Gothic War (376–382)

Gothic War
Relief panel on the Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus depicting a battle between Goths and Romans, circa 260.
Date 376–382 Location The Balkans Result Roman Pyrrhic victory
Belligerents
Eastern Roman Empire Western Roman Empire	Therving Goths Greuthungi Goths Alanic raiders Hunnish raiders
Commanders and leaders
Valens † Gratian Theodosius I	Fritigern Alatheus Saphrax

The Gothic War is the name given to a Gothic uprising in the Eastern Roman Empire in the Balkans between about 376 and 382. The war and in particular the Battle of Adrianople, is commonly seen as a watershed in the history of the Roman Empire, the first of a series of events over the next century that would see the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, although its ultimate importance to the Empire's eventual fall is still debated.

In the summer of 376, a massive number of Goths arrived on the Danube River, the border of the Roman Empire, requesting asylum from the Huns. There were two groups: the Thervings led by Fritigern and Alavivus and the Greuthungi led by Alatheus and Saphrax.Eunapius states their number as 200,000 including civilians but Peter Heather estimates that the Thervings may have had only 10,000 warriors and 50,000 people in total, with the Greuthungi about the same size. The Cambridge Ancient History places modern estimates at around 90,000 people.

The Goths sent ambassadors to Valens, the Eastern Roman Emperor, requesting permission to settle their people inside the Empire. It took them some time to arrive, for the Emperor was in Antioch preparing for a campaign against the Sasanian Empire over control of Armenia and Iberia. The bulk of his forces were stationed in the East, far away from the Danube. Ancient sources are unanimous that Valens was pleased at the appearance of the Goths, as it offered the opportunity of new soldiers at low cost. With Valens committed to action on the Eastern frontier, the appearance of a large number of barbarians meant his skeleton force in the Balkans were outnumbered. Valens must have appreciated the danger when he gave the Thervings permission to enter the empire and the terms he gave them were highly favorable. This was not the first time barbarian tribes had been settled and the usual course was that some would be recruited into the army and the rest would be broken up into small groups and resettled across the empire at the Emperor's discretion. This would keep them from posing a unified threat and assimilate into the greater Roman population. The agreement differed with the Thervings by allowing them to choose the place of their settlement, Thrace and allowed them to remain united. During the negotiations, the Thervings also expressed a willingness to convert to Christianity. As for the Greuthungi, Roman army and naval forces blocked the river and denied them entry.

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