Chapter 1: GOTHS IN ROME
Part 5: Usurpers
Maximus Tiranus. An usurper of the Western Roman Empire, who did not fully succeed, because the West was hardly extant enough to be usurped. But the successful usurper of much of Hispania. He was elected by the general Gerontius, possibly his father or one of his uncles.
Gerontius was previously one of the supporters of Constantine III of Britannia, also an usurper. Constantine III declared himself, and was declared, the Western Roman Emperor in 407 after news of the barbarian-caused chaos in Gallia reached Britannia. Prior to this, the provinces in Britannia had already set up and disavowed multiple usurpers--but he was the last. Constantine was chosen since his name evoked a sense of capability due to the fact that it was identical to that of Constantine the Great, who coincidentally took power in Britannia.
Constantine III was a fairly average soldier, without special martial ability but still with some capability. He took all mobile troops in Britannia (which was one of the events leading to its fall) and rushed across the Britannic Sea [1], arriving in Bononia. Justinian and Nebiogastes, supporters of Constantine III and generals leading the main part of his army, headed to Valentia Julia. They were defeated by troops led by Sarus, who himself was sent by Stilicho. But after this defeat, Constantine III sent another army led by Gerontius and Edobichus, forcing Sarus to retreat into Italy.
Constantine III managed to secure the Rhine, garrison the passes from Gallia to Italy, and even make Arelate [2] his capital. He appointed Apollinaris as his prefect. The year was 408. Then, suspecting that cousins of Emperor Honorius residing in Hispania would attack from the south while Sarus and Stilicho would attack from the southeast, Constantine III elevated his eldest son Constans to the position of co-emperor and sent him to Hispania with Gerontius. One battle was lost and another one won; two cousins escaped to Constantinople while two were captured. Then, Constans left Gerontius in Hispania while he departed to Arelate.
Suddenly, several events occurred undermining the (loyalist) Western Empire, which would lead Constantine III to a temporary moment of success and glory. In early August, 408, a Roman army in Ticinum mutinied. The following events were chaotic, but by the end of the year, Stilicho had been executed, probably on Honorius’ orders, Sarus had abandoned the western army out of dissatisfaction, and Honorius was left without significant military power while Alaric and his Goths raged in Tyrrhenia. Constantine III sent envoys to Ravenna, and Honorius, in a fairly powerless state, appointed him as co-emperor and co-consul for the year 409. This would be Constantine III’s highest point, as he essentially ruled over all of the Western Empire except for Italy and the African provinces..
But throughout this time, the barbarian tribes who had crossed the Rhine in 406, the Vandals, Alans, Suebi, and Burgundians, had been plundering their way through Gallia. They arrived at the Pyrenees in 409 and crushed garrisons loyal to Constantine III. As a response, Constantine III proclaimed his son Constans an Augustus and sent him to deal with the barbarians in Hispania. Subsequently, Gerontius rebelled against Constantine III and appointed a relative, Maximus Tiranus, as the Western Roman Emperor. Nearly simultaneously, Saxon pirates raided Britannia, showcasing Constantine III’s neglect of the region and thus leading to the rebellion of both Britannia and Armorica and the expulsion of Constantine III’s officials from the former.
The reason Gerontius rebelled is uncertain; it’s possible that he disliked the appointment of Constans. After all, as Gerontius expected, it led to Constans replacing him as Constantine III’s chief military man in Hispania, and it would have even if he hadn’t revolted. It’s also possible that Gerontius was disheartened by the failure of Constantine III to hold back the barbarians who had just arrived in Hispania. Or perhaps he just saw an opportunity to gain power. Regardless, as soon as Gerontius and Maximus rebelled against Constantine III in northeastern Hispania, they began to carve out a sphere of influence in the region.
Usurper Maximus Tiranus and Gerontius, his main general and supporter, allied with the barbarian tribes surrounding them. The Suebi, Vandals, Alans, and Burgundians had initially become foederati after swearing fealty to Honorius, but Maximus Tiranus’ usurped empire quickly became the local authority, at least for the Suebi, as well as the Vascons, who had inhabited the area for many centuries. He offered large swathes of land to the Suebi, even greater in extent than those offered by envoys of Honorius, and in exchange, not only were they placated despite the change in rule, but they provided to Maximus and Gerontius a large army. Some Vascons and Romans also fought for Maximus. Burgundians, Alans, and Vandals may have fought for Maximus too, but in general, his rule did not extend that far.
Maximus Tiranus and Gerontius, as well as King Hermeric of the Suebi, who played a large part in the new usurping state, also aligned themselves with the Franks, enemies of Constantine III.
Using his army of barbarians, Gerontius defended Maximus’ territories from the invader Constans throughout 410. Meanwhile, Constantine III made a desperate gamble. As his proclaimed Western Empire was falling apart, he marched on Italy with his remaining troops, urged to do so by an individual named Allobichus. The invasion, which took place in late spring in 410, ended in defeat. Allobichus lost his life, and Constantine was forced to retreat into Gallia.
Gerontius continued to fight Constans, who was captured and killed in 411 at Colonia Julia Vienna. He then headed to Arelate, trapping Constantine there and besieging him. However, troops of Caius Posthumus Dardanus, the prefect of Gallia who was loyal to Honorius and somewhat loyal to the Visigoths, forced Gerontius to retreat. Constantine III was captured and beheaded by Dardanus shortly thereafter.
After the fall of Constantine III, Jovinus, a Gallo-Roman senator, was supported by Goar, the king of a Roman-allied group of Alans, in a claim of Western emperorship. Unlike Constantine III, he allied himself with the Franks. He was able to take control of much of Lugdunensis and other areas of Northern Gallia, but Dardanus and other loyalists prevented him from taking control of the south, despite two attempts to take Arelate. It should be noted, however, that Dardanus himself was barely holding onto the south.
After being ousted by Dardanus, Gerontius returned to Hispania to report to Maximus. As commanded by Maximus, he took control of parts of Gallia Aquitania after passing through the lands of the Vascons, but did not advance too far north of the River Garunna. At the same time, Hermeric of the Suebi, leading a purely Suebic army expanded Maximus’ territories into a small part of Septimania, as well as further south. Both of these new lands were to be ruled by the Suebi, who would be subservients of Maximus.
Some time in 412, Maximus Tiranus declared that he was the Emperor of Tarraconensis. He ceased to call himself the Western Roman Emperor (though he never said that he wasn’t). And to the mild dismay of Gerontius and Hermeric, he did not pursue the actual conquest of the western half of the Empire. Of course, despite their surprise and disappointment at this political backing-down, Gerontius and Hermeric both remained loyal to Maximus, as Gerontius had appointed Maximus, who was a relative, in the first place, and Hermeric had received, thanks to Maximus, much land for his people. Little did they know that Maximus Tiranus’s restraint at that point would actually lead to success in the future--for one, lessening his claims would improve Maximus’s reputation with Honorius, the Visigoths, and the East.
For the time being, Maximus Tiranus minted coins in Barcino with his name and image on them and commissioned construction work on many of his cities’ walls. Hermeric’s Suebi settled and took control of their vast new territories--everything south of the Ebro river, and even some areas north of it, as well as a patch of Septimania--that Maximus Tiranus officially granted at this time. In 413 or 414, Hermeric converted to Catholicism, and in 414, Maximus Tiranus was referred to as Flavius Claudius Maximus Tiranus Hispanicus for the first time.
[1] The Britannic Sea is the English Channel.
[2] Arles
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