Andragathius was a magister militum of emperor Magnus Maximus, responsible for the death of the rival emperor Gratian.
In 383, after several days of skirmishing near Paris, Gratian's army defected to Maximus. Gratian fled, with Andragathius in pursuit. In order to lure the fugitive back, Andragathius traveled in a closed, mule-borne litter, and had his guards send out a report that the vehicle was occupied by Gratian's wife. Gratian met the litter between Lyon and Grenoble and Andragathius killed him.
In 388, Maximus learned that Justina, mother of Valentinian II, was crossing the Ionian Sea with her children, and sent Andragathius to intercept her. Eluding the fast ships which Andragathius had sent in every direction, Justina's party completed its journey in safety. Andragathius then brought together a competent navy which sailed the adjacent coasts, in anticipation of an attack by Theodosius I. No attack came, as Theodosius concentrated his forces on land and defeated Maximus near Aquileia. Andragathius then threw himself into the ocean.
References
- Bendle, Christopher (2024). The office of "Magister Militum" in the 4th century CE: a study into the impact of political and military leadership on the later Roman Empire. Studies in ancient monarchies. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 106. ISBN 978-3-515-13614-3.
- A dictionary of Christian biography, literature, sects and doctrines, Sir William Smith, Henry Wace, Little, Brown and Company, 1880, pg. 724
- Arrian's History of Alexander's expedition, Volume 2, Arrian, printed for R. Lea, 1814, pg. 123.
- Andragathius, Universal Historical Dictionary, Volume 1, George Crabb, Baldwin and Craddock, 1833, pg. 76.