Flavius Paulus

Not to be confused with Paulus (consul 496).

Paulus
Rex of Septimania
ReignSpring – 3 September 673
PredecessorHilderic?[a]
SuccessorWamba
(Visigothic Kingdom)
DiedBefore 683?[3]

Paulus[4] or Paul was a 7th-century Roman[b] general in service of the Visigothic Kingdom. In 673, Paulus accompanied the Visigothic king Wamba (r. 672–680) 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, Paulus was dispatched with a considerable contingent of troops to put down the rebellion. Upon arrival in Septimania, Paulus not only completely disregarded his mission, but made himself the leader of the rebels and was anointed as king. 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. Titling himself as 'king of the east' (rex orientalis), Paulus ruled from Narbonne and sought to break away from Visigothic central control.

Supported by not only his contingent of Visigothic troops, but also the local Gothic, Frankish, Gallo-Roman and Hispano-Roman populace in Septimania, as well as the local Jewish minority, Paulus' revolt threatened the future of the Visigothic Kingdom as he may have intended to eventually take over all of Hispania. After ruling in the northeast in opposition to Wamba for several months, Paulus was defeated and captured on 3 September 673. Wamba spared him the legal punishment for his actions, excommunication and death, instead only subjecting him to ritual humiliation in a triumph in Toledo, the Visigothic capital, and keeping him imprisoned. The nobles convicted of the 673 revolt were pardoned by Wamba's successor Erwig (r. 680–687) in 683, but Paulus may already have died by that point.

  1. ^ Ribas 2013, p. 18.
  2. ^ Gallegos Vázquez 2017, p. 23.
  3. ^ Gallegos Vázquez 2017, p. 34.
  4. ^ Martínez Pizarro 2005, p. 175. "The title "Flavius", adopted by early medieval kings to establish symbolic continuity with Constantine, who in turn had borrowed it from the Flavian dynasty, had been used by Visigothic royalty since the days of Theudis (531–548)".
  5. ^ Arce 2018, p. 373.
  6. ^ Ribas 2013, p. 11.
  7. ^ Liebeschuetz 2014, p. 99.
  8. ^ Gallegos Vázquez 2017, p. 14.


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