THE VISIGOTHIC INVASION
3. The Visigoths Cross the Danube (376)
The earliest invasion of the Roman Empire which resulted in the
permanent settlement of a large and united body of Germans on Roman
soil was that of the Visigoths in the year 376. This invasion was very
far, however, from marking the first important contact of the German
and Roman peoples. As early as the end of the second century B.C. the
incursions of the Cimbri and Teutones (113-101) into southern Gaul and
northern Italy had given Rome a suggestion of the danger which
threatened from the northern barbarians. Half a century later, the
Gallic campaigns of Caesar brought the two peoples into conflict for
the first time in the region of the later Rhine boundary, and had the
very important effect of preventing the impending Germanization of
Gaul and substituting the extension of Roman power and civilization in
that quarter. Roman imperial plans on the north then developed along
ambitious lines until the year 9 A.D., when the legions of the Emperor
Augustus, led by Varus, were defeated, and in large part annihilated,
in the great battle of the Teutoberg Forest and the balance was turned
forever against the Romanization of the Germanic countries. Thereafter
for a long time a state of equilibrium was preserved along the
Rhine-Danube frontier, though after the Marcomannic wars in the latter
half of the second century the scale began to incline more and more
against the Romans, who were gradually forced into the attitude of
defense against a growing disposition of the restless Germans to push
the boundary farther south.
During the more than three and a half centuries intervening between
the battle of the Teutoberg and the crossing of the Danube by the
Visigoths, the intermingling of the two peoples steadily increased. On
the one hand were numerous Roman travelers and traders who visited
the Germans living along the frontier and learned what sort of people
they were. The soldiers of the legions stationed on the Rhine and
Danube also added materially to Roman knowledge in this direction. But
much more important was the influx of Germans into the Empire to serve
as soldiers or to settle on lands allotted to them by the government.
Owing to a general decline of population, and especially to the lack
of a sturdy middle class, Rome found it necessary to fill up her army
with foreigners and to reward them with lands lying mainly near the
frontiers, but often in the very heart of the Empire. The
over-population of Germany furnished a large class of excellent
soldiers who were ready enough to accept the pay of the Roman emperor
for service in the legions, even if rendered, as it often was, against
their kinsmen who were menacing the weakened frontier. From this
source the Empire had long been receiving a large infusion of German
blood before any considerable tribe came within its bounds to settle
in a body. Indeed, if there had occurred no sudden and startling
overflows of population from the Germanic countries, such as the
Visigothic invasion, it is quite possible that the Roman Empire might
yet have fallen completely into the hands of the Germans by the quiet
and gradual processes just indicated. As it was, the pressure from
advancing Asiatic peoples on the east was too great to be withstood,
and there resulted, between the fourth and sixth centuries, a series
of notable invasions which left almost the entire Western Empire
parceled out among new Germanic kingdoms established by force on the
ruins of the once invincible Roman power. The breaking of the frontier
by the West Goths (to whom the Emperor Aurelian, in 270, had abandoned
the rich province of Dacia), during the reign of Gratian in the West
and of Valens in the East, was the first conspicuous step in this
great transforming movement.
The ferocious people to whose incursions Ammianus refers as the cause
of the Visigothic invasion were the Huns [see p. 42], who had but
lately made their first appearance in Europe. Already by 376 the
Ostrogothic kingdom of Hermaneric, to the north of the Black Sea, had
fallen before their onslaught, and the wave of conquest was spreading
rapidly westward toward Dacia and the neighboring lands inhabited by
the Visigoths. The latter people were even less able to make effectual
resistance than their eastern brethren had been. Part of them had
become Christians and were recognizing Fridigern as their leader,
while the remaining pagan element acknowledged the sway of Athanaric.
On the arrival of the Huns, Athanaric led his portion of the people
into the Carpathian Mountains and began to prepare for resistance,
while the Christians, led by Fridigern and Alaf (or Alavivus),
gathered on the Danube and begged permission to take refuge across the
river in Roman territory. Athanaric and his division of the Visigoths,
having become Christians, entered the Empire a few years later and
settled in Moesia.
Ammianus Marcellinus, author of the account of the Visigothic invasion
given below, was a native of Antioch, a soldier of Greek ancestry and
apparently of noble birth, and a member of the Eastern emperor's
bodyguard. Beyond these facts, gleaned from his _Roman History_, we
have almost no knowledge of the man. The date of his birth is unknown,
likewise that of his death, though from his writings it appears that
he lived well toward the close of the fourth century. His _History_
began with the accession of Nerva, 96 A.D., approximately where the
accounts by Tacitus and Suetonius end, and continued to the death of
his master Valens in the battle of Adrianople in 378. It was divided
into thirty-one books; but of these thirteen have been lost, and some
of those which survive are imperfect. Although the narrative is broken
into rather provokingly here and there by digressions on earthquakes
and eclipses and speculations on such utterly foreign topics as the
theory of the destruction of lions by mosquitoes, it nevertheless
constitutes an invaluable source of information on the men and events
of the era which it covers. Its value is greatest, naturally, on the
period of the Visigothic invasion, for in dealing with these years the
author could describe events about which he had direct and personal
knowledge. Ammianus is to be thought of as the last of the old Roman
school of historians.
