Artabanes (general)
Encyclopedia
Artabanes was an East Roman (Byzantine)
general of Armenian
origin who served under Justinian I
(r. 527–565). Initially a rebel against Byzantine authority, he fled to the Sassanid Persians but soon returned to Byzantine allegiance. He served in Africa
, where he won great fame by killing the rebel general Guntharic and restoring the province to imperial allegiance. He became engaged to Justinian's niece Praejecta
, but did not eventually marry her due to the opposition of the Empress Theodora
. Recalled to Constantinople
, he became involved in a failed conspiracy against Justinian in 548/549, but was not severely punished after its revelation. He was soon pardoned and sent to Italy
to fight in the Gothic War, where he participated in the decisive Byzantine victory at Casilinum.
, a branch of which at the time was recognized as autonomous local princes in the eastern fringes of the Eastern Roman Empire. His father was named John, and he had a brother also named John.
, the proconsul
of First Armenia, whose heavy taxes and cruel behaviour was greatly resented. Artabanes himself killed Acacius. Shortly after, in a skirmish between the rebels and the Byzantine army at Oenochalacon, Artabanes may have killed the Byzantine general Sittas
, sent by Justinian to quell the rebellion (Procopius
supplies two accounts, one attributing Sittas' death to Artabanes and another to an otherwise unknown Armenian named Solomon). Artabanes's father tried to negotiate a settlement with Sittas' successor, Bouzes
, but was murdered by the latter. This act forced Artabanes and his followers to seek the aid of the Sassanid Persian ruler, Khosrau I
(r. 531–579). Crossing over to Persian territory, over the next few years Artabanes and those who followed him took part in Khosrau's campaigns against the Byzantines.
Along with his brother, Artabanes was placed in command of a small Armenian contingent and sent to Africa
in spring 545 under the senator Areobindus. There, the Byzantines were engaged in a protracted war with the rebellious Moorish tribes
. Shortly after their arrival, John died in battle at Sicca Veneria with the rebel forces of the renegade Stotzas
. Artabanes and his men remained loyal to Areobindus during the rebellion of the dux Numidiae Guntharic in late 545. Guntharic, allied with the Moorish chieftain Antalas, marched on Carthage
and seized the city gates. At the urging of Artabanes and others, Areobindus decided to confront the rebel. The two armies appeared evenly matched, until Areobindus took fright and fled to a monastery seeking sanctuary. Thereupon the troops loyal to him also fled, and the city fell to Guntharic.
Areobindus was murdered by Guntharic, but Artabanes secured guarantees of his safety and pledged himself to Guntharic's service. In secret, however, he began planning to overthrow him. Soon after, Artabanes was entrusted with an expedition against Antalas's Moors. He marched south, along with an allied Moorish contingent under Cutzinas. Antalas's men fled before him, but Artabanes did not pursue them and turned back. According to Procopius, he considered leading his men to join the loyalist imperial garrison that held out at Hadrumetum
, but decided to return to Carthage and go on with his plan to assassinate Guntharic.
Upon his return to Carthage, he justified his decision to turn back by insisting that the entire army was needed to quell the insurgents, and urged Guntharic to set forth himself. At the same time, he conspired with his nephew, Gregory, and a few other of his Armenian bodyguards to murder the usurper (although Corippus suggests that it was the praetorian prefect
Athanasius who was the real mastermind of the plot). On the eve of the army's departure in early May, Guntharic hosted a great banquet, and invited Artabanes and Athanasius to share the same couch, a mark of honour. Suddenly, during the banquet, Artabanes' Armenians fell upon Gontharic's bodyguards, while Artabanes himself allegedly landed the killing blow on Guntharic.
This deed won him great honour and fame: Praejecta
, the widow of Areobindus and niece of Justinian, whom Guntharic was planning to marry, gave him a rich reward, while the emperor confirmed him as magister militum
of Africa. Despite being already married to a relative of his, Artabanes eventually became engaged with Praejecta. He sent her back to Constantinople
and himself asked from Justinian to be recalled from Africa, so that they could marry.
Soon afterwards, Artabanes was indeed recalled to Constantinople, replaced in Africa by John Troglita
. He received numerous honours from Justinian, and was named magister militum praesentalis, comes
foederatorum
and honourary consul
. Despite these and his great popularity however, he was unable to achieve his ambition of marrying Praejecta: his wife came to the imperial capital and presented her case to the Empress Theodora
. The Empress compelled Artabanes to retain his wife, and not until after Theodora's death in 548 was the Armenian general able to divorce himself. By then, however, Praejecta had already been re-married.
