Magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : magistri militum) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the emperor remaining the supreme commander) of the empire. In Greek language sources, the term is translated either as strategos or as stratelates (although these terms were also used non-technically to refer to commanders of different ranks).
Establishment and development of the command
The office of
magister militum was created in the early 4th century, most likely when the Western Roman emperor Constantine the Great defeated all other contemporary Roman emperors, which gave him control over their respective armies. Because the
and their leaders, the Praetorian Prefects, had supported Constantine's enemy,
Maxentius, he disbanded the Guard and deprived the Prefects of their military functions, reducing them to a purely civil office. To replace them, he created two posts: a commander of the
infantry, the
magister peditum ("master of foot"), and a more prestigious
Roman cavalry commander, the
magister equitum ("master of horse"). These offices had precedents in the immediate imperial past, both in function and idea;
the latter title had existed since
Roman Republic, as the second-in-command to a
Roman dictator.
Under Constantine's successors, the titles were also established at a territorial level: magistri peditum and magistri equitum were appointed for every praetorian prefecture ( per Gallias, per Italiam, per Illyricum, per Orientem), and, in addition, for Thrace and, sometimes, Africa. On occasion, the offices would be combined in a single person, then styled magister equitum et peditum or magister utriusque militiae ("master of both forces"). Overall, lower-level magistri were assigned according to circumstances, with varying numbers employed in a given area.[Bendle, 2024. 31.] Some were directly in command of the local mobile field army of the comitatenses, which acted as a rapid reaction force. Other magistri remained at the immediate disposal of the emperors, and by the late fourth century or early fifth century were termed in praesenti ("in the presence" of the emperor).
Over the course of the fourth century in the Western Roman Empire, the system of two imperial magistri remained largely intact, with usually one magister having paramount authority (such as Bauto or Merobaudes, the main power behind the appointment of emperor Valentinian II.) This tendency culminated in Arbogast, who inherited the position of western magister militum and used it to functionally usurp emperor Valentinian II, either killing him or driving him to suicide before appointing his own puppet emperor, Eugenius. In the west, the position (often under the title of magister utriusque militiae or MVM) remained very powerful until the formal end of the empire, and was held by Stilicho, Aetius, Ricimer, and others.
In the east, emperor Theodosius I (379-395) expanded the system of two magistri militum to include an additional three magistri. For a long time these generals were used in an ad hoc manner, being employed wherever they were needed. Eventually in the fifth century their positions became more firmly established, and there were two senior generals, who were each appointed to the office of magister militum praesentalis.
During the reign of Emperor Justinian I, with increasing military threats and the expansion of the Eastern Empire, the posts of the eastern generals were overhauled: the magister militum per Armeniam in the Armenian and Caucasian provinces, formerly part of the jurisdiction of the magister militum per Orientem, the magister militum per Africam in the reconquered African provinces (534), with a subordinate magister peditum, and the magister militum (c. 562).
In the course of the 6th century, internal and external crises in the provinces often necessitated the temporary union of the supreme regional civil authority with the office of the magister militum. In the establishment of the exarchates of Ravenna and Carthage in 584, this practice found its first permanent expression. Indeed, after the loss of the eastern provinces to the Muslim conquest in the 640s, the surviving field armies and their commanders formed the first theme system.
Supreme military commanders sometimes also took this title in early medieval Italy, for example in the Papal States and in Venice, whose Doge claimed to be the successor to the Exarch of Ravenna.
