1. Historical context

1.1. General

In 395 the successors of Theodosius I, Honorius and Arcadius, took control of the Western and Eastern parts of the Roman Empire respectively, the first ruling from Rome the latter from Constantinople. Honorius was under the guardianship of the Goth general Stilicho, while Arcadius was under the regency of Goth military commander Rufinus and the Syrian patrikios Eutropius. Stilicho had become the most powerful man in the western state. His confidante Gainas received the office of magister militum per Illyricum and had settled in Constantinople. Late in the 4th century, the Goth military officials attempted to place the apparatus of the state under their control.¹ The praefectus praetorio per Illyricum Caesarius, leader of the pro-Gothic camp which sought to maintain the empire’s unity and make an alliance with the foreigners, supported the Goths. The anti-German camp of the so-called ‘Hellenists’, which stood for the Roman traditions, opposed the schemes of the prominent Goths to supplant the Greek-educated state officials. Its leaders were the consuls Aurelianus and Saturninus, the court official John, and Eudoxia, spouse of Emperor Arcadius. The enmity between the two camps had a religious dimension as well. The majority of the Goths were Arians, while the Byzantines remained faithful to the creed that resulted from the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea.

1.2.The circumstances

In Constantinople, the magister militum per Illyricum Gainas at first relied on his collaboration with the patrician and consul Eutropius. He then conspired against him (July of 399), when Eutropius clashed with the anti-German camp and Eudoxia due to his pro-German sentiments; as a result Eutropius lost his office and was exiled.² In the meantime the Goths of Phrygia had rebelled at Nacoleia under the leadership of the Goth comes rei militari Tribigildus, since the spring of 399, and by fall they had reached the Hellespont heading for the Danube. At this moment consul Aurelianus plotted against Gainas, how had by now received the office of magister utriusque militiae. Gainas realized this soon enough and allied himself to Tribigildus. This is related to the downfall of Eutropius, in July of 399, as this is the first success of the Goth official in his attempt to control the political scene, but also because it is possible that Eutropius, as a pro-German, was the first target of the anti-German camp, before they started dealing with the Goths themselves.

2. The rebellion of Gainas

2.1. The outbreak of the rebellion

In the fall of 399 Gainas received the office of magister utriusque militiae and was ordered to march against Tribigildus, the Goth comes rei militari, leader of the rebelled Goths of Phrygia, now camped at the Hellespont. Tribigildus with his 300 soldiers had to face the magister militum Leo to continue on his northwest course.³ Leo’s soldiers, however, were trapped by Gainas who had been informed of the imminent conspiracy of anti-Germans against him incited by the prefect Caesarius, and thus allied himself to Tribigildus. The two Goth generals were victorious. Tribigildus begun pillaging Thrace and Gainas entered Constantinople with his soldiers and their families, of the Arian creed, and tried to take full control of political power. The alliance with Tribigildus, i.e. the treason of the magister utriusque militiae Gainas, is considered the beginning of his rebellion and signals the ascendancy of the pro-Gothic camp at Constantinople. Throughout this rebellion, the powerful Stilicho maintained a stance of ‘silent neutrality’.

2.2. Ascendancy of the pro-Gothic camp

The Goth rebel then took up a number of off—stage initiatives in order to bring about the absolute prevalence of the pro-Gothic camp, while the Arian Goth soldiers terrorized the inhabitants of the capital. He openly attempted to take political matters into his own hands, pressuring the weak Arcadius, but to no avail. His pressure became purely military. In March of 400 together with Tribigildus he besieged Sardis, for a small period of time; the two men then marched against Constantinople, Tribigildus taking the route through Lampsacus and the Hellespont, Gainas through Chalcedon and the Bosporus. He then demanded and was granted an audience with Arcadius in the church of St Euphemia, close to Chalcedon, where he requested the leaders of the anti-German camp (consuls Aurelianus and Saturninus, and the court official John) be surrendered to him. The emperor concurred. In an act of magnanimity, Gainas only touched the necks of his opponents with his sword and instead banished them, while the leader of the pro-German camp, Caesarius, who in 400 became praefectus praetorio Urbis, i.e. eparch of Constantinople, had requested their execution. Gainas had finally managed to gain mastery over the anti-German camp. The period between March and July 12, 400 is termed ‘Gainas’ tyranny’. During this time, the rebel did not succeed into having a church dedicated to the Arian creed within Constantinople, because of the reaction of the people guided by the bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom. Thus the magister utriusque militiae, the de facto most powerful man in Constantinople, was forced to travel outside the city walls to pray. He then made some haphazard actions, like attempting to capture the palace and rob the money changers. He was finally forced to leave Constantinople once more. This was the beginning of his downfall.

2.3. Suppression of the revolt

On the night of the July 12, 400 Gainas left Constantinople making his way to the church of St John in the suburb of Hebdomon, together with a small retinue. The Goths wished to follow him but were trapped in the walls as they were making their exit, when the gates closed unexpectedly; they were butchered by an angry mob, the ‘avid Christians’. The inhabitants of the area around the city walls had believed the Goths were moving against them and decided to strike the first blow. The Goths, believing they were facing a general uprising against them, turned to flight in panic. Those that escaped the massacre sought asylum at the church of Hagia Sophia and were put to death later on Arcadius’ orders; at the same time, the bishop of Constantinople John Chrysostom averted eparch Caesarius’ attempt to reconcile Gainas with Arcadius. Gainas managed to escape to Thrace, where he also faced organized public reaction.⁴ The palace dispatched the Goth magister militum praesentalis Phrabithas⁵ leading a citizen militia, who defeated him on the Hellespont in October of 400 before he managed to transport over to Asia Minor. His army was annihilated while he was attempting to escape in rafts to the coast of Asia Minor. Gainas was repelled to the Danube; he was apprehended by the Hun chieftain Uldin and murdered on December of 400. Tribigildus met a similar fate. In January of 401 Uldin sent to Constantinople Gainas’ head.

3. Consequences

The victory over the Goths was celebrated with splendid events and greatly influenced literature (two epic poems related the exploits and downfall of Gainas) and art: in the forum of Arcadius the column in his honour was decorated with reliefs depicting the empire’s struggles against Gainas. Hellenized Phrabithas attributed his victory to the intervention of the ancient gods. Among the vanquished Goths there were no survivors to punish. Caesarius, the leader of the pro-Gothic camp was tried in 401 and acquitted of the charge of treason, obviously because of his family ties to Aurelianus. Phrabithas was executed though, in the context o the anti-German hatred that reigned after the debacle of the Goths, because he had supposedly allowed Gainas to escape in October of 400. The "Hellenists’" party enjoyed the glory of their victory. Eudoxia was reinforced politically, becoming augusta following the quenching of Gainas’ rebellion; the anti-German camp now controlled power.⁶ Aurelianus, Saturninus and John were recalled from exile, the first one becoming praefectus praetorio per Orientem. According to some scholars “the conversion of the Roman state to a Gothic one” was averted, and once more there was accord between the eastern and the western state. The ideal of ‘Concordia fratrum’ (= brotherly concord) was honoured with the minting of bronze coins bearing the inscription “CONCORDIA AUG[usti]”. In the military field, there was an attempt to cleanse the army of officers and soldiers of Gothic descent; this only had short-term results, however, for the needs of the empire necessitated once more the recruitment of foreigners.