Irritated over this affair, shortly after Theodora's death (late 548/early 549) he became involved in the so-called "Armenian Plot" or "Conspiracy of Artabanes". The real instigator, however, was a relative of his, named Arsaces
, who proposed to assassinate Justinian, and elevate Justinian's cousin Germanus on the throne instead. The conspirators thought Germanus amenable to their plans, since he had been dissatisfied with Justinian's meddling in the settling of the will of his recently deceased brother Boraides
, which had initially named Germanus as the major beneficiary as opposed to the former's sole daughter. The conspirators approached Germanus's son Justin
first, and revealed to him the plot. Immediately, he informed his father, and he in turn informed the comes excubitorum Marcellus. In order to find out more of their intentions, Germanus met the conspirators in person, while a trusted aide of Marcellus was concealed nearby and listened in. Although Marcellus hesitated to inform Justinian without further proof, eventually he revealed the conspiracy to the emperor. Justinian ordered the conspirators imprisoned and questioned, but they were otherwise treated remarkably leniently. Artabanes was stripped of his offices and confined to the palace under guard, but was soon pardoned.
and sent to replace the aged senator Liberius
in command of an expedition under way against Sicily
, which had recently been overrun by the Ostrogoth
king Totila
. Artabanes failed to catch up with the expedition before it sailed for Sicily, and his own fleet was driven back and scattered by severe storms in the Ionian Sea
. Eventually he arrived in Sicily and took command of the Byzantine forces there. He besieged the Gothic garrisons left behind by Totila after he left the island and soon forced them to surrender. Over the next two years, he remained in Sicily. According to Procopius, the inhabitants of the mainland city of Croton
, which was being besieged by the Goths, repeatedly sent to him for help, but he did nothing.
In 553, he crossed over into mainland Italy, where he joined the army of Narses
as one of its generals. Facing the Frankish
invasion in the summer of 553, Narses ordered Artabanes and other generals to occupy the passes of the Apennines and harass the enemy advance; after a Byzantine contingent was defeated at Parma
, however, the other Byzantine generals withdrew to Faventia, until an envoy from Narses persuaded them to move up to the area of Parma again. In 554, Artabanes was stationed at Pisaurum with Byzantine and Hunnic
troops. At Fanum, he ambushed and defeated the advance guard of the Frankish army of Leutharis, which was returning from a plundering expedition into southern Italy and heading back to Gaul
. Most of the Franks fell, and in the confusion, the many captives escaped, taking much of the Franks' booty with them. Artabanes did not engage the main body of Leutharis' army however, since it far outnumbered his own force. He then marched south and joined Narses's main force, accompanying him in his campaign against the remaining Frankish army under Butilinus. At the decisive Byzantine victory in the Battle of Casilinum, along with Valerian, he commanded the cavalry in the Byzantine left flank. They were concealed in the woods, as part of Narses's stratagem to attack the Franks in the rear and encircle them. Nothing further is known of him after that.
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
general of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
origin who served under Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
(r. 527–565). Initially a rebel against Byzantine authority, he fled to the Sassanid Persians but soon returned to Byzantine allegiance. He served in Africa
Praetorian prefecture of Africa
The praetorian prefecture of Africa was a major administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire, established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the Vandals in 533-534 by emperor Justinian I...
, where he won great fame by killing the rebel general Guntharic and restoring the province to imperial allegiance. He became engaged to Justinian's niece Praejecta
Praejecta
Praejecta or Praiecta was a niece to Byzantine emperor Justinian I by blood and of his empress Theodora by marriage.She was a daughter of Vigilantia and Dulcidio , respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. She was also a sister of later emperor Justin II Praejecta or Praiecta was a...
, but did not eventually marry her due to the opposition of the Empress Theodora
Theodora (6th century)
Theodora , was empress of the Roman Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Like her husband, she is a saint in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14...
. Recalled to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, he became involved in a failed conspiracy against Justinian in 548/549, but was not severely punished after its revelation. He was soon pardoned and sent to Italy
Italian Peninsula
The Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three large peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
to fight in the Gothic War, where he participated in the decisive Byzantine victory at Casilinum.
Early life
Artabanes was a descendant of the royal Armenian Arsacid lineArsacid Dynasty of Armenia
The Arsacid dynasty or Arshakuni dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 AD to 428 AD. Formerly a branch of the Iranian Parthian Arsacids, they became a distinctly Armenian dynasty. Arsacid Kings reigned intermittently throughout the chaotic years following the fall of the Artaxiad Dynasty...
, a branch of which at the time was recognized as autonomous local princes in the eastern fringes of the Eastern Roman Empire. His father was named John, and he had a brother also named John.
Revolt against Byzantium
In 538/539, Artabanes, at the time apparently still a young man, took part in the Armenian conspiracy against AcaciusAcacius (proconsul)
Acacius was a Byzantine proconsul of Armenia Prima , c. 536-539 in the reign of Justinian I . The main source about him is Procopius.- Biography :...
