Agriwulf

Retelling Events Idaatsia

In the year 456, when the king of the Visigoths, Theodoric II, was in Spain with his army of "different nations", the following incident occurred. After the victory at Campus Paramus and the capture of Braga, the king headed south to Lusitania , but a certain man named Agrivulf, “left ready,” remained in Galicia , hoping to become the king of the Suevs . However, he died in Oporto in June 457. ^[1] This is how the case of Idacius describes it, and it is difficult to doubt that his story as a whole is true. He was on the scene, he was well informed and he had no reason to be biased.

Events in the retelling of Jordan

However, the story of Jordan in the work “ On the Origin and Deeds of the Geth ” about the same event is a much more complex version. According to Jordan, after the victory over the Svevs, Theodoric appointed one of his entourage, whom he called the king's client (cliens) , Agrivulf, named Svevov ruler. According to this version, Agrivulf did not “leave” ready: he was Theodoric’s right-handed person, who was then asked by the Suevs themselves to immediately become an independent ruler of Galicia . Naturally, in the opinion of the patriotic Jordan, such a dishonest man could not be a Goth of noble birth, since not a single noble Goth would sink to such a dirty betrayal. Therefore, according to Jordan, he came from a people called Varna . Jordan reproaches him: "I did not adjoin myself to freedom, I did not observe loyalty to the patron . " The Gothic king immediately sent a detachment against him, which defeated him in the first battle. Agriwulf was captured and executed. After this, the Suevs sent their priests to Theodorus , whom he received "with honors appropriate to their episcopal rank" (pontificali reverentia) , and allowed the Svets to elect the king themselves. They became Remismund , or, as Jordan calls him, Rimismund.

Undoubtedly, this entire plot in the Jordanian program was fabricated in order to give an explanation of this shameful incident in Gothic history and flatter the King Theodoric and his entourage. Indeed, there is no reason to believe that the story of Jordan, in which Theodoric appoints Agrivulfa as governor, is closer to the truth than the story of Idation, where Agrivulf is represented as a deserter . On the contrary, there is every reason to believe the story of Ada. It is unlikely that Agriwulf was waggle, not goth. Surely Jordan or his informant would have heard by the edge of his ear that a certain Goth had committed treason, being in the rearguard of the Gothic army in Galicia , in this restless zone between the army itself and its remote homeland. The historian tried to protect the good name of his people, arguing that Agrivulf was not at all goth. However, in his apology he allowed a clear anachronism (although in his time it was not so obvious), mentioning the Christian bishop or the Svech bishops. In fact, the Suevs were pagans at that time and remained pagans for almost a whole decade.

Third version

Historians point out that a foreigner (regardless of whether Agrivulf was gothic or boiled) could have counted on him to be accepted as ruler. True, it is possible that Agivulf has long been in the service of the king of the Svets. It is quite possible to identify him with a certain Agiulf, on whose orders the Roman comitat Censorius was killed in Seville in 448 , immediately after Rehiar had replaced his predecessor Rehil on the throne ^[2] . Rehila, in turn, captured Censoria in 440 and for 8 years he held him as an honorary prisoner ^[3] .

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