Eugenius - Wikipedia Eugenius From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Roman emperor from 392 to 394 For other uses, see Eugenius (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Eugenius" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Roman emperor Eugenius Tremissis depicting emperor Eugenius Roman emperor (unrecognized in the East) Reign 22 August 392 – 6 September 394 (against Theodosius I) Predecessor Valentinian II Successor Theodosius I Died 6 September 394 Frigidus River Names Flavius Eugenius Religion Christianity Flavius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a usurper in the western Roman Empire (392–394) against Emperor Theodosius I. He was the last Emperor to support Roman polytheism.[1] Contents 1 Life 1.1 Rise to power 1.2 Civil, religious, and military policies 1.3 Fall 2 Evaluation 3 References 4 External links Life[edit] A former teacher of grammar and rhetoric, as well as magister scrinorum, Eugenius was an acquaintance of Arbogast, the magister militum. Arbogast was of Frankish origin, and de facto ruler of the western portion of the Empire. Rise to power[edit] Following the death of Valentinian II, Arbogast, who had probably been the cause of Valentinian II's murder or suicide, elevated Eugenius to the purple (22 August 392). Deferring to Eugenius offered Arbogast two strong advantages: first, Eugenius, a Roman, was more suitable than Arbogast, a Frank, as an emperor; furthermore, the Roman Senate would be more likely to support Eugenius. Civil, religious, and military policies[edit] After being installed as Emperor, Eugenius changed the imperial administrators. When Theodosius had left the western half of the empire to Valentinian II, 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 the Elder became Praetorian Prefect of Italy, his son Nicomachus Flavianus the Younger received the title of Prefect of Rome, while the new praefectus annonae was Numerius Proiectus. Though his actual beliefs are a matter of controversy among ancient and modern historians,[2][3] Eugenius was at least publicly a Christian, and therefore was reluctant to accept a program of imperial support to Polytheism. 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 within the Curia (removed by Emperor Gratian). This religious policy created tension with pro-Christian figures, such as Emperor Theodosius and the powerful and influential Bishop Ambrose, who left his see in Milan when the imperial court of Eugenius arrived. Eugenius was also successful in the military field, notably in the renovation of old alliances with Alamanni and Franks. Arbogast, who was a Frank and had also Alamanni and Frankish soldiers in his ranks, marched to the Rhine frontier, where he impressed and pacified the Germanic tribes by parading his army in front of them. Fall[edit] After his election as 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 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 (Vipava Valley, Slovenia) 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[edit] The reign of Eugenius marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Five months 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, even under Leo I the Thracian (when there was no Western Emperor for some periods), and soon after his reign, the western half fell. Eugenius also represented the last opportunity for the pagans, with 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. References[edit] ^ Gerard Friell (1998). Theodosius: The Empire at Bay (Roman Imperial Biographies). (Routledge; 1 edition (May 28, 1998)). ISBN 0-415-17040-0 ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXVII., p. 996, note; the ecclesiastical historians, Philostorgius and Sozomen, actually state he was a pagan-not very reliable authorities ^ An Encyclopedia Of World History, (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1952), chap. II., Ancient History, p. 120 External links[edit] Media related to Eugenius at Wikimedia Commons Roberts, Walter, "Flavius Eugenius (392-394)", De Imperatoribus Romanis Regnal titles Preceded by Valentinian II Roman emperor 392–394 Succeeded by Theodosius I Political offices Preceded by Arcadius Augustus Rufinus Consul of the Roman Empire 393 Succeeded by Virius Nicomachus Flavianus v t e Roman and Byzantine emperors and ruling empresses Principate 27 BC – AD 235 Augustus Tiberius Caligula Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius Vespasian Titus Domitian Nerva Trajan Hadrian Antoninus Pius Marcus Aurelius Lucius Verus Commodus Pertinax Didius Julianus (Pescennius Niger) (Clodius Albinus) Septimius Severus Caracalla Geta Macrinus Diadumenian Elagabalus Severus