Battle of Adrianople

gigatos | March 23, 2022

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Summary

The Battle of Adrianople (Latin: Proelium Hadrianopolitanum) was an armed confrontation fought on August 9, 378 AD in the plains northwest of the Roman city of Adrianople (present-day Edirne, in European Turkey). It involved the forces of Fritigerno, head of the Tervingians, and the army of the Eastern Roman Empire commanded by the Emperor Flavius Julius Valens (328-378) himself, who was killed in the battle and whose army was annihilated.

The development of this battle is known in detail thanks to the account of two contemporary Roman historians: Amianus Marcellinus (c.320-c.400) and Paulus Orosius (c.383-c.420).

It was the last combat in which the Romans used their classic legions, because from then on the armies began to put more emphasis on cavalry and small armed divisions, such as the comitatenses. This substitution of infantry for cavalry is documented since this time (Amiano Marcelino. In the 20th century the British professor Norman H. Baynes highlighted this fact.

The Roman defeat at Adrianople, in the context of the history of this civilization, is comparable only to disasters such as Cannas (216 B.C.), Arausius (105 B.C.), Carras (53 B.C.), Teutoburg (9 A.D.), Aquileia (170) and Edessa (259 or 260).

Migration of the Goths

The Goths originally came from southern Scandinavia, but from the 1st century B.C. they migrated southeastward, settling two centuries later on the great plains north of the Black Sea. There they eventually divided into two branches, the Greutungs, sometimes identified with the later Ostrogoths, and the Tervingians, probably those later known as Visigoths, separated by the Dniester River.

The Tervingians soon spread to the southwest, frequently crossing the Roman border and carrying out all kinds of plundering, until they reached an agreement by which the Romans ceded them the province of Dacia (western Romania today) in exchange for peace during the reign of Aurelian, between 270-275. Constantine the Great (272-337) made them federates of the Empire (foederati) and entrusted them with the defense of the Danubian limes in exchange for large sums of money. Despite the economic crises of the third and fourth centuries, the Empire continued to be a territory of great wealth, so they were frequent plunderers of the provinces on the other side of the Danube, supposedly in demand for higher pay, but also participating in the struggles for imperial power. Thus it happened in 365, when they supported the usurper Procopius (326-366) because he was a relative of Constantine, although it is more likely that they thought that, if he won, he would be generous to them; and in 369, then Valens managed to inflict a military defeat on them.

These hosts were violently at odds with each other, so their raids “were, therefore, local attacks with limited forces”, although from a long-term historical perspective they appear to be a single migratory process. Moreover, these human masses are difficult to calculate numerically because they usually consisted of various tribes united and separated during the migration. The Tervingians were joined by contingents of Greutungs, Alans, Huns and even Romans, as runaway slaves, deserters and gold seekers. Precisely the size of these tribes meant that major clashes between Germans and Romans rarely involved more than 20,000 fighters.

They volunteered to cultivate and defend a sparsely populated border area, where the few legions and Frankish mercenaries had proved insufficient in the face of previous invasions by the Goths themselves and other barbarian peoples. The Goths settled in Moesia practically independently, only conditioned to pay certain taxes and serve in the army when necessary, so they began to receive new weapons and training in Roman warfare techniques. They also enjoyed from that moment on Roman citizenship.

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The impossible coexistence

The installation of the Tervingians was seen by broad sectors of the Roman world as the entrance of an autonomous, pagan, and possibly violent entity. However, Valens considered that the Goths would quickly assume the customs of the Empire and that being cornered between the legions and the Huns, they would not dare to revolt. To make assimilation easier, the Emperor ordered the Goths to convert to Christianity and surrender their arms to enter the empire. The barbarians did so, although their disarmament was never very complete and their conversion was to Arianism, a form of Christianity considered heretical by the Church. For his part, Valens needed recruits for his war against the Sassanid Empire for control of Armenia.

The problem began because the Balkans, a relatively poor region, suffered from endemic corruption among imperial officials eager to prosper their personal fortunes. In addition, there were the wounds still open from the recent conflict, so it was not surprising the abuse exercised by Doge Maximus, commander of the border troops, and comes Lupicinus, governor and tax collector of Moesia, on the needy refugees, so much so that, it is reported, they were able to force them to sell their children as slaves for dogs to eat. The authorities were overwhelmed, the settlements of barbarian peoples rarely exceeded ten thousand individuals. There was another fundamental difference, the Goths had not been militarily defeated by the Romans, unlike other peoples who got similar permission.

