In the early 4th century AD, the newborn Eastern Roman Empire became the stage for a shadowy plot involving numerous figures from various spheres. Two of them, Romanized Ostrogoths, managed to threaten imperial security through a cunning double-sided scheme that provoked a rebellion, using the excuse of an improper official reception at court. They toppled politicians and military leaders like chess pieces, but their intrigue was short-lived, though their names have gone down in history: Tribigild and Gainas.

As is well known, Emperor Theodosius I established that upon his death in 395 AD, the Roman Empire would be divided into two parts: West and East, to be inherited respectively by his sons Honorius and Arcadius. Neither had an easy time; for instance, the younger Honorius was barely ten years old and was managed by General Flavius Stilicho until Stilicho’s downfall led to chaos, which was exploited by Alaric’s Visigoths to sack Rome. Even so, Honorius managed to remain on the throne for thirty years; upon his death without heirs, and except for a two-year reign by the usurper John, he was succeeded by his nephew Valentinian III.

Valentinian was designated by Theodosius II, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, as he was the son of Arcadius, Honorius’s brother who had inherited the other half of the empire as their father’s legacy. Arcadius was not the eldest sibling—that position belonged to his older sister, Galla Placidia, Valentinian’s mother—but he had already reached adulthood when he donned the purple. However, he too was always under the influence of a “strong man”: first the Praetorian Prefect Rufinus, and later, after Rufinus was assassinated on Stilicho’s orders, Eutropius, the emperor’s former tutor.

Theodosius I’s partitio imperii
Theodosius I’s partitio imperii with its provinces. Credit: NeimWiki / Wikimedia Commons

The removal of Stilicho from power enabled the barbarians, who were already gathering at the empire’s borders, to carry out increasingly frequent incursions with little resistance. These actions were primarily carried out by Gothic peoples, particularly the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, who were themselves under pressure from the Huns. The Visigoths moved westward, but this respite for Arcadius’s empire proved brief, as the Huns filled the void, and only Eutropius’s effective defense in 398 AD managed to keep them at bay.

Eutropius was a native of the Middle Eastern province, possibly from Assyria or Armenia. He was apparently a catamite (a boy involved in a relationship with an adult) who later became a pimp and eventually ended up as a eunuch in the palace. There, he advanced to the position of praepositus sacri cubiculi (keeper of the sacred chamber), essentially the Grand Chamberlain and head of the emperor’s cubicularii (personal attendants). After arranging Arcadius’s marriage to Aelia Eudoxia, the daughter of a Romanized Frankish general and magister militum, thus thwarting Rufinus’s plan to offer his own daughter, Eutropius rose to become the emperor’s advisor.

Rufinus’s death further increased Eutropius’s influence, making him Arcadius’s right-hand man and one of the shadowy masterminds behind the so-called Gildonic War. This rebellion, led by comes Gildo against the Western Emperor Honorius, was suppressed by Stilicho, the true target of the conspiracy. Eutropius reached his zenith when he managed to repel the Huns and even allowed himself to be named consul, the first eunuch to achieve such a position. However, this only heightened his unpopularity.

Eutropius
Bust of Eutropius in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Credit: Manfred Werner (Tsui) / Wikimedia Commons

Indeed, Eutropius had a terrible reputation. His greed, ambition, and cruelty were public knowledge—not just among the populace but also within the imperial court. Empress Aelia Eudoxia despised him, and the military felt insulted at being led by a freedman eunuch, as evidenced by the mutiny of troops sent to suppress a revolt in Phrygia, as we shall soon see. The final twist to this turbulent saga was Gainas, an Ostrogothic leader who served as the magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Gainas, described as a “man of no lineage”, had joined the legion as a simple soldier, gradually rising through the ranks to command an auxiliary military contingent that participated in Theodosius I’s campaign against the usurper Eugenius in 394 AD. Incidentally, among his subordinates was a young Alaric, the future king of the Visigoths. The following year, Stilicho sent him to fight Rufinus, whom he eventually killed, thus paving the way for Eutropius’s rise to power. However, Gainas resented Eutropius for failing to show him gratitude.

He then devised a clever plot to overthrow Eutropius, with the leading role assigned to an Ostrogothic chieftain who is believed to have been his relative: Tribigild. Nothing is known of Tribigild until he appears in history leading a colony of Ostrogoths and Greuthungi (Goths from the Ukrainian steppes who served the empire as mercenary cavalry) that remained from those who had followed Odotheus, defeated in 386 AD by magister militum per Thracias Promotus when he demanded incorporation into the empire, as had been done years earlier with the Tervingi.

Adapting to the circumstances, the survivors settled in Nacolia, the capital of Phrygia, and began serving the empire as foederati, repelling a Hunnic incursion and earning Tribigild the title of comes (count). With this distinction, he traveled to Constantinople, where, according to sources, he was given a reception that was not sufficiently grand for the typically extravagant standards of the imperial court. Offended, he returned to Phrygia with his followers, but used the incident as a casus belli to plunder Asia Minor along the way.

The two empires
The two empires and the bordering barbarian peoples in the year 395 AD. Credit: Killingzoe / Wikimedia Commons

This spread panic in the region, prompting people to flee the countryside and seek refuge along the coast, causing economic harm from the abandonment of crops. It is possible that the whole episode was not merely an outburst over a protocol offense but part of a plan devised by Gainas, who was likely related to Tribigild and also felt slighted by Eutropius. In response, Eutropius appointed Leon, an inexperienced general whose friendship with the counselor had earned him the position of magister militum, to quell the revolt.

