THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY I 118
The Frontier Emperor Restores the West
8-3. The Frontier Emperor Restores the West
Valentinian may indeed be styled the frontier Emperor, his title to fame is his restoration of the defences of Rome in the West against the surging barbarian hordes. He was a hard-worked soldier prince, and the one purpose which inspires his reign is his fixed determination never to yield an inch of Roman territory. He had always before his eyes the terrible warning of his predecessor. In the year 364, when the Emperor was still at Milan, ambassadors from the Alemanni came to greet him on his accession, and to receive the tribute which Roman pride disguised under the fairer name of gifts. Valentinian would not squander state funds in bounty to barbarians; the presents were small, while Ursatius, the magister officiorum, who took his cue from his master, treated the messengers with scant courtesy.
They returned indignant to their homes, and in the early days of the new year, A.D. 365, the Alemanni burst plundering and ravaging across the frontier. Charietto, the count commanding in both Germanies, and the aged general Servianus, stationed at Cabillona (Chalons-sur-Saone), both fell before the barbarian onset. Gaul demanded Valentinian's presence; the Emperor started for Paris in the month of October; and while on the march, news reached him of the revolt of Procopius. The report gave no details — he did not know whether Valens were alive or dead. But with that strong sense of imperial duty which dignifies the characters of the fourth-century emperors, he subordinated utterly the personal interest to the common weal: "Procopius is but my brother's enemy and my own," he repeated to himself; "the Alemanni are the foes of the Roman world."
Arrived at Paris, it was from that city that he despatched Dagalaiphus against the Alemanni. Autumn was fast giving place to winter, the tribesmen had scattered, and the new general was dilatory and inactive; he was recalled to become consul with the Emperor's son Gratian (Jan. 366) and Jovinus, as magister equitum, took his place at the head of the Roman troops. Three successive victories virtually concluded the campaign; at Scarponna (Charpeigne) one band of barbarians was surprised and defeated, while another was massacred on the Moselle. In negligent security the Alemanni on the river bank were drinking, washing, and dyeing their hair red, when from the fringe of the forest the Roman legionaries poured down upon them. Jovinus then undertook a further march and pitched his camp at Chalons-sur-Marne; here there was a desperate engagement with a third force of the enemy. The withdrawal during the battle of the tribune Balchobaudes seriously endangered the army's safety, but at length the day was won. The Alemanni lost six thousand killed and four thousand wounded; of the Romans two hundred were wounded and twelve hundred killed; in the pursuit Ascarii in the Roman service captured the barbarian king, and in the heat of the moment he was struck dead. After a few lesser encounters resistance was for the time at an end. It was probably his interest in this campaign which had led Valentinian to spend the early months of 366 at Rheims.
He now returned to Paris and from the latter city advanced (end of June 366?) to meet his successful general, whom he nominated for the consulship in the succeeding year. At the same time the head of Procopius reached him from the East. But in the high tide of success he was struck down with a serious illness (winter 366-7). The Court was already considering possible candidates for the purple when Valentinian recovered, but, realising the dangers for the West which might arise from a disputed succession, at Amiens on 24 August 367 he procured from the troops the recognition of the seven year old Gratian as co-Augustus.
It may well have been the necessity for defending the northern coast against raids of Franks and Saxons which had summoned Valentinian to Amiens; and now on his way from that town to Trier tidings reached him of a serious revolt in Britain. Pullofaudes, the Roman general, together with Nectaridus, the commander of the coast line and count of the Saxon shore, had both met their deaths. In the autumn of 367 Severus, count of the imperial guards, was despatched to the island only to be recalled. Jovinus, appointed in his place, sent Provertides in advance to raise levies, while in view of the constant reports of fresh disasters the Count Theodosius (the father of Theodosius the Great) was ordered to sail for Britain at the head of Gallic reinforcements.
From Boulogne he landed at Rutupiae (Richborough: spring 368) and was followed by the Batavi, Heruli, Jovii, and Victores. Scenes of hopeless confusion met him on his arrival; Dicalydones and Verturiones (the two divisions of the Picts), Attacotti and Scotti (Irish) all ranged pillaging over the countryside, while Frank and Saxon marauders swept down in forays on the coast. Theodosius marched towards London, and it would seem made this city his headquarters. Defeating the scattered troops of spoil-laden barbarians, he restored the greater part of the booty to the harassed provincials, while deserters were recalled to the standard by promises of pardon. From London, where he spent the winter, Theodosius prayed the Emperor to appoint men of wide experience to govern the island — Civilis as pro-praefect and Dulcitius as general; in this year too, he probably cooperated with imperial troops on the continent in the suppression of Frank and Saxon pirates in the Low Countries and about the mouths of the Rhine and Waal. Valentinian himself advanced as far north as Cologne in the autumn of 368.
In the year 369 Theodosius everywhere surprised the barbarians and swept the country clear of their robber bands. Town fortifications were restored, forts rebuilt, and frontiers regarrisoned, while the Areani, a treacherous border militia, were removed. Territory in the north was recovered, and a new fifth province of Valentia or Valentinia created. The revolt of Valentinus, who had been exiled to Britain on a criminal charge, was easily crushed by Theodosius, who repressed with a strong hand the treason trials which usually followed the defeat of an unsuccessful usurper. When he sailed for Gaul, probably in the spring of 370, he left the provincials "leaping for very joy." On his return to the Court he was appointed to succeed Jovinus as magister equitum (before end of May 370).
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