Gothic War (395–398)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The revolt of Alaric I was a military conflict between the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
and a rebel army, probably composed mainly of
Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
. This war consisted a number of armed conflicts in the period between 395 and 398, interspersed with periods of negotiations and sometimes even cooperation. During this war, the western and eastern parts of the Roman Empire did not always joint together because of conflicting interests. The protagonists in this conflict were the West-Roman commander-in-chief
Stilicho Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...
, the Eastern-Roman
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...
Rufinus, his successor Eutropius and
Alaric I Alaric I (; , 'ruler of all'; ; – 411 AD) was the first Germanic kingship, king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades earlier by a combine ...
. The latter was an elected Gothic military leader and monarch, and later considered one of first
Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...
kings.


Sources

The main contemporary sources in which this war is reported are the historian
Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...
and the poet Claudianus. Other early sources are
Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...
, a historian who probably lived about half a century after Alaric's death, and
Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...
, a Romanized Goth who wrote a history of his people around 550. These sources provide a lot of information, but are not always unambiguous and sometimes even contradictory.


Background


Settlement of the Goths within the empire

In 376 the Goths, who were fleeing for the
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...
, were given permission from Emperor
Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...
(364-378) to settle within the Roman Empire. The Goths appeared in two large separate groups, the
Tervingi The Thervingi, Tervingi, or Teruingi (sometimes pluralised Tervings or Thervings) were a Gothic people of the plains north of the Lower Danube and west of the Dniester River in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with the Gr ...
and
Greuthungi The Greuthungi (also spelled Greutungi) were a Goths, Gothic people who lived on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe between the Dniester River, Dniester and Don river, Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. T ...
, each with their own leaders. These first two groups were soon followed by even more Gothic refugees. Emperor Valens who had a serious shortage of manpower for his armies saw in the newcomers a new source of soldiers and concluded treaties with the Goths. In exchange for military assistance, the Goths were assigned territory within the empire. This was an extraordinary circumstance, because for the first time in the history of the empire barbaric people were settled within its borders and not direct subjected to imperial laws. In the reception and integration of these groups, a lot went wrong due to mismanagement and miscommunication of the Romans. Over the next decades, more Gothic groups crossed the Roman borders; these generally tried to enlist with the Roman military or gain lands to settle. Many newcomers tried to integrate into Roman society, but other Gothic groups attempted to maintain cohesion as well as gain greater power in negotiations by practicing distinct customs including an elected kingship. The arrival of the Goths and the inability of the Romans to overcome the threat that the newcomers made for the empire after some time, eventually led to a serious weakening of the military strength of the empire, and worked as a catalyst for the fall of the Western Roman empire in 476-480.


Usurpation of Eugenius

An important occasion in which the Goths had to provide the empire with soldiers, arose during the usurpation of
Eugenius Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a Western Roman emperor from 392 to 394, unrecognized by the Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious p ...
in the year 392. Emperor Theodosius (379-395) brought an army together in 393 that a significant contingent includes of Gothic auxiliary troops. These Goths were under the command of their own captains, of which Alaric was the most important. The supremacy over the empire was decided in 394 in the Battle of the Frigidus in favor of Theodosius. His Goths played an important role during the battles but also suffered major losses. The contemporary Roman historian Orosius stated that, since the Goths suffered most of the victims, Theodosius won two battles with Frigidus, one against Eugenius the other against the Goths.Orosius 7. 35. 19, Heather 2010, p. 194.


Dispute over Illyricum

Theodosius I died the year after the battle. His death on January 17, 395 caused the division of the empire among his two sons: the ten-year-old
Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...
ruled over the western half and
Arcadius Arcadius ( ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of ...
, eighteen, over the eastern half. Due to the young age and low predisposition of both brothers, they were under the influence of prominent personalities. In the case of Honorius, the ''
magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...
''
Stilicho Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...
and in that of Arcadius the '' Praefectus praetorio'' Rufinus. There was a dispute between the two parts of the empire over the ownership of the prefecture of Illyricum. This prefecture was assigned to the west when the empire in 364 was divided between the brothers Valentinian and
Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...
. Later at the time of the war against the Goths in 379-382, the then emperor Gratianus handed it to Theodosius to facilitate his fight against the Goths. After the death of Theodosius, the western half demanded it back, something the eastern half rejected. The background of this dispute went beyond mere territorial importance, as the region was the empire's main recruitment area for soldiers.


