Vitalian (consul)
Vitalian (Latin: Vitalianus, Greek: Βιταλιανός; died 520) was a general of the Eastern Roman Empire. A native of Moesia in the northern Balkans, and probably of mixed Roman and Gothic or Scythian barbarian descent, he followed his father into the imperial army, and by 513 had become a senior commander in Thrace.
Vitalian
July 520
Constantinople
(modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
In that year he rebelled against Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518), whose fiscal stringency and promotion of Miaphysitism were widely unpopular, and allowed Vitalian to quickly win over large parts of the army and the people of Thrace to his cause. After scoring a series of victories over loyalist armies, Vitalian came to threaten Constantinople itself, and forced Anastasius to officially recant his adoption of Miaphysitism in summer 515. Soon after, however, as Anastasius failed to honour some of the terms of the agreement, Vitalian marched on Constantinople, only to be decisively defeated by Anastasius' admiral, Marinus.
Vitalian fled to his native Thrace and remained in hiding until Anastasius's death in 518. As a staunch promoter of Chalcedonian orthodoxy, he was pardoned by the new emperor Justin I (r. 518–527) and was engaged in the negotiations with the Pope to end the Acacian Schism. He was named consul for the year 520, but was murdered shortly after, probably on the orders of Justin's nephew and heir-apparent, Justinian (r. 527–565), who saw in him a potential rival for the throne. His sons also became generals in the East Roman army.
Biography[edit]
Origins and family[edit]
Vitalian was born in Zaldapa in Lower Moesia (usually identified with modern Abrit in north-eastern Bulgaria).[1] He is called a "Goth" or a "Scythian" in the Byzantine sources. Since Vitalian's mother was a sister of Macedonius II, Patriarch of Constantinople in 496–511, this points to a mixed marriage and a probable barbarian origin for his father, Patriciolus.[2][3] On the other hand, the assertion that he was a "Goth" is based on a single Syriac source, and is today considered dubious.[4] Likewise, the "Scythian" label commonly applied to him by some contemporary authors is non-conclusive, since the term "Scythian" could mean an inhabitant of Scythia Minor, or simply, in the classicizing language usual in Byzantine texts, someone from the north-eastern fringes of the Graeco-Roman world, centred on the Mediterranean; the term had a wide-encompassing meaning, devoid of clear ethnic attributes.[5] Furthermore, since none of the "Scythian Monks", to whom Vitalian and members of his family seem to have been related, expressed any kinship, by blood or spiritually, with the Arian Goths who at that time ruled Italy, a Gothic origin for Vitalian is questionable.[6] Whatever Patriciolus's origin, his name was Latin, while of Vitalian's own sons, the generals Bouzes and Coutzes had Thracian names and Venilus a Gothic name. His nephew, John, later also became a distinguished general in the wars against the Ostrogoths of Italy.[7][8]
According to the chroniclers' descriptions, Vitalian was short of stature and stammered, but his personal bravery and military skills were widely acknowledged.[9][10]
Vitalian seems to have been of local Latinised Dacian-Getic (Thracian) stock, born in Scythia Minor or in Moesia; his father bore a Latin name, Patriciolus, while two of his sons had Thracian names and one a Gothic name.[8]