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Flavius Ricimer〔Michael Frassetto, "Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe, Society in Transformation", p. 305; ''Cambridge Medieval History'', vol. 1 (1967:420ff.〕 (; c. 405 – August 18, 472) was a Romanized Germanic general who effectively ruled the remaining territory of the Western Roman Empire from 456 until his death in 472. Deriving his power from his position as ''magister militum'' of the Western Empire, Ricimer exercised political control through a series of puppet emperors. Ricimer's military office and his dominance over the empire led to historians such as J. B. Bury to conclude that he was a link between previous ''magistri militum'', such as the Vandal Stilicho, and the Germanic King of Italy, Odoacer.〔J. B. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'' (London: Macmillan, 1889), vol. 1 p. 241〕 Odoacer deposed Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476, in an act often considered to mark the fall of the Roman Empire. ==Lineage== Ricimer was the son of Rechila, the Suevic King of Galicia. His mother was the daughter of Wallia, King of the Visigoths. It has been surmised that such an alliance between the Suevi and the Visigoths would have been made before Wallia's death in 418, after which Wallia's successors may have become hostile toward the family members of the deceased king. As entry into the Western Empire's military was a frequently-used option for "losers of struggles for leadership among the barbarians",〔Gillett, ("The Birth of Ricimer", ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'' ), 44 (1995), p. 382〕 Ricimer's family would have thus entered the service of Rome.〔Sister: Herwig Wolfram, ''History of the Goths'', (1979) 1988:33, following Martindale, ''Prosopography'', 2:524f; daughter: Wolfram 1988:202.〕 Ricimer's younger sister later married Gondioc, the King of the Burgundians. ==Rise to power== According to Sidonius Apollinaris, Ricimer served under the ''magister militum'' Flavius Aetius alongside the ''comes domesticorum'' Majorian, whom he befriended.〔Sidonius, ''Carmen V'', 266-268; translated by W.B. Anderson, ''Sidonius: Poems and Letters'' (Harvard: Loeb Classical Library), 1980), vol. 1 p. 83〕 A power vacuum was created in the Western Empire after the events of 454 and 455, which saw the consecutive murders of Aetius and of the Western Emperor Valentinian III, who had been responsible for the ''magister militum's'' assassination. After the assassinations, the Roman Senator Petronius Maximus proclaimed himself emperor. Petronius, however, was killed by a Roman mob immediately prior to the Vandal sacking of the city in 455. After the sack, the Visigothic King Theodoric II proclaimed as Emperor Avitus, the Roman military commander in Gaul. In return for Theodoric's support, Avitus agreed to allow the Visigoths to enter Suevi-controlled Hispania. Theodoric consented to Avitus's offers and the new emperor, with the Visigoths under his command, marched on Rome to secure the throne. Avitus named the Visigoth Remistus as ''magister militum'', a position which had been vacant since Aetius's death. Following the arrival of Avitus in Rome, Majorian gave his support, albeit reluctantly, to the new emperor. Avitus subsequently appointed Ricimer as a ''comes'', or count of the empire, a prominent military position. By this point, however, the Western Empire encompassed only the Italian Peninsula and portions of southern Gaul, a mere fraction of the territory held by Rome in previous centuries. Ricimer raised an army and navy from the Germanic mercenaries available to him, and commenced campaigns directed against "barbarian" tribes in conflict with the empire. Ricimer achieved his first important victory in 456, when he defeated the Vandals in a naval battle. Although Priscus wrote that Avitus had sent him to Sicily to engage the Vandals, Hydatius states he defeated the Vandals near Corsica.〔Priscus, fragment 24; translated by C.D. Gordon, ''The Age of Attila: Fifth Century Byzantium and the Barbarians'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1966), p. 115. Bury, ''History of the Later Roman Empire'', vol. 1 p. 236〕 After his Mediterranean victory, Ricimer was appointed by Avitus as ''magister militum praesentalis'', the commander of the Western Empire's field army in Italy and effectively the second-highest rank available to a general of the West. Ricimer used his new position to assist his colleague Majorian in plotting against Avitus, who had not yet been recognized as Emperor of the West by Marcian, the Eastern Emperor. Ricimer and Majorian convinced the Roman Senate to authorize a military expedition against Avitus, who had established himself at the imperial capital of Ravenna. The two led an army against an imperial force commanded by the ''magister militum'' Remistus and defeated it at Piacenza on October 16, 456. They then besieged Avitus in Ravenna, which fell. Avitus was captured, forced to assume the bishopric of Piacenza, and finally executed.〔John of Antioch, fragment 202; translated by C.D. Gordon, ''Age of Attila'', p. 116〕 With the Western throne vacant, the new Eastern Emperor, Leo I, granted Ricimer the title of patrician and the rank of ''magister militum'' on February 28, 457. Leo appointed Majorian to replace Ricimer in his Italian command. Without a Western Emperor, Leo hoped to use Ricimer as his effective vicegerent in the West. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ricimer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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