Charaton ( Greek .αράτων ; the first third of the V century ) is the king of the Huns (mentioned in 412).
| Haraton | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek Χαράτων | |||||||
| |||||||
| Predecessor | Uldin or Donat | ||||||
| Successor | Octar and Roy | ||||||
| Birth | |||||||
| Death | no later than 430 | ||||||
Content
Etymology
Emelyan Pritsak points to the Turkic etymology named after Kharaton [1] : comes from the Altai xara / qara ( Turkish. Kara, Azeri qara, Kazakh. Qara, etc.) - black and tōn ( Kazakh. Ton ("clothing, sheepskin coat" ), azerb. don ("dress"), crimea don ("underpants"), etc.) - clothes, cloak, coat . He pointed out that in the Ottoman Turkic language, don meant horse-clothes, and that there is also the term "black-haired horse". [2] Pritsak writes that such a mysterious name is possibly related to the totemism of the Huns. [2]
Biography
The only source reporting on Charaton are extracts from the “History” of Olympiador Thebes made for the “ Library ” of the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius the Great [3] . However, the brevity of these notes does not allow historians to accurately establish the circumstances of the reign of Charaton [4] .
According to Olympiodor, in 412 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Huns and their leader Donatus . About who was the sender of the embassy, the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II or the West Roman emperor Honorius is not known. It is also unknown which part of the Huns power Donat ruled: it is assumed that he could manage either the Black Sea or Pannonian lands. Olympodor wrote that along the way he had to make a voyage, as well as survive many other dangers. However, shortly after the ambassadors arrived, Donat was killed. There is no detailed description of this event in the extracts of Photius: it is only mentioned that Donat was " treacherously deceived by an oath ." In response to this murder, the “ first of the ricks ” of the Huns Haraton “ burst into anger ”, and only the gifts transmitted by the imperial emissaries resolved the conflict. Probably the murder of Donatus was inspired by the Roman ambassadors [4] [5] .
It is not known exactly what position Haraton occupied among the Huns during the visit of Olympiodorus. Opinions are expressed that he could be the co-ruler of Donat, could be his successor on the throne, and could be the supreme king of the Huns, while Donat was the leader subordinate to him. In the latter case, Charaton could be the successor of Tsar Uldin [4] . Based on the mention of Haraton as the “first of the Ricks,” it is concluded that he was the ruler of most of the Hunnic state, possibly the first king to unite in the 410s all the Hun tribes living north of the Danube . Nothing is known about the exact time and duration of Kharaton’s reign, but it is assumed that he died no later than 430, when the historical sources mention the names of other kings of the Huns, possibly his relatives, Octara and Rua [6] .
Notes
- ↑ Pritsak, 1982 , p. 437.
- ↑ 1 2 Pritsak, 1982 , p. 438.
- ↑ Olympiodor . History (§ 18).
- ↑ 1 2 3 Maenchen-Gelfen O.J., 2010 , p. 96-98.
- ↑ Heather P. The Fall of Roman Empire: A New History . - Pan Macmillan, 2010 .-- P. 324-325. - ISBN 978-0-3305-2983-9 .
- ↑ Maenchen-Gelfen O.J., 2010 , p. 106 and 111.
Literature
- Maenchen-Gelfen O. J. World of the Huns . - Princeton: The Word, 2010 .-- 526 p. - ISBN 978-5-9835-6114-4 .
- Martindale JR Charaton // Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire / AM Jones , JR Martindale. - Cambridge University Press , 1980. - Vol. II: AD 395-527. - P. 283. - ISBN 0-521-20159-4 [2001 reprint].
- Pritsak, Omeljan. The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan . - Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute , 1982. - Vol. IV.