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Battle of Thessalonica | |||||||
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![]() Thessaloniki area in Antiquity | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Eastern Roman Empire | Goths | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Theodosius I | Fritigern |
The Battle of Thessalonica was fought in the summer or autumn of 380 by Fritigern's Goths and a Roman army led by Theodosius I. Reconstituted after Adrianople, the East Roman army suffered another major defeat. Theodosius retreated to Thessalonica and surrendered control of operations to the Western Emperor, Gratian.
Honorius was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho, ruled the western half of the empire while his brother Arcadius ruled the eastern half. His reign over the Western Roman Empire was notably precarious and chaotic. In 410, Rome was sacked for the first time in almost 800 years.
Theodosius I, also called Theodosius the Great, was a Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars, and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene Christianity. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. He successfully ended the Gothic War (376–382) with terms advantageous to the empire, with the Goths remaining in Roman territory but as subject allies.
The 380s decade ran from January 1, 380, to December 31, 389.
Year 395 (CCCXCV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Olybrius and Probinus. The denomination 395 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 390 (CCCXC) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Neoterius. The denomination 390 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The 390s decade ran from January 1, 390 to December 31, 399
Year 380 (CCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Augustus. The denomination 380 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Fritigern was a Thervingian Gothic chieftain whose decisive victory at Adrianople during the Gothic War (376–382) led to favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian and Theodosius I in 382.
The Battle of Adrianople, sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels led by Fritigern. The battle took place in the vicinity of Adrianople, in the Roman province of Thracia. It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.
Gratian was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of Augustus as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in 375. He nominally shared the government with his infant half-brother Valentinian II, who was also acclaimed emperor in Pannonia on Valentinian's death. The East was ruled by his uncle Valens, who was later succeeded by Theodosius I.
Valentinian II was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his half-brother, then was sidelined by a usurper, and finally became sole ruler after 388, albeit with limited de facto powers.
The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman imperial family that produced five Roman emperors during Late Antiquity, reigning over the Roman Empire from 379 to 457. The dynasty's patriarch was Theodosius the Elder, whose son Theodosius the Great was made Roman emperor in 379. Theodosius's two sons both became emperors, while his daughter married Constantius III, producing a daughter that became an empress and a son also became emperor. The dynasty of Theodosius married into, and reigned concurrently with, the ruling Valentinianic dynasty, and was succeeded by the Leonid dynasty with the accession of Leo the Great.
The Valentinian dynasty was a ruling house of five generations of dynasts, including five Roman emperors during late antiquity, lasting nearly a hundred years from the mid fourth to the mid fifth century. They succeeded the Constantinian dynasty and reigned over the Roman Empire from 364 to 392 and from 425 to 455, with an interregnum (392–423), during which the Theodosian dynasty ruled and eventually succeeded them. The Theodosians, who intermarried into the Valentinian house, ruled concurrently in the east after 379.
The Battle of Poetovio was fought in 388 between the forces of Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus and the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Magnus Maximus's army was defeated and Maximus was later captured and executed at Aquileia.
Between 376 and 382 the Goths fought against the Eastern Roman Empire, one of several Gothic Wars in Roman history. This conflict included a catastrophic Roman defeat at the Battle of Adrianople, and is commonly seen as a part— albeit a part of disputed significance— of the century of events leading to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire.
The Battle of Thermopylae in 254 was the successful defense of the pass of Thermopylae by local Greek militia under Marianus, the Roman proconsul of Achaea, during an invasion of the Balkans by the Goths.
The Massacre of Thessalonica in Macedonia, Greece was a massacre of local civilians by Roman troops which is believed to have occurred around 390. According to Sozomen, in June of that year Butheric, a Roman general stationed in Thessalonica as a magister militum was lynched in an urban riot by an angry mob in the circus after having a famous circus charioteer arrested for pederasty, and refusing the people's demand for his release, although, this is found in only one source. In response, Theodosius authorized his Gothic soldiers to punish the people of the city resulting in the killing of a large number of citizens when they were assembled in the city's hippodrome.
The Battle of Mucellium was an engagement in 542 near Mugello, Italy, between Ostrogoths and Byzantines during the Gothic War. Having lifted a siege of Florence, the Ostrogoths led by Totila turned on the pursuing Byzantines, defeating their numerically superior force.
Butheric was a Roman general of Gothic descent. Under the reign of emperor Theodosius I, Butheric was stationed in Thessalonica as a magister militum. According to Sozomen, in June of the year 390 he had a famous circus charioteer arrested in Thessalonica, who openly practiced pederasty. This was based on the emperor's law which punished "sin against nature" with death. The population reacted violently against the arrest, both for the popularity of the charioteer and for prejudices against Goths. Butheric was lynched by the mob in the circus. In retaliation, Theodosius authorized his Gothic soldiers to punish the people of city, in what is known as the Massacre of Thessalonica.
Navarinou Square is a square in the city of Thessaloniki in Greece. It is named after the Battle of Navarino, a crucial battle of the Greek War of Independence.