuccessful, and Patriciolus, who was bringing
reinforcements, destroyed a small Persian force at the Euphrates, while
the Persian Arabs, having ravaged the country up to the river near
Batnae, crossed into Syria. A second attempt upon Edessa fared no
better than the first, and Kawad then advanced to the Euphrates.
Anastasius now sent Celer, the master of the offices, with large
reinforcements; and, though he had hitherto followed a civil career and
was not formally appointed to the chief command, his personal position
gave him practical authority over the other generals and replaced division
by unity. On his approach Kawad marched down the river to Callinicus,
where a detachment was cut to pieces by Timostratus, duke of Osrhoene.
Hearing of an invasion of Caucasian Huns, Kawad then returned home,
upon which Patricius, who was wintering at Melitene, returned to Amida
and routed a force sent against him by Kawad. Celer, and afterwards
Areobindus, then joined Patricius before Amida, where Glon had been
captured by a stratagem and put to death. Seeing how things were
going, Constantine returned to his allegiance (June 504) and was allowed
to take orders and live at Nicaea. "Adid the Arab and Mushel the
Armenian also went over to the Romans. The whole army was now
no longer needed at Amida ; accordingly Areobindus raided Persian
Armenia, while Celer crossed into Arzanene, where he cut some cavalry
to pieces, and burnt the villages, killing the men and taking the women
and children prisoners. Similar raids were made by the Roman Arabs.
Kawad then sent his spahpat (commander-in-chief) to Celer to propose
peace, returning the most important prisoners. Celer at first refused
terms in the hope of taking Amida, and an attempt to revictual it
failed; but during the winter, which was a severe one, there were many
desertions in the army, and he agreed to pay a sum of money for the
surrender of the town, a definite peace being postponed till the Emperor's
a
## p. 483 (#513) ############################################
493–517]
Peace with Persia
483
pleasure should be known. Hostilities were however considered to be
ended, and some Arab sheikhs on the Persian side who had raided Roman
territory were put to death by the Persian marzban, and some sheikhs
of the Roman Arabs who had raided Persian territory were treated
in the same way by Celer, who after a visit to Constantinople had
returned to Syria. Anastasius granted remissions of taxes throughout
Mesopotamia, gave largesses to the districts which had suffered most,
restored the fortifications, and built a new fortified position on the
frontier at Dara. As this was contrary to the treaty of 442, the Persians
tried to prevent it; but Kawad, being engaged in war with the Huns
and the Tamuraye, a tribe of unknown geographical position, was unable
to take active steps in the matter. In April 506 Celer came to Edessa
on his way to meet the spahpat, but, hearing from Persian envoys of
his death, he waited till a successor should be appointed, while his
Gothic soldiers caused much trouble to the citizens : he then went to
Dara (Oct. ) and made peace for seven years with the new spahpat (Nov. ),
the Emperor agreeing to pay compensation for the breach of faith
involved in the fortification of Dara.
In Thrace and Illyricum the departure of the Goths left the way
open to the more savage Bulgarians. In 499 they inflicted a disastrous
defeat on Aristus, magister militum of Illyricum, at the Tzurta ; and in
500 Anastasius thought it wise to give a donative to the Illyrian army.
At an unknown date his nephew Pompeius was defeated by some enemy
at Hadrianople; and in 507 the long wall across the peninsula on which
Constantinople stands was built to secure the city from attack by land.
In 512 the Heruli after their defeat by the Lombards were settled in the
Empire, but afterwards rebelled and had to be put down by force
of arms. In 517 the Slavs plundered Macedonia, Thessaly, and Epirus,
and carried off captives, whom Anastasius ransomed. Libya also suffered
from the incursions of the Mazices.
Though there was little serious hostility with the Goths, relations
were for a large part of the reign unfriendly. In 493 the Emperor
refused Theodoric's request for confirmation of his title to Italy, though
by accepting his consuls he tacitly recognised him. In 498 however he
gave the desired recognition and returned the imperial insignia which
Odovacar had sent to Zeno. But in 505 a conflict was brought about
by a certain Mundo, who had been expelled by the king of the Gepids
and received as a foederatus in the Empire, but afterwards became a
captain of robbers, and being attacked by Sabinianus, magister militum
of Illyricum (son of the Sabinianus who held the same office under Zeno),
with Bulgarian allies, called in a Gothic force which had been fighting
the Gepids. In the battle which followed at Horrea Margi the Romans
were routed; but no further fighting seems to have taken place, and
Mundo entered Theodoric's service. The assistance given to Mundo
caused ill-feeling at Constantinople, and in 508 a fleet raided the coast
CH. XVI.
