The Emperor Valens graciously received their request and gave
orders to the commanders on the frontier to take measures for the
shelter and provisioning of this huge mass of people.
orders to the commanders on the frontier to take measures for the
shelter and provisioning of this huge mass of people.
Cambridge Medieval History - v1 - Christian Roman Empire and Teutonic Kingdoms
Two further campaigns against the Alemans, in
359 and 861, were equally successful. On the lower Rhine also Julian
defeated the Franks, the Chauci and the Chamavi (358-360); the
tracts between the Scheldt and the Meuse were cleared of the enemy,
seven towns, among them the old fortresses of Bingium, Antunnacum,
Bonna, Novaesium and Vetera (all on the Rhine) were retaken, and
again put in a state of defence. Thus the young Caesar seemed in the
way of bringing about a complete pacification of the Rhine country, when
he was compelled to leave Gaul by the outbreak of the conflict with
Constantius (361)'.
Once again the country was left defenceless before the barbarians, who
did not fail to profit by the situation. It was indeed high time when,
after the death of Jovian (Feb. 364), the new Emperor Valentinian entered
the threatened province in the late autumn of 365, and took up his
headquarters at Paris. So much had the situation altered for the worse
since the departure of Julian that the Alemans could venture in January
366 to cross the frozen Rhine, and penetrate to the neighbourhood of
Châlons-sur-Marne. Here, indeed, they were defeated by the general
Jovinus who had hastened from Paris to intercept them, and were
compelled to beat a retreat. But the danger was not done with. The
guerrilla warfare continued on the frontier, with its forays and surprises.
Several years of vigorous action were needed before any change was
apparent. Following the old and well-tried maxim that attack is the
best defence, Valentinian in 368 himself crossed the Rhine at the head of
a considerable army reinforced by contingents of Illyrian and Italian
troops. Advancing into the country of the Alemans he came upon the
enemy at Solicinium (Sulz on the upper Neckar ? ) and defeated them
1 Fuller accounts of these campaigns and of the Gothic War are given in the
next chapter.
If this identification is correct, Valentinian started from Trier, and marched
to the Rhine by the great military road through Metz-Zabern-Strassburg, and from
this point advanced in a south-easterly direction using the old military road which
led upwards from Offenburg in the Kinzig Valley and on which also lies Sulz, formerly
the site of a Roman fortress.
14
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. VII.
## p. 210 (#240) ############################################
210
Valentinian
(A. D. 282–383
a
in a bloody battle. Two smaller expeditions beyond the Rhine followed
in the years 371 and 374. The result of this successful assumption of
the aggressive by the Romans was, broadly speaking, the recovery of the
Rhine frontier, which remained for the present exempt from serious
attack.
During this time of military activity the defences along the whole
line of the Rhine were strengthened. The existing castles and watch-
towers were improved and many new ones were built ; indeed a vigorous
development of this old and well-tried system of frontier defence is the
special merit of Valentinian. Taken generally, his reign marks a revival
of the strength of the Empire, inward as well as outward, and the results
of his work upon the Rhine could be felt for a generation after his
death. Thus his son and successor, Gratian (375-383), found for the
most part his ways made plain and a more peaceful situation obtaining
on his arrival in Gaul than that which had confronted his father ten
years earlier. Nevertheless he too had to draw the sword against the
Alemans, who—mainly the tribe of the Lentienses—in the spring of 378
crossed the Rhine with a considerable force. A battle took place near
Argentaria (Horburg near Colmar) in which the Romans gained a
complete victory, destroying the greater part of the enemy. Thus, here
on the Rhine frontier the year 378 brought the Romans once more a
complete success—the same year which in the East witnessed the break-
down of the Roman military power and the disastrous fall of the
Emperor Valens.
In contrast to the Rhine countries, the Danubian provinces had, since
the death of the Emperor Probus, enjoyed comparative peace. The
power of the most dangerous neighbour of the Empire, the Goths, had
been crippled for a long time, as we have seen, by Claudius and Aurelian,
and more especially by the dissensions and struggles between the
different tribes. The East Goths in particular had, since the close of
the third century, been fully occupied with their own affairs, and com-
pletely disappear for nearly a century. In the fourth century it is always
the western division, the Tervingi, of whom we hear; as is indeed natural,
seeing that their conquest of Trans-Danubian Moesia under Gallienus
had made them the immediate neighbours of the Empire.
No events of any great importance on the Danubian frontier are
recorded down to the time of Constantine. True, an inscription of
Diocletian and his colleagues of a date shortly before 301, celebrates a
victory over hostile tribes on the lower Danube', which doubtless means
the Goths, but these battles can hardly have been of any considerable
importance. On the other hand Constantine frequently had trouble
with the Goths. After some inroads in 314 the frontier defences
were strengthened by the building of the fortress Tropaeum Traiani
1 0. 1. L. III. 6151.
## p. 211 (#241) ############################################
A. D. 323–340]
The Goths in Dacia
211
(Adamelissi)”. The removal of troops from the frontier during prepara-
tions of Licinius for another civil war gave the signal at the beginning of
323 for a new incursion of the Goths. Thanks to the rapid advance
of Constantine—which brought him into his colleague's territory—the
invaders were intercepted before they had done any great damage, and
after severe losses, including the death of their leader, Rausimod, were
forced back across the Danube.
After the end of the civil war Constantine strove with unwearying
zeal to improve the defences of the frontier. The line was protected by
castles, and although the number of the frontier troops to whom was
especially assigned the duty of garrisoning them—the milites limitanei or
riparienses—was considerably reduced, there was no diminution, but, on
the contrary, a distinct increase of military security, gained by the
creation at the same time of a mobile field force. So strong did the
Roman Empire feel itself at this period that towards the close of the
reign of Constantine it even ventured to interfere in events on the
further side of the Danube where the Goths and Taifali were encroaching
on the Sarmatians who occupied the tract between the Theiss and the
Danube. In response to an appeal of the Sarmatians for help, the
Emperor's eldest son Constantine crossed the river at the head of an
army and, in conjunction with the Sarmatians, thoroughly routed the
Teutons (20 April 332).
Doubtless in consequence of this defeat, which clearly brought home
to them the military superiority of the Empire, the warlike ardour of the
Tervingi and Taifali was extinguished for a long time. Their impulse to
expand, the driving force of all their undertakings, was exhausted for
the present. The barbarians began to busy themselves with agriculture
and cattle-raising. As regards their relation to the Empire, former
conditions were reversed. By the treaty of peace concluded after their
defeat they nominally surrendered their independence and recognised the
suzerainty of the Roman government, being pledged as foederati, in
return for yearly subsidies (annonae foederaticae), to share in the defence
of the frontier, and in case of war to serve as auxiliary troops. The
peace continued for more than thirty years. From time to time there
may have been slight disturbances of the peace of this, indeed, there
is inscriptional evidence from the period of the joint rule of the three sons
of Constantine (337-340)', but on the whole both sides strictly observed
their compact.
1 The only record of these events is contained in C. I. L. 11. 13734 (presumably
from the year 316): Romanae securitatis libertatisque vindicibus dd. nn. Fl. Val.
Constantino et V[al. Licin]ia[no Licinio) piis felicibus aeternis Augg. quorum virtute
et providentia edomitis ubique barbararum gentium populis ad confirmandam limitis
tutelam etiam Tropeensium civitas auspicato a fundamentis feliciter opere constructa
est.
2 C. I. L. u. 12483.
CH. VII.
142
## p. 212 (#242) ############################################
212
Conversion of the Goths
[A. D. 332–381
During this long period of peace the West Goths underwent a
revolution, primarily religious but one which in its consequences affected
the whole mental, social and political life of the people—the introduction
of Christianity. As early as the second half of the third century
Christian teaching had obtained an entrance among them through
Cappadocian prisoners, taken in the sea-expeditions against Asia Minor.
There is no reason to doubt this fact; and it is equally certain that a
century later there were among the Goths representatives of the most
various schools of belief, Catholics, Arians and (since about 350) Audians.
Accordingly, the beginnings of Christianity among the Goths of the
Danube reach far back, and its diffusion among them took place under
the most various and independent influences. Of a conversion of the
nation there can be no question, at least as far down as the middle of
the fourth century. Their conversion only begins with the appearance
of Ulfila.
Born of Christian parents about the year 310-11 in the country of
the Goths, he grew up as a Goth among the Goths, although Greek
blood flowed in his veins. One or other of his parents came of a
Christian family from the neighbourhood of Parnasus in Cappadocia
which had been carried into captivity by the Goths in the time of
Gallienus (264? ). First employed as a Reader, he was, at the age of
about 30, that is to say about the year 341, consecrated as bishop of
the Christian community in the land of the Goths, by Eusebius (of
Nicomedia), the famous leader of the Arian party, at that time bishop
of Constantinople. Equally efficient as missionary and as organiser, Ulfila
gathered and united the scattered confessors of the Christian faith, and
by his enthusiastic preaching of the Gospel he won for it many new
adherents. For seven years he worked with great success among his
fellow-countrymen, and then he was suddenly obliged (c. 348) to
interrupt his work. A “godless and impious prince,” probably
Athanarich, inflicted cruel persecution on the Christians who dwelt
within his dominion, by which the newly organised church was scattered
and its bishop compelled to leave his home. Ulfila gathered together
his adherents or as many of them as had escaped the persecution and
fled with them across the Danube into Roman territory, where the
Emperor Constantius gave him shelter. Here he lived and worked (in
the neighbourhood of Nicopolis) as the priestly, and also as the political,
head of the Goths who had accompanied him in his flight, until 380 or
381—in very truth the apostle of the Goths, and not least so in virtue
of his great work of translating the Bible, by which he transmitted to
his people the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures for all time; and although
i On the form of the name cf. G. Kaufmann in his very thorough dissertation on
the sources of the history of Ulfila (Zeitschr. f. deutsch. Altert. 27, N. F. 15, pp. 243 f. ).