The revolt


The rebel Army

The great losses suffered in the battle of the Frigidus fed the Goths' mistrust of the Romans. As Emperor Theodosius died in early 395, the Goths were ripe to revolt. The Goths had had enough of their semi-autonomous status within the empire and the Tervingi and Greuthungi sought rapprochement with each other. Now that the empire was divided between the two sons of the emperor, the Goths, who were settled as ''
foederati ''Foederati'' ( ; singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the '' socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign ...
'' in
Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...
in the eastern part of the empire, were loyal to Arcadius. They demanded more security from him and chose Alaric, who had made a name for himself in an earlier, smaller uprising after the
Maximus Maximus (Hellenised as Maximos) is the Latin term for "greatest" or "largest". In this connection it may refer to: * Circus Maximus (disambiguation) * Pontifex maximus, the highest priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome People Roman hi ...
campaign - who also aspired to an important position within the Roman army - as their king. Though Alaric was a member of the Balt dynasty, a Gothic royal family, his relation to previous Gothic leaders like
Athanaric Athanaric or Atanaric (; died 381) was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths () for at least two decades in the 4th century. Throughout his reign, Athanaric was faced with invasions by the Roman Empire, the Huns and a civil war with C ...
remains unclear. In any case, he had distinguished himself as leader and gained the appointment as a Roman '' comes rei militaris'', though he was evidently dissatisfied with this position. Alaric's personal grievance only grew when the emperor put him under the command of
Gainas Gainas (Greek: Γαϊνάς) was a Gothic leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire as ''magister militum'' during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius. He played an important role in the events in the eastern part of the empire by the end ...
. The latter was also a Goth, but of lesser social origin than Alaric in the eyes of many Goths. In the course of 395, a revolt of the Goths broke out in Moesia. As ancient sources remain vague as to the exact composition of the emerging rebel army, historians continue to dispute whether it was mainly recruited from Gothic settlers or composed of a mixed force of disgruntled veterans of the Frigidus campaign. Proponents of an ethnically mixed uprising point out that many armed, disgruntled groups were known to operate in the Balkans at the time, several of whom were either Roman or non-Gothic Barbarians. It would have made sense of these groups to unite due to their shared interest in land and compensation. Critics of this theory point out that, if the Goths were a minority in the rebellion, the rebels would have probably lost their Gothic identity over time; however, this was not the case. Historians such as Ian Hughes and
Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Schoo ...
have instead argued that most of the insurgents were probably Goths, though ones of various backgrounds. As the rebel army then marched across the Roman Empire, it absorbed a great number of volunteers and stragglers of non-Gothic origin. However, these remained a minority, thus maintaining the self-identification of the rebels as "Goths". Hughes further posited that Jordanes' description of "''Gothi Minores'' ('Lesser Goths')" in the Balkans suggests a division of the Goths in 395: A large number of Goths in Moesia revolted under Alaric, while the rest refused to join the uprising and thus became the ''Gothi Minores''.


Attack on Constantinople

Once the rebels had gathered under the leadership of Alaric, they set off for the imperial capital
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. In their wake they caused great damage, but encountering no significant opposition from the Roman army. The eastern field army was at a distance in
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
where it was engaged in fighting groups of plundering Huns and many eastern troops who had not yet returned after the campaign against Eutropius stayed in Italy. Nevertheless, at that time it was an impossible task for the Goths to take the capital of the East Roman Empire. The emperor stayed safely in his palace behind the strong walls. Alaric contacted Rufinus with whom he negotiated. After commitments from Rufinus, the Pretorian prefect of the East, and chief adviser to Arcadius, the siege of Constantinople was lifted and the Goths moved further west. According to historian Thomas Burns, the negotiations with Rufinus meant that Alaric and his men were recruited by the Eastern regime of Rufinus in Constantinople and sent to
Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
to ward off the imminent threat of Western General
Stilicho Stilicho (; – 22 August 408) was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was partly of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He b ...
. This general set out, with an army from Italy, to defeat the Gothic uprising in Greece. Alaric's march in 395 included passing the mountain pass
Thermopylae Thermopylae (; ; Ancient: , Katharevousa: ; ; "hot gates") is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia (city), Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its Mineral spring, hot sulphur springs."Thermopylae" in: S. Hornblower & A. Spaw ...
. His troops went to Athens and along the coast. Stilicho's propagandist Claudianus accuses Alaric's army of looting carried out far south of the mountainous peninsula
Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...
, reporting that only Stilicho's surprise attack with his western field army (that he had sailed from Italy) put an end to the looting when he forces drives Alaric's troops northward in
Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...
. Zosimus adds that Stilicho's troops also destroyed and looted, and that he allowed Alaric's men to escape with their loot.