Alexander Crisis 235–285 Maximinus Thrax Gordian I Gordian II Pupienus Balbinus Gordian III Philip the Arab Philip II Decius Herennius Etruscus Hostilian Trebonianus Gallus Volusianus Aemilianus Valerian Gallienus Saloninus Claudius Gothicus Quintillus Aurelian Ulpia Severina Tacitus Florian Probus Carus Carinus Numerian Gallic emperors Postumus (Laelianus) Marius Victorinus (Domitianus II) Tetricus I with Tetricus II as caesar Palmyrene emperors Vaballathus Zenobia Septimius Antiochus Dominate 284–395 Diocletian Maximian Galerius Constantius I Severus Constantine the Great Maxentius Licinius Maximinus Daza (Valerius Valens) (Martinian) Constantine II Constantius II Constans I Magnentius Vetranio Julian Jovian Valentinian I (west) Valens (east) Gratian (west) Valentinian II (west) Theodosius I Magnus Maximus Victor (Eugenius) Western Empire 395–480 Honorius Constantine III with son Constans II Constantius III Joannes Valentinian III Petronius Maximus Avitus Majorian Libius Severus Anthemius Olybrius Glycerius Julius Nepos Romulus Augustulus Eastern/ Byzantine Empire 395–1204 Arcadius Theodosius II Marcian Leo I Leo II Zeno Basiliscus Marcus Anastasius I Dicorus Justin I Justinian I Justin II Tiberius II Constantine Maurice with son Theodosius as co-emperor Phocas Heraclius Constantine III Heraklonas Constans II Constantine IV with brothers Heraclius and Tiberius and then Justinian II as co-emperors Justinian II (first reign) Leontios Tiberius III Justinian II (second reign) with son Tiberius as co-emperor Philippikos Anastasios II Theodosius III Leo III the Isaurian Constantine V Artabasdos Leo IV the Khazar Constantine VI Irene Nikephoros I Staurakios Michael I Rangabe with son Theophylact as co-emperor Leo V the Armenian with Symbatios-Constantine as junior emperor Michael II the Amorian Theophilos Michael III Basil I the Macedonian Leo VI the Wise Alexander Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Romanos I Lekapenos with sons Christopher, Stephen and Constantine as junior co-emperors Romanos II Nikephoros II Phokas John I Tzimiskes Basil II Constantine VIII Zoë (first reign) and Romanos III Argyros Zoë (first reign) and Michael IV the Paphlagonian Michael V Kalaphates Zoë (second reign) with Theodora Zoë (second reign) and Constantine IX Monomachos Constantine IX Monomachos (sole emperor) Theodora Michael VI Bringas Isaac I Komnenos Constantine X Doukas Romanos IV Diogenes Michael VII Doukas with brothers Andronikos and Konstantios and son Constantine Nikephoros III Botaneiates Alexios I Komnenos John II Komnenos with Alexios Komnenos as co-emperor Manuel I Komnenos Alexios II Komnenos Andronikos I Komnenos with John Komnenos as co-emperor Isaac II Angelos Alexios III Angelos Alexios IV Angelos Nicholas Kanabos (chosen by the Senate) Alexios V Doukas Empire of Nicaea 1204–1261 Constantine Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris John III Doukas Vatatzes Theodore II Laskaris John IV Laskaris Byzantine Empire 1261–1453 Michael VIII Palaiologos Andronikos II Palaiologos with Michael IX Palaiologos as co-emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos John V Palaiologos John VI Kantakouzenos with John V Palaiologos and Matthew Kantakouzenos as co-emperors John V Palaiologos Andronikos IV Palaiologos John VII Palaiologos Andronikos V Palaiologos Manuel II Palaiologos John VIII Palaiologos Constantine XI Palaiologos Italics indicates a junior co-emperor, while underlining indicates a usurper. Authority control General Integrated Authority File VIAF 1 WorldCat (via VIAF) Art research institutes Artist Names (Getty) Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eugenius&oldid=1016907648" Categories: 4th-century births 4th-century Christians 4th-century murdered monarchs 4th-century Roman usurpers 394 deaths Ancient Roman generals Executed Roman emperors Flavii Imperial Roman consuls People executed by the Roman Empire Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from August 2011 All articles needing additional references Commons category link is on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with ULAN identifiers Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers Year of birth unknown Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية Български Català Čeština Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara Français Frysk Hrvatski Italiano Latina Magyar Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Русский Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Zazaki Edit links This page was last edited on 9 April 2021, at 18:19 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Mobile view Developers Statistics Cookie statement