Claudius Sylvanas

Sylvan was originally a Romanized franc and adhered to Christianity. His father was Bonit , distinguished himself under Constantine I in the wars with Licinius . Under the usurper of Magnesia, Sylvanas was a tribune , but before the battle of Mursa he switched to the side of Constantius II , for which he received the post of master of infantry . At court, one of the main antagonists of Sylvanas was Arbitsion (former master of cavalry at court , lat. Magister equitum in praesenti ).

He was sent by Constantius II to the war with the barbarians in Gaul . Sylvanas acted quite successfully, but intrigues immediately began against him. According to Ammianus Marcellinus , his detractors, having obtained the letters of Sylvanas, washed away the texts, leaving only his signature. Having fabricated fake letters, from which it turned out that Sylvan supposedly planned a coup, they sent them Constance. At the court for Sylvanas, the Gentile commander Malarich , his fellow tribesman, actively intervened . Malarich offered himself as a mediator in negotiations with Sylvanas, warning that if his fellow tribe was not sent to that, he, out of fear for his life, seeing such serious accusations, would raise an uprising. However, they disobeyed him, and at Silvan's insistence, Apodemy , "a long-standing and cruel enemy of good people," was sent ^[1] . He did everything to aggravate the situation, behaving with Sylvanas as if he had already been arrested. Meanwhile, a new fake letter was written, from which it turned out that not only Sylvan, but also Malarich was involved in the upcoming rebellion. The latter, however, relying on numerous Franks at the court, complained about the intrigue of the emperor. Constantius ordered the investigation into the case, but although the fact of the forgery was disclosed, none of the participants in the intrigue was punished because of the assistance of senior court patrons.

Sylvanas, not knowing what to decide in such circumstances, first wanted to run to his fellow tribesmen, the Franks, but then, after consulting with his officers, he declared himself Augustus (August 11, 355). Constantius was amazed when he found out about it. Urzitsin , an experienced military man, master of cavalry in the East, who at that time was in disgrace due to palace intrigues, was urgently called to the court. He was entrusted with the task of suppressing the performance of Sylvanas. Constantius, meanwhile, sent a friendly letter to Sylvanas, pretending to know nothing about his rebellion. The troops under the command of Urzitsin hastily headed for Gaul, in a hurry to overtake rumors of rebellion. However, the news spread very quickly, and many people flocked to Sylvan (who was in the Colony of Agrippin , modern Cologne ). Urzitsin, seeing this, decided to join the usurper for a look. Sylvan received Urzitsin well and brought him closer to himself. Meanwhile, close associates of Urzitsin (and Ammianus Marcellinus , who was directly involved in the events, including) secretly recruited soldiers for the attempt on Sylvanas. And so, on the 28th day of the rebellion (September 7, 355),

at the first break of the morning, a detachment of armed men gathered and, manifesting, as is usually the case in risky businesses, incredible audacity, entered the palace and interrupted the guards. Sylvanas hid from fear in the chapel; he was dragged from there, and when he tried to hide in the meeting place of the Christian community, they chopped off with swords.

Thus ended his life commander, who had a considerable merit.

- ^[2]

Sylvanas was left with a young son, whom Constantius spared. Part of the property of Claudius Sylvanas was received by his successor - Barbation ^[3] .

It is believed that Ammian “invented” the whole rebellion in order to put in good light the actions of his boss, Urzitsin, and to justify his killing of Sylvan ^[4] . According to this theory, Constantius began to fear the too popular Sylvanas and offered his post to Urzitsin, who “overdid” the execution of the order. This theory is mainly based on the fact that so far no Sylvan coins have been found, while each Roman usurper, declaring himself emperor, immediately proceeded to mint coins with his own image (for example, even the coin of Maria , the Gallic usurper, was found III century , who, according to the ancient tradition, corrected only three days). However, this theory of a fictitious conspiracy is generally rejected by researchers ^[5] . The lack of numismatic sources can be explained by the fact that Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier ) - the city in which the mint closest to the Colony Agrippina was - did not open its gate in front of Sylvan.

• DiMaio M. Silvanus (355 AD) // De Imperatoribus Romanis.
• Silvanus // The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire / AHM Jones, JR Martindale, and J. Morris. - Cambridge: 1971 T. I.
• The Outsider Inside: Ammianus on the Rebellion of Silvanus] // Drijvers JW and Hunt D. The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus. - London, 1999.
• Syme R. Ammianus and the Historia Augusta. - Oxford, 1968.
• Matthews JF The Roman Empire of Ammianus. - London, 1989.
• Barnes TD Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality. - Ithaca, 1998.
• Nutt DC Silvanus and the Emperor Constantius II // Antichton, 7, 1973. P. 80-89.