1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Syagrius

SYAGRIUS (d. 487), the last of the independent Roman administrators of Gaul, was the son of Aegidius, who had seized Gaul while Ricimer was master of Italy. From 464 to 486 he governed that part of Gaul which lies between the Maas, the Scheldt and the Seine, and was termed “king of the Romans” by the German invaders, Franks, Burgundians and Visigoths, who already occupied the rest of Gaul. Defeated in 486 by Clovis, king of the Salian Franks, at the battle of Soissons, Syagrius fled, leaving his land at the mercy of the Franks. He sought refuge with Alaric II., king of the Visigoths, at Toulouse, but Alaric imprisoned him instead of granting him refuge, and delivered him up to Clovis. He was executed in 487, secretly and by the sword, according to Gregory of Tours.