According to him the bishop of the Goths was named Ulfila not Vulfila, the
latter form having only come into use later, alongside of the former.
## p. 213 (#243) ############################################
A. D. 361–370]
Valens
213
his missionary. activity in his native land had early been brought to a
close, yet the conversion of the whole Gothic race to Arian Christianity
was nothing else than the harvest of that seed which he had sown in
those first years of his work among them. .
Soon after the death of Constantius (361) the friendly relations
between the West Goths and the Empire began to change. Scarcely
had Valentinian and Valens ascended the throne when there was an open
rupture. First, towards the end of 364, predatory bands of Goths
devastated Thrace-at the same time there was an incursion of the
Quadi and Sarmatians into Pannonia--then in the spring of 365 the
whole Gothic nation prepared for a great expedition against the Roman
territory. Once more the danger was averted; Valens, although he was
on the march for Syria and had already reached Bithynia, at once
took vigorous measures to cope with it. Two years later however came
the long-expected collision. Valens himself advanced to the attack.
He found a pretext in the ambiguous attitude of the Goths in recent
years, especially in their having aided the usurper Procopius with a
contingent of 3000 men (winter of 365-6). In the summer of 367 the
Roman army crossed the Danube. Yet no events of decisive importance
took place, either in this or the two following years—for the war lasted
till 369. The Goths, who had chosen as their leader Athanarich,
skilfully avoided a pitched battle, and they withdrew into the fastnesses
of the Transylvanian highlands? . In the end both sides were weary of
the war and negotiations were set on foot, which resulted in a treaty of
peace whereby the alliance with the Tervingi was formally annulled and
the Danube was established as the boundary between the two powers.
Immediately after the war, which had restored the status quo of the
beginning of the century-and therewith the complete liberty of the
Goths', the Romans set to work on a thorough restoration of the
frontier defences. Numerous burgi (barrier-forts) were erected along
the line of the Danube, as we learn in part from the evidence of
inscriptions. Yet at first the frontier remained undisturbed. Internal
dissensions and strife (chiefly due to a general persecution of the
Christians stirred up by Athanarich about the year 370) withdrew his
attention from external affairs. The Gothic prince shewed the utmost
a
· The statement of Ammianus (xxvii. 5. 6) that Athanarich nevertheless towards
the close of the war finally offered battle and was beaten and put to flight, is open
to grave doubt, since it is not obvious why the Gothic leader should suddenly
abandon the strategic method which had hitherto served him so well; and,
moreover, neither Zosimus (iv. 11) nor Themistius in his oration on the peace in 370
(Or. x. ) makes any mention of a battle in which the Romans had been successful.
: As the well-known inscription of Hissarlik, C. I. L. 11. 7494 (cf. Mommsen,
Hermes, xvii. 1882, pp. 523 ff. = Ges. Schriften, vi. pp. 303 ff. ) expressly emphasizes :
(Valens). . . [in fidem recepto rege Athanjarico, victis superatisque Gothis. . . hunc
burgum) ad defensionem rei publicae extruxit. . . .
CH. VII.
## p. 214 (#244) ############################################
214
Athanarich and Fritigern
[A. D. 370—376
ferocity against all Christians, without distinction of high or low, Arian,
Catholic, or Audian, with the avowed intention of extirpating
Christianity as dangerous to the State and deleterious to the strength
and vigour of the nation.
Probably in connexion with this, there arose (c. 370) a violent
conflict between the two most influential chiefs, Athanarich and Fritigern,
which finally led to an open schism between two portions of the race.
Fritigern was worsted, retired with his whole following into Roman
territory and placed himself under the protection of the Emperor, who
readily accorded him all possible succour and support. This step had
an important result for the cause of the persecuted Christians, inasmuch
as Fritigern with all his followers went over to Christianity and adopted
the Arian creed. This conversion of Fritigern to Christianity, and,
moreover, to Arian Christianity, powerfully influenced the further
development of events, since, on the one hand, it prepared the way for
the wider extension and final victory of Christianity among the Goths,
and on the other hand it became a serious danger to the political existence
of the nation when Arianism had been suppressed among the Romans,
for it had acquired a virtually national significance for the Goths.
The sojourn of Fritigern in Roman territory was not of long
duration. Confident in the support of the Roman government, he
returned with his followers to his own country and succeeded in main-
taining his position against Athanarich; there seems indeed to have
been a reconciliation between the rivals. Alongside of them, though
doubtless inferior to them in power and influence, a whole series of
important chiefs are mentioned by name in this period, among them
Alavio, Munderich, Eriwulf and Fravitta. At the same time, however,
Athanarich continued to exercise a certain primacy, although his
position was not in any sense constitutionally defined—among the
Romans he always bears the title of judex not rex.
The East Goths, of whom we have so long lost sight, had in the
meantime extended their dominions far and wide. A mighty empire
extending from the Don to the Dniester, from the Black Sea to the
marshes of the Pripet and the head-waters of the Dnieper and the
Volga, had emerged from their continual wars of conquest against their
neighbours, Germanic (such as the Heruli), Slavonic, and Finnish. The
main portion of these conquests is doubtless to be ascribed to King
Ermanarich, who had ruled over the Greutungi since the middle of the
century. In contrast with the West Goths who, as we have seen, down
to the end of their residence on the Danube, were ruled according to
ancient Germanic custom by principes or local chiefs, the East Goths had
early developed a monarchy embracing the whole nation. It is doubtless
to the inner strength which belongs to a firm and undivided exercise of
authority, that we are to attribute the rapid rise of the young Ostro-
gothic State under its kings from Ostrogotha to Ermanarich, a monarch
## p. 215 (#245) ############################################
A. D. 370–376]
The Huns
215
under whose vigorous rule it enjoyed its period of greatest prosperity-
and also met its fall.
Such was the state of affairs when a nation of untamed
savages,
horrible
in aspect and terrible from their countless numbers and ferocious courage,
broke forth from the interior of Asia and threatened the whole of the
West with destruction. These were the Huns. They were doubtless of
Mongolian race, and were probably natives of the great expanse of
steppes which lies to the north and east of the Caspian Sea. Soon after
370 they penetrated into Europe, and threw themselves with irresistible
fury upon the peoples which came in their way. The Alani, who had to
,
bear the first brunt of their attack, were soon overpowered, and com-
pelled to join their conquerors, and the same fate befel the smaller
peoples whose settlements lay further north, on the right bank of the
Volga.
The fate of the Ostrogothic Empire was now imminent. For a con-
siderable time they succeeded in holding the enemy at the sword's point,
but finally their strength broke down before the weight of the Asiatic
hordes. Ermanarich himself died by his own hand rather than live to see
the downfall of his kingdom ; his successor, Withimir, after several bloody
defeats, met his death on the field of battle. All resistance ceased, and
the whole people surrendered itself to the Huns.
The invading flood rolled westward to encounter the Tervingi (375).
At the first tidings of the events in the neighbouring country, Athanarich
called his people to arms and marched with a part of his forces to meet
the Huns. The Gothic leader took his stand on the bank of the
Dniester ; but finding himself compelled to abandon this position by a
crafty turning-movement of the enemy, Athanarich gave up thence-
forward all thought of resistance in the field, and betook himself to the
impenetrable ravines of the Transylvanian highlands. But only some of
the Goths followed him thither. The mass of the people, weary of
hardship and privation, separated themselves and resolved to abandon
their country. Under the leadership of their local chiefs Alavio and
Fritigern they mustered their forces in the spring of 376 on the north
bank of the Danube and besought permission to enter the Roman
Empire, in the hope of finding a dwelling-place in the rich plains of
Thrace.
The Emperor Valens graciously received their request and gave
orders to the commanders on the frontier to take measures for the
shelter and provisioning of this huge mass of people. The Goths passed
the river. In boats, and rafts, and hollowed tree-trunks they made their
way across and covered all the country round"like the rain of ashes from
an eruption of Etna. ” At first all went well. The new-comers maintained
an exemplary attitude: not so the Roman officials—the chief of whom
was the Thracian comes Lupicinus. They used the precarious position
of the barbarians to their own profit, taking advantage of them in every
CH. VII.
## p. 216 (#246) ############################################
216
Battle of Hadrianople
[A. D. 376–378
possible way. It was not long before their shameless injustice aroused
the deep resentment of the Teutons, among whom famine had already
set in.
Things soon came to open rupture. In the immediate neighbourhood
of Marcianople a bloody battle was fought between the infuriated
Teutons and the soldiers of Lupicinus. The Romans were almost
annihilated, their leader took refuge behind the strong walls of the town,
which was immediately invested by the main body of the Tervingian
forces. Other divisions scattered over the plains, plundering as they
went. All attempts of the barbarians failed to take the town by storm.
So Fritigern “made his peace with stone walls. ” A strong force remained
“
before the place as an army of observation, while the main body turned,
as detachments of it had done before, to the plundering of the adjoining
districts of Moesia. Once more the country suffered fearfully, and to
complete its misery other bands of plunderers now joined the Goths.
Taifali, Alani, and even Huns were drawn across the Danube by the hope
of plundering and ravaging these fertile provinces. This was in the
summer of 377.
Troops were hurried up from all sides for the defence of the threatened
provinces ; even Gratian sent aid from the West. Meanwhile the Goths
had overrun all Moesia. Not only had the bloody battle fought at a
place called Salices (late summer 377) been indecisive and cost the
Romans heavy losses, but a strong detachment of Roman troops under
the tribune Barzimeres, a Teuton by race, had been. cut to pieces at
Dibaltus. A success which the dux Frigeridus, likewise of Teutonic birth,
gained over the Taifali and a company of the Greutungi under their
chief Farnobius was not much to balance this and did not alter the fact
that Thrace, which after the battle of Salices had been overrun by the
Teutons, remained a prey to them.