Source--Ammianus Marcellinus, _Rerum Gestarum Libri qui
Supersunt_, Bk. XXXI., Chaps. 3-4. Translated by Charles D.
Yonge under the title of _Roman History during the Reigns of
the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and
Valens_ (London, 1862), pp. 584-586. Text in edition of Victor
Gardthausen (Leipzig, 1875), Vol. II., pp. 239-240.
[Sidenote: Visigoths ask permission to settle within the Empire]
In the meantime a report spread extensively through the other
nations of the Goths [i.e., the Visigoths], that a race of men,
hitherto unknown, had suddenly descended like a whirlwind from the
lofty mountains, as if they had risen from some secret recess of
the earth, and were ravaging and destroying everything that came in
their way. Then the greater part of the population (which, because
of their lack of necessities, had deserted Athanaric), resolved to
flee and to seek a home remote from all knowledge of the
barbarians; and after a long deliberation as to where to fix their
abode, they resolved that a retreat into Thrace was the most
suitable, for these two reasons: first of all, because it is a
district most abundant in grass; and in the second place, because,
by the great breadth of the Danube, it is wholly separated from the
barbarians [i.e., the Goths], who were already exposed to the
thunderbolts of foreign warfare. And the whole population of the
tribe adopted this resolution unanimously. Accordingly, under the
command of their leader Alavivus, they occupied the banks of the
Danube; and having sent ambassadors to Valens,[22] they humbly
entreated that they might be received by him as his subjects,
promising to live peaceably and to furnish a body of auxiliary
troops, if any necessity for such a force should arise.
[Sidenote: Rumors of Gothic movements reach Rome]
While these events were passing in foreign countries, a terrible
rumor arose that the tribes of the north were planning new and
unprecedented attacks upon us,[23] and that over the whole region
which extends from the country of the Marcomanni and Quadi to
Pontus,[24] a barbarian host composed of various distant nations
which had suddenly been driven by force from their own country, was
now, with all their families, wandering about in different
directions on the banks of the river Danube.
[Sidenote: Their coming represented as a blessing to the Empire]
At first this intelligence was treated lightly by our people,
because they were not in the habit of hearing of any wars in those
remote regions until after they had been terminated either by
victory or by treaty. But presently the belief in these occurrences
grew stronger, being confirmed, moreover, by the arrival of the
foreign ambassadors who, with prayers and earnest entreaties,
begged that the people thus driven from their homes and now
encamped on the other side of the river might be kindly received by
us. The affair seemed a cause of joy rather than of fear, according
to the skilful flatterers who were always extolling and
exaggerating the good fortune of the Emperor; congratulating him
that an embassy had come from the farthest corners of the earth
unexpectedly, offering him a large body of recruits, and that, by
combining the strength of his own nation with these foreign forces,
he would have an army absolutely invincible; observing farther
that, by the payment for military reinforcements which came in
every year from the provinces, a vast treasure of gold might be
accumulated in his coffers.
[Sidenote: The crossing of the Danube]
Full of this hope, he sent several officers to bring this ferocious
people and their wagons into our territory. And such great pains
were taken to gratify this nation, which was destined to overthrow
the empire of Rome, that not one was left behind, not even of those
who were stricken with mortal disease. Moreover, having obtained
permission of the Emperor to cross the Danube and to cultivate some
districts in Thrace, they crossed the stream day and night, without
ceasing, embarking in troops on board ships and rafts, and canoes
made of the hollow trunks of trees. In this enterprise, since the
Danube is the most difficult of all rivers to navigate, and was at
that time swollen with continual rains, a great many were drowned,
who, because they were too numerous for the vessels, tried to swim
across, and in spite of all their exertions were swept away by the
stream.