This began to cause discomfort among the Germanic leaders. As Fritigerno (from Gothic Frithugarnis) began to displace from leadership Alavivo (from Gothic Alavivus), the chief who had led the Goths south of the Danube. Atanaric, former leader of the Tervingians, abandoned by most of his people after their defeats by the Huns to flee with Alavivus, arrived at the Roman frontier with his last followers, and he was not the only one, The Greutungs had arrived led by Alateus and Saphrax and the Taifalians did the same led by the “Optimatus” They all asked for asylum and were rejected by the imperial officials, whose military capacity was already exceeded by the Tervingians and no doubt were terrified by these new contingents.

The fears proved true when the Greutungs began to cross the border without permission with the serious danger that they would join the Tervingians. While Atanaric returned to take refuge in the Carpathians (from the Gothic Caucaland), mountains that had served as a refuge for the Goths after their defeat against the Huns, until in 381 he was deposed by a conspiracy sponsored by Fritigerno so that his followers would join him, he would die a year later. In addition, fed up with hunger, the Tervingians abandoned the area where they were camped on the banks of the Danube and moved to Marcianopolis (present-day Devnja, Bulgaria). The Goths were about to revolt, but the Romans had no forces in the region to stop them. That fear led Lupicinus to plan the assassination or kidnapping of the Gothic leaders Alavivo and Fritigerno. He invited them to dinner in the city to supposedly flatter and negotiate with them, but they were to leave their bodyguards outside the barracks where the event was to take place. The plan was to kill the Gothic warriors outside and deal with their ringleaders inside, however, not everything went according to plan. The Tervingians killed numerous Romans and, as would happen many times during that war, stole their weapons and armor; on the other hand, although Alavivo died Fritigerno survived, although it is unknown whether he escaped or negotiated with Lupicinus.

Regardless of how he escaped, as soon as Fritigerno was reunited with his people he began to plunder the fields around Marcianopolis, meanwhile, Lupicinus set about gathering an army to put an end to the problem that the Germans had become. In the battle that followed the Tervingians would number 7000 or 8000 warriors, most of them on foot, for hunger would have forced them to sacrifice most of their horses. Many were poorly armed and desperate from hunger. Lupicinus probably counted 5000 men as he must have left a significant part of his troops guarding the Greutungs or at the base of Nicopolis ad Istrium. Probably neither side had more than a thousand horsemen in their ranks.

The battle was quickly resolved, when both armies met in the nearby fields of Adrianople, formed up opposite each other and the Goths charged recklessly against their enemies, making them break ranks and massacring most of them. Lupicinus managed to escape into the city and the Germanic fighters appropriated the weapons of their fallen enemies. The fields of Thrace were at the mercy of the Tervingian plundering parties, while the garrisons of the cities had to barricade themselves in their walls.

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The Gothic revolt

Shortly after his unexpected victory, Fritigerno was joined by contingents of Greutungs led by Aleteo and Saphrax who had crossed over furtively a short time before. Furthermore, he was joined by the Goths serving in the Roman army in Adrianople, expelled from the city by their Roman commanders, but not before stealing a large amount of weapons by order of their leaders Sueridas and Colias. He also had a large number of slaves of Gothic origin who escaped to join them, gold diggers who lived in the mountains and Roman prisoners who deserted. Thus the Tervingian warlord could count on about 10,000 to 12,000 fighters with whom he decided to take Adrianople after failed negotiations, but his forces proved unable to break through the solid defenses. He prudently abandoned the siege as soon as the first signs of winter began to appear and left his warriors to plunder the surrounding countryside for supplies.

In spite of everything, the Goths still suffered serious supply problems, so they were still open to achieve a new treaty, where they would get new lands to cultivate. Forced to divide into small raiding parties, they were vulnerable to be defeated one by one by the Romans, however, throughout the war Fritigerno demonstrated his ability to coordinate them and maintain his personal domain, always knowing when to disperse and when to regroup.

