Alaric I was the first king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades earlier by a combined force of Goths and Alans after the Battle of Adrianople.
Year 388 (CCCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus without colleague. The denomination 388 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.
Magnus Maximus was Roman emperor in the West from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian.
Constantine III was a common Roman soldier who was declared emperor in Roman Britain in 407 and established himself in Gaul. He was recognised as co-emperor of the Roman Empire from 409 until 411.
The Ampsivarii, sometimes referenced by modern writers as Ampsivari, were a Germanic tribe mentioned by ancient authors.
The Istvaeones were a Germanic group of tribes living near the banks of the Rhine during the Roman Empire which reportedly shared a common culture and origin. The Istaevones were contrasted to neighbouring groups, the Ingaevones on the North Sea coast, and the Herminones, living inland of these groups.
Chlodio, also Clodio, Clodius, Clodion, Cloio or Chlogio, was a Frankish king who attacked and then apparently ruled Roman-inhabited lands around Cambrai and Tournai, near the modern border of Belgium and France. He is known from very few records.
The end of Roman rule in Britain occurred as the military forces of Roman Britain withdrew to defend or seize the Western Roman Empire's continental core, leaving behind an autonomous post-Roman Britain. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus withdrew troops from northern and western Britain, probably leaving local warlords in charge. In 407, the usurper Constantine III took the remaining mobile Roman soldiers to Gaul in response to the crossing of the Rhine, and external attacks surged. The Romano-British deposed Roman officials around 410 and government largely reverted to the city level. That year Emperor Honorius refused an appeal from Britain for military assistance. The following decades saw the collapse of urban life and the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement.
Constans II was the son of Western Roman emperor Constantine III, and served as his co-emperor from 409 to 411. Constans was a monk prior to his father being acclaimed emperor by the army in Britain in early 407, an act of rebellion against the ruling emperor Honorius. He was summoned to Gaul, appointed to the position of caesar (heir) and swiftly married so that a dynasty could be founded. In Hispania, Honorius's relatives rose in 408 and expelled Constantine's administration. An army under the generals Constans and Gerontius was sent to deal with this and Constantine's authority was re-established. Honorius acknowledged Constantine as co-emperor in early 409 and Constantine immediately raised Constans to the position of augustus (emperor), theoretically equal in rank to Honorius as well as to Constantine. Later in 409 Gerontius rebelled, proclaimed his client Maximus emperor and incited barbarian groups in Gaul to rise up. Constans was sent to quash the revolt, but was defeated and withdrew to Arles. In 410, Constans was sent to Hispania again. Gerontius had strengthened his army with barbarians and defeated Constans; the latter withdrew north and was defeated again and killed at Vienne early in 411. Gerontius then besieged Constantine in Arles and killed him.
Marcomer, also spelled Marcomeres, Marchomer, or Marchomir was a Frankish Dux in the late 4th century who assisted in an invasion of the Roman Empire in the year 388, as the usurper and leader of the whole of Roman Gaul, Magnus Maximus, was surrounded by Theodosius I in the city of Aquileia.
The Salian Franks, also called the Salians, were a Frankish people who lived in what was is now the Netherlands in the fourth century. They appear under this name only once in written records, when they came into conflict with Roman forces led by Julian the Apostate in 358 AD. They are also traditionally seen as the ancestors of the Franks who later settled and ruled present day northern France.
The Battle of the Frigidus, also called the Battle of the Frigid River, was fought on 5 and 6 September 394 between the armies of the Roman emperor Theodosius the Great and the rebel augustus Eugenius, in the eastern border of Roman Italy. Theodosius won the battle and defeated the usurpation of Eugenius and Arbogast, restoring unity to the Roman Empire. The battlefield, in the Claustra Alpium Iuliarum near the Julian Alps through which Theodosius's army had passed, was probably in the Vipava Valley – with the Frigidus River being the modern Vipava – or possibly in the valley of the Isonzo.
The Franks were a group of related Germanic peoples who originally inhabited the regions just beyond Germania Inferior, which was the most northerly province of the Roman Empire in continental Europe. The Frankish tribes lived for centuries under Roman hegemony, near the fortified Rhine river border (Limes). The term "Frank" itself first appears in the third century AD, at a time when Rome had lost full control of the region because of internal conflicts. In the fourth century the Romans also began to distinguish tribes still further north with another new collective term "Saxons", although there are signs that the terms Frank and Saxon were not always mutually exclusive. Over centuries, the Romans recruited large numbers of Frankish soldiers, some of whom achieved high imperial rank.
Arbogast or Arbogastes was a Roman army officer of Frankish origin. He won distinction in the service of the emperor Gratian, and was subsequently entrusted by Theodosius I with the guardianship of the underage Valentinian II. The death of Valentinian in mysterious circumstances, and the rise of the controversial Eugenius, led to a civil war in which Arbogast perished.
Sunno was a leader (dux) of the Franks in the late 4th century who invaded the Roman Empire in the year 388 when the usurper and leader of the whole of Roman Gaul, Magnus Maximus was surrounded in Aquileia by Theodosius I.
Genobaud was a leader (dux) of the Franks. He invaded the Roman Empire in the year 388.
Silva Carbonaria, the "charcoal forest", was the dense old-growth forest of beech and oak that formed a natural boundary during the Late Iron Age through Roman times into the Early Middle Ages across what is now western Wallonia. The Silva Carbonaria was a vast forest that stretched from the rivers Zenne and the Dijle in the north to the Sambre in the south. Its northern outliers reached the then marshy site of modern Brussels.
The Frankish War of 431–432 was a short war between the Franks and the Western Roman Empire under Emperor Valentinian III. Like the previous Frankish war, the Roman army was led by the Roman general Aetius and the participation of Chlodio, the king of the Salian Franks is uncertain. The war ended in a Roman victory after which both sides agreed to a peace treaty.
Frankish War (441–446) was a multi-year military conflict in the provinces of Germania II and Belgica I during the reign of Emperor Valentinian. In addition to the Western Roman Empire, the two tribal associations of the Franks were involved: the Salian Franks and the Ripuarian Franks. The main players in this conflict were Flavius Aetius and Chlodio.
Quintinus was a Roman general who was active in the 4th century during the reign of emperor Theodosius (378-395). As master of soldiers of the usurpator Magnus Maximus (383-388) he led an expedition on the Rhine against the Franks of Marcomer in 388. He asked for help from General Nannienus, who, however, refused. Quintinus was lured into an ambush and defeated.