[Sidenote: Number of the invaders]
In this way, through the turbulent zeal of violent people, the
ruin of the Roman Empire was brought on. This, at all events, is
neither obscure nor uncertain, that the unhappy officers who were
intrusted with the charge of conducting the multitude of the
barbarians across the river, though they repeatedly endeavored to
calculate their numbers, at last abandoned the attempt as useless;
and the man who would wish to ascertain the number might as well
attempt to count the waves in the African sea, or the grains of
sand tossed about by the zephyr.[25]
4. The Battle of Adrianople (378)
Before crossing the Danube the Visigoths had been required by the
Romans to give up their arms, and also a number of their children to
be held as hostages. In return it was understood that the Romans would
equip them afresh with arms sufficient for their defense and with food
supplies to maintain them until they should become settled in their
new homes. So far as our information goes, it appears that the Goths
fulfilled their part of the contract, or at least were willing to do
so. But the Roman officers in Thrace saw an opportunity to enrich
themselves by selling food to the famished barbarians at extortionate
prices, and a few months of such practices sufficed to arouse all the
rage and resentment of which the untamed Teuton was capable. In the
summer of 378 the Goths broke out in open revolt and began to avenge
themselves by laying waste the Roman lands along the lower Danube
frontier. The Eastern emperor, Valens, hastened to the scene of
insurrection, but only to lose the great battle of Adrianople, August
9, 378, and to meet his own death. "The battle of Adrianople," says
Professor Emerton, "was one of the decisive battles of the world. It
taught the Germans that they could beat the legions in open fight and
that henceforth it was for them to name the price of peace. It broke
once for all the Rhine-Danube frontier." Many times thereafter German
armies, and whole tribes, were to play the role of allies of Rome; but
neither German nor Roman could be blinded to the fact that the
decadent empire of the south lay at the mercy of the stalwart sons of
the northern wilderness.
Source--Ammianus Marcellinus, _Rerum Gestarum Libri qui
Supersunt_, Bk. XXXI., Chaps. 12-14. Translated by Charles D.
Yonge [see p. 34], pp. 608-615 _passim_. Text in edition of
Victor Gardthausen (Leipzig, 1875), Vol. II., pp. 261-269.
[Sidenote: The Goths approach the Roman army]
He [Valens] was at the head of a numerous force, neither unwarlike
nor contemptible, and had united with them many veteran bands,
among whom were several officers of high rank--especially Trajan,
who a little while before had been commander of the forces. And as,
by means of spies and observation, it was ascertained that the
enemy was intending to blockade with strong divisions the different
roads by which the necessary supplies must come, he sent a
sufficient force to prevent this, dispatching a body of the archers
of the infantry and a squadron of cavalry with all speed to occupy
the narrow passes in the neighborhood. Three days afterwards, when
the barbarians, who were advancing slowly because they feared an
attack in the unfavorable ground which they were traversing,
arrived within fifteen miles from the station of Nice[26] (which
was the aim of their march), the Emperor, with wanton impetuosity,
resolved on attacking them instantly, because those who had been
sent forward to reconnoitre (what led to such a mistake is unknown)
affirmed that the entire body of the Goths did not exceed ten
thousand men....[27]
[Sidenote: The battle begins]
When the day broke which the annals mark as the fifth of the Ides
of August [Aug. 9] the Roman standards were advanced with haste.
The baggage had been placed close to the walls of Adrianople, under
a sufficient guard of soldiers of the legions. The treasures and
the chief insignia of the Emperor's rank were within the walls,
with the prefect and the principal members of the council.[28]
Then, having traversed the broken ground which divided the two
armies, as the burning day was progressing towards noon, at last,
after marching eight miles, our men came in sight of the wagons of
the enemy, which had been reported by the scouts to be all arranged
in a circle. According to their custom, the barbarian host raised a
fierce and hideous yell, while the Roman generals marshalled their
line of battle. The right wing of the cavalry was placed in front;
the chief portion of the infantry was kept in reserve....[29]
And while arms and missiles of all kinds were meeting in fierce
conflict, and Bellona,[30] blowing her mournful trumpet, was raging
more fiercely than usual, to inflict disaster on the Romans, our
men began to retreat; but presently, aroused by the reproaches of
their officers, they made a fresh stand, and the battle increased
like a conflagration, terrifying our soldiers, numbers of whom were
pierced by strokes of the javelins hurled at them, and by arrows.
[Sidenote: The fury of the conflict]
Then the two lines of battle dashed against each other, like the
beaks of ships and, thrusting with all their might, were tossed to
and fro like the waves of the sea. Our left wing had advanced
actually up to the wagons, with the intent to push on still farther
if properly supported; but they were deserted by the rest of the
cavalry, and so pressed upon by the superior numbers of the enemy
that they were overwhelmed and beaten down like the ruin of a vast
rampart. Presently our infantry also was left unsupported, while
the various companies became so huddled together that a soldier
could hardly draw his sword, or withdraw his hand after he had once
stretched it out. And by this time such clouds of dust arose that
it was scarcely possible to see the sky, which resounded with
horrible cries; and in consequence the darts, which were bearing
death on every side, reached their mark and fell with deadly
effect, because no one could see them beforehand so as to guard
against them. The barbarians, rushing on with their enormous host,
beat down our horses and men and left no spot to which our ranks
could fall back to operate. They were so closely packed that it was
impossible to escape by forcing a way through them, and our men at
last began to despise death and again taking to their swords, slew
all they encountered, while with mutual blows of battle-axes,
helmets and breastplates were dashed in pieces.
