Everything about Magister Militum totally explained
Magister militum (
Latin for "Master of the Soldiers") was a top-level military command used in the later
Roman Empire, dating from the reign of
Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the emperor remaining the supreme commander) of the Empire.
Establishment and development of the office
The title of
magister militum was created in the 4th century, when Emperor
Constantine the Great deprived the
praetorian prefects of their military functions. Initially two posts were created, one as head of the foot troops, as the
magister peditum ("Master of the Foot"), and one for the more prestigious horse troops, the
magister equitum ("Master of the Horse"). The latter title had existed since Republican times, as the second-in-command to a
Roman dictator. Under Constantine's successors, the title was 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 under a single person, them styled
magister equitum et peditum or
magister utriusquae militiae ("master of both forces (foot and horse)"). As such they were directly in command of the local mobile field army of the
comitatenses, composed mostly of cavalry, which acted as a
rapid reaction force. Other
magistri remained in the immediate disposal of the Emperors, and were termed
in praesenti ("in the presence" of the Emperor). By the late 4th century, the regional commanders were termed simply
magister militum.
In the Western Empire, a "commander-in-chief" was sometimes appointed in the form of the
magister utriusquae militiae. This powerful office was often the
power behind the throne and was held by commanders like
Stilicho,
Ricimer and others. In the East, there were two senior generals, who were appointed to the office of
magister militum praesentalis. During the reign of Emperor
Justinian I, with the increasing military threats and the expansion of the Eastern Empire, three new posts were created: the
magister militum per Armeniam in the Armenian 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 Spaniae (ca. 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
themata.
The title was sometimes also used in early medieval Italy for supreme military commanders, such as the
Papal States and
Venice, whose
Doge claimed to be the successor to the
Exarch of Ravenna.
List of magistri militum
Unspecified commands
362-364: Flavius Iovinus, magister equitum under Julian and Jovian
410s-421: Flavius Constantius
352-355: Claudius Silvanus
425-433: Flavius Aetius
450s-464: Aegidius
464-486: Syagrius
?-350: Vetranio, magister peditum under Constans
361: Flavius Iovinus, magister equitum under Julian
365-375: Equitius, magister utriusquae militiae under Valentinian I
457?-468: Marcellinus
468-474: Julius Nepos
530-536: Mundus
ca. 347: Flavius Eusebius, magister utriusquae militiae
349-359: Ursicinus, magister equitum under Constantius
359-360: Sabinianus, magister equitum under Constantius
363-367: Lupicinus, magister equitum under Jovian and Valens
371-378: Iulius, magister equitum et Peditum under Valens
383: Flavius Richomeres, magister equitum et peditum
383-388: Ellebichus, magister equitum et peditum
392: Eutherius, magister equitum et peditum
393-396: Addaeus, magister equitum et peditum
460s-471: Flavius Ardabur Aspar
483-488: Flavius Theodoricus
c.503-505: Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus
377-378: Flavius Saturninus, magister equitum under Valens
377-378: Traianus, magister peditum under Valens
378: Sebastianus, magister peditum under Valens
382-383: Flavius Saturninus, magister peditum under Valens
380-382: Flavius Saturninus, magister equitum under Theodosius I
382-383: Flavius Saturninus, magister equitum under Theodosius I
392-393: Flavius Stilicho, magister equitum et peditum
441: Ioannes the Vandal, magister utriusque militiae
468-474: Armatus
in praesenti
351-361: Flavius Arbitio, magister equitum under Constantius
361-363: Flavius Nevitta, magister equitum under Julian
363-379: Victor, magister equitum under Valens
366-378: Flavius Arinthaeus, magister peditum under Valens
364-369: Flavius Iovinus, magister equitum under Valentinian I
364-366: Dagalaifus, magister peditum under Valentinian I
367-372: Severus, magister peditum under Valentinian I
369-373: Flavius Theodosius, magister equitum under Valentinian I
375-388: Flavius Merobaudes, magister peditum under Valentinian I, Gratian and Magnus Maximus
394-408: Flavius Stilicho, magister equitum et peditum
475-477/478: Armatus
546-548: Artabanes
per Africam
373-375: Flavius Theodosius, magister equitum
386-398: Gildo, magister equitum et peditum
534-536: Solomon
536-539: Germanus Justinus
539-544: Solomon
544-546: Sergius
545-546: Areobindus
546: Artabanes
546-552: John Troglita
Magistri militum in Byzantine and medieval Italy
Venice
700s: Marcellus
737: Domenico Leoni under Leo III the Isaurian
738: Felice Cornicola under Leo III the Isaurian
739: Theodatus Ursus under Leo III the Isaurian
741: Ioannes Fabriacius under Leo III the Isaurian
764-787: Mauricius Galba
Rome
915: TheophylactFurther Information
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