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Flavius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a Roman usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
 (392-394) against Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Theodosius I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.

rmer teacher of grammar and rhetoric, as well as magister scrinorum, Eugenius was an acquaintance of the Frank
Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century....
 magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
 and de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire Arbogast
Arbogast (general)

Flavius Arbogastes , or Arbogast was a Franks general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim ....
.

owing the death of Valentinian II
Valentinian II

Flavius Valentinianus Iunior , known usually by his anglicised name, Valentinian II, was a Roman Emperor from 375 to 392....
, Arbogast
Arbogast (general)

Flavius Arbogastes , or Arbogast was a Franks general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim ....
, who had probably been the cause of Valentinian's murder or suicide, elevated Eugenius to the purple (22 August 392).






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Flavius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a Roman usurper
Roman usurper

Usurpers are individuals or groups of individuals who obtain and maintain the power or rights of another by force and without legal authority. Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule....
 (392-394) against Emperor
Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
 Theodosius I
Theodosius I

Flavius Theodosius , also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great , was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Reuniting the eastern and western portions of the empire, Theodosius was the last emperor of both the Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire....
. Though himself a Christian, he was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.

Life

A former teacher of grammar and rhetoric, as well as magister scrinorum, Eugenius was an acquaintance of the Frank
Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century....
 magister militum
Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine I . Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire....
 and de facto ruler of the Western Roman Empire Arbogast
Arbogast (general)

Flavius Arbogastes , or Arbogast was a Franks general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim ....
.

Rise to power

Following the death of Valentinian II
Valentinian II

Flavius Valentinianus Iunior , known usually by his anglicised name, Valentinian II, was a Roman Emperor from 375 to 392....
, Arbogast
Arbogast (general)

Flavius Arbogastes , or Arbogast was a Franks general in the Roman Empire. It has been stated by some ancient historians that he was the son of Flavius Bauto, Valentinian II's former magister militum and protector before Arbogast, but modern scholars largely discount this claim ....
, who had probably been the cause of Valentinian's murder or suicide, elevated Eugenius to the purple (22 August 392). The choice of Eugenius over proclaiming himself, offered to Arbogast two strong advantages: Eugenius, a Roman, was more suitable than Arbogast, a Frank, as an emperor; furthermore, the Roman Senate
Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
 would have been more likely to have supported Eugenius than Arbogast.

Civil, religious, and military policies

After being installed as Emperor, Eugenius changed the imperial administrators. When Theodosius had left the western half of the empire to Valentinian, he had put his own men in the highest civil offices, to keep a strong grasp on the whole empire. Eugenius replaced these administrators with others loyal to himself, coming from the senatorial class. Virius Nicomachus Flavianus
Virius Nicomachus Flavianus

Virius Nicomachus Flavianus was a grammarian, a historian and a politician of the Roman Empire.A pagan and close friend of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, he was praetorian prefecture of Italy in 390-392 and, under usurper Eugenius , again praetorian prefect and consul ....
 the Elder became Praetorian Prefect of Italy
Praetorian prefecture of Italy

The praetorian prefecture of Italy was one of four large Praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the Western Balkans, the Danubian provinces and parts of North Africa....
, his son Nicomachus Flavianus
Nicomachus Flavianus (son)

Nicomachus Flavianus , sometimes referred to as Flavianus the younger, was a grammarian and a politician of the Roman Empire. He was the son of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus....
 the Younger received the title of Prefect of Rome, while the new praefectus annonae
Grain supply to the city of Rome

The megalopolis of ancient Rome could never be fed entirely from its own surrounding countryside, especially as this region was increasingly used to produce fruit, vegetables and other perishable goods, and also taken up with the villas and parks of the aristocracy....
 was Numerius Proiectus.

Eugenius was nominally a Christian, and therefore was reluctant to accept a program of imperial support to Polytheism
Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief in or worship of multiple deities, such as gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a Pantheon , along with their own mythology and rituals....
. His men, however, convinced Eugenius to use public money to fund 'Pagan' projects, such as the rededication of the Temple of Venus and Rome and the restoration of the Altar of Victory
Altar of Victory

The Altar of Victory was located in the Roman Senate House bearing a gold statue of the goddess Nike . The altar was established by Augustus in 29 BC in honor of the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium....
 within the Curia
Curia

A curia in early Ancient Rome times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs....
 (removed by Emperor Gratian
Gratian

Flavius Gratianus , known usually by the anglicised name Gratian, was a Western Roman Emperor from 375 to 383.He favoured the Christian religion against Roman polytheism, refusing the traditional polytheistic attributes of the emperors and removing the Altar of Victory from the Roman Senate....
). This religious policy created tension with Theodosius and the powerful and influential Bishop Ambrose
Ambrose

Saint Ambrose was a Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church....
, who left his see in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
 when the imperial court of Eugenius arrived.

Eugenius was also successful in the military field, notably in the renovation of old alliances with Alamanni
Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic languagess located around the upper Main river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211?17 and claimed thereby to be their defeater....
 and Franks. Arbogast, who was Frank and had also Alamanni and Frank soldiers in his ranks, marched to the Rhine
Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
 frontier, where he impressed and pacified the Germanic tribes by parading his army in front of them.

Fall

When he was elected emperor, Eugenius sent ambassadors to Theodosius's court, asking for recognition of his election. Theodosius received them, but started to gather troops to defeat Eugenius. Theodosius also promoted his eight-year-old son Honorius
Honorius (emperor)

Flavius Honorius was Roman Emperor and then Western Roman Empire from 395 until his death. He was the younger son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Eastern Emperor Arcadius....
 to the rank of Augustus of the West in January 393.

Theodosius then moved from Constantinople with his army, and met Eugenius and Arbogast in the Battle of the Frigidus
Battle of the Frigidus

The Battle of the Frigidus, also called the Battle of the Frigid River, was fought between September 5–6 394, between the army of the Eastern Roman Empire Theodosius I and the army of Western Roman Empire Eugenius....
 (on the modern Italy-Slovenia
Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north....
 border) on 6 September 394. The bloody battle lasted two days, and was marked by unusual astronomical and meteorological events, but in the end Theodosius won. Arbogast immediately committed suicide after the defeat, while Eugenius was held for execution as a criminal, his head afterward being displayed in Theodosius' camp.

Evaluation

The reign of Eugenius marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. A year later Theodosius died, dividing his empire between his two sons. This had happened many times before in the previous two centuries, but this time it was to be final - the Roman Empire never reunited, and the Western half soon fell.

Eugenius also represented the last opportunity for the Pagans and the senatorial class to oppose the Christianization of the Empire. The Battle of the Frigidus was part of a trend towards using increasing percentages of barbarian troops, especially in the west, where it led to the weakening of the empire itself.

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