Litorius

Litorius (died 439) was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire serving as Magister militum per Gallias from 435 until his death mainly in Gaul under magister militum Flavius Aetius. Litorius is noted for being the last Roman commander in the ancient Roman military history to perform of pagan rites and the consultation of auspices before a battle.[1][2]

His military actions were mostly focused against Visigoths that had gradually been attempting to spread their control over Gaul. In 436 their king Theodoric I tried to conquer Narbo Martius to obtain access to the Mediterranean Sea and the roads to the Pyrenees. Litorius, with the aid of the Huns, could prevent the capture of the city and drove the Visigoths back to their capital Tolosa.[3] But in the consequent battle at Tolosa in 439 the allied forces of Romans and Huns were defeated by Visigoths and Litorius soon died in the imprisonment from the injuries which he had received in this battle.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "History of the Later Roman Empire". J. B. Bury. 1923. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  2. ↑ "The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture". Otto Maenchen-Helfen. 1973. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  3. ↑ Prosper, Epitoma chronicon 1324 and 1326, in: MGH AA 9, p. 475; Hydatius, chronicle 107 und 110, in: MGH AA 11, p. 22-23; Merobaudes, panegyric, fragment II A 23, in: Vollmer, MGH AA 14, p. 9; Sidonius Apollinaris, carmen 7. 246sqq.; 7. 475sqq.
  4. ↑ Prosper, Epitoma chronicon 1335, in: MGH AA 9, p. 476; Hydatius, chronicle 116, in: MGH AA 11, p. 23; Salvian, de gubernatione dei 7. 9. 39sqq.
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