Finally (30 May 378) Valens arrived at Constantinople. As soon
as Fritigern, who lay in the neighbourhood of Hadrianople, heard of the
Emperor's arrival, he gave the order for the widely scattered Gothic
forces to unite. From this point onward events followed in quick
succession. At first the fortune of war seemed to smile upon the
Romans. Making Hadrianople his base, Sebastianus, the commander
of reinforcements sent by Gratian, succeeded in inflicting a reverse upon
the Goths. Fritigern thereupon retired to the neighbourhood of Cabyle
and there concentrated his forces. Thereupon Valens, on his part,
advanced to Hadrianople, resolved to venture upon a decisive stroke.
He had set his heart upon meeting his nephew Gratian, who was
hastening up from the West, with the news of a great victory. And so
(9 Aug. 378) battle was joined near Hadrianople. It resulted in a
terrible defeat of the Romans, in which the Emperor himself was slain.
More than two-thirds of his army, the flower of the military forces of
the East, was left upon the field of battle.
## p. 217 (#247) ############################################
A. D. 378]
Battle of Hadrianople
217
It was in truth a second Cannae. The Empire rocked to its foun-
dations. Sheer panic fell upon all that bore the name of Rome. The
power and glory of the Empire seemed stamped into the dust by the
barbarian hordes. The struggle between Rome and the Teutons which
we have followed through five centuries was drawing to a close. The
battle of Hadrianople introduces the last act of the great drama, the
most pregnant with consequences which the history of the world has
ever seen.
CH. VII.
## p. 218 (#248) ############################################
218
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DYNASTY OF VALENTINIAN AND
THEODOSIUS THE GREAT.
a
The imperial throne was once more vacant (16-17 February 364),
but the army had learned the danger of a tumultuous election, and
after the troops had advanced by an eight days' march to Nicaea, both
the civil and military authorities weighed with anxious deliberation
the rival claims of possible candidates. Aequitius, tribune of the first
regiment of the scutarii, men knew to be harsh and uncultured,
Januarius, a relative of Jovian in supreme command in Illyricum, was
too far distant, and at length one and all agreed to offer the diadem
to Valentinian. The new Emperor had not marched from Ancyra with
the
army,
but had received orders to follow in due course with his regi-
ment, the second schola of scutarii ; thus, while messengers hastened his
journey, the Roman world was for ten days without a master. Valentinian
was a native of Pannonia; his father Gratian, a peasant rope-seller of
Cibalae, had early distinguished himself by his strength and bravery.
Risen from the ranks he had become successively protector, tribune and
general of the Roman forces in Africa ; accused of peculation, he re-
mained for a time under a cloud, only to be given later the command
of the legions of Britain. After his retirement, hospitality shewn to
Magnentius led to the confiscation of Gratian's property by Constantius,
but the services of the father made advancement easy for Valentinian.
In Gaul, however, when acting under Julian's orders he was dismissed
from the army by Barbatio, but on Julian's accession he re-enlisted.
Valentinian's military capacity outweighed even in the eyes of an
apostate emperor his pronounced Christianity, and an important com-
mand was given him in the Persian War. Later he had been sent on
a mission to the West, bearing the news of Jovian's election, and from
this journey he had but recently returned. The life story of Gratian
and Valentinian is one of the most striking examples of the splendid
career which lay open to talent in the Roman army.
The father,
a peasant unknown and without influence, by his ability rises to supreme
command over Britain, while his son becomes Emperor of Rome.
It is
## p. 219 (#249) ############################################
364–365]
Valens co-Emperor
219
hardly surprising that barbarians were ready to enter a service which
offered to the capable soldier such prospects of promotion. It may also
be noticed in passing that in the council at Nicaea only military officers
were considered as successors of Jovian: we do not hear of
any
civil
administrator as a possible candidate for the vacant throne.
From the very day of his accession the character of Valentinian was
declared. When the crowd bade him name at once a co-Augustus, he
replied that but an hour before they had possessed the right to command,
but that right now belonged to the Emperor of their own creation.
From the first the stern glance and majestic bearing of Valentinian
bowed men to his will. Through Nicomedia he advanced to Constanti-
nople, and here in the suburb of the Hebdomon on 28 March 364 he
created his brother Valens co-Emperor ; he looked for loyal subjection
and personal dependence, and he was not disappointed ; with the rank
of Augustus, Valens was content in effect to play the part of a
Caesar. At Naissus the military forces of the Empire were divided, and
many Pannonians were raised to high office. The new rulers were, how-
ever, careful to retain in their posts men who had been chosen both by
Julian and Jovian ; they wished to injure no susceptibilities by open
partisanship. But even though Valentinian remained true to his constant
principle of religious toleration and refused to favour the nominees either
of a Christian or a Pagan Emperor, yet men traced a secret distrust and
covert jealousy of those who had been Julian's intimates; Sallust, the all-
powerful praefect, was removed, and accusations were brought against the
philosopher Maximus. When both Emperors were attacked with fever,
a commission of high imperial officials was appointed to examine whether
the disease might not be due to secret arts. No shred of evidence of any
unholy design was discovered, but the common rumour ran that the only
object of the inquiry was to bring into disrepute the memory and the
friends of Julian. Those who had been loyal to the old dynasty began
.
to seek a leader.
At Sirmium the brothers parted, Valentinian for Milan, Valens for
Constantinople; they each entered on their first consulship in the
following year (365), and as soon as the winter was past Valens travelled
with all speed for Syria ; it would seem that already the terms of the
Thirty Years' Peace were giving rise to fresh difficulties; too many
questions remained open between Rome and Persia.
But as yet it was not foreign invasion but domestic rebellion which
was to endanger the life and throne of Valens. When Procopius had
laid the corpse of Julian to rest in Tarsus, he himself discreetly vanished
from the sight of kings and courtiers: it was a perilous distinction to
have enjoyed the peculiar favour of the dead Emperor? . Before long
however he grew weary of his fugitive existence : life as a hunted exile
in the Crimea was too dearly bought. In desperation he sailed secretly
1 Cf. p. 85.
a
CH. VII.
## p. 220 (#250) ############################################
220
The Revolt of Procopius
[365
for the capital where he found shelter in the friendly house of a senator
Strategius, while a eunuch, Eugenius by name, recently dismissed from
the imperial service, put unlimited funds at his disposal. As he wandered
unrecognised through the streets, on every hand he heard men muttering
of the cruelty and avarice of Petronius, the father-in-law of Valens. The
Emperor himself was no longer in Constantinople, and popular discontent
seemed only to need its champion. The regiments of the Divitenses and
the Tungritani Juniores, on their march from Bithynia for the defence of
Thrace, were at the moment in the city. For two days Procopius
negotiated with their officers; his gold and promises won their allegiance
and in their quarters at the Anastasian Baths the soldiers met under
cover of night and swore to support the usurpation. “Leaving the
inkpot and stool of the notary,” so ran the scornful phrase of the
Court rhetorician, this stage figure of an emperor, hesitating to the last,
assumed the purple and with stammering tongue harangued his followers.
Any sensation was grateful to the populace, and they were content to
accept without enthusiasm their new ruler. Those who had nothing
to lose were ready enough to share the spoils, but the upper classes
generally held aloof or fled to the Court of Valens ; none of them met
Procopius as he entered the deserted senate house. He relied for
support upon men's devotion to the family of Constantine; as reinforce-
ments bound for Thrace reached the capital, he came before them with
Faustina, the widow of Constantius, by his side, while he himself
bore her little daughter in his arms. He pleaded his own kinship
to Julian and the troops were won. Gumoarius and Agilo who had
served Constantius well were recalled from retirement and put at the
head of the army, while to Julian's friend Phronemius was given the
charge of the capital. Valentinian had advanced Pannonians, Procopius
chose Gauls, for the Gallic provinces had most reason to remember
Julian's services to the Empire. Nebridius, recently created praetorian
praefect through the influence of Petronius, was held a prisoner and
forced to write despatches recalling Julius who was in command in
Thrace; the stratagem succeeded and the province was won without
a blow. The embassy to Illyricum, however, bearing the newly minted
coinage of Procopius, was defeated by the vigilance of Aequitius, every
approach, whether through Dacia, Macedonia or the pass of Succi, being
effectually barred.
The news of the revolt reached Valens as he was leaving Bithynia for
Antioch, and he was only recalled from abject despair by the counsels of
his friends. Procopius with the Divitenses and a hastily collected force
had advanced to Nicaea, but before the approach of the Jovii and Victores
he retreated to Mygdus on the Sangarius. Once more the soldiers yielded
when he appealed to their loyalty to the house of Constantine: the
troops of Valens deserting “ the degenerate Pannonian," “ the drinker of
miserable barley beer,” went over to the usurper. One success followed
## p. 221 (#251) ############################################
366–369]
Fall of Procopius
221
another: Nicomedia was surprised by the tribune Rumitalca, who forth-
with marched to the north; Valens who was besieging Chalcedon was
taken unawares and forced to fly for his life to Ancyra. Thus Bithynia
was won for Procopius. His fleet under Marcellus attacked Cyzicus and
when once the chain across the harbour's mouth was broken the garrison
surrendered. With the fall of Cyzicus, Valens had lost the mastery of
the Hellespont, while he could expect no help from his brother, since
Valentinian had determined that the safety of the whole Roman Empire
demanded his presence on the western frontier. Thus during the early
months of 366, while Procopius endeavoured to raise funds for the future
conduct of the war, Valens could only await the arrival of Lupicinus.
The Emperor's final victory was indeed mainly due to an ill-considered
act of his rival. Arbitio, the retired general of Constantius, had supported
the usurper, but had declined an invitation to his court, pleading the
infirmities of old age and ill-health. Procopius replied by an order
that the general's house should be pillaged, thereby turning a friend
into a bitter foe. Arbitio on the appeal of Valens joined the camp of
Lupicinus ; his arrival at once inspired the Emperor with fresh hope
and courage, and gave the signal for wholesale defections from the
usurper's forces. In an engagement at Thyatira, Gumoarius procured
his own capture and carried with him many of his men. After the
march of Valens into Phrygia, Agilo in his turn deserted when the
armies met at Nacolia. The soldiers refused to continue the struggle
(26 May 366). Procopius was betrayed to the Emperor by two of his
own officers and was immediately put to death. Imperial suspicion and
persecution had once again goaded a loyal subject to treason and to
ruin. His severed head was borne beneath the walls of Philippopolis,
and the city surrendered to Aequitius. The ghastly trophy was even
carried to Valentinian through the provinces of Gaul, lest loyalty to the
memory of Julian should awake treason in the West. Valens could
now avenge his terror and sate his avarice. The suppression of the
rebellion was followed by a train of executions, burnings, proscriptions,
and banishments which caused men to curse the victory of the lawful
Emperor.
