The Battle of Adrianople is described by Ammianus Marcellinus as the worst Roman military disaster since Cannae, the Battle of Adrianople saw the destruction of the army of the Eastern Roman Empire and the death of the emperor. But the fortifications of Constantinople curbed the success of the Goths.
Data of the Battle of Adrianople
- Who: The Eastern Roman Emperor Valens (d. 378 AD), with an army of 20,000 men, faced a somewhat smaller army of Goths under the command of Fritigemo.
- How: The Goths took advantage of the impetuous advance of the Romans and the happy arrival of the Gothic cavalry (who had gone out in search of provisions) to trap the Romans between the Gothic circle of fortified chariots and their arriving cavalry.
- Where: Near Adrianople, in Thrace.
- When: August 9, 378 AD
- Why: The Goths, pushed west by the Huns, invaded Thrace to seize by force supplies that the Romans had promised but not delivered.
- Result: The battle was a devastating tactical defeat for the Romans, who lost two-thirds of the eastern field army.
In 376 AD Two Visigothic chieftains, Fritigemo and Alavivo, petitioned the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens to cross the Danube and settle on the Roman side of the river. The Goths were pressured by a migration of steppe nomads, the Huns, who were moving westward, pushing the Goths and other Germanic peoples before them. Valens granted the request with the stipulation that they lay down their arms and convert to Christianity, which was acceptable to the Gothic leaders. Valens's reasons for allowing the Visigoths into the Empire were that they would offer his army a valuable source of recruits, and that he could then transmute local provincial levies of men into financial contributions. By the end of the year, the Goths, some 75,000 men, women and children, had crossed the Danube and entered Roman territory.
Roman Auxiliary
At the time of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, in 350 AD. the appearance of the Roman soldier had changed a lot since the zenith of the empire. This figure is armed with a long spear and wields a longsword more suitable than the gladius for cutting blows, preferred by the German auxiliaries in the service of Rome. The shield is oval, made of wood with a leather or linen covering, and a metal rim and navel. He wears a simple iron helmet constructed in two halves joined by a central ridge with flexible cheek pieces. He does not wear armor and uses his shield to protect himself. Instead of the Roman sandal he wears a boot with nails.
The Goths Betrayed
Valens ordered that the Goths be given land to farm and that local officials provide them with supplies until they could settle. Unfortunately, overly greedy local Roman administrators failed to deliver the promised supplies and seized almost everything the Goths owned, including their children, in exchange for shoddy provisions such as dog meat. This caused great resentment among the tribes. The Goths continued their migration further into Roman Thrace. Along the way, they came into contact with some Ostrogothic warriors who had crossed the Danube without Roman permission while the Romans were dealing with the Visigoths. In Marcianopolis, a commander
The local Roman invited Fritigemo and Alavivo to a banquet, intending to capture or kill them. It seems that Fritigemo managed to return safely, perhaps in exchange for promises of good behavior from his men, but Alavivo was never heard from again, and was possibly killed.
After Fritigemo's happy return, the Goths decided to take what they needed from the Romans by force, and open war broke out; the godos defeated to the local troops around Marcianopolis. The 'le Fritigemo' forces received reinforcements from other Gothic tribes who had been allowed to cross the border, and the Gothic army moved into Adrianople and attacked the city. His assault was bloodily repulsed, and Fritigemo later made the famous comment that he 'kept at peace with the walls'. But it was clear to the Romans that the situation was dire and required additional troops. Consequently, Valens, who was with his elite eastern field army in Antioch dealing with the Persians, sent reinforcements to Thrace.
They were soon joined by soldiers from the western emperor Gratian, Valens's nephew. During much of 378 A.D. there was some inconclusive fighting, but on the whole the Romans were content to keep the Goths confined to some of the more inhospitable regions of the country and to follow a Fabian strategy, avoiding major encounters and attacking the Goth supply parties while they waited. the arrival of reinforcements from the western and eastern field armies.
