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Sarus or Saurus (d. 413 AD) was a Gothic chieftain and commander for the emperor Honorius. He was known for his hostility to the prominent Gothic brothers Alaric I and Ataulf, and was the brother of Sigeric, who ruled the Goths briefly in 415. ==Career== Nothing is known of his life before he comes to notice in 406 commanding a force of Gothic troops, along with other barbarian ''foederati'', against the invasion of Italy by Radagaisus of 405-6.〔Orosius VII 37〕 Roman and federate troops ultimately defeated the invaders at the Battle of Faesulae. In 407 he was sent against the British usurper Constantine III. First he defeated and killed Iustinianus, one of Constantine's ''magistri militum'', then tricked and killed the other, Nebiogastes. Then Sarus laid siege to Constantine himself in Valentia, but fled back to Italy at the approach of Constantine's new generals Edobichus and Gerontius, being forced to surrender all his booty to Bacaudae (late Roman bandits or rebels) for passage over the Alps.〔Zosimus VI 2; Kulkowsky (2000), p. 334〕 As he must have commanded an army, he may have been appointed ''magister militum'' (general) for this expedition;〔PLRE II p. 978; Boak (1915) p. 159 considers him to have definitely been a ''magistri militum''.〕 elsewhere he is said to have had a following or warband of only about three hundred.〔Zosimus VI 13; Olympiodorus fr. 3〕 Early in 408, whilst commanding a force of barbarians at Ravenna, Stilicho induced him to mutiny in an attempt to prevent Honorius from travelling there. Then, when Stilicho was recalled by the Emperor under suspicion of treachery, Sarus, apparently incensed that Stilicho continued to obey orders and refused to use the barbarian troops on hand to defend himself, fought his way through Stilicho's Hun bodyguard to protest.〔Zosimus V 34〕 Later in 408, after the fall of Stilicho, Sarus' name was put forward as Stilicho's successor as the most suitable candidate for the office of ''magister militum in praesenti'' (supreme commander), but the Emperor Honorius refused to promote him.〔Zosimus V.36, though Philostorgius ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' XII.3 claims he ''was'' made ''magister militum in praesenti''.〕 It is possible his resentment of Honorius, as borne out by later actions, started here 〔PLRE II p. 979〕 We next hear of Sarus in 410, apparently subsisting independently in the region of Picenum. Ataulf, who was coming to join his brother-in-law Alaric, decided to attack him in passing and Sarus, thinking his force of three hundred would be no match for the Gothic army, fled to Honorius.〔Zosimus VI 13〕 Later that year, when Alaric was conducting negotiations with Honorius near Ravenna, Sarus with his warband attacked him, seemingly on his own initiative. This prompted Alaric to finally give up on negotiations and sack Rome on August 24.〔Sozomen IV 9; Bury (1923), p. 183〕 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「Sarus the Goth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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