# Battle of Adrianople ## Overview The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378 CE) was a catastrophic Roman defeat in which a Gothic coalition destroyed a Roman army and killed Emperor Valens. @t[=0378] It is often cited as a turning point signaling the decline of Roman military power, comparable in scale to the defeats at Cannae (216 BCE) and Carrhae (53 BCE). [^3] ## Key Facts - Date: 9 August 378 CE @t[=0378] - Location: Adrianople (modern Edirne, Turkey), Roman province of Thracia @t[=378] - Belligerents: Eastern Roman Empire vs. Gothic coalition (Thervingi Visigoths, Greuthungi/Ostrogoths, Alans) @t[=378] - Commanders: Emperor Valens (Rome, killed), Fritigern (Thervingi, d. c. 380 CE) @t[=378] - Result: Decisive Gothic victory @t[=378] [^1] - Roman losses: Approximately two-thirds of the army (~10,000–20,000 killed), including Valens @t[=378] [^1][^2] ## Background The battle was the culmination of the Gothic War (376–382 CE). @t[0376..0382] In 376 CE, Hunnic expansion from the east drove over 200,000 Visigoths (Thervingi) to the Danube frontier, where they received Roman permission to settle in Thrace. @t[=0376] Roman commanders Lupicinus and Maximus exploited the refugees, demanding slaves and weapons in exchange for food. Facing starvation, the Goths revolted under Fritigern. Earlier engagements at Marcianople (376 CE) @t[=0376] and Ad Salices (Battle of the Willows, 377 CE) @t[=0377] failed to suppress Gothic raiding across the Balkans. [^3] By 378 CE, Valens — who had been campaigning against Persia — returned to Constantinople under pressure from its citizens and marched against Fritigern. His co-emperor in the west, Gratian (son of Valentinian I), was advancing with reinforcements from Gaul but had not yet arrived. [^1] ## The Battle - Valens attacked without waiting for Gratian's western reinforcements, reportedly driven by jealousy of his nephew's military successes @t[=378] [^1][^3] - Fritigern sent peace envoys on the morning of battle — historians regard this as a stalling tactic to await the return of ~10,000 Greuthungi cavalry who were away foraging @t[=378] [^1][^3] - Roman cavalry on the left flank was routed when the Greuthungi arrived and struck unexpectedly @t[=378] - Roman infantry, already exhausted from an eight-mile march in August heat without food or water, was surrounded and annihilated @t[=378] [^1] - Valens was mortally wounded; his body was never recovered @t[=378] [^1] ## Significance - Demonstrated the vulnerability of Roman legions to heavy cavalry and the dangers of poor scouting and low morale @t[378..] [^2][^3] - The Goths lacked siege equipment and could not take Adrianople itself; the Gothic War continued until 382 CE @t[378..382] [^3] - Led to the Treaty of 382 CE: Emperor Theodosius I settled the Goths within the empire as *foederati*, granting land in exchange for military service @t[=0382] [^2][^4] - Alaric, a Visigoth and former Roman commander, sacked Rome in 410 CE — a downstream consequence of the foederati settlement @t[=0410] [^3] - Often considered a harbinger of the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 CE) @t[378..] [^2][^4] --- [^1]: Ammianus Marcellinus, *Res Gestae* 31.12–13 (~390 CE) [^2]: Burns, T.S. *Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome*. Indiana University Press, 1994. [^3]: Wasson, Donald L. "Battle of Adrianople." *World History Encyclopedia*, 2014. https://www.worldhistory.org/Battle_of_Adrianople/ [^4]: Heather, Peter. *The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians*. Oxford University Press, 2006.## Review Queue - [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 9: "Location: Adrianople (modern Edirne, Turkey), Roman province of Thracia" - what is the source? > Need to verify whether the location claim has an explicit source citation in the document footnotes. - [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "Belligerents: Eastern Roman Empire vs. Gothic coalition (Thervingi Visigoths,..." - what is the source? > Need to verify whether the belligerents claim has an explicit source citation in the document footnotes. - [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 11: "Commanders: Emperor Valens (Rome, killed), Fritigern (Thervingi, d. c. 380 CE)" - what is the source? > Need to verify whether the commanders claim has an explicit source citation in the document footnotes. - [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 23: "Roman cavalry on the left flank was routed when the Greuthungi arrived and st..." - what is the source? > The cavalry routing claim does not appear to have an explicit footnote in the visible document content. A source citation should be added — Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae, Book 31) is the primary source for this detail.