Arbogast (general)

Flavius Arbogastes (died September 8, 394), or Arbogast, was a Frankish general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim.

Flavius Arbogastes, or simply Arbogast, was the nephew of the great Frankish General Flavius Richomeres and resided within the Frankish domain as a native of Galatia Minor until he was expelled in the later 370s CE. His Germanic name, *Arbogastiz, is also otherwise attested; it is derived from the elements arbo- "heir; inheritance" and gastiz "guest, spirit". It was at this point when Arbogast joined the Roman imperial military service under the command of the emperor Gratian, son of Valentinian I and elder brother to Valentinian II, in the Western Roman Empire. Shortly after his induction into the Roman military, Arbogast made a name for himself as being an extremely efficient and loyal field-commander. So much so, in fact, that in 380 CE Gratian sent Arbogast along with his magister militum Bauto to aid Theodosius I against the Goths and their leader Fritigern after they had pillaged and plundered areas of Macedonia and Thessaly that year and the year before. The Western armies, commanded by Bauto and Arbogast, and those from Theodosius I in the East, successfully pushed Fritigern out of Macedonia and Thessaly towards Thrace in lower Moesia where their raids had begun, and ultimately established a peace treaty with the Visigoths in 382 CE.

After the death of Gratian in 383 CE on behalf of Magnus Maximus that resulted from a power struggle between the two, the Western Roman Empire became under control of the latter after his acknowledgment as co-Augustus by Theodosius I. However, four years later in 387 CE Maximus invaded Italy seeking political control over the entire empire, which prompted the Eastern Emperor Theodosius I to gather his available armies, including the Goths, Huns, and Alans, along with his trusted commanders Arbogast and Richomeres to quash the rising authority of Maximus. The campaign against Maximus came to an end only a year later in 388 CE after Maximus was defeated at Poetovio by the armies of Theodosius I and retreated from the Julian Alps towards Aquileia, where he believed he would be safe until his reinforcements arrived.I This was not the case however. Maximus surrendered to Theodosius I and was executed on August 28, 388 CE with his head then making a tour of the provinces. After the execution of Maximus, Arbogast, who at this time had the title of magister peditum in the West, was dispatched to Trier by Theodosius I in order to assassinate Victor, the son of Maximus and heir to the throne in the West. This was done with ease on behalf of Arbogast and with the disposal of both Maximus and Victor, Theodosius I was able to give control over the West to Valentinian II, the younger son of Valentinian I. At the time however, Valentinian II was too young to rule the Western Empire from Italy on his own, so Theodosius I stayed in Italy to conduct civil and political affairs from the beginning of Valentinian II's reign in 388 CE until 391 CE when he left for Constantinople, at which time Arbogast was promoted to magister militum and left to keep an eye on the young Emperor after they were moved to Vienne.

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