List of magistri militum
Unspecified commands
Comes et magister utriusque militiae
-
392–408: Stilicho
-
411–421: Constantius III
[Hughes, Ian: Aetius: Attila's Nemesis, p. 74]
-
422–425: Castinus
-
425–430: Felix
[Hughes, Ian: Aetius: Attila's Nemesis, p. 75]
-
431–432: Bonifacius
[Hughes, Ian: Aetius: Attila's Nemesis, p. 85]
-
432–433: Sebastianus
-
433–454: Aetius
[Hughes, Ian: Aetius: Attila's Nemesis, p. 87, Heather, Peter: The Fall of the Roman Empire, pp. 262, 491]
-
455–456: Avitus and Remistus
-
456: Messianus
-
456–472: Ricimer
-
472–473: Gundobad
-
475: Ecdicius Avitus
-
475–476: Orestes
Per Gallias
-
352–355: Claudius Silvanus
-
362–364: Jovinus, magister equitum under Julian and Jovian
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
?–419: Gaudentius
-
425–430: Aetius
-
435–439: Litorius
-
452–458: Agrippinus
-
458–461: Aegidius
-
461/462: Agrippinus
-
462-473: Gundioc
-
?–472: Bilimer
Per Hispanias
-
441–442: Astyrius
[Hydatius, Chronica Hispania, 122]
-
443: Merobaudes
[Hydatius, Chronica Hispania, 128]
-
446: Vitus
[Hydatius, Chronica Hispania, 134]
Per Ilyricum
-
?–350: Vetranio, magister peditum under Constans
[PLRE I, p. 1112]
-
361: Iovinus, magister equitum under Julian
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
365–375: Equitius, magister utriusquae militiae under Valentinian I
[PLRE I, p. 125]
-
395–? Alaric I
-
448/9 Agintheus (known from Priscus to have held office as the latter's embassy proceeded towards the court of Attila).
-
468–474: Julius Nepos
-
477–479: Onoulphus
-
479–481: Sabinianus Magnus
-
528: Ascum
-
529–530/1: Mundus (1st time)
-
532–536: Mundus (2nd time)
-
c. 538: Justin
-
c. 544: Vitalius
-
c. 550: John
-
568–569/70: Bonus
-
581–582: Theognis
Per Orientem
-
c. 347: Flavius Eusebius, magister utriusquae militiae
[PLRE I, p. 307]
-
349–359: Ursicinus, magister equitum under Constantius II
[PLRE I, p. 1112]
-
359–360: Sabinianus, magister equitum under Constantius II
[PLRE I, p. 1112]
-
363–367: Lupicinus, magister equitum under Jovian and Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
371–378: Iulius, magister equitum et Peditum under Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
383: Richomeres, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
383–388: Ellebichus, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
392: Eutherius, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
393–396: Addaeus, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
?~399: Gainas
-
395/400: Fravitta
-
433–446: Anatolius
-
447–451: Zeno
-
460s: Aspar
-
–469: Iordanes
-
469–471: Zeno
-
483–498: Ioannes Scytha
-
c. 503–505: Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus
-
505–506: Pharesmanes
-
?516–?518: Hypatius
-
?518–529: Diogenianus
-
520–525/526: Hypatius
-
527: Libelarius
-
527–529: Hypatius
-
529–531: Belisarius
-
531: Mundus
-
532–533: Belisarius
-
540: Buzes
-
542: Belisarius
-
543–544: Martinus
-
549–551: Belisarius
-
555: Amantius
-
556: Valerianus
-
569: Zemarchus
-
572–573: Marcian
-
573: Theodorus
-
574: Eusebius
-
574/574–577: Justinian
-
577–582: Maurice
-
582–583: John Mystacon
-
584–587/588: Philippicus
-
588: Priscus
-
588–589: Philippicus
-
589–591: Comentiolus
-
591–603: Narses
-
603–604 Germanus
-
604–605 Leontius
-
605–610 Domentziolus
Per Armeniam
Per Thracias
-
377–378: Saturninus, magister equitum under Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
377–378: Traianus, magister peditum under Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
378: Sebastianus, magister peditum under Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
380–383: Saturninus, magister peditum under Theodosius I
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
392–393: Stilicho, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
412–414: Constans
-
441: Ioannes the Vandal, magister utriusque militiae
[PLRE II, p. 597]