Aware that he had to do something, Valens opted to make peace with the Sassanids, but it would take time, apart from having to leave a strong contingent in Armenia to ensure respect for any treaty. This did not prevent the sending of reinforcements under Profuturus and Trajan. The Emperor”s nephew, his western colleague, Gratian the Younger (359-383), sent Frankish auxiliary troops led by Ricomerus from Gaul, but it is likely that half of his soldiers deserted before reaching Thrace.

It was then that the Tervingians and their allies were trapped in the mountains of the Balkans, scattered and starving in the shelters they had chosen, the mountain passes were blocked by the Romans hoping to starve them to death, but a huge band of Greutungs crossed the border at the mouth of the Danube. It was already the year 377, and soon after they faced in the battle of Ad Salices (Latin for “in the Willows”) the army assembled by Ricomero, Trajan and Profuturo. The combat ended indecisively and with great number of casualties for both sides. Afterwards the Romans took refuge in Marcianopolis and the Germans slowly advanced towards the south in their pursuit, once they arrived at that city an important group of Alans and Huns horsemen joined their host. Ricomero returned to Gaul for reinforcements and Valente ordered Saturnino to isolate the Tervingians in the mountains, this would have been possible but for the arrival of the Greutungs, Alans and Huns, the barbarians returned to plunder the region at will. Meanwhile Phrygidus, governor of Pannonia loyal to Gratian, was left in charge of protecting Beoria after having brought reinforcements some time before together with Ricomero. Finally, he decided to return to Pannonia, during the return trip he met a powerful band of Taifalians and Greutungs led by Pharnobius, who had crossed the Danube with Aleteus and Saphrax, but had separated to attack the unprotected Illyria. Most of the invaders were killed, including their commander, the survivors surrendered and were sent to be pawns in northern Italy.

By then it was obvious to everyone that only a military campaign of major proportions could drive the Goths out of Thrace, but it was obvious that Fritigerno would not stand idly by while the Roman emperors coordinated. The Goth chief knew he had to act or he would be annihilated in a pincer movement.

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The Roman counterattack plan

Gratian decided to leave with a powerful army to help his uncle, but this was taken advantage of by the Alamanni to incursion in the Gaul at the beginning of 378. In spite of being rejected, the clan of the Lentians crossed the Rhine and Gratian had to turn around and fight with them. At the battle of Argentovaria the barbarians were crushed. This event proved to Gratian that he was obliged to leave a large percentage of his forces in Gaul, greatly reducing the aid he would lead to the east. During his march, the western Romans were ambushed by the Alans.

Indeed, the Goths were not the only threat to Roman territory. Huns and Alans were also a threat and some of them were already assaulting the Danubian border, the Quads, the Taifals, the Alamans and the Franks wanted to cross the border to take refuge from the eastern nomads and plunder the weak but very rich Empire. To make matters worse, the Sassanids would only respect the agreement if large numbers of Roman troops, preferably the best ones, stayed in Armenia. Faced with the enormous problem, the Romans needed to buy time to assemble a powerful army. The commander chosen for such a mission was Sebastian, who chose 2000 men to carry out a successful guerrilla campaign. The Roman general managed to expel the Gothic parties from around Adrianople, wiping out some and containing them in a restricted area. This forced Fritigerno to gather his forces and move to Cabyle, on the other side, Valens already had his entire army assembled in Melantias and decided to march on Adrianople.

During the march Sebastian joined the bulk of the Roman troops encamped on the outskirts of the city. Fritigerno decided to try to make a detour and seize Niké, a town between Adrianople and Constantinople; if he succeeded he could leave the emperor without supplies. However, he did not manage to reach Niké, the Emperor realized it before and prepared for battle.

The Roman army

The core of their fighting force was the veteran legiones palatinae, supported by the auxilia palatinae and the limitanei and comitatenses. However, while the importance of the cavalry increased in the imperial army, the equipment and discipline of the infantrymen had declined in quality since classical times as during the Marcoman wars, although the decisive role in battles remained in the hands of the infantry. The weapons and protections of each soldier were very different, the well-known lorica segmentata had been replaced by the less efficient chain mail; the classic Roman short sword, the gladius, had been displaced by a much longer one, the spatha, the thrust being replaced by the slash; and the javelin of the legionaries, called pilum, had practically disappeared.

