138:, passed between both armies and attacked Lyons. Julian sent three elite cavalry squadrons to intercept them, attacking and killing a large number as they returned from the raid loaded with booty. The survivors fled past Barbatio's camp unchallenged. The commander excused himself to the Emperor by blaming others for his neglect of duty.
183:
There is no evidence at all that
Barbatio actually planned to murder Constantius. According to some historians, it seems more likely that, following his usual pattern of behaviour, he simply wished to ingratiate himself still further with the Emperor, with the possible hope of becoming a co-emperor.
179:
in the event of
Constantius' death. It was not composed by Assyria herself, but by a female slave, who had formerly belonged to Silvanus, and may possibly have harboured some grudge towards her new owners. The servant immediately took a copy of this letter to Arbitio, suggesting that the whole thing
66:
Barbatio, a soldier of unknown origin, began his rise when he was appointed to command the household troops of Caesar Gallus, a cousin of
Constantius II. When Gallus fell out of favor with the emperor, it was Barbatio who arrested him and stripped him of his imperial attire. The Caesar was taken to
149:
was frustrated when
Barbatio, in the words of Ammianus, "…as if he had ended the campaign successfully, distributed his soldiers in winter quarters and returned to the Emperor's court to frame some charges against Caesar, as was his custom." His departure left Julian open to attack, but against all
174:
In 359, with
Barbatio away on another campaign, his wife, Assyria, whom Ammanius describes as an "indiscreet and silly woman", decided to write to him, seemingly fearful that he was about to cast her off. Her letter, which has not survived, hinted, in Ammianus' account, at Barbatio's own imperial
180:
was part of an elaborate plot. Arbitio at once brought the matter to the attention of
Constantius. Barbatio was arrested and confessed that he had received the letter. Both he and Assyria were subsequently executed.
166:, "But the hopes of the campaign were defeated by the incapacity, or the enemy, or the secret instructions of Barbatio; who acted more as if he had been an enemy of the Caesar and a secret ally of the Barbarians"
71:, where he was beheaded, and his face mutilated after execution. For his part in the affair, Barbatio was awarded by Constantius with a series of promotions, making him commander of the infantry in
79:
in 355. According to
Ammianus, Barbatio was a man of "rough manners and vaulting ambition, who incurred general hatred by his treacherous betrayal of Caesar Gallus". Having betrayed one
114:, the most dangerous of the enemy tribes. It was intended that two armies, the first commanded by Julian and the second by Barbatio, would advance in a classic Roman tactic known as a
145:
over the Rhine to pursue another enemy tribe. Barbatio simply had the boats burned. Supplies intended for Julian's army were also destroyed. Eventually the planned
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488:
483:
46:. In 359, both he and his wife Assyria were arrested and beheaded for treason against Constantius, possibly as part of a plot by
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54:= Master of Horse), and another exponent of the forms of scheming and political intrigue that became such a part of the later
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hypothesized that
Barbatio, who escaped all reprimand, could have only acted as he did under instruction. Gibbon wrote in
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403:
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42:, but he arrested Gallus under the instruction of Constantius, thereby ensuring his promotion on the death of
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122:, forming diverging wings, embracing and destroying the enemy. Julian then marched from his camp in
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It is also questionable if the incriminating letter contained
Assyria's actual words.
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In 357, Julian's second year as Caesar, plans were laid for an offensive against the
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154:. Constantius, in distant Milan, immediately claimed the victory as his own.
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23:
376:, vol. XIII: the Late Empire AD 337–425, Cambridge: University Press
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83:, he soon found himself in a position to attempt to betray another.
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ambitions, and his possible intention of marrying the empress
130:, while Barbatio moved north with 25,000 troops from Italy to
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134:. While these moves were underway another German tribe, the
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107:, the emperor’s sister, and promoted to the rank of Caesar.
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Still later, Julian asked
Barbatio for some boats to form a
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Not long after the death of Gallus, Constantius summoned
34:. Previously he was a commander of the household troops (
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The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
163:
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
236:
211:
95:, the dead man's half-brother, from his studies in
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355:
435:
330:, vol. II, Everyman edition, pp. 207–8.
150:expectations he defeated the Alemanni at the
398:. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.
395:Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire
30:= Master of Foot) under the command of
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371:
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489:People executed by the Roman Empire
416:The Roman Empire at Bay: AD 180–395
13:
14:
500:
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233:, Book 18.3 Penguin edition, 1986
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342:R. Haston Norwood, Barbatio, in
484:People executed by decapitation
372:Hunt, David (1998), "Julian",
356:Jones, Martindale & Morris
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50:, a senior cavalry commander (
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474:Executed ancient Roman people
374:The Cambridge Ancient History
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7:
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10:
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464:Generals of Constantius II
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103:. There he was married to
413:Potter, David S. (2004).
26:general of the infantry (
419:. New York: Routledge.
449:4th-century executions
231:The Later Roman Empire
229:Ammianus Marcellinus,
199:List of Roman generals
99:to the royal court in
36:protectores domestici
459:Comites domesticorum
309:Ammianus Marcellinus
291:Ammianus Marcellinus
273:Ammianus Marcellinus
255:Ammianus Marcellinus
152:Battle of Strasbourg
22:(died AD 359) was a
87:Barbatio and Julian
75:after the death of
469:Generals of Julian
454:4th-century Romans
358:, p. 146-147.
16:Roman army officer
170:Treason and death
77:Claudius Silvanus
44:Claudius Silvanus
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479:Magistri peditum
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409:
377:
359:
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344:Military History
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52:Magister Equitum
28:Magister Peditum
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386:J.R. Martindale
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346:, December 1999
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143:pontoon bridge
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62:Fall of Gallus
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32:Constantius II
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40:Gallus Caesar
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56:Roman Empire
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243:Potter 2004
218:Potter 2004
444:359 deaths
438:Categories
317:, XVI.11.7
314:Res Gestae
299:, XVI.11.8
296:Res Gestae
278:Res Gestae
263:, XVI.11.4
260:Res Gestae
205:References
194:Roman army
390:J. Morris
392:(1971).
188:See also
112:Alamanni
38:) under
20:Barbatio
366:Sources
177:Eusebia
116:forceps
48:Arbitio
423:
402:
388:&
132:Raetia
120:forfex
105:Helena
97:Athens
93:Julian
81:Caesar
136:Laeti
128:Reims
101:Milan
24:Roman
421:ISBN
400:ISBN
124:Sens
73:Gaul
69:Pola
126:to
118:or
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384:;
335:^
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408:.
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