31-2
## p. 484 (#514) ############################################
484
Financial Administration of Anastasius [493–512
[
of Italy, by which Theodoric was hindered from supporting the Visigoths
against the Frankish king, on whom Anastasius conferred the insignia of
the consulship. Shortly afterwards peace was restored, no doubt by
concessions on the side of Theodoric, who wished to be free to deal
with the Franks.
The domestic administration of Anastasius was distinguished by
several popular measures. The most celebrated of these was the aboli-
tion of the chrysargyron (May 498), a tax on all kinds of stock and
plant in trade, instituted by Constantine, which pressed heavily on
the poorest classes. Instead of this he imposed a land-tax called
chrysoteleia, which he applied to the support of the army, abolishing
the right of requisition. He also attempted by several enactments to
ensure that the soldiers received their full pay. But his chief financial
reform was the abolition, by the advice of the Syrian Marinus, of the
system under which the curiales were responsible for the taxes of the
municipalities, and the institution of tax-collectors called vindices. The
burdens of the curiales were not however wholly removed, for they existed
in some form under Justinian. These measures were no doubt primarily
intended to increase the revenue, and at the end of his reign under the
administration of Marinus complaints were made of heavy extortion ;
but the immediate financial success of the policy is proved by the fact
that at the time of his death the treasury was full. His humanity was
shewn by the abolition of fights between men and beasts (Aug. 499);
but this did not extend to the practice of exposing criminals to beasts,
which existed as late as the time of Maurice.
But, although Anastasius is almost universally praised for mildness
and good administration, his Monophysite opinions were distasteful to
the population of the capital, and the peace was constantly disturbed by
serious riots. In 493 his refusal to release some stone-throwers of the
Green faction who had been arrested by the city-praefect produced an
outbreak, during which a stone was thrown at the Emperor, part of the
circus buildings burnt, and the statues of Anastasius and Ariadne
dragged through the streets. Many of the rioters were arrested and
punished, and the thrower of the stone, a Moor, was killed by the
cxcubitores ; but the Emperor was compelled to appoint a new praefect
in the person of Plato. An occasion for rioting was also provided by
the ancient pagan festival of the Brytae, which was celebrated by
dancing performances every May. Such a riot occurred in the prae-
fecture of Constantine (501), when the Greens attacked the Blues in the
theatre and many were killed, among them an illegitimate son of
Anastasius. After this an order was issued that the celebration of the
Brytae should cease throughout the Empire (502). In 512 the Mono-
physite addition to the Trisagion, made at the instigation of Marinus,
caused the most dangerous outbreak of the reign (6 Nov. ). The rioters
killed the Monophysite monks, threw down the Emperor's statues, and
## p. 485 (#515) ############################################
510–513]
Rebellion of Vitalianus
485
proclaimed emperor the unwilling Areobindus, whose wife Juliana repre-
sented the Theodosian house. When Celer and Patricius were sent to
appease them, they drove them away with stones, burnt the houses of
Marinus and Pompeius, and plundered Marinus' property. On the
third day Anastasius shewed himself in the circus without his crown and
begged them to refrain from massacre, whereupon they demanded that
Marinus and Plato should be thrown to the beasts; but the Emperor
by promising concessions persuaded them to disperse. The banishment
of Ariadne's kinsman, Diogenes, and the ex-praefect Appion (510) may,
as they were recalled by Justin, have been caused by religious troubles.
In Alexandria and Antioch also riots were frequent.