Valens left the imperial treasury destined to finance the campaign safe in Adrianople, and called his top lieutenants to a council of war to decide whether or not to fight. His force was probably more than 20 000 fighters, however, he must have left an important garrison in the city, although the British historian Arnold Hugh Martin Jones defended the figure of 60 000 Romans, using the data provided by the Notitia dignitatum, although he is currently highly criticized, reducing the size of Valens” army to a quarter or a third of what Jones said.

According to the scouts the Gothic host did not have more than 10 000 warriors, it was the opportunity to finish off the Germans before they slipped away, but the Caesar was hesitant. It is possible that the Emperor had between 15 000 and 20 000 soldiers available to go to the battlefield, although probably the first figure was closer to reality since having an apparent numerical advantage of two to one Valens would not have hesitated to attack. What was unknown to the Emperor was that much of the barbarian cavalry was grazing out of sight of his scouts, with the advantage of using stirrups, unlike the Roman cavalry. There was also the possibility of waiting for Gratian and his army (possibly similar to his own, 15,000 to 20,000, although he could not take most of them with him so far from his borders), who had sent messengers asking his uncle to be patient, however, the contingent following him must be quite limited, Valens would know that if he waited for him he would have only a small military support, but at the price of sharing the glory of a victory. Finally, the opinion of an important part of his generals and courtiers prevailed and Caesar decided to attack.

The Germanic Army

The Tervingians had collected the weapons of the Romans killed in previous clashes and were joined by numerous contingents of Greutungs, Alans and even Huns, mainly as cavalry. In addition, they had a large number of deserters, runaway slaves and other Romans incorporated into their ranks.

Roman historians put the mass of refugees at one million people of which up to one fifth were warriors, however, the figure is considered by many modern historians an exaggeration. Although some modern historians have estimated that up to 75 000 Tervingians crossed the Danube initially, it is quite likely that they were much less, even taking into account that contingents of other tribes, especially Greutungs, joined them. Gabriel estimates the size of each Germanic village at an average of 35,000 to 40,000 souls, including 5,000 to 7,000 warriors (with coalitions of up to 60,000 fighters). According to Jones, the large confederations of Germanic tribes numbered 50,000 to perhaps 100,000 people on average, while the smaller villages numbered barely 25,000. Most scholars consider that the various barbarian hordes that invaded the Empire had between twenty-five and ninety thousand members, of which one fifth could wield a weapon. According to Eutropius there were 200 000, these served Lenski to affirm that it is not impossible that the Tervingians were 80 000 (15 000 to 20 000 warriors) to which could be added another so much of Greutungs and 20 000 to 30 000 Huns, Alans and Taifalos.

The Gothic population has been estimated at 60 000 or 75 000 north of the Danube, a quarter or a fifth adult men. But in this case it must be considered that numerous Goths were killed or enslaved by the Huns, and that contingents such as the followers of Atanaric and Farnobio could not join Fritigerno. to 35 000 people transported in 2000 or 5000 wagons, always in need of provisions, were advancing slowly. According to Jones they would be thirty or forty thousand. According to Goldsworthy it was forty or fifty thousand, including families, people seeking a better life in the Empire and bands of warriors (with few non-combatants) who wished to enrich themselves as mercenaries. It should be mentioned that this contingent did not include purely Tervingians nor all Tervingians (just as not all Greutungs joined them). Despite what ancient sources say that every night the Goths formed a single large circle with their wagons (Gothic laager) with their families and animals inside, however, this would have been too slow to form and too difficult to defend because of its extent. It is most likely that the barbarians when camping formed several camps according to the various clans, close to each other and all around some source of water. Probably because they traveled in small groups communicated with each other, not in a large column.

Classical sources speak of 200,000 barbarian warriors, but modern historians consider such a figure an exaggeration. Even if such a figure had referred to the entire Germanic horde, i.e. warriors, families and slaves, the maximum would have been 60,000 men capable of wielding a weapon. However, there are still those who maintain that 100,000 Germans put up a fight at Adrianople.

