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Battle of Adrianople
| Battle of Adrianople | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Gothic War of 376–382 and Roman–Germanic Wars | |||||||
 Map of the battle, according to the History Department of the US Military Academy | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Alans | Eastern Roman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Fritigern (Thervingi) Alatheus (Greuthungi) Saphrax (Greuthungi) |
Emperor Valens † Sebastianus † Traianus † Victor Ricomer | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
12,000–15,000[1] (Delbrück) 20,000[2] (Williams and Friell) |
15,000[3] (Heather) 30,000[4] (Williams and Friell) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 10,000–15,000[5] or 20,000[6] (roughly two-thirds of the Roman force)[7] | ||||||
The Battle of Adrianople also known as Battle of Hadrianopolis was fought between the Eastern Roman army led by the Roman emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) led by Fritigern. The battle took place in the vicinity of Adrianople, in the Roman province of Thracia (modern Edirne in European Turkey). It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.[8]
As part of the Gothic War of 376–382, the battle is often considered the start of the events which led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.
A detailed contemporary account of the lead-up to the battle from the Roman perspective was written by Ammianus Marcellinus and forms the culminating point at the end of his history.[9]
- ^ Delbrück, Hans, (trans. Renfroe, Walter), 1980, The Barbarian Invasions, Lincoln & London, University of Nebraska Press, p. 276.
- ^ Williams and Friell, p. 179
- ^ Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-532541-6. p. 181.
- ^ Williams, S. Friell, G., Theodosius: The Empire at Bay. p. 177
- ^ Heather, Peter, 1999, The Goths, p. 135
- ^ Williams and Friell, p. 18
- ^ Williams and Friell, p. 19
- ^ Zosimus, Historia Nova, book 4.
- ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Historiae, book 31, chapters 12–14.
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