-
464–467/468: Basiliscus
[PLRE II, p. 211]
-
468–474: Armatus
-
474: Heraclius of Edessa
-
511: Hypatius
-
512– 513: Cyrillus
-
513– 515: Alathar
-
515: Vitalian
-
525-c. 530: Germanus
-
530–533: Chilbudius
-
550–c. 554: Artabanes
-
588: Priscus (1st time)
-
593: Priscus (2nd time)
-
593–594: Peter (1st time)
-
594–c. 598: Priscus (2nd time)
-
598–601: Comentiolus
-
601–602: Peter (2nd time)
Praesentalis
-
351–361: Arbitio, magister equitum under Constantius II
[PLRE I, p. 1112]
-
361–363: Nevitta, magister equitum under Julian
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
363–379: Victor, magister equitum under Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
366–378: Arinthaeus, magister peditum under Valens
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
364–369: Iovinus, magister equitum under Valentinian I
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
364–366: Dagalaifus, magister peditum under Valentinian I
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
367–372: Severus, magister peditum under Valentinian I
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
369–373: Theodosius, magister equitum under Valentinian I
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
375–388: Merobaudes, magister peditum under Valentinian I, Gratian and Magnus Maximus
[PLRE I, pp. 1113–1114]
-
388–395: Timasius
-
394–408: Stilicho, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 1114]
-
399–400: Gainas
-
400: Fravitta
-
409: Varanes and Arsacius
[PLRE I, p. 152]
-
419–: Plinta
-
434–449: Areobindus?
-
443–451: Apollonius
-
450–451: Anatolius
-
475–477/478: Armatus
-
485–: Longinus
-
492–499: John the Hunchback
-
518–520: Vitalian
[John Moorhead, Justinian (London, 1994), p. 16.]
-
520–?: Justinian I
[John Moorhead, Justinian (London, 1994), p. 17.]
-
528: Leontius
-
528–529: Phocas
-
520–538/9: Sittas
-
536: Germanus
-
536: Maxentianus
-
546–548: Artabanes
-
548/9–552: Suartuas
-
562: Constantinianus
-
582: Germanus (uncertain)
-
585–c. 586: Comentiolus
-
626: Bonus (uncertain)
Per Africam
Western Empire
-
373–375: Theodosius, magister equitum
[PLRE I, p. 1113]
-
386–398: Gildo, magister equitum et peditum
[PLRE I, p. 395]
Eastern Empire
-
534–536: Solomon
-
536–539: Germanus
-
539–544: Solomon
-
544–546: Sergius
-
545–546: Areobindus
-
546: Artabanes
-
546–552: John Troglita
-
578–590: Gennadius
Magister militae in Byzantine and medieval Italy
Venice
Later, less formal use of the term
The term is referred to by Emperor
Constantine VII in his De Administrando Imperio in a digression on 6th century Italian history, where he refers to
mastromilis meaning 'captain-general of the army' in the 'Roman tongue'. By the time of writing in the mid-10th century working knowledge of Latin was mostly absent in the Byzantine imperial court.
By the 12th century, the term was being used to describe a man who organized the military force of a political or feudal leader on his behalf. In the Gesta Herwardi, the hero is several times described as magister militum by the man who translated the original Old English account into Medieval Latin. It seems possible that the writer of the original version, now lost, thought of him as the hereward' ( and ) – the supervisor of the military force. That this later use of these terms was based on the classical concept seems clear.[ Gesta Herwardi The term is used in chapters XII, XIV, XXII and XXIII. See The Name, Hereward for details.]
See also
-
Structural history of the Roman military
Citations
Sources
-
Bendle, Christopher. 2024. The Office of "Magister Militum" in the 4th Century CE: a Study into the Impact of Political and Military Leadership on the Later Roman Empire. Studies in Ancient Monarchies. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 978-3-515-13614-3.
-
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire (PLRE), Vols. I-III