At the end of the year, the Goths, aided by their recent Alan and Hun allies, broke out of confinement and prepared to devastate the most populous and fertile regions of Thrace. To complicate matters, Gratian faced a raid by some of the Alemanni and was delayed while his army engaged the raiders. The assault turned into a full-fledged invasion, further delaying their advance to Valente's relief, though the invasion was crushed.
Thecampaignandthearmies
In the meantime, Valens had left Antioch, and in May A.D. 378. he reached the imperial capital:Constantinople. Valens encamped his army on the European side of the Hellespont and sent out cavalry to determine the position of the enemy and reconnoiter. He began a slow advance towards the town of Nike, a short distance from Adrianople. With the Eastern Emperor and his army advancing against them, the Gothic forces withdrew, followed by a large contingent of Roman horsemen. During their advance, the Romans managed to defeat some Goth provisioning parties. Meanwhile, Gratian had advanced rapidly towards Thrace, moving part of his army by ship down the Danube. Valens decided to advance on Adrianople and set up a new camp where he would await the arrival of his nephew and the army from the western campaign. At this point the Goths slipped past Valens's troops and took up positions southeast of him at Nike.
While he was encamped at Adrianople,
Valens received news that Gratian and his army were about to enter Thrace and would soon be able to join him. His scouts also informed him that they had seen the Gothic army, which they estimated at about 10,000 men. At this point, Valens was faced with the choice of staying where he was until the arrival of Gratian and his troops or advancing and attacking the Goths, since he now knew his exact position. He convened a council of war with his high-ranking officers and the issue was debated. Some of the more cautious advocated waiting:the arrival of Gratian's troops would give them an overwhelming numerical advantage. However, most argued that they should attack immediately, and flattered the emperor that if he defeated the Goths himself, the glory of victory would be his alone. They no doubt also considered that the Goths had eluded them once and it would be wise to attack before they slipped away again. Valens decided to attack immediately and gave orders for his army to prepare to march against the enemy. Fritigernus, it seems, learned of these preparations and sent a messenger, who was also a Christian cleric, to
negotiate a deal, but Valente fired him and continued to prepare for battle.
The eastern army that Valens was preparing to march with him probably numbered about 20,000 men. There were more soldiers in the theater, but Valens had to leave a garrison of a few legions at Adrianople to guard the important base and its baggage train, which was to remain there. Furthermore, since the Gothic army was quite close to the imperial capital of Constantinople, other troops had been stationed there to defend the city. Valens's force was made up of many veteran soldiers, some of whom had been called up for the current campaign, and as an Imperial field army he had good quality troops. The army was also a well balanced force, containing legions and auxiliaries, including archers, and apparently well supplied with cavalry.
The Gothic army had been estimated at 10,000 men, although this seems to have been too low an estimate. The Goths numbered rather 15,000 warriors, all infantry, encamped within a circle of chariots (laager ). Gothic infantry were a mixture of warriors armed with spear and shield and archers. However, the Roman scouts were unaware that the entire force of perhaps 4,000 Genius horsemen, mostly Ostrogoths with some Alan allies under the command of the chieftains Alatcus and Safrax, had gone out in search of provisions without being discovered by the Romans. the Romans.
Layouts
At dawn on August 9, Valente led the army out of him. It seems that both the vanguard and the rear of the Roman army were made up of cavalry, while the main body was made up of infantry; and escort horsemen along the flanks. Valens and his commanders were still preoccupied with information about the location of the Gothic army and used the cavalry to protect the army from surprises during the march. After several hours of marching in very hot conditions, the Romans sighted the Gothic camp, a large circle of chariots, and began to spread out for battle. The Romans moved the leading cavalry forward to form the right flank of their fighting formation, while the infantry formed up to support it. The cavalry from the rear moved forward to take up their position on the army's left flank, though, as they had to wait for the troops in front to deploy and had to travel a considerable distance to take up their positions, they were unable to form up properly before the attack. start of the battle.