According to MacDowall the Germanic horde probably numbered just over 10,000 fighters, perhaps 12,000. Apparently the Emperor”s scouts were not completely wrong. Jorgensen believes there were as many as 15 000 warriors, but about 4000 horsemen were grazing far from the camp when Valens arrived. According to Burns, the constitution of the Germanic army may have been 20 000 warriors: 10 000 Tervingians, 8000 Greutungs and the rest Alans and Huns. However, not all of them could go out to face the Romans on the battlefield, since an important fraction probably remained protecting their families, perhaps about 15 000 fought in Adrianople. Jones believes that they were 10 000 Tervingian warriors when crossing the Danube. Goldsworthy agrees with the previous one, but their forces were increased by the arrival of Greutungs and fugitive slaves, probably Goths, and Huns and Alans to whom he promised booty. Heather says that it is impossible that the Goths exceeded 20 000 and they were probably far fewer, giving a significant advantage to Valens. He also suggests that many years later, in 416, Alaric I”s Goths probably numbered only 15 000, at most 20 000. In contrast, Décarreux argues that they must have been 10 000 strong at the battle, although they would probably have grown to 20 000 or 25 000 (for 100 000 people in total) when they sacked Rome in 410.

In short, most of today”s authors believe that Fritigerno had more than 10,000 fighters and not more than 20,000.

On August 9, 378 Valens began his march towards the camp of the Goths, arriving around 2:00 p.m., with his troops exhausted from covering some 13 km under the hot summer and Mediterranean sun. Despite this factor, he ordered his army to take up positions for combat, while the vanguard (part of the cavalry) formed a screen.

The Roman horsemen were positioned on the flanks, while the heavy infantry and auxiliaries were deployed in the center of the line. Fritigerno, contemplating this, opted to try to buy time by parleying while sending messengers to his cavalry, who were then away grazing; a priest was sent to the Emperor, but was sent back to the Germans. The barbarians, already aware that they would have to fight, left their families behind the defensive lines of wagons and went out into the open field to fight. Meanwhile, Fritigerno tried again to dialogue with the Emperor, while units of Roman skirmishers probed the Goths” positions to prevent surprise attacks or to discover possible ambushes and their weak points. One of these units, under the command of Cassius and Bacurius began the combat with the enemy on the right wing of the Roman line. To make matters worse for Caesar, the barbarian cavalry commanded by Aleteus and Saphrax arrived at that moment and put their opponents to flight.

At that precise moment the Tervingians decided to attack the Roman infantry in the center, taking advantage of the fact that the latter had not yet finished deploying. After a rain of arrows and javelins, the morale of the Romans collapsed and although the legionaries of the left wing managed to open a breach between their enemies in their line, but, as the cavalry had not managed to deploy, they could not take advantage of this success. When the Gothic cavalry attacked that sector of the enemy army the Roman horsemen managed to push them back to the barricade of wagons, but not having the support of the cavalry that had been left in reserve as a result of the chaos they had to end up fleeing. It was then that disaster struck, the barbarian cavalry took advantage to flank the center of the Roman line and the legionaries and auxiliaries who were fighting on foot were surrounded. Some units broke ranks and fled, being hunted by the enemy horsemen; others, like the lanciarii and matiarii veterans, remained firm around Caesar until an arrow ended his life, another version of the end of Valens says that it happened in a small farmhouse nearby where he took refuge until the Goths set fire to him with everyone inside. The Emperor”s body was never found.

Short-term

The defeat of the army of Constantinople had cost the lives of their emperor, the generals Sebastian and Trajan, thirty-five tribunes and two-thirds of the army. probably twelve to fifteen thousand Roman soldiers fallen, Gratian, learning of his uncle”s fate, simply turned back to defend his own empire.

For their part, the Goths took advantage of marching immediately against Adrianople, eager to seize the imperial treasury, but their repeated assaults will be repulsed by the local garrison and survivors. Although many Romans defected, including the Candidati, Valens” personal guard, they never managed to get the gates opened and Fritigerno will decide to head for Perinth (present-day Marmara Ereglisi, Turkey). From there they went against Constantinople itself, but after contemplating its solid defenses and suffering a bloody sortie of Saracen mercenary units against their camp.

The chronic shortage of food suffered by the barbarians caused them to head first to Thrace, then Illyria and finally Dacia. Gratian took advantage of this respite to impose order in Constantinople.

