Frigeridus ( 370–377 AD) was a

Roman general Roman generals were often career statesmen, remembered by history for reasons other than their service in the Roman Army. This page encompasses men whom history remembers for their accomplishments commanding Roman armies on land and sea. A * Man ...

of Germanic descent. Under

Valentinian I Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Vale ...

he was the military commander (''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

'') of

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

. Following the

Battle of Marcianople The Battle of Marcianople or Marcianopolis took place in 376 following the Goths' migration over the Danube. It was the first notable battle of the Gothic War of 376–382. After a failed Roman attempt to assassinate the Gothic leadership at a b ...

, he was directed by

Gratian Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...

, Valentian's successor, to lead forces from Pannonia to Thrace to deal with the invading Goths. He did not command his own forces in the Battle of Ad Salices, ostensibly due to an attack of gout. Following the Roman defeat at the Battle of Dibaltum, the Goths and Taifali under

Farnobius Farnobius (died AD 377) was a Gothic chief who was killed in a battle with the Roman army of Frigeridus while trying to cross the mountains from Thrace into Illyricum. Biography Farnobius was the ''optimatus'' (or chieftain) of one of the Greuth ...

planned to attack Frigeridus's fortified position at

Beroea Beroea (or Berea) was an ancient city of the Hellenistic period and Roman Empire now known as Veria (or Veroia) in Macedonia, Northern Greece. It is a small city on the eastern side of the Vermio Mountains north of Mount Olympus. The town is ment ...

. Learning this he retreated to Illyricum, reinforced, returned and defeated Farnobius's forces, killing him. The survivors were settled in Italy. To prevent the marauding Goths from moving northwest into Pannonia, Frigiderus fortified the pass at Succi. Ammianus called him a "careful and active leader", and criticized his replacement with a general named Maurus who he characterized as venal, changeable and unreliable.Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Historiae'', book 31, chapters 21.

References

* * 4th-century Germanic people Ancient Roman generals Germanic warriors Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown {{AncientRome-bio-stub