In 513 the religious differences culminated in an armed rising. The
military administration of Hypatius (not the Emperor's nephew)' had
caused discontent in the Thracian army, especially among the Bulgarian
foederati. These foederati were commanded by Vitalianus (son of the
Patriciolus who held a command in the Persian war); who had a grievance
on account of the expulsion of the patriarch Flavianus of Antioch (512),
with whom he was on terms of close friendship. Making use of the
discontent in the army, he murdered two of the general's staff, bribed the
duke of Moesia, and, having seized Carinus, one of the chief confidants
of Hypatius, forced him to place the town of Odessus in his hands. By
means of the money there found he collected a large force of soldiers
and rustics, and, with the cry of justice for the banished patriarchs and
abolition of the addition to the Trisagion, marched on Constantinople,
whither Hypatius had fled. Anastasius, having no army at hand, could
only provide for the defence, while he set up crosses on the gates and
announced the remission of one-fourth of the animal-tax in Asia and
Bithynia. Patricius the magister militum, to whom Vitalianus in large
measure owed his promotion, was sent to confer with him; and next
day some of Vitalianus' chief officers entered the city; who on receiving
a promise that just grievances should be remedied and the Pope asked
to send representatives to settle the religious differences took the oath of
allegiance, returned to Vitalianus, and compelled him to withdraw. Cyril,
a man of some capacity, was now appointed to succeed Hypatius, and,
having entered Odessus, from which Vitalianus had retired, was believed
to be planning an attack on him. Hearing of this, Vitalianus made his
way into the town by night, surprised Cyril while asleep in his house,
and killed him. He was thereupon declared a public enemy by decree
of the Senate, and a large force collected and sent against him under
Hypatius, the Emperor's nephew, though the office of magister militum of
Thrace was given to the barbarian Alathar. Hypatius fought for some
time with varying success, and gained at least one victory (autumn 513).
1 By introducing Anastasius' nephew later as tòv åder 0. 8oûv Tòv éavtoll Jo. Ant.
shews that another man is meant here.
2 Known at Antioch before 18 Nov. (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS. Brit. Mus. 333).
CH. XVI.
## p. 486 (#516) ############################################
486
Death of Anastasius
[513–518
Finally he encamped at Acris on the coast, where, being attacked by the
enemy and routed, he was captured in the sea, into which he had fled.
Alathar was also captured, and was ransomed by Vitalianus himself from
the Bulgarians, whom he permitted to sell the prisoners. Vitalianus
occupied all the fortresses in Scythia and Moesia, among them Sozopolis,
in which he captured some envoys sent with a ransom for Hypatius.
It was now expected that he would be proclaimed emperor ; and further
rioting occurred at Constantinople, in which the praefect of the watch
was killed. Meanwhile he advanced on the capital by land and sea;
but on receiving 5000 lbs. of gold, the Thracian command, and a promise
of satisfaction upon the religious question, he again retired and released
Hypatius, though he refused to disband his army (514). It was clear
that neither party was likely to observe the peace; and in 515 Vitalianus,
having probably promises of support from inside the city, where another
riot had occurred, again appeared before Constantinople, but was defeated
by land and sea and retired to Anchialus, though still remaining at the
head of his barbarian force. Hypatius was sent to the East as magister
militum, and in July 517 went on an embassy to Persia'.
On 9 July 518 Anastasius died suddenly, Ariadne having died three
years before.
1 Wright, op. cit. 536.
.
## p. 487 (#517) ############################################
487
CHAPTER XVII.
RELIGIOUS DISUNION IN THE FIFTH CENTURY.
The importance of the religious controversies of the fifth century
must strike the most casual reader of history : but when we approach
the subject closely, we find it a tangled skein. Questions of dogmatic
theology and of ecclesiastical authority are intermingled with the conflict
of national ideals and the lower strife of personal rivalries. Only later
are the lines of separation seen to indicate ancient ethnic differences.
Nor does this century, more than any other century, form for our
purpose one connected and distinct whole. The antagonistic forces had
been gathering to a head during the preceding period and they had to
fight the battle out in the days that came after. Nevertheless, it is
possible, within limits, to distinguish the more important of the
elements making for ecclesiastical disunion, and also to mark the
chief acts of the drama that fall within the limits assigned.