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Long-term

The first and obvious consequence of the crushing defeat of the Eastern Roman Empire was the vacant throne that Valens left in Constantinople. Before chaos took hold of the East, the emperor of the West and nephew of the deceased, Gratian, entrusted his government to the Hispanic general Flavius Theodosius, who was crowned in 379 and became known as Theodosius the Great. Theodosius acquired the throne of the West years later and was the last man to rule the entire Roman Empire. Theodosius personally led a new campaign against the Goths that ended after two years, after which he managed to defeat them and negotiate a pact in 382 with their new chief, Athanaric, who again considered them foederati in Moesia. Fritigerno is not mentioned, so it is possible that he had died or lost the leadership he exercised among the Germans.

Although the new pact supposedly returned the situation to the initial status quo, the truth is that nothing would ever be the same for either the Goths or the Romans. After Adrianople, the Visigoths were fully aware of their strength and continued to extort money from the Romans whenever it seemed convenient. The one who went furthest with this policy was Alaric I, who even aspired to occupy some important position in the government of the Eastern Empire. When he did not see his demands resolved, he subjected the Balkans to a new policy of plundering, even entering Athens. He only ceased his efforts when Rufinus, the prefect of the praetorium of Theodosius” son, Arcadius, recognized him as magister militum of the province of Illyria. Alaric”s disagreements with his new western neighbors, who did not recognize either the government of the East or that of Alaric over Illyria, would ultimately lead to the sack of Rome in 410.

The defeat of Adrianople also had its consequences on the Roman way of waging war. After the Roman massacre, it was impossible to recover the number of soldiers and officers lost in the battle and the army had to be restructured, abandoning the classic system of legions. From then on, and it was Theodosius who exported the new model to the West, the Roman army was divided into small units of limitanei, a sort of border guards, often federated barbarians, led by a duke (dux) who governed a border area from a particular fortress, plus a mobile army of comitatenses, who moved from one place to another as problems arose. This new defense system would be the embryo of the future feudal system in force during the Middle Ages. The battle of Adrianople also demonstrated the effectiveness of cavalry in warfare, so their number increased in the new armies to the detriment of infantry. The new cavalry units were also usually formed by barbarian mercenaries, mainly Huns, Sarmatians or Persians, who fought with long sword and lance and were in turn the precursors of the medieval knights.

The demographic pressure of the Germanic tribes was finally unleashed on the weakened Empire. The population of these barbarians had grown steadily from one or two million in the time of the Principate, doubling by the time of Valens. Finally, the great tribal confederations were beginning to settle in Roman territory, populated by fifty or sixty million inhabitants, half of them in Europe. The Visigoths ended up in Hispania and numbered possibly seventy or eighty thousand, the Ostrogoths in Italy, perhaps barely forty thousand, Heruli and Suevi, twenty-five to thirty-five thousand each, in Italy and Gallaecia respectively. They were very few in comparison to the enormous populations they invaded.

Finally, the chaos caused by the Goths in Adrianople was taken advantage of by the Huns to cross the Danube and imitate the policy of plunder and extortion that had given such good results to the Goths. The victory had become an example to the rest of the tribes that the Empire was vulnerable, motivating many to invade it and demand land to settle.

In December 405 the Rhine River froze and 100,000 to 200,000 Suevi, Alans and Vandals (Silingi, Lacringi and Asdingi or Victovales) under the command of Radagaiso invaded Gaul. They had 20 000 to 30 000 warriors. The Romans mobilized about 15 000 soldiers to stop them, in addition to contingents of Alans led by Saro and Huns of Uldin. By then, the western Empire counted 136 000 limitanei and 130 000 comitatenses, and the eastern 104 000 of the first and 248 000 of the second.

They crossed near Moguntiacum (present-day Mainz), but after years of plundering in Gaul, the Romans would hire the so-called Visigoths, who provided 12,000 troops to wipe out these tribes, and the slow persecution would eventually drive the Goths into Hispania. The slow persecution would eventually lead the Goths to Hispania. When Attila came to the Hun throne in 434, this policy was common for his people, and it was he who took it to its maximum expression, accelerating the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

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Notes

Classics:

Modern:

Sources