, the proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of First Armenia, whose heavy taxes and cruel behaviour was greatly resented. Artabanes himself killed Acacius. Shortly after, in a skirmish between the rebels and the Byzantine army at Oenochalacon, Artabanes may have killed the Byzantine general Sittas
Sittas
Sittas was a Byzantine military commander during the reign of Justinian. During the Iberian War against the Sassanid Empire, Sittas was given command of forces in Armenia, similar to the status of Belisarius in Mesopotamia...
, sent by Justinian to quell the rebellion (Procopius
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
supplies two accounts, one attributing Sittas' death to Artabanes and another to an otherwise unknown Armenian named Solomon). Artabanes's father tried to negotiate a settlement with Sittas' successor, Bouzes
Bouzes
Bouzes or Buzes was an East Roman general active in the reign of Justinian I in the wars against the Sassanid Persians.- Family :...
, but was murdered by the latter. This act forced Artabanes and his followers to seek the aid of the Sassanid Persian ruler, Khosrau I
Khosrau I
Khosrau I , also known as Anushiravan the Just or Anushirawan the Just Khosrau I (also called Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anushirvan or Anushirwan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anushiravan the Just or Anushirawan the Just...
(r. 531–579). Crossing over to Persian territory, over the next few years Artabanes and those who followed him took part in Khosrau's campaigns against the Byzantines.
Return to Byzantine service
At some time around 544, perhaps as early as 542, Artabanes, his brother John and several other Armenians deserted back to the Byzantine camp.Service in Africa
Praetorian prefecture of Africa
The praetorian prefecture of Africa was a major administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire, established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the Vandals in 533-534 by emperor Justinian I...
in spring 545 under the senator Areobindus. There, the Byzantines were engaged in a protracted war with the rebellious Moorish tribes
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
. Shortly after their arrival, John died in battle at Sicca Veneria with the rebel forces of the renegade Stotzas
Stotzas
Stotzas , also Stutias, was an East Roman soldier and leader of a military rebellion in the Praetorian prefecture of Africa.-Life:...
. Artabanes and his men remained loyal to Areobindus during the rebellion of the dux Numidiae Guntharic in late 545. Guntharic, allied with the Moorish chieftain Antalas, marched on Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
and seized the city gates. At the urging of Artabanes and others, Areobindus decided to confront the rebel. The two armies appeared evenly matched, until Areobindus took fright and fled to a monastery seeking sanctuary. Thereupon the troops loyal to him also fled, and the city fell to Guntharic.
Areobindus was murdered by Guntharic, but Artabanes secured guarantees of his safety and pledged himself to Guntharic's service. In secret, however, he began planning to overthrow him. Soon after, Artabanes was entrusted with an expedition against Antalas's Moors. He marched south, along with an allied Moorish contingent under Cutzinas. Antalas's men fled before him, but Artabanes did not pursue them and turned back. According to Procopius, he considered leading his men to join the loyalist imperial garrison that held out at Hadrumetum
Hadrumetum
Hadrumetum was a Phoenician colony that pre-dated Carthage and stood on the site of modern-day Sousse, Tunisia.-Ancient history:...
, but decided to return to Carthage and go on with his plan to assassinate Guntharic.
Upon his return to Carthage, he justified his decision to turn back by insisting that the entire army was needed to quell the insurgents, and urged Guntharic to set forth himself. At the same time, he conspired with his nephew, Gregory, and a few other of his Armenian bodyguards to murder the usurper (although Corippus suggests that it was the praetorian prefect
Praetorian prefect
Praetorian prefect was the title of a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the Emperor's chief aides...
Athanasius who was the real mastermind of the plot). On the eve of the army's departure in early May, Guntharic hosted a great banquet, and invited Artabanes and Athanasius to share the same couch, a mark of honour. Suddenly, during the banquet, Artabanes' Armenians fell upon Gontharic's bodyguards, while Artabanes himself allegedly landed the killing blow on Guntharic.
This deed won him great honour and fame: Praejecta
Praejecta
Praejecta or Praiecta was a niece to Byzantine emperor Justinian I by blood and of his empress Theodora by marriage.She was a daughter of Vigilantia and Dulcidio , respectively the sister and brother-in-law of Justinian. She was also a sister of later emperor Justin II Praejecta or Praiecta was a...
, the widow of Areobindus and niece of Justinian, whom Guntharic was planning to marry, gave him a rich reward, while the emperor confirmed him as magister militum
Magister militum
Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
of Africa. Despite being already married to a relative of his, Artabanes eventually became engaged with Praejecta. He sent her back to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
and himself asked from Justinian to be recalled from Africa, so that they could marry.
Constantinople – Conspiracy against Justinian
John Troglita
John Troglita was a 6th-century Byzantine general. His exploits against the Sassanid Persians in the East and especially against the Moorish rebels in North Africa are the subject of the last Latin epic poem of Antiquity, the Iohannis or de Bellis Libycis of Flavius Cresconius Corippus.- Origins...