For their part, the Goths, outnumbered by the Romans and temporarily lacking supporting cavalry of their own, decided to defend their ring of chariots. Fritigemo, however, did not fail to send a message to Alaicus and Safrax to join the battle. In an attempt to buy time.
Fritigemus sent an embassy to Valens to parley, but the emperor refused to meet with them on account of his low birth, requesting that suitable leaders be sent. Fritigemo responded by sending one of his warriors as herald, to request Valens to send a man of suitable rank as a hostage, apparently as part of an exchange. Valente accepted, no doubt hoping that the delay would give her the time to deploy his army, especially his left wing. Finally, one of the Roman commanders, Ricomero, agreed to come to Fritigemo's camp. Meanwhile, the Roman cavalry on the right wing and the infantry in the center waited in formation in the blistering heat. His discomfort was exacerbated by brush fires set by the Goths. Also, the Romans had marched and were now deployed without a chance to eat, so hunger, thirst and heat were taking their toll on the army.
The Battle of Adrianople
Before Ricomero arrived at the Gothic camp to meet with Fritigemo, the fight broke out unexpectedly. Two units of the Roman cavalry, including one of archers who had been skirmishing with the Goths, became excited and launched an unexpected and thoughtless attack on the ring of chariots. These skirmishers, who could have been arrayed to the right of the army, were probably not in the proper formation for this attack, nor would they have had the necessary supporting troops. As a consequence, they were forced to retreat. At that very moment, the Gothic cavalry appeared on the battlefield and charged the Roman army.
It appears that the Gothic horsemen attacked the cavalry units on the left flank that were still in line as they moved into position. The Roman cavalry was hard pressed by the Goths, and those who had advanced to the circle of Gothic chariots found themselves without the support of the other Roman horsemen, who had not yet reached their assigned positions. As a consequence, the Roman cavalry was quickly and decisively defeated. This no doubt played havoc with the Roman infantry, who were still trying to form up in battle line.
The defeat of the cavalry on their left created a huge gap in the Roman line, a gap which the Gothic cavalry quickly exploited. At this point in the battle, the front lines of the Roman infantry came under attack from the Gothic infantry. The Goths had begun to break out of the circle of chariots and were now pressing the Roman infantry. With the defeat of the skirmishers and the cavalry of the left wing, the Roman infantry found themselves attacked not only from the front, but also from the flank by the Gothic horsemen. The fighting was incredibly fierce, but the excellent Roman infantry fought on, even when those ahead were so closely packed that proper use of weapons was difficult.
The battle swung back and forth for a considerable time and the combat was very even.
However, after repeated attacks, exhausted not only by the fighting but also by heat, hunger and the weight of the armor, the Roman lines began to give way. Some units, however, held out. Valens joined two legions, the Lanciarii and the Mattiarii , who were still holding out, but then even the Roman reserves began to flee, among them the Batavian auxiliaries. All resistance was broken and a general rout began. The Godos initiated the persecution, obtaining the destruction of two thirds of the Roman army.
When the army began to disintegrate, Valente was wounded by an arrow. His body was never found, and it is assumed that he died on the battlefield. One tradition states that he withdrew with a small group of personal guards to a farm that had a well-fortified second story. Valens's Roman guard fiercely defended the wounded emperor from him and the Goths eventually set fire to the building with the Romans inside. In addition to the emperor, several high-ranking officers and 35 unit commanders were killed.
Aftermath
The destruction of the eastern field army allowed the Goths to advance on Adrianople, where Valens had left his baggage train, with the imperial treasure and regalia. The Goths tried to take the city, but the walls defended by the legions were too strong to be stormed. They then proceeded to Constantinople, where the defenses of the city and the troops left to defend it frustrated the Goths. Gratian returned to Gaul with his western army to oppose an invasion by the Vandals, and handed over command of the eastern armies to his general Theodosius, whom he named emperor of the East on January 19, 379 AD. Theodosius waged several inconclusive campaigns against the Goths, finally making peace with them in 382 AD. Under the terms of the treaty, the Goths were granted land in Thrace in return for serving as allies.