The plea of kinship with the family of Constantine had induced some
thousands of the Gothic tribesmen on the Danube to cross the Roman
frontier in support of Procopius. Valens refused to recognise their
defence, and depriving them of their weapons settled them in the cities
along the northern boundaries of the Empire. When discontent declared
itself, in fear of a general attack he acted on his brother's advice, and
marched in person to the Danube, and for the three succeeding years
(367–369) the Gothic campaign absorbed his attention. With Marci-
anople as his base of operations, he crossed the river in 367 and 369;
in the latter year he conquered Athanarich, and during the autumn
concluded an advantageous peace. The Emperor and the Gothic judex
CH, VIII.
## p. 222 (#252) ############################################
222
Valentinian I in Gaul
( 364–366
met on a ship in mid-stream, for Athanarich professed himself bound by
a fearful oath never to set foot upon Roman soil. During these years
Valens, pursuing in the East his brother's policy, strengthened the whole
of the Danube frontier line with forts and garrisons.
Valentinian may indeed be styled the frontier Emperor ; his title to
fame is his restoration of the defences of Rome in the West against the
surging barbarian hordes. He was a hard-worked soldier prince, and
the one purpose which inspires his reign is his fixed determination never
to yield an inch of Roman territory. He had always before his eyes the
terrible warning of his predecessor. In the year 364, when the Emperor
was still at Milan, ambassadors from the Alemanni came to greet him on
his accession, and to receive the tribute which Roman pride disguised
under the fairer name of gifts. Valentinian would not squander state
funds in bounty to barbarians; the presents were small, while Ursatius,
the magister officiorum, who took his cue from his master, treated the
messengers with scant courtesy. They returned indignant to their homes,
and in the early days of the new year, A. D. 365, the Alemanni burst
plundering and ravaging across the frontier. Charietto the count
commanding in both Germanies and the aged general Servianus,
stationed at Cabillona (Châlons-sur-Saône), both fell before the
barbarian onset. Gaul demanded Valentinian's presence; the Emperor
started for Paris in the month of October; and while on the march,
news reached him of the revolt of Procopius. The report gave no details
he did not know whether Valens were alive or dead. But with that strong
sense of imperial duty which dignifies the characters of the fourth
century emperors, he subordinated utterly the personal interest to the
common weal : “Procopius is but my brother's enemy and my own," he
repeated to himself; "the Alemanni are the foes of the Roman world. "
Arrived at Paris, it was from that city that he despatched Dagalaiphus
against the Alemanni. Autumn was fast giving place to winter, the
tribesmen had scattered, and the new general was dilatory and inactive;
he was recalled to become consul with the Emperor's son Gratian
(Jan. 366) and Jovinus, as magister equitum, took his place at the
head of the Roman troops. Three successive victories virtually concluded
the campaign ; at Scarponna (Charpeigne) one band of barbarians was
surprised and defeated, while another was massacred on the Moselle. In
negligent security the Alemanni on the river bank were drinking,
washing and dyeing their hair red, when from the fringe of the forest
the Roman legionaries poured down upon them. Jovinus then under-
took a further march and pitched his camp at Châlons-sur-Marne ; here
there was a desperate engagement with a third force of the enemy. The
withdrawal during the battle of the tribune Balchobaudes seriously
endangered the army's safety, but at length the day was won. The
Alemanni lost six thousand killed and four thousand wounded; of the
Romans two hundred were wounded and twelve hundred killed; in
a
## p. 223 (#253) ############################################
366–369)
Count Theodosius in Britain
223
a
a
the pursuit Ascarii in the Roman service captured the barbarian king,
and in the heat of the moment he was struck dead. After a few lesser
encounters resistance was for the time at an end. It was probably his
interest in this campaign which had led Valentinian to spend the early
months of 366 at Rheims. He now returned to Paris and from the latter
city advanced (end of June 366 ? ) to meet his successful general, whom he
nominated for the consulship in the succeeding year. At the same time
the head of Procopius reached him from the East. But in the high tide
of success he was struck down with a serious illness (winter 366–7). The
Court was already considering possible candidates for the purple when
Valentinian recovered, but, realising the dangers for the West which
might arise from a disputed succession, at Amiens on 24 August 367
he procured from the troops the recognition of the seven year old Gratian
as co-Augustus. It may well have been the necessity for defending the
northern coast against raids of Franks and Saxons which had summoned
Valentinian to Amiens ; and now on his way from that town to Trier
tidings reached him of a serious revolt in Britain. Fullofaudes, the
Roman general, together with Nectaridus, the commander of the coast
line (count of the Saxon shore ? ), had both met their deaths. In the
autumn of 367 Severus, count of the imperial guards, was despatched to
the island only to be recalled. Jovinus, appointed in his place, sent Pro-
vertides in advance to raise levies, while in view of the constant reports
of fresh disasters the Count Theodosius (the father of Theodosius the
Great) was ordered to sail for Britain at the head of Gallic reinforcements.
From Boulogne he landed at Rutupiae (Richborough: spring 368) and
was followed by the Batavi, Heruli, Jovii and Victores. Scenes of hope-
less confusion met him on his arrival; Dicalydones and Verturiones (the
two divisions of the Picts), Attacotti and Scotti (Irish) all ranged pillaging
over the countryside, while Frank and Saxon marauders swept down in
forays on the coast. Theodosius marched towards London, and it would
seem made this city his headquarters. Defeating the scattered troops
of spoil-laden barbarians, he restored the greater part of the booty to
the harassed provincials, while deserters were recalled to the standard by
promises of pardon. From London, where he spent the winter, Theodosius
prayed the Emperor to appoint men of wide experience to govern the
island—Civilis as pro-praefect and Dulcitius as general; in this year too,
he probably cooperated with imperial troops on the continent in the
suppression of Frank and Saxon pirates in the Low Countries and about
the mouths of the Rhine and Waal. Valentinian himself advanced as
far north as Cologne in the autumn of 368. In the year 369 Theodosius
everywhere surprised the barbarians and swept the country clear of their
robber bands. Town-fortifications were restored, forts rebuilt and
frontiers regarrisoned, while the Areani, a treacherous border militia,
were removed. Territory in the north was recovered, and a new fifth
province of Valentia or Valentinia created. The revolt of Valentinus,
CH, VIII.
## p. 224 (#254) ############################################
224
Valentinian I and Frontier Defence
[367—371
who had been exiled to Britain on a criminal charge, was easily crushed
by Theodosius, who repressed with a strong hand the treason trials which
usually followed the defeat of an unsuccessful usurper. When he sailed
for Gaul, probably in the spring of 370, he left the provincials “ leapin
for very joy. " On his return to the Court he was appointed to succeed
Jovinus as magister equitum (before end of May 370).
While his lieutenant had been restoring order in Britain, Valentinian
had been actively engaged in Gaul. The winter of 367–8 the Emperor
spent at Rheims preparing for his vengeance upon the disturbers of the
peace in the West.
But the new year opened with a disaster, for while
the Christian inhabitants of Mainz were keeping festival (Epiphany ? 368)
the Aleman prince Rando surprised and sacked the town. The Romans,
however, gained a treacherous advantage by the murder of King Withicab,
and in the summer of the same year the Emperor together with his son in-
vaded the territory between Neckar and Rhine. Our authorities give us no
certain information as to his route, perhaps he advanced by the Rhine
road and then turned off by Ettlingen and Pforzheim. Solicinium (near
Rottenburg on the left bank of the Neckar) was the scene of the decisive
struggle. The barbarians occupied a strong position on a precipitous
hill; the Romans experienced great difficulty in dislodging them but
were at length successful, and the enemy fled over the Neckar by
Lopodunum towards the Danube. The advantage thus gained was
secured by the building of a strong fort, apparently at Altrip, and for its
erection it seems possible that the ruins of Lopodunum were employed.
The Emperor spent the winter in Trier, and with the new year (369)
began his great work of frontier defence extending from the province of
Rhaetia to the ocean. Valentinian even sought to plant his fortresses
in the enemy's territory. This was regarded by the Alemanni as a breach
of treaty rights, and the Romans suffered a serious reverse at the Mons
Piri (Heidelberg? ). The Emperor accordingly entered into negotiations
with the Burgundians, who were to attack the Alemanni with the support
of the Roman troops. The Burgundians, long at feud with their neigh-
bours over the possession of some salt springs on their borders, gladly
accepted the Emperor's overtures and appeared in immense force on the
Rhine: the confederate seemed more terrible than the foe. Valentinian
was absent superintending the building of his new forts, and feared either
to accept or refuse the assistance of such dangerous allies. He sought to
gain time by inaction, and the Burgundians, infuriated at this betrayal,
were forced to withdraw, since the Alemanni threatened to oppose their
homeward march. Meanwhile Theodosius, newly arrived in Gaul from
Britain, swept upon the distracted Alemanni from Rhaetia, and after a
successful campaign was able to settle his captives as farmers in the valley
of the Po. Macrian, king of the Alemanni, had been the heart and soul
of his people's resistance to Rome; with the intention therefore of
capturing this dangerous enemy by a sudden surprise, in September 371
## p. 225 (#255) ############################################
365–371]
Rome and Armenia
225
-
Valentinian accompanied by Theodosius left Mainz for Aquae Mattiacae ;
but with the troops the opportunities for pillage outweighed the Emperor's
strictest orders. The smoke of burning homesteads betrayed the Roman
approach ; the army advanced some fifty miles, but the purpose of the
expedition was defeated and the Emperor returned disappointed to
Trier.
