Sarus (Goth)

Sarus or Saurus (d. 413 AD) was a Gothic chieftain and commander for the emperor Honorius. He was known for his hostility to the prominent Gothic brothers-in-law Alaric I and Ataulf, and was the brother of Sigeric, who ruled the Goths briefly in 415.

Nothing is known of his life before he comes to notice in 406 commanding a force of Gothic troops, along with other barbarian foederati, against the invasion of Italy by Radagaisus of 405-6. Roman and federate troops ultimately defeated the invaders at the Battle of Faesulae.

In 407 he was sent against the British usurper Constantine III. First he defeated and killed Iustinianus, one of Constantine's magistri militum, then tricked and killed the other, Nebiogastes. Then Sarus laid siege to Constantine himself in Valentia, but fled back to Italy at the approach of Constantine's new generals Edobichus and Gerontius, being forced to surrender all his booty to Bacaudae (late Roman bandits or rebels) for passage over the Alps. As he must have commanded an army, he may have been appointed magister militum (general) for this expedition; elsewhere he is said to have had a following or warband of only about three hundred.

Early in 408, whilst commanding a force of barbarians at Ravenna, Stilicho induced him to mutiny in an attempt to prevent Honorius from travelling there. Then, when Stilicho was recalled by the Emperor under suspicion of treachery, Sarus, apparently incensed that Stilicho continued to obey orders and refused to use the barbarian troops on hand to defend himself, fought his way through Stilicho's Hun bodyguard to protest. Later in 408, after the fall of Stilicho, Sarus' name was put forward as Stilicho's successor as the most suitable candidate for the office of magister militum in praesenti (supreme commander), but the Emperor Honorius refused to promote him. It is possible his resentment of Honorius, as borne out by later actions, started here

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