First, then, we have to do with the opposition of two rival schools of
thought, those of Alexandria and of Antioch, the homes of allegorical
and of literal interpretation respectively. Next we have the emphatic
assertion of authority; and rejection of external interference, by the
great sees, which before the end of our period have obtained the title
and status of patriarchates. So far, we seem to be concerned with forces
already known in the Arian controversy. But in both respects there is
a difference. The dogmatic difference between Alexandria and Antioch
was, in the fifth century, quite unlike that of Athanasius and Arius in
the fourth, though the theologian may discern hidden affinities in the
parties severally concerned. The disputants on both sides in the con-
troversies we are to consider were equally ready to accept the creed of
Nicaea, and indeed to accuse their opponents of want of loyalty to that
symbol. And with regard to spheres of authority, a new complication
had arisen. At Nicaea (325), the rights of the great sees of Rome,
Alexandria and Antioch had been maintained. Byzantium counted for
nothing. In fact, authorities differ on the question who was bishop
at that time, and whether he attended the Council in person or by
deputy. But at the Second Council (that of Constantinople in 381)
CH. XVII.
## p. 488 (#518) ############################################
488
Religious Disunion in the Fifth Century
besides a strict injunction against the intervention of bishops in places
beyond their jurisdiction, there was an assertion of the prerogative of
the bishop of Constantinople next after the bishop of Rome; “because
Constantinople is New Rome. ” The last clause asserted an important
principle, that might easily lead to Caesaro-papacy. For the other great
sees were supposed to hold their high position in virtue of apostolic
tradition, not of coincidence with secular dominion. Constantinople
might-and did—discover that it, too, had an apostle for its patron-
namely St Andrew. But St Andrew's claims were vague, and the
imperial authority and court influence were pressing. The decision was
but doubtfully accepted in the East, and the distinction, if allowed at
all, was taken as purely honorary. In Rome it was never received at
all. We cannot wonder that the bishops of Alexandria, in their far-
reaching aims and policy, were unwilling to allow such power or
prestige to the upstart see of the “queenly city," and that sometimes
the bishops of Old Rome might support their actions.
It is not, of course, to be supposed that all the ecclesiastical dissensions
of the period can be comprised in the quarrels between the great sees,
although, for our present purpose, that series of conflicts seems the best
to choose as our guiding line. Though the Arian heresy lived vigorously
all through the century, it had become for the most part a religion of
barbarians. It was not so much a source of disunion within the Empire
as a serious—perhaps insuperable-obstacle to a good understanding
between the Roman and the Teuton. The Arianism of the Ostrogoths
was at least one of the most prominent weaknesses of their kingdom
in Italy. But the Empire, generally speaking, was Nicene. The only
regions which had not adopted or were not soon to adopt the definitions
of the First General Council, lay in the far East, beyond the limits of
undisputed imperial sway. When these are brought into the general
current of church history, they take one side or another in the
prevalent controversies, with very conspicuous results. Again, the
Pelagian controversy on free will and original sin will not here concern
us in proportion to its theological and philosophical interest. Though
its roots lay deep, and ever and anon put forth new shoots, it did not
result in a definite schism.
Taking then the main lines of controversy as already indicated, we
may distinguish four phases or periods within the fifth century. In the
first we have an attack on a bishop of Constantinople, a representative
of the Antiochene school, by an archbishop of Alexandria. Rome
sympathises with Constantinople, but Alexandria triumphs for a time,
in great part by court influence. (Chrysostom controversy. )
In the second, Alexandria again advances against Constantinople, the
bishop of which is again Antiochene. Rome, in this phase of the conflict,
sides with Alexandria, which prevails. Court influence is divided, but
gradually comes over to the Alexandrian side. (Nestorian controversy. )
## p. 489 (#519) ############################################
Periods of Controversy. Chrysostom
489
In the third, Alexandria is again aggressive, and prevails over
Constantinople by violence. Rome fails at first to obtain a hearing,
but helps to get the doctrinal points settled in another Council.
(Eutychian or Monophysite controversy. )
In the fourth, the controversy is caused by an abortive attempt,
started by an emperor, but manipulated by the bishops of Constan-
tinople and of Alexandria working together, to reunite some at least
of the parties alienated by the decision of the last conflict. Rome
disapproves strongly, and the result is a serious blow to imperial
authority in the West. (Henoticon controversy. )
1. The chief persons, then, in the first controversy, are Theophilus
of Alexandria and Chrysostom of Constantinople. The doctrinal question
is not to the front, and the interest is in great part personal. This is
in fact the only one of the controversies in which one side at least-
here the one on defence—has an imposing leader. But perhaps it is the
one in which it is least possible to find any reasons beyond motives of
official ambition or of personal antipathy.