359 and 861, were equally successful. On the lower Rhine also Julian
defeated the Franks, the Chauci and the Chamavi (358-360); the
tracts between the Scheldt and the Meuse were cleared of the enemy,
seven towns, among them the old fortresses of Bingium, Antunnacum,
Bonna, Novaesium and Vetera (all on the Rhine) were retaken, and
again put in a state of defence. Thus the young Caesar seemed in the
way of bringing about a complete pacification of the Rhine country, when
he was compelled to leave Gaul by the outbreak of the conflict with
Constantius (361)'.
Once again the country was left defenceless before the barbarians, who
did not fail to profit by the situation. It was indeed high time when,
after the death of Jovian (Feb. 364), the new Emperor Valentinian entered
the threatened province in the late autumn of 365, and took up his
headquarters at Paris. So much had the situation altered for the worse
since the departure of Julian that the Alemans could venture in January
366 to cross the frozen Rhine, and penetrate to the neighbourhood of
Châlons-sur-Marne. Here, indeed, they were defeated by the general
Jovinus who had hastened from Paris to intercept them, and were
compelled to beat a retreat. But the danger was not done with. The
guerrilla warfare continued on the frontier, with its forays and surprises.
Several years of vigorous action were needed before any change was
apparent. Following the old and well-tried maxim that attack is the
best defence, Valentinian in 368 himself crossed the Rhine at the head of
a considerable army reinforced by contingents of Illyrian and Italian
troops. Advancing into the country of the Alemans he came upon the
enemy at Solicinium (Sulz on the upper Neckar ? ) and defeated them
1 Fuller accounts of these campaigns and of the Gothic War are given in the
next chapter.
If this identification is correct, Valentinian started from Trier, and marched
to the Rhine by the great military road through Metz-Zabern-Strassburg, and from
this point advanced in a south-easterly direction using the old military road which
led upwards from Offenburg in the Kinzig Valley and on which also lies Sulz, formerly
the site of a Roman fortress.
14
C. MED. H. VOL. I. CH. VII.
## p. 210 (#240) ############################################
210
Valentinian
(A. D. 282–383
a
in a bloody battle. Two smaller expeditions beyond the Rhine followed
in the years 371 and 374. The result of this successful assumption of
the aggressive by the Romans was, broadly speaking, the recovery of the
Rhine frontier, which remained for the present exempt from serious
attack.
During this time of military activity the defences along the whole
line of the Rhine were strengthened. The existing castles and watch-
towers were improved and many new ones were built ; indeed a vigorous
development of this old and well-tried system of frontier defence is the
special merit of Valentinian. Taken generally, his reign marks a revival
of the strength of the Empire, inward as well as outward, and the results
of his work upon the Rhine could be felt for a generation after his
death. Thus his son and successor, Gratian (375-383), found for the
most part his ways made plain and a more peaceful situation obtaining
on his arrival in Gaul than that which had confronted his father ten
years earlier. Nevertheless he too had to draw the sword against the
Alemans, who—mainly the tribe of the Lentienses—in the spring of 378
crossed the Rhine with a considerable force. A battle took place near
Argentaria (Horburg near Colmar) in which the Romans gained a
complete victory, destroying the greater part of the enemy. Thus, here
on the Rhine frontier the year 378 brought the Romans once more a
complete success—the same year which in the East witnessed the break-
down of the Roman military power and the disastrous fall of the
Emperor Valens.
In contrast to the Rhine countries, the Danubian provinces had, since
the death of the Emperor Probus, enjoyed comparative peace. The
power of the most dangerous neighbour of the Empire, the Goths, had
been crippled for a long time, as we have seen, by Claudius and Aurelian,
and more especially by the dissensions and struggles between the
different tribes. The East Goths in particular had, since the close of
the third century, been fully occupied with their own affairs, and com-
pletely disappear for nearly a century. In the fourth century it is always
the western division, the Tervingi, of whom we hear; as is indeed natural,
seeing that their conquest of Trans-Danubian Moesia under Gallienus
had made them the immediate neighbours of the Empire.
No events of any great importance on the Danubian frontier are
recorded down to the time of Constantine. True, an inscription of
Diocletian and his colleagues of a date shortly before 301, celebrates a
victory over hostile tribes on the lower Danube', which doubtless means
the Goths, but these battles can hardly have been of any considerable
importance. On the other hand Constantine frequently had trouble
with the Goths. After some inroads in 314 the frontier defences
were strengthened by the building of the fortress Tropaeum Traiani
1 0. 1. L. III. 6151.
## p. 211 (#241) ############################################
A. D. 323–340]
The Goths in Dacia
211
(Adamelissi)”. The removal of troops from the frontier during prepara-
tions of Licinius for another civil war gave the signal at the beginning of
323 for a new incursion of the Goths. Thanks to the rapid advance
of Constantine—which brought him into his colleague's territory—the
invaders were intercepted before they had done any great damage, and
after severe losses, including the death of their leader, Rausimod, were
forced back across the Danube.
After the end of the civil war Constantine strove with unwearying
zeal to improve the defences of the frontier. The line was protected by
castles, and although the number of the frontier troops to whom was
especially assigned the duty of garrisoning them—the milites limitanei or
riparienses—was considerably reduced, there was no diminution, but, on
the contrary, a distinct increase of military security, gained by the
creation at the same time of a mobile field force. So strong did the
Roman Empire feel itself at this period that towards the close of the
reign of Constantine it even ventured to interfere in events on the
further side of the Danube where the Goths and Taifali were encroaching
on the Sarmatians who occupied the tract between the Theiss and the
Danube. In response to an appeal of the Sarmatians for help, the
Emperor's eldest son Constantine crossed the river at the head of an
army and, in conjunction with the Sarmatians, thoroughly routed the
Teutons (20 April 332).
Doubtless in consequence of this defeat, which clearly brought home
to them the military superiority of the Empire, the warlike ardour of the
Tervingi and Taifali was extinguished for a long time. Their impulse to
expand, the driving force of all their undertakings, was exhausted for
the present. The barbarians began to busy themselves with agriculture
and cattle-raising. As regards their relation to the Empire, former
conditions were reversed. By the treaty of peace concluded after their
defeat they nominally surrendered their independence and recognised the
suzerainty of the Roman government, being pledged as foederati, in
return for yearly subsidies (annonae foederaticae), to share in the defence
of the frontier, and in case of war to serve as auxiliary troops. The
peace continued for more than thirty years. From time to time there
may have been slight disturbances of the peace of this, indeed, there
is inscriptional evidence from the period of the joint rule of the three sons
of Constantine (337-340)', but on the whole both sides strictly observed
their compact.
1 The only record of these events is contained in C. I. L. 11. 13734 (presumably
from the year 316): Romanae securitatis libertatisque vindicibus dd. nn. Fl. Val.
Constantino et V[al. Licin]ia[no Licinio) piis felicibus aeternis Augg. quorum virtute
et providentia edomitis ubique barbararum gentium populis ad confirmandam limitis
tutelam etiam Tropeensium civitas auspicato a fundamentis feliciter opere constructa
est.
2 C. I. L. u. 12483.
CH. VII.
142
## p. 212 (#242) ############################################
212
Conversion of the Goths
[A. D. 332–381
During this long period of peace the West Goths underwent a
revolution, primarily religious but one which in its consequences affected
the whole mental, social and political life of the people—the introduction
of Christianity. As early as the second half of the third century
Christian teaching had obtained an entrance among them through
Cappadocian prisoners, taken in the sea-expeditions against Asia Minor.
There is no reason to doubt this fact; and it is equally certain that a
century later there were among the Goths representatives of the most
various schools of belief, Catholics, Arians and (since about 350) Audians.
Accordingly, the beginnings of Christianity among the Goths of the
Danube reach far back, and its diffusion among them took place under
the most various and independent influences. Of a conversion of the
nation there can be no question, at least as far down as the middle of
the fourth century. Their conversion only begins with the appearance
of Ulfila.
Born of Christian parents about the year 310-11 in the country of
the Goths, he grew up as a Goth among the Goths, although Greek
blood flowed in his veins. One or other of his parents came of a
Christian family from the neighbourhood of Parnasus in Cappadocia
which had been carried into captivity by the Goths in the time of
Gallienus (264? ). First employed as a Reader, he was, at the age of
about 30, that is to say about the year 341, consecrated as bishop of
the Christian community in the land of the Goths, by Eusebius (of
Nicomedia), the famous leader of the Arian party, at that time bishop
of Constantinople. Equally efficient as missionary and as organiser, Ulfila
gathered and united the scattered confessors of the Christian faith, and
by his enthusiastic preaching of the Gospel he won for it many new
adherents. For seven years he worked with great success among his
fellow-countrymen, and then he was suddenly obliged (c. 348) to
interrupt his work. A “godless and impious prince,” probably
Athanarich, inflicted cruel persecution on the Christians who dwelt
within his dominion, by which the newly organised church was scattered
and its bishop compelled to leave his home. Ulfila gathered together
his adherents or as many of them as had escaped the persecution and
fled with them across the Danube into Roman territory, where the
Emperor Constantius gave him shelter. Here he lived and worked (in
the neighbourhood of Nicopolis) as the priestly, and also as the political,
head of the Goths who had accompanied him in his flight, until 380 or
381—in very truth the apostle of the Goths, and not least so in virtue
of his great work of translating the Bible, by which he transmitted to
his people the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures for all time; and although
i On the form of the name cf. G. Kaufmann in his very thorough dissertation on
the sources of the history of Ulfila (Zeitschr. f. deutsch. Altert. 27, N. F. 15, pp. 243 f. ).
According to him the bishop of the Goths was named Ulfila not Vulfila, the
latter form having only come into use later, alongside of the former.