First campaign of Stilicho and the murder of Rufinus

With the arrival of Stilicho in the fall of 395, the issue regarding the jurisdiction of the Illyrian prefecture became relevant. Rufinus, the strong man of the east, feared losing this area to the west with a victory of Stilicho over the Goths. He persuaded the emperor to cancel Stilicho's campaign. Emperor Arcadius forbade Stilicho to attack Alaric and demanded that Stilicho's army leave the territory of the Eastern Empire, because the emperor had not asked the Western Roman commander to intervene. In addition, the emperor demanded that Stilicho dismiss any Eastern Roman troops who were serving under his command at the time. The imperial mandate arrived at the Roman camp when they were preparing an attack on the Goths in the valley of Pinios, an attack that had good prospects to suppress the Gothic uprising. Stilicho - whose wife and son were in Constantinople at the time - responded to this order, but not before he ordered Gainas (captain of the eastern troops) to kill Rufinus. Following the emperor's command, the western army left without even carrying out a combat action against the Goths and the eastern troops returned under the command of Gainas. Upon arrival in Constantinople on 27 November 395, Rufinus was assassinated when he and the emperor inspected the returned troops. His successor was Eutropius, who also had a major influence on the emperor. Zosimus claimed that Arcadius also checked Eutropius 'as if he were a sheep'. Historian Roger Collins points out that although the rivalry created by the two halves of the empire, that fought for power, worked in the favor of Alaric and that of his people. However, this did not solve the problems of the Gothic people experienced in their food supply. Alaric needed access to Roman authority to be supplied by Roman cities. When he didn't get it, he gave himself access to this.


Looting of Greece

Alaric's army, now without the threat of Stilicho's army, stayed in southern Greece the following year (in 396) without the Eastern Roman government even doing anything against his raids. In the pass of
Thermopylae Thermopylae (; ; Ancient: , Katharevousa: ; ; "hot gates") is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia (city), Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its Mineral spring, hot sulphur springs."Thermopylae" in: S. Hornblower & A. Spaw ...
, the Roman troops who were stationed here let the Goths pass without resistance. After this they entered the province
Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...
. They plundered the cities of
Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...
and continued to
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
, where
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
surrendered and allowed Alaric to move into the city with his army. Then they continued with the fire treasures of
Megara Megara (; , ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken ...
, Korinthian, Argos and
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
. In the end, the new mentor of Emperor Arcadius, Eutropius turned to the west with a request for help. Stilicho seized this opportunity to intervene in the Eastern Empire with both hands.


Second campaign of Stilicho

Stilicho made his army ready, saved himself a difficult trip over land, and in the spring of 397 he put his troops by boat across the Adriatic Sea and landed in Corinth where the Gothic army of Alaric was located. After a first victorious confrontation, the Romans managed to circle the Gothic army camp, where they were at the mercy of their grace. Nevertheless, Stilicho waited to hand out the final blow. He kept his power over Alaric as a trump card in the political slit-off between the two parts of the empire that arose when Stilicho decided to pressure the emperor to send Eutropius away and accept him as counsel. Arcadius (i.e. Eutropius) rejected this proposal and ordered Stilicho again to withdraw. This time he refused to follow up on this. The Roman general then was declared as 'public enemy' and all his belongings in the east were taken off of him. Faced with this rejection, Stilicho now chose the defeated Alaric as his new ally. Meanwhile, tensions between the two parts of the empire run up while Stilicho was informed that an uprising had broken out in the western part. In the province
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
the Gildonian uprising had broken out by the ''Comes Africae''
Gildo Gildo (died 398) was a Roman Berber general in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis. He revolted against Honorius and the Western Roman Empire ( Gildonic war), but was defeated and possibly killed himself or was assassinated. Etymology The ...
at the instigation of Eutropius. The grain supply of
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
was in danger and at the end of 397 the Roman general decided to return with his army. Back in Italy, in 398, Stilicho sent an army of 5,000 veterans to Africa to suppress Gildo's uprising. Again he extracts a number of troops from the Rhine border and continued to campaign indecisively against the Eastern Empire. In doing so, he encountered opposition from the Gothic troops of Alaric.


Aftermath

After Stilicho let the Goths go, the Goths stayed in Epirus. Because the Eastern Empire did not have enough manpower to face them alone, the eastern half made a peace agreement with the Goths in 398. In doing so, the Eastern Empire made all kinds of commitments to the Goths and granted them better conditions and additional guarantees of local products. Alaric obtained the title of ''magister militum per Illyricum'', which meant that he held the highest military rank in this province. They also agreed to the settlement of the Goths in the Illyricum prefecture which was disputed with Western Empire. With the prefecture under his control, Alaric was able to impose the cities his will and plunder their arsenals so that he could deliver and improve the weapons of his troops. This peace agreement was very negative for the western half, as they got the Goths as neighbors in the adjacent Illyricum. The Goths thus obtained a base from which they could easily invade the west. What actually happened from the year 401 and was the prelude to the Gothic War of 402-403.


References


Literature

;Primary sources * Claudianus *
Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), ...
, ''Historiae adversum Paganos'', 7.29; 7.42.10–12 *
Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...
, ''Historia Nova'', 5.37; 6.7–11 *
Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

''The Origins and Deeds of the Goths'' (On the Origin and Deeds of the Goths)
translated by Charles C. Mierow. ;Secondary sources * Bury, J.B. (1889), ''A History of the Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene'', Vol. I * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * {{cite book , last=Kulikowski, first=Michael , author-link=Michael Kulikowski , year=2008 , title=Rome's Gothic Wars: From The Third Century To Alaric , place= Cambridge , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn= 978-0521608688 Wars involving the Roman Empire Wars involving the Goths 390s in the Roman Empire 4th-century military history 395