Theodoric Strabo
Encyclopedia
Theodoric Strabo was an Ostrogoth
chieftain who was involved in the politics of the Byzantine Empire
during the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Leo I
, Zeno
and Basiliscus
. He was a rival for the leadership of the Ostrogoths with his kinsman Theodoric the Great
, who would ultimately supplant him.
general Aspar
was his sister. Strabo had a wife, Sigilda, and a son called Recitach. He was a contemporary of the more famous Theodoric the Amal, who was a Moesia
n Goth of the royal Amal family
, and who would become known as Theodoric the Great
. Around 459, he is attested as in friendly relationship with the Byzantine Empire
, possibly one of the foederati
, and receiving an annual subsidy by the Byzantines.
of Emperor Leo I, was murdered by order of the emperor himself. Strabo, who was at the command of his people in Thrace, revolted to avenge his relative, but was defeated by the Byzantine generals Zeno and Basiliscus, who were both later emperors. However, Strabo was able to set three conditions to end his unrest: receiving the properties left as legacy by Aspar, being allowed to settle his Goths in Thrace, and being raised to the rank of magister militum. Since Leo had rejected the requests, offering the rank of magister militum only in exchange of an oath of loyalty, Strabo started a military campaign against the cities of Thrace. Part of the Gothic army attacked Philippi
(or Philippopolis
), while he led the remaining men to attack and occupy Arcadiopolis. When the Goths ran out of supplies, Theodoric signed a peace with Leo (473); according to its terms the Byzantines were to pay an annual tribute of 2000 pounds of gold to the Goths, whose independence was recognized, and Strabo was to obtain the rank of magister militum.
At the death of Leo (January 474), Strabo rebelled against the newly appointed Emperor Zeno. He killed Heraclius, the magister militum per Thracias, despite the payment of a ransom, probably because Heraclius was involved in the murder of Aspar. The support of Theodoric was fundamental for the overthrowing of Zeno and the rise of Basiliscus
to the Byzantine throne (475), so Basiliscus confirmed him magister militum and gave him other honours. However, Theodoric was very upset when Basiliscus appointed his nephew Armatus
magister militum praesentialis, because he despised him. When Zeno returned to Constantinople
in 476 and defeated Basiliscus, Strabo is not reported to defend the city.
In 476/477, Zeno allied himself with Strabo's rival, Theodoric the Amal, and ordered him to attack Strabo. The leader of the Thracian Goths sent an embassy to the Byzantine emperor, offering peace and blaming the Moesian Theodoric. Zeno understood that this offering was hiding further conspiracies, and obtained that the Byzantine senate and army declare Strabo a public enemy.
The plan of Zeno was to have the two Theoderics attack each other. He sent the Amal against Strabo, with the promise of a huge Roman force as renforcement (478). When Theoderic the Amal arrived through the mountains at Mount Soundis, he did not find the Roman renforcement army he expected, but Theoderic Strabo's army instead, in a strongly fortified camp. Strabo provoked the Amal, running in front of the Moesian Gothic camp and claiming that the leadership of the Amal had reduced the Goths to fighting each other, and only for the Roman gain, to have none of the wealth for which they had moved from their territories. With this speech recalling the common interest of the Goths, Strabo forced the Amal to ask for peace. The two Theodorics agreed to put forward a joint request to the Roman Emperor, in order to extend to the south the settlement territory of the Goths in Moesia.
Zeno tried to divide the two Theodorics, bribing the Amal, who refused. The imperial army obtained some initial successes, however Zeno did not capitalize upon his victory, and allowed the Amal to move westward in Thrace, plundering the territories as he went. With the Amal far away, Strabo accepted an agreement with Zeno: Strabo was to be given back his wealth, money to pay 13,000 soldiers, the command of two palatinae units, and the title once more of magister militum. However, the army of Theodoric Strabo, 30,000-men strong was still a menace for Zeno, who convinced the Bulgars
to attack the Thracian Goths in their own base. Strabo defeated the Bulgars in 480/481, and moved towards Constantinople, but he had to deal with problems with his own men, so he could not capitalize upon his victory and was forced to return to Greece. On his way back, during an encampment at Stabulum Diomedis, near Philippi in Thrace, he was trying to break in an unruly horse, when he fell onto a spear hung before a tent or hanging from a wagon and died.
by Gary Jennings
, Strabo is a major character. In the book, the fictional Strabo has his limbs amputated by the main character, Thorn, who was at the time marshal
of Theodoric the Great. Some years later, Strabo dies before an imminent battle with Theodoric the Great, when the litter carrying him spills him on the tip of a soldier's spear. Though Strabo did actually die at the speartip of his own soldier, the specific manner of his amputations and death were inventions of the author.
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....
chieftain who was involved in the politics of the Byzantine Empire
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...
during the reigns of Byzantine Emperors Leo I
Leo I (emperor)
Leo I was Byzantine Emperor from 457 to 474. A native of Dacia Aureliana near historic Thrace, he was known as Leo the Thracian ....
, Zeno
Zeno (emperor)
Zeno , originally named Tarasis, was Byzantine Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491. Domestic revolts and religious dissension plagued his reign, which nevertheless succeeded to some extent in foreign issues...
and Basiliscus
Basiliscus
Basiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....
. He was a rival for the leadership of the Ostrogoths with his kinsman Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, who would ultimately supplant him.
