20 Facts About Flavius Paulus

In 673, Flavius Paulus accompanied the Visigothic king Wamba on a campaign against the Basques, but when news reached them of a revolt led by the count Hilderic in Septimania, the northernmost and easternmost province of the kingdom, Flavius Paulus was dispatched with a considerable contingent of troops to put down the rebellion.

Flavius Paulus managed to cement his authority over Septimania and the neighbouring province of Tarraconensis through the size of his army, and possibly through the two provinces being among the last properly Romanised regions of the kingdom.

Flavius Paulus lived two centuries after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, in a time when Roman identity was rapidly declining in Western Europe.

Flavius Paulus was a general in service of the Visigothic Kingdom.

Flavius Paulus was selected on account of his fighting expertise and bravery, and was appointed as dux Septimaniae.

The later rebellion of Flavius Paulus is among the best-recorded revolts in the Visigothic Kingdom, owing to detailed contemporary accounts by Julian of Toledo.

Flavius Paulus was the first Roman to revolt against Visigothic rule since Petrus in the early 6th century, and the last recorded Roman rebel in the kingdom's history.

The uprising was strengthened through Flavius Paulus being joined by the palace official Hildigisio and by Ranosindo of Barcelona.

At Narbonne, Flavius Paulus summoned the heads of his army and prominent locals and induced them to elect him as king, owing to Wamba's "tyranny".

The coronation of Flavius Paulus was carried out completely in-line with Visigothic coronation formalities.

Flavius Paulus was crowned with a golden votive crown that had been dedicated to the body of Saint Felix of Nimes in Girona by the Visigothic king Reccared I, most likely being anointed by Archbishop Argebad.

Aware that he could not defeat the Visigothic army alone, Flavius Paulus sent emissaries to foreign powers for aid.

Flavius Paulus even reached out to the Byzantine Empire in the east, though no aid could be sent on account of an impending Arab attack on Constantinople.

Flavius Paulus' offer could be interpreted as him ceasing to challenge Wamba's power as king of Hispania, as it acts as a proposal to divide the kingdom, rather than overthrowing Wamba.

Wamba's forces fought and defeated an army led by Ranosindo near Ceret, capturing both Ranosindo and Hildigisio, before advancing on Narbonne, where Flavius Paulus waited with a second army.

When Flavius Paulus heard of the size of Wamba's approaching army, he fled Narbonne, retreating to Nimes and leaving Wittimir, a career soldier, in charge of Narbonne's defense.

At Nimes, Flavius Paulus led a defense consisting of Visigoths, Gallo-Romans, and even a contingent of Franks.

In surviving historical records of the siege, it is noteworthy that Flavius Paulus referred to Wamba and his army solely as 'Goths' and talks of them disparagingly, as if that label did not apply to large components of his own forces.

Flavius Paulus was charged with the crimes of inciting the people to rebellion and of violating his oath of fealty to the king.

Some later accounts claim that Wamba had one of Flavius Paulus' hands cut off, or that he was scalped, but this is dubious considering these punishments not being mentioned in any contemporary accounts.