Valamir

Valamir (c. 420 – c. 465) was an Ostrogothic king in the ancient country of Pannonia from AD 447 until his death. During his reign, he fought alongside the Huns against the Roman Empire and then, after Attila the Hun's death, fought against the Huns to consolidate his independent control over a large group of Goths.

Valamir was the son of Vandalarius and cousin to king Thorismund. An important and trusted vassal of Attila the Hun, Valamir participated in Attila's raids of the provinces of the Danube (447), and commanded an Ostrogothic contingent of Attila's force at the Battle of Chalons. After Attila's death (453), Valamir by force and diplomacy became the leader of the large grouping of Goths who were settled by Marcian in Pannonia. In the subsequent fight for independence from the Huns from 456 to 457, he defeated the sons of Attila.

In 459 Valamir's Ostrogoths did not receive their accustomed annual tribute from the Romans and felt that Theoderic Strabo was getting more honour than they were. Valamir and his brothers therefore attacked Illyricum from 459 to 462, when the emperor Leo I agreed to pay the Goths 300 pounds of gold yearly. During a Scirian raid, Valamir was thrown from his horse and killed.

Jordanes in his Getica may have confused his name (Βαλαμερ in the Greek alphabet), giving "Balamber" a fictitious existence as a king of the Huns about 375.

Most of this article relies upon A.H.M. Jones & J.R. Martindale, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. II (AD 395 - 527) (1971 - 1980), except where noted otherwise.

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