Gildo

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Gildo

Gildo (died 398) was a Roman general in the province of Mauretania

Mauretania

In Antiquity, Mauretania was originally an independent Berber people monarchy on the Mediterranean coast of north Africa , corresponding to western Algeria, northern Morocco and Spain Plazas de soberan?a....
. He revolted against 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....
and the western empire (Gildonic revolt

Gildonic revolt

The Gildonic revolt was a rebellion in 398 led by Comes Gildo against Roman Emperor Honorius . The revolt was subdued by Stilicho, the magister militum of the Western Roman empire....
) but was defeated and committed suicide.

Gildo was a Berber by birth. Being a son of military officer Navil, he was brother to Firmus

Firmus (4th century usurper)

Firmus was a Roman usurper under Valentinian I.Firmus was the son of the Mauretania prince Nubel, a powerful Roman military officer, as well as a wealthy Christian....
. When Firmus revolted against Valentinian I

Valentinian I

Flavius Valentinianus, known in English as Valentinian I, was Roman Emperor from 364 until his death. Valentinian is often referred to as the "last great western emperor"....
(375), Gildo stayed loyal to his emperor and, at the suppression of the revolt, was awarded with the immense patrimony confiscated from his brother.

In 386, 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....
appointed Gildo Comes
Comes

Comes is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus , especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" + ire "go."...
Africae
Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
and Magister utriusque militiae per Africam, as reward for his support to his father Theodosius the Elder

Count Theodosius

Flavius Theodosius or Theodosius the Elder was a senior military officer serving in the Western Roman Empire. He achieved the rank of Comes Britanniarum and as such, he is usually referred to as Comes Theodosius....
in the suppression of Firmus' revolt.

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Gildo (died 398) was a Roman general in the province of Mauretania

Mauretania

Honorius (emperor)

Gildonic revolt

Firmus (4th century usurper)

Valentinian I

Theodosius I

Count Theodosius

Africa Province

File:Roman Africa.JPGThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean Sea coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor....
was ruled by Gildo with some sort of independence, and oppressed by every species of tyranny.

After the death of Theodosius and the rise to the throne of his sons, Arcadius

Arcadius

Flavius Arcadius was Roman Emperors in the Eastern half of the Roman Empire from 395 until his death.Arcadius was born in Spain, the elder son of Theodosius I and Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of Flavius Augustus Honorius, who would become a Western Roman Emperor....
and Honorius

Honorius (emperor)

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....
, a role played by Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
until the split of the Empire into two halves. Incited by the political machinations of the eunuch Eutropius

Eutropius (Byzantine official)

Eutropius was a fourth century Byzantine Empire official.He began his career as a eunuch in the palace of Theodosius I. After Theodosius' death in 395 he successfully arranged the marriage of the new emperor, Arcadius, to Aelia Eudoxia, having blocked an attempt by Arcadius' chief minister, Rufinus , to marry the young and weak-willed emp...
, Gildo seriously entertained the notion of joining the Eastern Roman Empire by pledging fidelity to Arcadius. The possibility of losing the granary of Rome led to civil turmoil in the city, and acting on an appeal by Stilicho

Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of barbarian birth....
, 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....
declared Gildo an "enemy of the State" and started a war against him.

At the same time, Gildo had a quarrel with his brother Mascezel, who was obliged to flee to the court of Honorius; Gildo took revenge on his brother by killing his two sons. Mascezel was entrusted by Stilicho with the command of the war against Gildo and given the command of a chosen body of Gallic veterans, who had lately served under the standard of Eugenius. Landed with his few troops in Africa, he camped in front of a large Moorish camp. Despite its superiority, Gildo's army melted in front of the superior discipline of Mascezel's army.

After the defeat, Gildo was obliged to flee in a small boat, hoping to reach the friendly shores of the Eastern Roman Empire. However, unfavourable winds drove the vessel back to the harbour of Tabraca, where the inhabitants were eager to display their new loyalty by throwing Gildo in the dungeons. To avoid the revenge of his brother, Gildo committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"....
by hanging.