The beginner of the attack, Theophilus, who held the Alexandrian
see from 385 to 412, has earned a bad name in history for violence and
duplicity. He was probably not more unscrupulous than many leading
men among his contemporaries, and excelled most of them in scientific
and literary tastes. But he has incurred the odium which attaches to
every religious persecutor who has not the mitigating plea of personal
fanaticism. Another excuse might be alleged in extenuation of his
unjust actions : the excessively difficult position in which he was placed.
The peculiar character of the government of Egypt—its close and
direct connexion with the imperial authority—and the absence, except
in the city itself, of any civic and municipal institutions, always rendered
a good understanding between bishop and praefect one of the great
desiderata. The history of the see and of its most eminent occupants
had given it a prestige which was not easily kept intact without
encroachments on the secular power.
Alexandria had from the
beginning been a city of mixed populations and cults, and at this time
the factions were more numerous and the occasions of disturbance as
serious as in the days of Athanasius. Arianism may have been quelled,
but paganism was still vigorous, and had adherents both in the academies
of the grammarians and philosophers and also among the most ignorant
of the lower classes, who even anticipated disaster when the measuring
gauge was moved from the temple of Serapis to a church. The Jewish
element was large, and the broad toleration of Alexander, the Ptolemies,
and the pagan Emperors was hardly to be expected in the stormy days
which had followed the conversion of Constantine. But more difficult
to deal with than praefects, town mobs, philosophers or Jews, though
a more powerful weapon to use if tactfully secured, was the vast number
of monks that dwelt in the “desert” and other regions within the
>
CH, XVII.
## p. 490 (#520) ############################################
490
Religious Disunion in the Fifth Century
( 392–394
Alexandrian see. These did not constitute one body, and were very
dissimilar among themselves. The rule of those who had a rule will
be set forth in the following chapter. Here we have to notice the
difficulties which the soaring speculations of some, the crass ignorance
of others, and the detachment of all from worldly convention and
ordinary constituted authority, placed in the way of any attempt to
bring them within the general system of civil and ecclesiastical order.
Theophilus was himself a man of learning and culture, eclectic in
tastes, diplomatic in schemes. He had used his mathematical knowledge
to make an elaborate table of the Easter Cycle. He favoured, in later
days, the candidature of a philosophic pagan (Synesius of Cyrene) for
the bishopric of Ptolemais. He could read and enjoy the works of
writers whose teaching he was publicly anathematising. He appreciated
the force of monastic piety, and endeavoured, by vigorous and even
violent means, to impose episcopal consecration on some leading ascetics
.
He shewed his powers as a pacificator in helping to compose dissension
in the church of Antioch (392) and in that of Bostra (394). He obtained
from the civil authority powers to demolish the great temple of Serapis,
which was done successfully, though not without creating much bitter-
ness of feeling. The great campaign of his life, however, began with an
attack on the followers of Origen at the very beginning of the fifth century.
There seems some paradox in the circumstance that the strife between
the Alexandrian and the Antiochene should have begun (as far as our
present purpose is concerned) by an attack made by an Alexandrian
patriarch on the principles of the most eminent of all Alexandrian
theologians. Theophilus was, both before and after the controversy,
an appreciative student of Origen. He had already aroused a tumultu-
ous opposition from some Egyptian monks who were practically
anthropomorphites by insisting on the doctrine laid down by Origen
as to the incorporeality of the Divine nature, that God is invisible by
reason of His nature, and incomprehensible by reason of the limits of
human intelligence. The line he now took up may have been due to the
influence of Jerome, at that time organising an anti-Origenistic crusade
in Palestine; or else, in his opposition to the philosophic paganism of
Alexandria, he may have become nervous of any concessions as to æons
and gnosis and final restitution; or again, as seems most probable, he
saw a powerful ally in his ambition for his see in the grossest and least
enlightened theology of his day—that of the unhappy monk who wept
that “ they had taken away his God”—when in the earlier stage of the
controversy the doctrines of the anthropomorphites were condemned by
the man who was now their champion.