An Amal?
Theodoric called Strabo, son of Triarius, was a chieftain of the Thracian Goths; he had two brothers. The wife of the AlanAlans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
general Aspar
Aspar
Flavius Ardabur Aspar was an Alan patrician and magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire. Aspar's family exerted a great influence on the Eastern Roman Emperors for half a century, from the 420s to his death in 471, over Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I, who, in the end, had him killed.Alans...
was his sister. Strabo had a wife, Sigilda, and a son called Recitach. He was a contemporary of the more famous Theodoric the Amal, who was a Moesia
Moesia
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
n Goth of the royal Amal family
Amali
The Amali, also called Amals or Amalings, were the leading dynasty of the Goths, a Germanic people who confronted the Roman Empire in its declining years in the west...
, and who would become known as Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great
Theodoric the Great was king of the Ostrogoths , ruler of Italy , regent of the Visigoths , and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire...
. Around 459, he is attested as in friendly relationship with the Byzantine Empire
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...
, possibly one of the foederati
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 receiving an annual subsidy by the Byzantines.
Under Leo I
In 471, the Alan Aspar, at the time magister militumMagister 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 Emperor Leo I, was murdered by order of the emperor himself. Strabo, who was at the command of his people in Thrace, revolted to avenge his relative, but was defeated by the Byzantine generals Zeno and Basiliscus, who were both later emperors. However, Strabo was able to set three conditions to end his unrest: receiving the properties left as legacy by Aspar, being allowed to settle his Goths in Thrace, and being raised to the rank of magister militum. Since Leo had rejected the requests, offering the rank of magister militum only in exchange of an oath of loyalty, Strabo started a military campaign against the cities of Thrace. Part of the Gothic army attacked Philippi
Philippi
Philippi was a city in eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest...
(or Philippopolis
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
), while he led the remaining men to attack and occupy Arcadiopolis. When the Goths ran out of supplies, Theodoric signed a peace with Leo (473); according to its terms the Byzantines were to pay an annual tribute of 2000 pounds of gold to the Goths, whose independence was recognized, and Strabo was to obtain the rank of magister militum.
Under Zeno
Basiliscus
Basiliscus was Eastern Roman Emperor from 475 to 476. A member of the House of Leo, he came to power when Emperor Zeno had been forced out of Constantinople by a revolt....
to the Byzantine throne (475), so Basiliscus confirmed him magister militum and gave him other honours. However, Theodoric was very upset when Basiliscus appointed his nephew Armatus
Armatus
Flavius Armatus was a Byzantine military commander, magister militum under Emperors Leo I, Basiliscus and Zeno, and consul. He was instrumental in the rebellion of Basiliscus against Zeno, and in his subsequent fall.- Origin and early career :...
magister militum praesentialis, because he despised him. When Zeno returned 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:...
in 476 and defeated Basiliscus, Strabo is not reported to defend the city.
In 476/477, Zeno allied himself with Strabo's rival, Theodoric the Amal, and ordered him to attack Strabo. The leader of the Thracian Goths sent an embassy to the Byzantine emperor, offering peace and blaming the Moesian Theodoric. Zeno understood that this offering was hiding further conspiracies, and obtained that the Byzantine senate and army declare Strabo a public enemy.
The plan of Zeno was to have the two Theoderics attack each other. He sent the Amal against Strabo, with the promise of a huge Roman force as renforcement (478). When Theoderic the Amal arrived through the mountains at Mount Soundis, he did not find the Roman renforcement army he expected, but Theoderic Strabo's army instead, in a strongly fortified camp. Strabo provoked the Amal, running in front of the Moesian Gothic camp and claiming that the leadership of the Amal had reduced the Goths to fighting each other, and only for the Roman gain, to have none of the wealth for which they had moved from their territories. With this speech recalling the common interest of the Goths, Strabo forced the Amal to ask for peace. The two Theodorics agreed to put forward a joint request to the Roman Emperor, in order to extend to the south the settlement territory of the Goths in Moesia.
Bulgars
The Bulgars were a semi-nomadic who flourished in the Pontic Steppe and the Volga basin in the 7th century.The Bulgars emerge after the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the 5th century....
to attack the Thracian Goths in their own base. Strabo defeated the Bulgars in 480/481, and moved towards Constantinople, but he had to deal with problems with his own men, so he could not capitalize upon his victory and was forced to return to Greece. On his way back, during an encampment at Stabulum Diomedis, near Philippi in Thrace, he was trying to break in an unruly horse, when he fell onto a spear hung before a tent or hanging from a wagon and died.
In fiction
In the novel RaptorRaptor (book)
Raptor is a 1993 historical novel written by Gary Jennings.-Plot summary:Raptor is an historical novel set in the late fifth and early sixth centuries...
by Gary Jennings
Gary Jennings
Gary Jennings was an American author who wrote children's and adult novels. In 1980, after the successful novel Aztec, he specialized in writing adult historical fiction novels.-Biography:...
, Strabo is a major character. In the book, the fictional Strabo has his limbs amputated by the main character, Thorn, who was at the time marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
of Theodoric the Great. Some years later, Strabo dies before an imminent battle with Theodoric the Great, when the litter carrying him spills him on the tip of a soldier's spear. Though Strabo did actually die at the speartip of his own soldier, the specific manner of his amputations and death were inventions of the author.