The Presbyters Project

CCCVIIII OLYMPI [...] II. [...] Theudorico rege cum exercitu ad Bracaram extremam ciuitatem Galleciae pertendente V kal. Nouembris, die dominico, etsi incruenta, fit tamen satis maesta et lacrimabilis eiusdem direptio ciuitatis. Romanorum magna agitur captiuitas captiuorum; sanctorum basilicae effractae; altaria sublata atque confracta; uirgines dei exim quidem abductae, sed integritate seruata; clerus usque ad nuditatem pudoris exutus; promiscui sexus cum paruulis de locis refugii sanctis populus omnis abstractus; iumentorum, pecorum, camellorumque horrore locus sacer impletus; scriptâ super Hierusalem ex parte caelestis irae renouauit exempla. (167)

(ed. Burgess 1988: 104, 106)

Olympiad 309 [...] 2. [...] With his army, King Theoderic made for Bracara, the most distant city of Gallaecia, and on Sunday, 28 October he sacked it, an action which, although accomplished without bloodshed, was nevertheless tragic and lamentable enough. A great many Romans were taken captive; the basilicas of the saints stormed; altars thrown down and broken up; virgins of God abducted from the city, but not violated; the clergy stripped right down to the shame of their nakedness; the whole population regardless of sex along with little children dragged from the holy piaces of sanctuary; the sacred place filled with the sacrilegrous presence of mules, cattle, and camels. This sack partially revived the examples of heavenly wrath written about Jerusalem. (167)

(transl. R. Burgess 1988: 105, 107)

Discussion:

As a consequence of the crisis of AD 455 (the fall of the Emperor Petronius Maximus and the accession of Avitus, supported by the Visigoths of Theodoric I in Gaul, the sack of Rome by Vandals) the Suevi started raids on the Roman provinces of Carthaginensis and Tarraconensis in Spain. In response, Avitus dispatched Gothic foederati to fight with the Suevi. The Visigoths won the battle of Obrigo in AD 456 and then sacked the Suevic capital city of Braga in Galicia (Muhlberger 1990: 224–27).

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula
Gaul

About the source:

Author: Hydatius
Title: Chronicle, Continuatio chronicorum Hieronymianorum ad a. 468
Origin: Chaves (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Hydatius, bishop in Galicia (probably in Chaves, Iberian Peninsula), wrote his chronicle ca 468–69. It is the most important source of the history of Spain in the fifth century. For a detailed discussion on the chronicle and further bibliography, see Burgess 1988, Muhlberger 1990: 193–266.

Edition:

Edition and translation: R.W. Burgess, The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana: Two Contemporary Accounts of the Final Years of the Roman Empire, Oxford 1988.

Editions:

Mommsen Theodor ed., Hydatii Lemici continuatio chronicorum Hieronymianorum, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11, Berlin 1894, 1-36.

Tranoy, A. ed., Hydace, Chronique, v. 1-2, Paris 1973

Bibliography:

S. Muhlberger, The Fifth-Century Chroniclers: Prosper, Hydatius, and the Gallic Chronicler of 452, Leeds 1990.

Categories:

Relation with - Barbarian

Relation with - Heretic/Schismatic

Conflict - Violence

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1011, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1011