## p. 213 (#243) ############################################
A. D. 361–370]
Valens
213
his missionary. activity in his native land had early been brought to a
close, yet the conversion of the whole Gothic race to Arian Christianity
was nothing else than the harvest of that seed which he had sown in
those first years of his work among them. .
Soon after the death of Constantius (361) the friendly relations
between the West Goths and the Empire began to change. Scarcely
had Valentinian and Valens ascended the throne when there was an open
rupture. First, towards the end of 364, predatory bands of Goths
devastated Thrace-at the same time there was an incursion of the
Quadi and Sarmatians into Pannonia--then in the spring of 365 the
whole Gothic nation prepared for a great expedition against the Roman
territory. Once more the danger was averted; Valens, although he was
on the march for Syria and had already reached Bithynia, at once
took vigorous measures to cope with it. Two years later however came
the long-expected collision. Valens himself advanced to the attack.
He found a pretext in the ambiguous attitude of the Goths in recent
years, especially in their having aided the usurper Procopius with a
contingent of 3000 men (winter of 365-6). In the summer of 367 the
Roman army crossed the Danube. Yet no events of decisive importance
took place, either in this or the two following years—for the war lasted
till 369. The Goths, who had chosen as their leader Athanarich,
skilfully avoided a pitched battle, and they withdrew into the fastnesses
of the Transylvanian highlands? . In the end both sides were weary of
the war and negotiations were set on foot, which resulted in a treaty of
peace whereby the alliance with the Tervingi was formally annulled and
the Danube was established as the boundary between the two powers.
Immediately after the war, which had restored the status quo of the
beginning of the century-and therewith the complete liberty of the
Goths', the Romans set to work on a thorough restoration of the
frontier defences. Numerous burgi (barrier-forts) were erected along
the line of the Danube, as we learn in part from the evidence of
inscriptions. Yet at first the frontier remained undisturbed. Internal
dissensions and strife (chiefly due to a general persecution of the
Christians stirred up by Athanarich about the year 370) withdrew his
attention from external affairs. The Gothic prince shewed the utmost
a
· The statement of Ammianus (xxvii. 5. 6) that Athanarich nevertheless towards
the close of the war finally offered battle and was beaten and put to flight, is open
to grave doubt, since it is not obvious why the Gothic leader should suddenly
abandon the strategic method which had hitherto served him so well; and,
moreover, neither Zosimus (iv. 11) nor Themistius in his oration on the peace in 370
(Or. x. ) makes any mention of a battle in which the Romans had been successful.
: As the well-known inscription of Hissarlik, C. I. L. 11. 7494 (cf. Mommsen,
Hermes, xvii. 1882, pp. 523 ff. = Ges. Schriften, vi. pp. 303 ff. ) expressly emphasizes :
(Valens). . . [in fidem recepto rege Athanjarico, victis superatisque Gothis. . . hunc
burgum) ad defensionem rei publicae extruxit. . . .
CH. VII.
## p. 214 (#244) ############################################
214
Athanarich and Fritigern
[A. D. 370—376
ferocity against all Christians, without distinction of high or low, Arian,
Catholic, or Audian, with the avowed intention of extirpating
Christianity as dangerous to the State and deleterious to the strength
and vigour of the nation.
Probably in connexion with this, there arose (c. 370) a violent
conflict between the two most influential chiefs, Athanarich and Fritigern,
which finally led to an open schism between two portions of the race.
Fritigern was worsted, retired with his whole following into Roman
territory and placed himself under the protection of the Emperor, who
readily accorded him all possible succour and support. This step had
an important result for the cause of the persecuted Christians, inasmuch
as Fritigern with all his followers went over to Christianity and adopted
the Arian creed. This conversion of Fritigern to Christianity, and,
moreover, to Arian Christianity, powerfully influenced the further
development of events, since, on the one hand, it prepared the way for
the wider extension and final victory of Christianity among the Goths,
and on the other hand it became a serious danger to the political existence
of the nation when Arianism had been suppressed among the Romans,
for it had acquired a virtually national significance for the Goths.
The sojourn of Fritigern in Roman territory was not of long
duration. Confident in the support of the Roman government, he
returned with his followers to his own country and succeeded in main-
taining his position against Athanarich; there seems indeed to have
been a reconciliation between the rivals. Alongside of them, though
doubtless inferior to them in power and influence, a whole series of
important chiefs are mentioned by name in this period, among them
Alavio, Munderich, Eriwulf and Fravitta. At the same time, however,
Athanarich continued to exercise a certain primacy, although his
position was not in any sense constitutionally defined—among the
Romans he always bears the title of judex not rex.
The East Goths, of whom we have so long lost sight, had in the
meantime extended their dominions far and wide. A mighty empire
extending from the Don to the Dniester, from the Black Sea to the
marshes of the Pripet and the head-waters of the Dnieper and the
Volga, had emerged from their continual wars of conquest against their
neighbours, Germanic (such as the Heruli), Slavonic, and Finnish. The
main portion of these conquests is doubtless to be ascribed to King
Ermanarich, who had ruled over the Greutungi since the middle of the
century. In contrast with the West Goths who, as we have seen, down
to the end of their residence on the Danube, were ruled according to
ancient Germanic custom by principes or local chiefs, the East Goths had
early developed a monarchy embracing the whole nation. It is doubtless
to the inner strength which belongs to a firm and undivided exercise of
authority, that we are to attribute the rapid rise of the young Ostro-
gothic State under its kings from Ostrogotha to Ermanarich, a monarch
## p. 215 (#245) ############################################
A. D. 370–376]
The Huns
215
under whose vigorous rule it enjoyed its period of greatest prosperity-
and also met its fall.
Such was the state of affairs when a nation of untamed
savages,
horrible
in aspect and terrible from their countless numbers and ferocious courage,
broke forth from the interior of Asia and threatened the whole of the
West with destruction. These were the Huns. They were doubtless of
Mongolian race, and were probably natives of the great expanse of
steppes which lies to the north and east of the Caspian Sea. Soon after
370 they penetrated into Europe, and threw themselves with irresistible
fury upon the peoples which came in their way. The Alani, who had to
,
bear the first brunt of their attack, were soon overpowered, and com-
pelled to join their conquerors, and the same fate befel the smaller
peoples whose settlements lay further north, on the right bank of the
Volga.
The fate of the Ostrogothic Empire was now imminent. For a con-
siderable time they succeeded in holding the enemy at the sword's point,
but finally their strength broke down before the weight of the Asiatic
hordes. Ermanarich himself died by his own hand rather than live to see
the downfall of his kingdom ; his successor, Withimir, after several bloody
defeats, met his death on the field of battle. All resistance ceased, and
the whole people surrendered itself to the Huns.
The invading flood rolled westward to encounter the Tervingi (375).
At the first tidings of the events in the neighbouring country, Athanarich
called his people to arms and marched with a part of his forces to meet
the Huns. The Gothic leader took his stand on the bank of the
Dniester ; but finding himself compelled to abandon this position by a
crafty turning-movement of the enemy, Athanarich gave up thence-
forward all thought of resistance in the field, and betook himself to the
impenetrable ravines of the Transylvanian highlands. But only some of
the Goths followed him thither. The mass of the people, weary of
hardship and privation, separated themselves and resolved to abandon
their country. Under the leadership of their local chiefs Alavio and
Fritigern they mustered their forces in the spring of 376 on the north
bank of the Danube and besought permission to enter the Roman
Empire, in the hope of finding a dwelling-place in the rich plains of
Thrace.
The Emperor Valens graciously received their request and gave
orders to the commanders on the frontier to take measures for the
shelter and provisioning of this huge mass of people. The Goths passed
the river. In boats, and rafts, and hollowed tree-trunks they made their
way across and covered all the country round"like the rain of ashes from
an eruption of Etna. ” At first all went well. The new-comers maintained
an exemplary attitude: not so the Roman officials—the chief of whom
was the Thracian comes Lupicinus. They used the precarious position
of the barbarians to their own profit, taking advantage of them in every
CH. VII.
## p. 216 (#246) ############################################
216
Battle of Hadrianople
[A. D. 376–378
possible way. It was not long before their shameless injustice aroused
the deep resentment of the Teutons, among whom famine had already
set in.
Things soon came to open rupture. In the immediate neighbourhood
of Marcianople a bloody battle was fought between the infuriated
Teutons and the soldiers of Lupicinus. The Romans were almost
annihilated, their leader took refuge behind the strong walls of the town,
which was immediately invested by the main body of the Tervingian
forces. Other divisions scattered over the plains, plundering as they
went. All attempts of the barbarians failed to take the town by storm.
So Fritigern “made his peace with stone walls. ” A strong force remained
“
before the place as an army of observation, while the main body turned,
as detachments of it had done before, to the plundering of the adjoining
districts of Moesia. Once more the country suffered fearfully, and to
complete its misery other bands of plunderers now joined the Goths.
Taifali, Alani, and even Huns were drawn across the Danube by the hope
of plundering and ravaging these fertile provinces. This was in the
summer of 377.
Troops were hurried up from all sides for the defence of the threatened
provinces ; even Gratian sent aid from the West. Meanwhile the Goths
had overrun all Moesia. Not only had the bloody battle fought at a
place called Salices (late summer 377) been indecisive and cost the
Romans heavy losses, but a strong detachment of Roman troops under
the tribune Barzimeres, a Teuton by race, had been. cut to pieces at
Dibaltus. A success which the dux Frigeridus, likewise of Teutonic birth,
gained over the Taifali and a company of the Greutungi under their
chief Farnobius was not much to balance this and did not alter the fact
that Thrace, which after the battle of Salices had been overrun by the
Teutons, remained a prey to them.
Finally (30 May 378) Valens arrived at Constantinople. As soon
as Fritigern, who lay in the neighbourhood of Hadrianople, heard of the
Emperor's arrival, he gave the order for the widely scattered Gothic
forces to unite. From this point onward events followed in quick
succession. At first the fortune of war seemed to smile upon the
Romans. Making Hadrianople his base, Sebastianus, the commander
of reinforcements sent by Gratian, succeeded in inflicting a reverse upon
the Goths. Fritigern thereupon retired to the neighbourhood of Cabyle
and there concentrated his forces. Thereupon Valens, on his part,
advanced to Hadrianople, resolved to venture upon a decisive stroke.