Similarly, Gainas was ordered to position himself in Thrace to prevent Tribigild from crossing the Hellespont. Once there, Gainas sent a message to the enemy leader requesting a meeting, which could indicate a prior agreement. However, Tribigild refused, fearing hostile forces along the way, and instead continued plundering cities in Pamphylia and Pisidia. In fact, he carried on unchallenged, as Leon refrained from engaging, citing the need to protect the territories under his charge rather than pursuing the adversary.

This inaction adversely affected Roman interests, as all the foederati barbarians in the region began siding with Tribigild, threatening to unravel the imperial structure. Worse still, according to Zosimus (a 5th-century Greek historian and official in Constantinople who authored a chronicle on the Roman Empire titled New History), the Ostrogothic comes reached Lydia and then Ionia, threatening to seize ships that could allow him to control the entire East as far as Egypt.

Arcadius
Bust of Emperor Arcadius. Credit: Rabe! / Wikimedia Commons

Whether this was part of his plans remains unknown, as Tribigild fell into an ambush near Selge in Cilicia before leaving Phrygia. A group of slaves and serfs, led by a local notable named Valentino, inflicted heavy losses on the rebels. Only three hundred survived, thanks to Tribigild bribing the commander meant to block his retreat, but they were forced to flee hurriedly, pursued by local inhabitants, until they found refuge on the other side of the Eurymedon River.

Tribigild’s situation became so desperate that he himself had to ask Gainas for help. However, doing so would expose their presumed pact, so instead of aiding him directly, Gainas sent Leon reinforcements with a contingent of auxiliaries. What happened next is unclear. It is uncertain whether the auxiliaries sought to join their kin, were ordered to turn against the magister militum upon contacting Tribigild, or if Tribigild persuaded them to switch sides. In any case, Leon faced a mutiny and was unable to prevent the enemy’s definitive escape back to Phrygia.

Gainas then informed the emperor of his superior’s failure, exaggerating the threat posed by the insurrectionist Ostrogoths, and secured Leon’s dismissal. He also launched a campaign to discredit the despised Eutropius, quickly joined by the empress. The result was that Arcadius ordered the dismissal of the troublesome eunuch, who kept his life thanks to the mediation of John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople and his friend—albeit only temporarily, as Eutropius was executed later that year after a failed escape attempt, at Gainas’ insistence.

Flavius Aurelianus, the praetorian prefect, was appointed as his successor—a disappointment for Gainas, who had expected to be chosen. Unable to hide his displeasure, Gainas went to Chalcedon and from there demanded the vacant magister militum position as compensation. This was granted, but Gainas then escalated his demands: Flavius Aurelianus also had to be removed. Surprisingly, this too was conceded, though it started to make him a bothersome figure—a risky position in a court rife with intrigue.

Column of Arcadius
Engraving of the Column of Arcadius. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Gainas also failed to subdue Tribigild; according to Zosimus, because they were actually allies. Regardless, they eventually met in Lydia and jointly besieged Sardis, though they failed to capture it. They then marched toward Constantinople, crossing the Bosporus and dividing their forces to occupy Chalcedon and Lampsacus. They might have planned to divide the empire or part of it, as Gainas convinced Arcadius to make peace with Tribigild on the latter’s terms: granting his Ostrogoths permission to settle in Thrace, where they committed to defending the Danubian frontier against other barbarians.

With that issue resolved, Gainas returned to the capital with his forces and governed for a few months, replacing Flavius Aurelianus. He modeled himself after Stilicho, though he lacked his genius; his military record was debatable, and his civil administration only earned him growing hatred. Not only had he eliminated Eutropius, Leon, and Aurelianus, but he continued purging officials he deemed opposed to him—some for his Gothic origin, others for being Arian.

Consequently, rumors of his collusion with Tribigild worsened his already tarnished reputation. The tipping point came with his proclamation as consul in 400 AD. This sparked a popular uprising in Constantinople during which about seven thousand Ostrogoths living in the city were lynched, forcing Gainas to retreat with the remainder of his forces. However, he was intercepted by a Roman fleet while crossing the Hellespont. Flavius Fravitta, a Visigothic general appointed the new magister militum, destroyed his ships and was rewarded with two honors: the consulship and permission to continue practicing paganism.

Gainas escaped alive and fled toward the Danube, intending to seek refuge among Tribigild’s Ostrogoths. However, Tribigild had died months earlier while fighting the Huns, who captured Gainas instead. Their king, Uldin, ordered his decapitation and sent his head to Arcadius as a diplomatic gift. These events, depicted in the reliefs of the towering Column of Arcadius—built by the emperor in his eponymous forum in the capital, though only its base survives today—mark what some historians consider the end of the struggles among the various Gothic branches, leading to two ethnogeneses: that of barbarians integrated into the empire and that of barbarians ad portas.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on September 18, 2023: La primera rebelión interna del Imperio Romano de Oriente sucedió porque un godo no fue recibido con la adecuada pompa en Constantinopla

SOURCES

Zósimo, Nueva Historia

Adrian Goldsworthy, La caída del Imperio Romano. El ocaso de Occidente

Sergei Ivanovich Kovaliov, Historia de Roma

Edward Gibbon, Historia de la decadencia y caída del Imperio Romano

Franz Georg Maier, Las transformaciones del mundo mediterráneo

Stephen Williams, Gerald Friell, The Rome hat did not fall

Herwig Wolfram, History of the Goths

Alan Cameron, Jacqueline Long, Barbarians and politics at the court of Arcadius

Wikipedia, Tribigildo

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