Kingdom of Soissons

Diocese of Gaul

Kingdom of the Romans

*Dioecesis Galliarum*

*Regnum Romanorum*
Diocese of Gaul; Kingdom of the Romans; Dioecesis Galliarum; Regnum Romanorum;
457–486
	The Kingdom of Soissons in 476
Status	Rump state of the Western Roman Empire
Capital	Noviodunum (modern-day Soissons)
Common languages	Latin, Gaulish
Religion	Christianity, Gallo-Roman paganism and Germanic paganism
Government	Military government under a hereditary monarchy
Ruler
• 457–464	Aegidius
• 464–486	Syagrius
Historical era	Late Antiquity
• Established	457
• Disestablished	486
Area
• Total	50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi)
Currency	Roman currency
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Western Roman Empire
Neustria
Today part of	France

The Kingdom or Domain of Soissons is the historiographical name^[2] for the ethnically Roman,^[3] de facto independent remnant of the Western Roman Empire's Diocese of Gaul, which existed during Late Antiquity as an initially nominal enclave and later rump state of the Empire until its conquest by the Franks in AD 486. Its capital was at Noviodunum, today the town of Soissons in France.

The rulers of the rump state, notably its final ruler Syagrius, were referred to as "kings of the Romans" (Latin: rex Romanorum) by the Germanic peoples surrounding Soissons, with the polity itself being identified as the Regnum Romanorum, "Kingdom of the Romans", by the Gallo-Roman historian Gregory of Tours. Whether the title of king was used by Syagrius himself or was applied to him by the barbarians surrounding his realm (in a similar way to how they referred to their own leaders as kings) is unknown.^[4]

The emergence of a visibly autonomous Roman polity based around Noviodunum can be traced back to the appointment of Aegidius as magister militum of Roman Gaul by Emperor Majorian. When Majorian was killed on the orders of Ricimer in 461, Aegidius maintained his own power in the remnants of Roman Gaul against Franks to his east and Visigoths to his south.

Aegidius died in 464 or 465. His son Syagrius succeeded to the rule. In 486, Syagrius lost the Battle of Soissons to the Frankish king Clovis I and the domain was thereafter under the control of the Franks.

^ Bachrach, Bernard S. (1972). Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751. University of Minnesota Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780816657001. By 481 the two peoples competing for predominance in this territory were the Visigoths in southwestern Gaul and the Burgundians in the southeast. Among the lesser groups contending for power were the Armorici (a loose confederation of Gallo-Romans, Britons, Alans, and erstwhile imperial soldiers with their families), who lived in the area between the Seine and the Loire. To the north, between the Seine and the Somme, was Syagrius's Roman kingdom of Soissons and to the east along the upper Rhine were settlements of Alamans. North of these was a small band of Thuringians. The remainder of the Rhineland and the area to the west were ruled by Frankish reguli or chieftains, who, with their warbands, were settled around Tournai, Cambrai, Cologne, and the other cities of the region.
^ Gajdzis, Krystian (2022-07-25). "The Romans Who Outlasted Their Empire". The History Inquiry. Retrieved 2023-11-09. It should also be noted that the label of 'Kingdom' was a later historical invention meant to differentiate Aegidius' rump state from the remainder of the Western Roman Empire. In reality, both Aegidius and his son would never have accepted a kingly title- although centuries had passed since the days of the Roman Republic with the office of Emperor becoming increasingly autocratic in nature, the cultural stigma Romans held against kings remained strong.
^ MacGeorge, Penny (2002). Late Roman Warlords. Oxford University Press. pp. 111–113. ISBN 0-19-925244-0. Retrieved September 23, 2013. ... he and his kingdom were recognisably Roman ...
^ Fanning, S. (1992). "Emperors and empires in fifth-century Gaul". In Drinkwater, John; Elton, Hugh (eds.). Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?. Cambridge University Press. pp. 288–297.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[1] Bachrach, Bernard S. (1972). Merovingian Military Organization, 481–751. University of Minnesota Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780816657001. By 481 the two peoples competing for predominance in this territory were the Visigoths in southwestern Gaul and the Burgundians in the southeast. Among the lesser groups contending for power were the Armorici (a loose confederation of Gallo-Romans, Britons, Alans, and erstwhile imperial soldiers with their families), who lived in the area between the Seine and the Loire. To the north, between the Seine and the Somme, was Syagrius's Roman kingdom of Soissons and to the east along the upper Rhine were settlements of Alamans. North of these was a small band of Thuringians. The remainder of the Rhineland and the area to the west were ruled by Frankish reguli or chieftains, who, with their warbands, were settled around Tournai, Cambrai, Cologne, and the other cities of the region.

[3] Gajdzis, Krystian (2022-07-25). "The Romans Who Outlasted Their Empire". The History Inquiry. Retrieved 2023-11-09. It should also be noted that the label of 'Kingdom' was a later historical invention meant to differentiate Aegidius' rump state from the remainder of the Western Roman Empire. In reality, both Aegidius and his son would never have accepted a kingly title- although centuries had passed since the days of the Roman Republic with the office of Emperor becoming increasingly autocratic in nature, the cultural stigma Romans held against kings remained strong.

[:0-4] MacGeorge, Penny (2002). Late Roman Warlords. Oxford University Press. pp. 111–113. ISBN 0-19-925244-0. Retrieved September 23, 2013. ... he and his kingdom were recognisably Roman ...

[5] Fanning, S. (1992). "Emperors and empires in fifth-century Gaul". In Drinkwater, John; Elton, Hugh (eds.). Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?. Cambridge University Press. pp. 288–297.

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