He had set his heart upon meeting his nephew Gratian, who was
hastening up from the West, with the news of a great victory. And so
(9 Aug. 378) battle was joined near Hadrianople. It resulted in a
terrible defeat of the Romans, in which the Emperor himself was slain.
More than two-thirds of his army, the flower of the military forces of
the East, was left upon the field of battle.
## p. 217 (#247) ############################################
A. D. 378]
Battle of Hadrianople
217
It was in truth a second Cannae. The Empire rocked to its foun-
dations. Sheer panic fell upon all that bore the name of Rome. The
power and glory of the Empire seemed stamped into the dust by the
barbarian hordes. The struggle between Rome and the Teutons which
we have followed through five centuries was drawing to a close. The
battle of Hadrianople introduces the last act of the great drama, the
most pregnant with consequences which the history of the world has
ever seen.
CH. VII.
## p. 218 (#248) ############################################
218
CHAPTER VIII.
THE DYNASTY OF VALENTINIAN AND
THEODOSIUS THE GREAT.
a
The imperial throne was once more vacant (16-17 February 364),
but the army had learned the danger of a tumultuous election, and
after the troops had advanced by an eight days' march to Nicaea, both
the civil and military authorities weighed with anxious deliberation
the rival claims of possible candidates. Aequitius, tribune of the first
regiment of the scutarii, men knew to be harsh and uncultured,
Januarius, a relative of Jovian in supreme command in Illyricum, was
too far distant, and at length one and all agreed to offer the diadem
to Valentinian. The new Emperor had not marched from Ancyra with
the
army,
but had received orders to follow in due course with his regi-
ment, the second schola of scutarii ; thus, while messengers hastened his
journey, the Roman world was for ten days without a master. Valentinian
was a native of Pannonia; his father Gratian, a peasant rope-seller of
Cibalae, had early distinguished himself by his strength and bravery.
Risen from the ranks he had become successively protector, tribune and
general of the Roman forces in Africa ; accused of peculation, he re-
mained for a time under a cloud, only to be given later the command
of the legions of Britain. After his retirement, hospitality shewn to
Magnentius led to the confiscation of Gratian's property by Constantius,
but the services of the father made advancement easy for Valentinian.
In Gaul, however, when acting under Julian's orders he was dismissed
from the army by Barbatio, but on Julian's accession he re-enlisted.
Valentinian's military capacity outweighed even in the eyes of an
apostate emperor his pronounced Christianity, and an important com-
mand was given him in the Persian War. Later he had been sent on
a mission to the West, bearing the news of Jovian's election, and from
this journey he had but recently returned. The life story of Gratian
and Valentinian is one of the most striking examples of the splendid
career which lay open to talent in the Roman army.
The father,
a peasant unknown and without influence, by his ability rises to supreme
command over Britain, while his son becomes Emperor of Rome.
It is
## p. 219 (#249) ############################################
364–365]
Valens co-Emperor
219
hardly surprising that barbarians were ready to enter a service which
offered to the capable soldier such prospects of promotion. It may also
be noticed in passing that in the council at Nicaea only military officers
were considered as successors of Jovian: we do not hear of
any
civil
administrator as a possible candidate for the vacant throne.
From the very day of his accession the character of Valentinian was
declared. When the crowd bade him name at once a co-Augustus, he
replied that but an hour before they had possessed the right to command,
but that right now belonged to the Emperor of their own creation.
From the first the stern glance and majestic bearing of Valentinian
bowed men to his will. Through Nicomedia he advanced to Constanti-
nople, and here in the suburb of the Hebdomon on 28 March 364 he
created his brother Valens co-Emperor ; he looked for loyal subjection
and personal dependence, and he was not disappointed ; with the rank
of Augustus, Valens was content in effect to play the part of a
Caesar. At Naissus the military forces of the Empire were divided, and
many Pannonians were raised to high office. The new rulers were, how-
ever, careful to retain in their posts men who had been chosen both by
Julian and Jovian ; they wished to injure no susceptibilities by open
partisanship. But even though Valentinian remained true to his constant
principle of religious toleration and refused to favour the nominees either
of a Christian or a Pagan Emperor, yet men traced a secret distrust and
covert jealousy of those who had been Julian's intimates; Sallust, the all-
powerful praefect, was removed, and accusations were brought against the
philosopher Maximus. When both Emperors were attacked with fever,
a commission of high imperial officials was appointed to examine whether
the disease might not be due to secret arts. No shred of evidence of any
unholy design was discovered, but the common rumour ran that the only
object of the inquiry was to bring into disrepute the memory and the
friends of Julian. Those who had been loyal to the old dynasty began
.
to seek a leader.
At Sirmium the brothers parted, Valentinian for Milan, Valens for
Constantinople; they each entered on their first consulship in the
following year (365), and as soon as the winter was past Valens travelled
with all speed for Syria ; it would seem that already the terms of the
Thirty Years' Peace were giving rise to fresh difficulties; too many
questions remained open between Rome and Persia.
But as yet it was not foreign invasion but domestic rebellion which
was to endanger the life and throne of Valens. When Procopius had
laid the corpse of Julian to rest in Tarsus, he himself discreetly vanished
from the sight of kings and courtiers: it was a perilous distinction to
have enjoyed the peculiar favour of the dead Emperor? . Before long
however he grew weary of his fugitive existence : life as a hunted exile
in the Crimea was too dearly bought. In desperation he sailed secretly
1 Cf. p. 85.
a
CH. VII.
## p. 220 (#250) ############################################
220
The Revolt of Procopius
[365
for the capital where he found shelter in the friendly house of a senator
Strategius, while a eunuch, Eugenius by name, recently dismissed from
the imperial service, put unlimited funds at his disposal. As he wandered
unrecognised through the streets, on every hand he heard men muttering
of the cruelty and avarice of Petronius, the father-in-law of Valens. The
Emperor himself was no longer in Constantinople, and popular discontent
seemed only to need its champion. The regiments of the Divitenses and
the Tungritani Juniores, on their march from Bithynia for the defence of
Thrace, were at the moment in the city. For two days Procopius
negotiated with their officers; his gold and promises won their allegiance
and in their quarters at the Anastasian Baths the soldiers met under
cover of night and swore to support the usurpation. “Leaving the
inkpot and stool of the notary,” so ran the scornful phrase of the
Court rhetorician, this stage figure of an emperor, hesitating to the last,
assumed the purple and with stammering tongue harangued his followers.
Any sensation was grateful to the populace, and they were content to
accept without enthusiasm their new ruler. Those who had nothing
to lose were ready enough to share the spoils, but the upper classes
generally held aloof or fled to the Court of Valens ; none of them met
Procopius as he entered the deserted senate house. He relied for
support upon men's devotion to the family of Constantine; as reinforce-
ments bound for Thrace reached the capital, he came before them with
Faustina, the widow of Constantius, by his side, while he himself
bore her little daughter in his arms. He pleaded his own kinship
to Julian and the troops were won. Gumoarius and Agilo who had
served Constantius well were recalled from retirement and put at the
head of the army, while to Julian's friend Phronemius was given the
charge of the capital. Valentinian had advanced Pannonians, Procopius
chose Gauls, for the Gallic provinces had most reason to remember
Julian's services to the Empire. Nebridius, recently created praetorian
praefect through the influence of Petronius, was held a prisoner and
forced to write despatches recalling Julius who was in command in
Thrace; the stratagem succeeded and the province was won without
a blow. The embassy to Illyricum, however, bearing the newly minted
coinage of Procopius, was defeated by the vigilance of Aequitius, every
approach, whether through Dacia, Macedonia or the pass of Succi, being
effectually barred.
The news of the revolt reached Valens as he was leaving Bithynia for
Antioch, and he was only recalled from abject despair by the counsels of
his friends. Procopius with the Divitenses and a hastily collected force
had advanced to Nicaea, but before the approach of the Jovii and Victores
he retreated to Mygdus on the Sangarius. Once more the soldiers yielded
when he appealed to their loyalty to the house of Constantine: the
troops of Valens deserting “ the degenerate Pannonian," “ the drinker of
miserable barley beer,” went over to the usurper. One success followed
## p. 221 (#251) ############################################
366–369]
Fall of Procopius
221
another: Nicomedia was surprised by the tribune Rumitalca, who forth-
with marched to the north; Valens who was besieging Chalcedon was
taken unawares and forced to fly for his life to Ancyra. Thus Bithynia
was won for Procopius. His fleet under Marcellus attacked Cyzicus and
when once the chain across the harbour's mouth was broken the garrison
surrendered. With the fall of Cyzicus, Valens had lost the mastery of
the Hellespont, while he could expect no help from his brother, since
Valentinian had determined that the safety of the whole Roman Empire
demanded his presence on the western frontier. Thus during the early
months of 366, while Procopius endeavoured to raise funds for the future
conduct of the war, Valens could only await the arrival of Lupicinus.
The Emperor's final victory was indeed mainly due to an ill-considered
act of his rival. Arbitio, the retired general of Constantius, had supported
the usurper, but had declined an invitation to his court, pleading the
infirmities of old age and ill-health. Procopius replied by an order
that the general's house should be pillaged, thereby turning a friend
into a bitter foe. Arbitio on the appeal of Valens joined the camp of
Lupicinus ; his arrival at once inspired the Emperor with fresh hope
and courage, and gave the signal for wholesale defections from the
usurper's forces. In an engagement at Thyatira, Gumoarius procured
his own capture and carried with him many of his men. After the
march of Valens into Phrygia, Agilo in his turn deserted when the
armies met at Nacolia. The soldiers refused to continue the struggle
(26 May 366). Procopius was betrayed to the Emperor by two of his
own officers and was immediately put to death. Imperial suspicion and
persecution had once again goaded a loyal subject to treason and to
ruin. His severed head was borne beneath the walls of Philippopolis,
and the city surrendered to Aequitius. The ghastly trophy was even
carried to Valentinian through the provinces of Gaul, lest loyalty to the
memory of Julian should awake treason in the West. Valens could
now avenge his terror and sate his avarice. The suppression of the
rebellion was followed by a train of executions, burnings, proscriptions,
and banishments which caused men to curse the victory of the lawful
Emperor.
