Gothic Revolt of Theodoric I
Part of Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Map of South-Gallia
Date 425-426 Location South of France Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Goths	West Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Theodoric I	Aetius
Strength
unknown	unknown

Gothic revolt of Theodoric I was an uprising of the Gothic Fouderati in Aquitaine (Western Roman Empire) during the regime of Emperor Valentinian III (425-455). That rebellion was led by Theodoric I, King of the Visigoths and took place in the South of France. The uprising took place between 425 and 426, in the period shortly after the death of usurpator John and was terminated by a military procedure under the command of Aëtius.^[1]

Cause

The cause of the uprising must be sought on the one hand in the settlement of the Goths in Gallia Aquitania close to the Gallic capital Arles by Constantius III and was intended to keep an eye on the senatorial nobility. On the other hand, the political situation of the empire underpined the insurrection.

Political situation

Western Roman Empire about 425

With the death of Constantius III in 421 and of Honorius in 423, the Western Roman Empire ended up in a new crisis that would have major consequences for the relationship between imperial power and the army. Because the emperor was still a child, the western part of the empire was governed by mother Galla Placidia who was strongly under the influence of her generals. The Eastern Emperor Theodosius II (her cousin) also exerted great influence on her policies. There were several candidates who went to the position of commander-in-chief, which initiated a development that is described as the 'semi-privatization' of the Roman army.^[4] That situation made it possible for Theodoric I, the leader of the Gothic foederati, to realize his plans for more power. He emerged as an ambitious prince who acted in the same line as his infamous predecessors. The first signs of this ambition could already be seen during the Spanish campaign of 422 in which the Goths participated.

Sources

History is extremely sparsely narrated about the course of Gothic-Roman relations in the period between 418 and 439. There are a number of events in which the Goths were involved, but cause and effect are missing. The little that has been written down is by Prosper and Hydatius. From 422, the Goths turn out to be disappointing allies, but their presence proved sufficient to keep the Gallic nobility calm. The Goths, on the other hand, needed a series of imperial expeditions to be restrained. In 425 they marched to Arles, but were stopped by Aetius.^[5]

The uprising

With the death of Emperor Honorius in 423, a power struggle broke out in the Western Roman Empire that weakened the empire internally. The bulk of the army was in Italy and in Gaul the provincial prefect in Arles was killed during a revolt of his soldiers.^[9] In Italy, after Honortius' death, a new emperor emerged, John who had the support of the generals Castinus and Aetius. Now that most of the Roman army was staying elsewhere, Theodoric pushed aside Constantius' peace agreement and rebelled. Without encountering significant opposition, he took possession of all of Aquitaine and provided himself with access to the Mediterranean Sea. He then went up to the Arles to put pressure on the Romans.

In the summer of 425, John was overthrown by an Eastern Roman army, after which Valentinian III was installed as the new emperor. Three days after John was beheaded, Aetius arrived in Italy with a large army of Huns. Unaware of his execution, and after a brief skirmish with Aspar's army, Aëtius made peace. He accepted Valentinian III as emperor and was given the high position of praefectus praetorio per Gallia, entrusting him with the rule of Gaul and Spain. ↵Aetius' appointment as chief executive in Gaul is seen as a maneuver by the new regime to keep a potential troublemakers away from the central government. The newly appointed prefect left with the army he already had reinforced with large numbers of Huns as mercenaries, which made it possible to put an end to the revolt of the Gothic foederati.

Aftermath

With the defeat against Aetius, the uprising came to an end. This was followed by peace talks in which the previously concluded treaty with the Romans was renewed, exchanging hostages back and forth.^[11] The later emperor Avitus was one of those hostages who stayed at the court of Theodoric. Here he met his sons and taught them.^[12]

With Aetius as Gallic prefect and from 429 as magister militum per Gallias, peace seems to have returned to southern France. The period after this until 435 went without too many incidents between the Visigoths and Romans. Nevertheless, Theodrik had not given up his quest for more power, because in 430 a Gothic army still marched to Arles to enforce more favorable conditions. This Gothic army was also defeated by Aetius, again not far from Arles.^[13] As far as is known, the Visigoths have not already performed military duties in the Spanish provinces during this period.^[14]

Nevertheless, in 436 a large-scale conflict (the Gothic War of 436–439) arose between the Goths and Romans that was recorded as a bloody war g.^[15] Because explanations for these hostilities are lacking, historians place these events in the great context of history.^[16]

Appendix

Primary sources:

• Prosper
• Orosius
• Hydatius
• Sidonius Apollinaris

Secondary sources:

• Kulikowski, Michael (1997), The End of Roman Spain, University of Toronto.
• J.W.P. Wijnendaele (2017) Warlords and the desintegration of the Western Roman army.
• J.B. Bury (1889), History of the Later Roman Empire XIII.I.
• Matthews (1990), Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court AD 364 - 425, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Stewart Oost (1968), Galla Placidia Augusta(Chicago: University Press.

References: