Home > Battle of Adrianople
| Battle of Adrianople
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| Conflict | Roman-Barbarian wars
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| Date | August 9, 378
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| Place | Near Adrianople
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| Result | Gothic victory
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The second Battle of Adrianople ( August 9, 378) was fought between a Roman army led by the Emperor Valens and Germanic tribes (mainly Visigoths and Ostrogoths, assisted by some non-Germanic Alans) commanded by Fritigern. The battle took place at Adrianople (now Edirne, Turkey) and ended with an overwhelming victory for the Germanic tribes.
1 Background
In 376, displaced by the invasions of the Huns, the Goths, led by Alavivus and Fritigern, asked to be allowed to settle in the Roman Empire. Hoping that they would become farmers and soldiers, the emperor Valens allowed them to establish themselves in the Empire as allies ( foederatiFoederatus early in the history of the Roman Republic identified one of the tribes bound by treaty foedus , who were neither Roman colonies nor had they been granted Roman citizenship civitas but were expected to provide a contingent of fighting men when). However, the dishonesty of the provincial commanders led the newcomers to revolt after suffering many hardships. They crossed the Danube and desolated the land. Valens then asked Gratian, the western emperor, for reinforcements to fight the more numerous Goths. Gratian sent the general Frigerid with reinforcements, as well as the leader of his guards, Richomer. For the next two years preceding the battle of Adrianople there were a series of battles with no clear victories for either side.
In 378, Valens decided to take control himself. He left Antioch for Constantinople and at the same time ordered the general Sebastian to leave Italy. Sebastian succeeded in taking a group of Goths by surprise and forcing them to retreat.
After learning of Sebastian's success against the Goths and of Gratian's victory over the Alamanni in the west, Valens was ready for action. He left Melanthis for Adrianople, where he met with Sebastian's force. On August 6, reconnaissance informed him that the Goths were marching to the south-west of Adrianople, about 20 kilometers away. The goal of the Goths was to circumvent the Roman army that stretched back towards Adrianople. Despite the difficult ground, Valens reached Adrianople where a camp was constructed with a ditch and a rampart.
Richomer, sent by Gratian, carried a letter asking Valens to wait for the arrival of reinforcements from the west before engaging in battle. Valens' officers also recommended that he wait for Gratian, but Valens decided to fight without waiting, as Sebastian had beaten the Goths previously. Valens estimated that the army of the Goths numbered only about 10 000 men.
The Goths were also watching the Romans, and on August 8, Fritigern sent an emissary to propose a peace and an alliance in exchange for some Roman territory. Sure that he would be victorious due to his supposed numerical superiority, Valens rejected these proposals. However, his estimates did not take into consideration a part of the Gothic cavalry that had gone to forage further away.
2 Composition of the Roman troops
Valens' army was composed of veterans and men accustomed to war. It comprised seven large infantry units ( legions and imperial auxiliaries) of 700 to 1000 men each. The cavalry was composed of shield-archers and Scholae of the imperial guard. However, these did not represent the strong point of the army and they would flee on the arrival of the Gothic cavalry. There were also squadrons of Arab cavalry, but they were more suited to skirmishes than to pitched battle.
