Philippicus (general)

Infobox Military Person
name=Philippicus
allegiance=East Roman Empire
branch=Army
rank="magister militum per Orientem";
"comes Excubitorum"
unit=
commands=
battles=Battle of Solachon
relations=Brother-in-law of
Emperor Maurice
laterwork=

Philippicus ( _el. Φιλιππικός, fl. 580s-610s) was an East Roman general, "comes Excubitorum", and brother-in-law of Emperor Maurice. His successful career as a general spanned several decades, chiefly against the Persians.

Life and career

Under Maurice

Little is known about his early years. He was married to Maurice's sister Gordia, probably in 583,PLRE IIIb, p. 1022] and was at some point raised to the high rank of "patricius".PLRE IIIb, p. 1025] At about the same time, he was appointed "comes Excubitorum" (Commander of the Excubitors, the imperial bodyguard), and in 584, he replaced John Mystacon as "magister militum" for the East, becoming thus responsible for the conduct of the ongoing war against the Persians.

He commanded numerous campaigns in 584 through 585, ravaging the plains near Nisibis, and making inroads in the regions of Arzanene and eastern Mesopotamia.PLRE IIIb, p. 1023] During the same period, he actively tried to improve the discipline and efficiency of his troops. [Whitby, p. 13]

He spent the winter of 585-586 in Constantinople, and returned to his headquarters in Amida in the spring. After Persian peace proposals were rejected, he advanced his troops to the frontier, where he defeated a superior Persian force at the Battle of Solachon. He then proceded to invade and plunder Arzanene and besieged the fortress of Chlomaron. However, the approach of a Persian relief army panicked the Romans, who fled in disorder back into Roman territory. There, possibly due to illness, he handed over command of his army to his "hypostrategos" (lieutenant) Heraclius, the father of the future emperor Heraclius. In spring 587, he was again ill, and unable to campaign in person. He assigned two thirds of his army to Heraclius and the remainder to generals Thedore and Andreas, and sent them to raid Persian territory. He did not campaign himself that year, and in the winter, he set off towards Constantinople. He was replaced by Priscus.

However, when Priscus arrived in the East, the soldiers refused to obey him, and elected general Germanus in his stead. Philippicus, who was soon re-appointed as commander of the East, could only assume his command after the mutiny was quelled through the intervention of the patriarch of Antioch.PLRE IIIb, p. 1024] After a public reconciliation with his troops, in the summer of 589 he campaigned against the city of Martyropolis, which had recently fallen to the Persians through treason. He was however unable to retake it, and was defeated by a Persian relief force. Upon this failure, he was replaced by Comentiolus.

Except for a diplomatic mission in 590 to the deposed Persian ruler Khosrau II, who had taken refuge in Roman territory, Philippicus disappears from the scene for several years. In 598, he was briefly appointed general in the Balkans, [Whitby, pp. 122-123] and is credited by some sources with a victory over the Avars in Thrace, [PLRE IIIb, pp. 1024-1025] although this is most likely due to a confusion with general Priscus. [Whitby, p. 129]

Under Phocas and Heraclius

At some point in 602, suspicions fell upon him of plotting against Maurice, since a prophecy stated that the name of Maurice's successor would begin with a "Φ" (Phi). Indeed soon after, Maurice was deposed and killed by a revolt led by Phocas. As a close associate of Maurice, Philippicus was forced to enter a monastery in Chrysopolis as a monk. [Whitby, p. 15] He was still at the monastery when Heraclius overthrew Phocas in 610, and was sent by the new emperor to negociate with Phocas' brother, Comentiolus, who commanded the eastern army. He was imprisoned by Comentiolus and was to be executed, but was saved when Comentiolus himself was murdered.

In 612, he was again appointed by Heraclius as "magister militum per Orientem", and campaigned against the Persians in Armenia. In 614, as a Persian army under Shahin reached the shores of the Bosporus at Chalcedon, Philippicus invaded Persia, causing Shahin to withdraw in order to confront him.

Philippicus died shortly after, and was buried in a church he had built at Chrysopolis.

Authorship of the "Strategikon"

Philippicus in one of the possible authors of the "Strategikon", having had time and opportunity to write it, sometime after 603, during the years when he spent in monastery. [cite web |url=http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/mccotter2.htm |title='The Nation which Forgets its Defenders will Itself be Forgotten': Emperor Maurice and the Persians |accessdate=2008-09-15 |last=McCotter |first=Stephen |date=2003 |work=Queen’s University of Belfast |publisher=deremilitari.org]

References

Sources

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Persondata
NAME = Philippicus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Byzantine general
DATE OF BIRTH = 5??
PLACE OF BIRTH =
DATE OF DEATH = 610s
PLACE OF DEATH =