[Modern historians often downplay Riothamus as ‘King of the Bretons’, perhaps fearing that accepting the title ‘King of the Britons’ sounds uncomfortably close to embracing King Arthur, Merlin, and the Round Table. But Bretons and Britons were essentially the same people in this period and we have no indication that Brittany/Armorica by itself ever had the manpower to push into the heart of Gaul and challenge the Visigoths. Most likely a coalition of British tribes from both sides of the Channel intervened on the continent as the inhabitants of Britain have been doing since at least Julius Caesar’s time.]
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In August 468, shortly after returning from Sardinia, the Roman commander Marcellinus was set upon and stabbed to death by a number of Western Roman officers. The motive for this murder has been lost and, while it is quite possible that Marcellinus’ powerful Ricimer was involved, no contemporary sources connected him to the deed. Following Marcellinus’ death, his nephew Julius Nepos took over his command in Dalmatia.
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In late 468 Arvandus, Praetorian Prefect of Gaul, sent a letter to Euric, king of the Visigoths, treacherously urging him not to make peace with the ‘Greek Emperor’ (Anthemius) and to instead attack Anthemius’ Briton allies north of the Loire. The letter also encouraged Euric to divide up Gaul with the Burgundians. Arvandus was promptly arrested and sent to Rome, where he was accused of attempting to usurp the throne and convicted of treason. However, thanks to the support of his friend Sidonius, Urban Prefect of Rome, Arvandus escaped the death penalty and was instead sent into exile.
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By the late 460s the Ostrogothic war of reprisal over the death of their king Valamir had all but destroyed the Sciri. Fearing that he would become the next target of Ostrogothic vengeance, the Suebian king Hunimund, along with his fellow king Alaric, assembled an alliance of trans-Danubian tribes, including the Sarmatians (under kings Beuca and Babai), the surviving Sciri (under Edeko and Onulf), the Gepids, the Rugii, and others. With this combined force, Hunimund and his supporters hoped to eliminate the threat posed by the Ostrogoths once and for all.
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In 468 war resumed between the Huns of Dengizich, son of Attila, and the Eastern Roman Empire, but was brought to an abrupt end when the Hunnic king was killed by Anagast, magister militum per Thracium. Dengizich’s head was promptly sent to Constantinople, where it was paraded during the chariot racing of early 469 before being displayed on a pole by the Theodosian Walls. This marked the end of the sons of Attila; by this date Dengizich’s brother Ernak has also disappeared from the historical record.
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In the 460s the Isaurian bandit Indacus Cottunes, son of the bandit Papirius, began mounting raids from his fortress of Papirium, based on a plateau in the Central Taurus Mountains. Indacus’ exploits soon caught the attention of the newly appointed magister militum per Orientem Zeno, son-in-law of Eastern Roman emperor Leo I and consul, who mounted a campaign against the bandit in 469. Zeno successfully captured Indacus and repurposed the remote fortress of Papirium as a prison for important political prisoners.
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In early 469 a 12,000-strong Briton army under King Riothamus moved up the Loire and, after garrisoning Bituricas (Bourges), capital of Aquitania Prima, advanced to Vicus Dolensis (Déols) in the hope of coordinating with the Western Romans against the Visigoths. However, King Euric of the Visigoths struck first, bringing his substantial forces against the Britons and overwhelming them in a long, brutal battle. Defeated, Riothamus temporarily took refuge in the land of the Burgundians, while Euric seized control of Bituricas and Turones (Tours).
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