Having determined to combat Origenism, Theophilus called a synod
to Alexandria, which decreed against it. He followed up the ecclesiastical
censure by securing from the praefect the support of the secular arm.
An attack was made by night on the settlement of those monks, in the
-
## p. 491 (#521) ############################################
397-401]
Chrysostom and Theophilus
491
а
district of Nitria, who were supposed to be imbued with Origenistic
doctrine. The leaders of them were the four " tall brethren," monks of
considerable repute, formerly treated by Theophilus with great respect.
Hounded out by soldiers and by the rival “ Anthropomorphite ” monks,
the Tall Brothers fled for their lives, and after many vicissitudes arrived
in Constantinople and appealed to the protection of the bishop, John
Chrysostom.
In position and in character Chrysostom bears a marked contrast to
his opponent Theophilus. Both, it is true, were men of learning and
culture; both were exposed to the caprices of a pleasure-loving and
much-divided populace. But Chrysostom had one disadvantage more:
he was under the immediate eye of a Court. It was by court influence,
unsought on his part, that he had been elevated, and the same influence
could easily be turned against him. The Emperor Arcadius was of
sluggish temperament, but his wife, Eudoxia, a Frankish lady, was
violent in her likes and dislikes, sensitive, ambitious, and inspired by a
showy and aggressive piety. John had held the see since 397. In early
days he had studied under the pagan Libanius at Antioch, and later he
had been trained in the theological school of that city. He was an
intimate friend of Theodore of Mopsuestia, the most eminent leader of
Antiochene thought, whose principles in the next stage of the controversy
came to the front. Himself a practical teacher rather than a theological
systematiser, he had devoted his power and eloquence, both in Antioch
and Constantinople, to the restraint of violence and the denunciation of
vice and frivolity. He had in earlier days followed for some years the
monastic life, and was always ascetic in self-discipline, and tactless
towards those under his authority. He had been brought into public
prominence, during the anxious time in 387 at Antioch, after the riot.
On his appointment at Constantinople, he shewed great firmness in
resisting the demands made upon him by the minister Eutropius, and
subsequently in negotiations with the Gothic general Gaïnas. He
preached much, and his sermons were intensely popular, for the people
of Byzantium, however mixed, were sufficiently Greek to enjoy good
speaking But John seems to have done more than excite a transient
enthusiasm. A good many Constantinopolitans, particularly some well-
born women, devoted their lives to the works he commended to them.
By his clergy, as might be expected, he was both well beloved and well
hated.
Just at the time when Theophilus was beginning his attacks on the
Origenistic monks, Chrysostom was starting on an expedition which was
the beginning of all his troubles. Complaints had been brought to him
.
of the bad conduct of the bishop of Ephesus. He sent to make
inquiries, and though the accused bishop had in the meantime died,
Chrysostom was requested by the clergy and people of Ephesus to
come and settle their affairs. Accordingly the first three months of the
OH. XVII.
## p. 492 (#522) ############################################
492
Religious Disunion in the Fifth Century
[401
year 401 were spent by him in a visitation of Asia, in the removal of
many clergy, and the putting down of much corruption. No doubt he
considered that he was acting within his rights, according to the canon
of Constantinople and the precedent set by the previous bishop.
But he had given a handle to the rival see of Alexandria. Worse
than this, his absence had led to difficulties at home, where Severianus,
a wandering bishop whom he had left as locum tenens, and Serapion,
Chrysostom's archdeacon and friend, had quarrelled beyond hope of
reconciliation. On his return, Chrysostom judged Severianus to be in
fault, and thereby affronted the Empress, who had taken delight in
Severianus' sermons. With so much of combustible elements about, the
arrivals from Egypt were likely to cause a general conflagration.
Chrysostom received the Tall Brethren courteously, and admitted
them to some of the church services, though he hesitated to receive them
into full communion till the charge of heresy hanging over them had
been removed. He seems to have wished to avoid any provocative
measures. But the Brothers, anxious to remove the slur, or perhaps
stirred up by some sinister interest, appealed to the Empress, as she
rode down the streets in her chariot. The result was that Theophilus
himself was summoned to Constantinople to stand a charge of calumny
and persecution, with darker accusations in the background. He came,
but, though nominally accused, he actually took the rôle of accuser.
