Callinicus (exarch)

Callinicus (‹See Tfd›Greek: Καλλίνικος, translit. Kallínikos) was the exarch of Ravenna from 597 until 602 or 603. He is called Gallicinus, or Gallicini patricii, by the Lombard historian Paul the Deacon (Latin text, English patrician Gallicinus).[1]

The first few years of his administration were marked by relatively good fortune. In 598 an armistice between the Byzantines and the Lombards had been concluded in which the Lombards were acknowledged as sovereign rulers of the lands in their possession, and which was observed by both parties over the following years. However around 601, Callinicus took advantage of a rebellion by Dukes Gaidoald of Trent and Gisulf II of Friuli to break the peace by kidnapping the Lombard king Agilulf's daughter and her husband, Duke Godescalc of Parma.[2] In response, Agilulf invaded the Exarchate, destroying Padua, pillaging Istria, then defeating Callinicus outside the walls of Ravenna.[3]

Shortly afterwards Callinicus was replaced by Smaragdus; Richards states Callinicus was recalled.[3]

  1. ^ Paul the Deacon History of the Lombards, 4.12 Archived 2016-07-30 at the Wayback Machine; translated by William Dudley Foulke, 1907 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1974), p. 159
  2. ^ Paul the Deacon History, 4.20 (translated by Foulke, p. 165) records the kidnapping; Jeffrey Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages (London:Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979), p. 174, explains Callinicus' motivation.
  3. ^ a b Richards, Popes and the Papacy, p. 174