Start The interregnum lasted months after the death of Avitus. Most of the Gallic cities and aristocracy were turned away from Italy, and Generals Ricimer and Majorian were unsure what to do now. Taking advantage of the situation, Theoderic saw opportunities to found his own state on Roman soil. In the course of 457 he put aside the treaty with the Romans and rebelled, with which the war began. In Aquitaine he drew all power towards him and ordered his brother
Frederik to conquer the adjacent region
Septimania. The answer to this from the formal authority in Italy was long overdue. An invasion of northern Italy by the Alemanni and the southern Vandals caused Ricimer and Majorian to focus their attention on other matters than the Visigoths in Gaul. Yet they had a windfall with the imperial army in Gaul which was partly under the command of
Aegidius, a general who declared himself loyal to Majorian. With this they still had a card in their hands that would soon be deployed. The advance of the Goths in the south continued now that they encountered no opposition. Frederick conquered Septimania and Theodoric II seized
Narbonne which gave the Goths access to the Mediterranean. This port city fell into his hands without violence thanks to the betrayal of the Roman general
Agrippinus who, unlike Aegidius, had turned away from Majorian. According to Mathisens, he belonged to the Gallic insurgents who had turned to the Burgundians. Nevertheless, after the conquest of Septimania, the Visigoths clashed with the Gallic field army led by
Aegidus. Majorianus had appointed him
magister militum per Gallias, replacing Agrippinus, and given the order to put things in order in Gaul. At Arles, the Visigoths clashed with the Romans, with Aegidius being cut short. After his defeat, he withdrew from the south.
Defense of Italy Recimer and Majorian could not send reinforcements now that they themselves were confronted with external incursions in Italy. From
Raetia, the Alemanni penetrated Italian territory as far as Lake Maggiore. There they were intercepted and defeated by the troops of comes Burco, sent by Majorian to stop them. A group of Vandals landed in Campania in the summer of 457, at the mouth of the
Garigliano River, and began to destroy and plunder the region. Majorian personally led the Roman army to a victory over the invaders at Sinuessa killing many of them.
The campaign in Gaul Only after consolidating his position in Italy could Majorian concentrate on restoring power in Gaul. Before that, he first had to strengthen the Roman army. Unlike under Aetius, at this stage the Roman army no longer had the manpower and logistics to maintain itself as before. Majorianus recruited barbarians en masse to bring the army to strength. Some of these were
Huns under a certain
Tuldila, who came from a group that settled on the Danube during the collapse of Attila's empire. Others were
Rugi,
Gepids,
Heruli and Goths from
Noricum and
Pannonia, and it is likely that Majorianus agreed to formally recognize the territory and income they controlled in exchange for their military services. He may also have withdrawn some of the remaining Pannonian
Limitanei Be that as it may, from the military commander of
Dalmatia Marcellinus he received support consisting of supplying troops and fleet units. With his new federated troops, Majorian had assembled a force of as many as 10,000 men. He appointed
Nepotianus as his second general in rank behind Ricimer and then marched across the Alps towards Gaul. Here Aegidius's army joined him, who had meanwhile strengthened with Frankish auxiliary troops, and their army now amounted to 20,000 men, with which the Roman army was considerably stronger than the armed forces that Theodoric could oppose. With the bulk of his army, supplemented by loyal foederati and accompanied by his generals
Aegidius and
Nepotianus, Majorian marched in
458 against the Gallic insurgents who had united with the Burgundians of Gundioc. They entered the Rhone Valley and defeated the Burgundians even before they could have retreated into Lugdunum. Then it was the turn of the rebellious Gallic cities in the south, which surrendered one by one to Majorian.
The Battle of Arles After this, the Romans marched against the Visigoths of Theoderic and his army, who were besieging Aegidius at Arelate (now Arles), at the mouth of the river Rhodanus (Rhône). The resulting battle was an overwhelming defeat for the Goths. The Roman army was supreme in battle and won the battle. The defeated Visigoths fled after the defeat and King Theodoric II narrowly escaped death. == End ==