[Sidenote: The Romans put to flight]
Then you might see the barbarian, towering in his fierceness,
hissing or shouting, fall with his legs pierced through, or his
right hand cut off, sword and all, or his side transfixed, and
still, in the last gasp of life, casting around him defiant
glances. The plain was covered with corpses, showing the mutual
ruin of the combatants; while the groans of the dying, or of men
fearfully wounded, were intense and caused much dismay on all
sides. Amid all this great tumult and confusion our infantry were
exhausted by toil and danger, until at last they had neither
strength left to fight nor spirits to plan anything. Their spears
were broken by the frequent collisions, so that they were forced
to content themselves with their drawn swords, which they thrust
into the dense battalions of the enemy, disregarding their own
safety, and seeing that every possibility of escape was cut off
from them.... The sun, now high in the heavens (having traversed
the sign of Leo and reached the abode of the heavenly Virgo[31])
scorched the Romans, who were emaciated by hunger, worn out with
toil, and scarcely able to support even the weight of their armor.
At last our columns were entirely beaten back by the overpowering
weight of the barbarians, and so they took to disorderly flight,
which is the only resource in extremity, each man trying to save
himself as best he could....
Scarcely one third of the whole army escaped. Nor, except the
battle of Cannae, is so destructive a slaughter recorded in our
annals;[32] though, even in the times of their prosperity, the
Romans have more than once been called upon to deplore the
uncertainty of war, and have for a time succumbed to evil Fortune.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] Valens was the Eastern emperor from 364 until his death in the
battle of Adrianople in 378. His brother Valentinian was emperor in
the West from 364 to 375. Gratian, son of Valentinian, was the real
sovereign in the West when the Visigoths crossed the Danube.
[23] That is, upon the writer's people, the Romans.
[24] The Marcomanni and Quadi occupied a broad stretch of territory
along the upper Danube in what is now the northernmost part of
Austria-Hungary. Pontus was a province in northern Asia Minor.
[25] Moeller (_Histoire du Moyen Age_, p. 58), estimates that the
Goths who now entered Thrace numbered not fewer than 200,000 grown
men, accompanied by their wives and children. The Italian Villari, in
his _Barbarian Invasions of Italy_, Vol. I., p. 49, gives the same
estimate. The tendency of contemporary chroniclers to exaggerate
numbers has misled many older writers. Even Moeller's and Villari's
estimate would mean a total of upwards of a million people. That there
were so many may well be doubted. The Vandals played practically as
important a part in the history of their times as did the Visigoths;
yet it is known that when the Vandals passed through Spain, in the
first half of the fifth century, they numbered not more than 20,000
fighting men, with their wives and children.
[26] Nice was about thirty miles east of Adrianople.
[27] The Visigoths under Fridigern finally took their position near
Adrianople and Valens led his army into that vicinity and pitched his
camp, fortifying it with a rampart of palisades. From the Western
emperor, Gratian, a messenger came asking that open conflict be
postponed until the army from Rome could join that from
Constantinople. But Valens, easily flattered by some of his
over-confident generals, foolishly decided to bring on a battle at
once. Apparently he did not dream that defeat was possible.
[28] After the battle here described, which occurred in the open
plain, the victorious Goths proceeded to the siege of the city itself,
in which, however, they were unsuccessful. The taking of fortified
towns was an art in which the Germans were not skilled.
[29] When both armies were in position Fridigern, "being skilful in
divining the future," says Ammianus, "and fearing a doubtful
struggle," sent a herald to Valens with the promise that if the Romans
would give hostages to the Goths the latter would cease their
depredations and even aid the Romans in their wars. Richomeres, the
Roman cavalry leader, was chosen by Valens to serve as a hostage; but
as he was proceeding to the Gothic camp the soldiers who accompanied
him made a rash attack upon a division of the enemy and precipitated a
battle which soon spread to the whole army.
[30] The goddess of war, regarded in Roman mythology as the sister of
Mars.
[31] Signs of the zodiac, sometimes employed by the Romans to give
figurative expression to the time of day.
[32] The number of Romans killed at Cannae (216 B.C.) is variously
estimated, but it can hardly have been under 50,000.