. He received numerous honours from Justinian, and was named magister militum praesentalis, comes
Comes
Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...
foederatorum
Foederati
Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire...
and honourary consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
. Despite these and his great popularity however, he was unable to achieve his ambition of marrying Praejecta: his wife came to the imperial capital and presented her case to the Empress Theodora
Theodora (6th century)
Theodora , was empress of the Roman Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Like her husband, she is a saint in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14...
. The Empress compelled Artabanes to retain his wife, and not until after Theodora's death in 548 was the Armenian general able to divorce himself. By then, however, Praejecta had already been re-married.
Irritated over this affair, shortly after Theodora's death (late 548/early 549) he became involved in the so-called "Armenian Plot" or "Conspiracy of Artabanes". The real instigator, however, was a relative of his, named Arsaces
Arsaces (conspirator)
Arsaces was a Byzantine conspirator against Justinian I . He was the instigator of Artabanes' conspiracy. The main source about him is Procopius. - Biography :...
, who proposed to assassinate Justinian, and elevate Justinian's cousin Germanus on the throne instead. The conspirators thought Germanus amenable to their plans, since he had been dissatisfied with Justinian's meddling in the settling of the will of his recently deceased brother Boraides
Boraides
Boraides was a cousin of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I , better known for his role in ending the Nika riots of 532. The primary source about him is Procopius.- Life :...
, which had initially named Germanus as the major beneficiary as opposed to the former's sole daughter. The conspirators approached Germanus's son Justin
Justin (consul 540)
Flavius Mar Petrus Theodorus Valentinus Rusticius Boraides Germanus Iustinus, commonly simply Iustinus was an East Roman aristocrat and general, who was appointed as one of the last Roman consuls in 540....
first, and revealed to him the plot. Immediately, he informed his father, and he in turn informed the comes excubitorum Marcellus. In order to find out more of their intentions, Germanus met the conspirators in person, while a trusted aide of Marcellus was concealed nearby and listened in. Although Marcellus hesitated to inform Justinian without further proof, eventually he revealed the conspiracy to the emperor. Justinian ordered the conspirators imprisoned and questioned, but they were otherwise treated remarkably leniently. Artabanes was stripped of his offices and confined to the palace under guard, but was soon pardoned.
Service in Italy
In 550, Artabanes was appointed magister militum per ThraciasDiocese of Thrace
The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later...
and sent to replace the aged senator Liberius
Liberius (praetorian prefect)
Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius was a Late Roman aristocrat and official, whose career spanned seven decades in the highest offices of both the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and the Eastern Roman Empire...
in command of an expedition under way against Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, which had recently been overrun by the Ostrogoth
Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths were a branch of the Goths , a Germanic tribe who developed a vast empire north of the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD and, in the late 5th century, under Theodoric the Great, established a Kingdom in Italy....
king Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
. Artabanes failed to catch up with the expedition before it sailed for Sicily, and his own fleet was driven back and scattered by severe storms in the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
. Eventually he arrived in Sicily and took command of the Byzantine forces there. He besieged the Gothic garrisons left behind by Totila after he left the island and soon forced them to surrender. Over the next two years, he remained in Sicily. According to Procopius, the inhabitants of the mainland city of Croton
Croton
-In plants:* Croton , a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae* Crotoneae, a tribe of the subfamily Crotonoideae* Codiaeum variegatum, a plant commonly called a "Croton"...
, which was being besieged by the Goths, repeatedly sent to him for help, but he did nothing.
In 553, he crossed over into mainland Italy, where he joined the army of Narses
Narses
Narses was, with Belisarius, one of the great generals in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I during the "Reconquest" that took place during Justinian's reign....
as one of its generals. Facing the Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
invasion in the summer of 553, Narses ordered Artabanes and other generals to occupy the passes of the Apennines and harass the enemy advance; after a Byzantine contingent was defeated at Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, however, the other Byzantine generals withdrew to Faventia, until an envoy from Narses persuaded them to move up to the area of Parma again. In 554, Artabanes was stationed at Pisaurum with Byzantine and Hunnic
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
troops. At Fanum, he ambushed and defeated the advance guard of the Frankish army of Leutharis, which was returning from a plundering expedition into southern Italy and heading back to Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. Most of the Franks fell, and in the confusion, the many captives escaped, taking much of the Franks' booty with them. Artabanes did not engage the main body of Leutharis' army however, since it far outnumbered his own force. He then marched south and joined Narses's main force, accompanying him in his campaign against the remaining Frankish army under Butilinus. At the decisive Byzantine victory in the Battle of Casilinum, along with Valerian, he commanded the cavalry in the Byzantine left flank. They were concealed in the woods, as part of Narses's stratagem to attack the Franks in the rear and encircle them. Nothing further is known of him after that.