Der comes Romanus, der Heermeister Theodosius und die drei letzten Akte der ‘Lepcis-Magna-Affaire’ (a. 373-377)

Ammianus Marcellinus takes the conflict between the citizens of Lepcis Magna and the comes rei militaris per Africam Romanus as a prime example to illustrate the policies of Valentinian I (AD 364- 375). The emperor is criticised for the extent of corruption under his rule as well as for his leniency towards criminal but high-ranking officials (27. 9. 1-4; 28. 6. 1-29). Satisfaction for the sufferings of the Tripolitan city was allegedly owed solely to sempiternus Iustitiae vigor, since the latter prevented the culprits from escaping their due punishment which they had undergone mainly during the reign of Gratian (AD 375-383) (30. 2. 9-12). For the sake of these intentions, the ‘moral historian’ is prepared to blur the plot significantly, even accepting various inconsistencies within his account, which, in turn, are mirrored in modern literature. Notwithstanding, some scholars have shed light on events behind the scenes by revealing facets of factionalism at court or of the more general dispute between civil- and military-minded officials. But, on the whole, a systematic decomposition of the entire drama is required to differentiate clearly between suggestions and basically reliable facts. Thus the dispatch of the elder Theodosius to Africa in AD 373 as well as the scrutiny of Romanus’ correspondence, which furthered the final three acts of the affair, were obviously due to the suspicion that the count had some responsibility for Firmus to rebel. However, the incriminations turned out to be unfounded and Romanus was therefore reinstated, a fact hitherto ignored and further buried under the inept conjecture of proscripti instead of praescripti (28. 6. 26). These circumstances also have a considerable impact on the understanding of the trial at Milan in AD 377, last in the chain of events but the first and only compromise.