The plea of kinship with the family of Constantine had induced some
thousands of the Gothic tribesmen on the Danube to cross the Roman
frontier in support of Procopius. Valens refused to recognise their
defence, and depriving them of their weapons settled them in the cities
along the northern boundaries of the Empire. When discontent declared
itself, in fear of a general attack he acted on his brother's advice, and
marched in person to the Danube, and for the three succeeding years
(367–369) the Gothic campaign absorbed his attention. With Marci-
anople as his base of operations, he crossed the river in 367 and 369;
in the latter year he conquered Athanarich, and during the autumn
concluded an advantageous peace. The Emperor and the Gothic judex
CH, VIII.
## p. 222 (#252) ############################################
222
Valentinian I in Gaul
( 364–366
met on a ship in mid-stream, for Athanarich professed himself bound by
a fearful oath never to set foot upon Roman soil. During these years
Valens, pursuing in the East his brother's policy, strengthened the whole
of the Danube frontier line with forts and garrisons.
Valentinian may indeed be styled the frontier Emperor ; his title to
fame is his restoration of the defences of Rome in the West against the
surging barbarian hordes. He was a hard-worked soldier prince, and
the one purpose which inspires his reign is his fixed determination never
to yield an inch of Roman territory. He had always before his eyes the
terrible warning of his predecessor. In the year 364, when the Emperor
was still at Milan, ambassadors from the Alemanni came to greet him on
his accession, and to receive the tribute which Roman pride disguised
under the fairer name of gifts. Valentinian would not squander state
funds in bounty to barbarians; the presents were small, while Ursatius,
the magister officiorum, who took his cue from his master, treated the
messengers with scant courtesy. They returned indignant to their homes,
and in the early days of the new year, A. D. 365, the Alemanni burst
plundering and ravaging across the frontier. Charietto the count
commanding in both Germanies and the aged general Servianus,
stationed at Cabillona (Châlons-sur-Saône), both fell before the
barbarian onset. Gaul demanded Valentinian's presence; the Emperor
started for Paris in the month of October; and while on the march,
news reached him of the revolt of Procopius. The report gave no details
he did not know whether Valens were alive or dead. But with that strong
sense of imperial duty which dignifies the characters of the fourth
century emperors, he subordinated utterly the personal interest to the
common weal : “Procopius is but my brother's enemy and my own," he
repeated to himself; "the Alemanni are the foes of the Roman world. "
Arrived at Paris, it was from that city that he despatched Dagalaiphus
against the Alemanni. Autumn was fast giving place to winter, the
tribesmen had scattered, and the new general was dilatory and inactive;
he was recalled to become consul with the Emperor's son Gratian
(Jan. 366) and Jovinus, as magister equitum, took his place at the
head of the Roman troops. Three successive victories virtually concluded
the campaign ; at Scarponna (Charpeigne) one band of barbarians was
surprised and defeated, while another was massacred on the Moselle. In
negligent security the Alemanni on the river bank were drinking,
washing and dyeing their hair red, when from the fringe of the forest
the Roman legionaries poured down upon them. Jovinus then under-
took a further march and pitched his camp at Châlons-sur-Marne ; here
there was a desperate engagement with a third force of the enemy. The
withdrawal during the battle of the tribune Balchobaudes seriously
endangered the army's safety, but at length the day was won. The
Alemanni lost six thousand killed and four thousand wounded; of the
Romans two hundred were wounded and twelve hundred killed; in
a
## p. 223 (#253) ############################################
366–369)
Count Theodosius in Britain
223
a
a
the pursuit Ascarii in the Roman service captured the barbarian king,
and in the heat of the moment he was struck dead. After a few lesser
encounters resistance was for the time at an end. It was probably his
interest in this campaign which had led Valentinian to spend the early
months of 366 at Rheims. He now returned to Paris and from the latter
city advanced (end of June 366 ? ) to meet his successful general, whom he
nominated for the consulship in the succeeding year. At the same time
the head of Procopius reached him from the East. But in the high tide
of success he was struck down with a serious illness (winter 366–7). The
Court was already considering possible candidates for the purple when
Valentinian recovered, but, realising the dangers for the West which
might arise from a disputed succession, at Amiens on 24 August 367
he procured from the troops the recognition of the seven year old Gratian
as co-Augustus. It may well have been the necessity for defending the
northern coast against raids of Franks and Saxons which had summoned
Valentinian to Amiens ; and now on his way from that town to Trier
tidings reached him of a serious revolt in Britain. Fullofaudes, the
Roman general, together with Nectaridus, the commander of the coast
line (count of the Saxon shore ? ), had both met their deaths. In the
autumn of 367 Severus, count of the imperial guards, was despatched to
the island only to be recalled. Jovinus, appointed in his place, sent Pro-
vertides in advance to raise levies, while in view of the constant reports
of fresh disasters the Count Theodosius (the father of Theodosius the
Great) was ordered to sail for Britain at the head of Gallic reinforcements.
From Boulogne he landed at Rutupiae (Richborough: spring 368) and
was followed by the Batavi, Heruli, Jovii and Victores. Scenes of hope-
less confusion met him on his arrival; Dicalydones and Verturiones (the
two divisions of the Picts), Attacotti and Scotti (Irish) all ranged pillaging
over the countryside, while Frank and Saxon marauders swept down in
forays on the coast. Theodosius marched towards London, and it would
seem made this city his headquarters. Defeating the scattered troops
of spoil-laden barbarians, he restored the greater part of the booty to
the harassed provincials, while deserters were recalled to the standard by
promises of pardon. From London, where he spent the winter, Theodosius
prayed the Emperor to appoint men of wide experience to govern the
island—Civilis as pro-praefect and Dulcitius as general; in this year too,
he probably cooperated with imperial troops on the continent in the
suppression of Frank and Saxon pirates in the Low Countries and about
the mouths of the Rhine and Waal. Valentinian himself advanced as
far north as Cologne in the autumn of 368. In the year 369 Theodosius
everywhere surprised the barbarians and swept the country clear of their
robber bands. Town-fortifications were restored, forts rebuilt and
frontiers regarrisoned, while the Areani, a treacherous border militia,
were removed. Territory in the north was recovered, and a new fifth
province of Valentia or Valentinia created. The revolt of Valentinus,
CH, VIII.
## p. 224 (#254) ############################################
224
Valentinian I and Frontier Defence
[367—371
who had been exiled to Britain on a criminal charge, was easily crushed
by Theodosius, who repressed with a strong hand the treason trials which
usually followed the defeat of an unsuccessful usurper. When he sailed
for Gaul, probably in the spring of 370, he left the provincials “ leapin
for very joy. " On his return to the Court he was appointed to succeed
Jovinus as magister equitum (before end of May 370).
While his lieutenant had been restoring order in Britain, Valentinian
had been actively engaged in Gaul. The winter of 367–8 the Emperor
spent at Rheims preparing for his vengeance upon the disturbers of the
peace in the West.
But the new year opened with a disaster, for while
the Christian inhabitants of Mainz were keeping festival (Epiphany ? 368)
the Aleman prince Rando surprised and sacked the town. The Romans,
however, gained a treacherous advantage by the murder of King Withicab,
and in the summer of the same year the Emperor together with his son in-
vaded the territory between Neckar and Rhine. Our authorities give us no
certain information as to his route, perhaps he advanced by the Rhine
road and then turned off by Ettlingen and Pforzheim. Solicinium (near
Rottenburg on the left bank of the Neckar) was the scene of the decisive
struggle. The barbarians occupied a strong position on a precipitous
hill; the Romans experienced great difficulty in dislodging them but
were at length successful, and the enemy fled over the Neckar by
Lopodunum towards the Danube. The advantage thus gained was
secured by the building of a strong fort, apparently at Altrip, and for its
erection it seems possible that the ruins of Lopodunum were employed.
The Emperor spent the winter in Trier, and with the new year (369)
began his great work of frontier defence extending from the province of
Rhaetia to the ocean. Valentinian even sought to plant his fortresses
in the enemy's territory. This was regarded by the Alemanni as a breach
of treaty rights, and the Romans suffered a serious reverse at the Mons
Piri (Heidelberg? ). The Emperor accordingly entered into negotiations
with the Burgundians, who were to attack the Alemanni with the support
of the Roman troops. The Burgundians, long at feud with their neigh-
bours over the possession of some salt springs on their borders, gladly
accepted the Emperor's overtures and appeared in immense force on the
Rhine: the confederate seemed more terrible than the foe. Valentinian
was absent superintending the building of his new forts, and feared either
to accept or refuse the assistance of such dangerous allies. He sought to
gain time by inaction, and the Burgundians, infuriated at this betrayal,
were forced to withdraw, since the Alemanni threatened to oppose their
homeward march. Meanwhile Theodosius, newly arrived in Gaul from
Britain, swept upon the distracted Alemanni from Rhaetia, and after a
successful campaign was able to settle his captives as farmers in the valley
of the Po. Macrian, king of the Alemanni, had been the heart and soul
of his people's resistance to Rome; with the intention therefore of
capturing this dangerous enemy by a sudden surprise, in September 371
## p. 225 (#255) ############################################
365–371]
Rome and Armenia
225
-
Valentinian accompanied by Theodosius left Mainz for Aquae Mattiacae ;
but with the troops the opportunities for pillage outweighed the Emperor's
strictest orders. The smoke of burning homesteads betrayed the Roman
approach ; the army advanced some fifty miles, but the purpose of the
expedition was defeated and the Emperor returned disappointed to
Trier.
