| Gothic war (401-403) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Northern Italy | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Western Roman Empire | Visigoths | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Stilicho | Alaric I | ||||||
The Gothic War (401-403) was a war between the Western Roman Empire and the Visigoths. The commander of the Roman army was Flavius Stilicho, the Visigoths were led by Alaric. The war was fought in the north of Italy and, in addition to a number of small fights, consisted of two major battles, both of which were won by the Romans.
After the death of Emperor Theodosius I, the empire was split into a Western Roman Empire and an Eastern Roman Empire. It was not clear where the dividing line exactly lay. A problem arose when in 395 Alaric, a former general in the Roman army and king of the Visigoths, revolted and invaded Greece (Gothic revolt of Alaric I). Stilicho, the commander-in-chief of the western armies, and shortly before his superior, wanted to drive him back, but was repulsed by the Eastern Authority, because he moved outside his territory.
After Stilicho was gone the Goths still were a threat for the Eastern Empire and because they did not have enough manpower to face them alone, they agreed a peace agreement with the Goths in 398. In doing so, the Eastern Empire made all kinds of commitments to the Goths. Alarik obtained the title of magister militum per Illyricum, [1] which meant that he held the highest military rank in this province. They also agreed to the settlement of the Goths in the Illyricum prefecture which was disputed with the Western Empire. [2]
It is unclear why Alaric moved west. The ancient sources do not indicate for what purpose Alaric invaded northern Italy. What is certain, is that the Gothic revolt of Tribigild, followed by the coup d'état of Gainas in the Eastern Roman Empire, turned to be unfavorable for the Goths in Illyricum. Gainas, commander-in-chief of the army and the new strongman, saw Alaric as a competitor. Taking advantage of his power, Gainas ordered the emperor Arcadius to renounce the services of Alaric and to cede the province of Illyricum, where the Visigoths stayed, to the West.
Due to this administrative change, Alaric lost his military rank of general and the right to legal provisions for his men. Gainas hoped to lose a dangerous opponent to the Western Empire with this. [3] However Gainas was overthrown with the help of the Huns of Uldin, which may also has been a reason for Alaric to move west. [4] Historian Thomas Burns suggests that Alaric was probably desperate for provisions to feed his army. [5]
Using Claudianus as his source, historian Guy Halsall reports that Alaric's attack actually began in late 401, but since Stilicho was in Raetia "to settle border matters", the two only met for the first time in Italy in 402. [6]
Stilicho had assembled a large army in northern Italy. [7] [8] With this army he planned in 401 to march against the Vandals and Alans, who posed a major threat to the Western Roman Empire. The Vandals and Alans themselves were hunted by the Huns and the border provinces Raetia and Noricum were in danger of being overrun by the drifting peoples. After Stilicho had completed his preparations, he marched with the imperial army to the North against the invaders.
Alaric took advantage of this troop movement by invading the Prefecture of Italia, which happened in the autumn of that year. [9] Alaric's entry into Italy followed the route indicated in Claudian's poetry, when he crossed the Alpine border of the peninsula near the city of Aquileia. Over a period of six to nine months there were reports of Gothic attacks along the northern Italian roads, where Alaric was spotted by Roman travelers. Without encountering much resistance, he marched plundering to Mediolanum (Milan), where Emperor Honorius was staying. The emperor hastily fled from the rapid advance of the Goths, but did not get further than the city of Hasta, which was soon besieged by Alaric.
Stilicho stayed with the main force north of the Alps. The approaching winter prevented him from relieving the emperor. As soon as the Alpine passes permitted in March 402, Stilicho returned to Italy with a selected vanguard. Alaric first encountered Stilicho along the route over the Via Postumia. In doing so he forced Alaric to break the siege. [10]
Two battles were fought. The first was at Pollentia on 4 April 402 (Easter Sunday), where Stilicho (according to Claudian) won an impressive victory by capturing Alaric's wife and children, and more importantly, by seizing much of the treasure take that Alaric had captured over the past five years. [11] Stilicho pursued Alaric's retreating troops and offered to return the prisoners, but was refused. The second battle was at Verona, where Alaric was defeated for the second time. [11]
Despite the defeat, Alaric was given a free retreat by Stilicho. Stilicho offered Alaric a truce and allowed him to withdraw from Italy. He was allowed to travel to Illyria with his remaining troops and even received financial support for food. Kulikowski explains this confusing, if not outright conciliatory behavior by stating: "given Stilicho's cold war with Constantinople, it would have been foolish to destroy a potential weapon as biddable and violent, as Alaric might later prove to be". Halsall's observations are similar, as he argues that the Roman general's "decision to allow Alaric's withdrawal to Pannonia makes sense when we see that Alaric's force falls into the service of Stilicho and that Stilicho's victory is less total than Claudianus us wants to make you believe". [12] Perhaps more revealing is the account of the Greek historian Zosimus - who wrote half a century later: "which indicates that an agreement was made between Stilicho and Alaric in 405" - suggesting that Alaric was at that time in 'western service', probably as a result of an arrangement made in 402. [13] Between 404 and 405, Alaric stayed in one of the four Pannonian provinces, from which he could "play East against West while potentially threatening both".
A direct consequence of this war was the relocation of the Emperor's residence to Ravenna. Milan, the city where Emperor Honorius stayed, turned out not to be so safe after all. Therefore, it was decided to move the court to Ravenna, a city surrounded by a swampy area. The only access was an artificial road, which could easily be defended if necessary. The Roman victory was initially received with joy by the population and Honorius went to Rome to celebrate the triumph in the company of his general.
According to historian A.D. Lee, Alaric's return to the northwestern Balkans brought Italy only a temporary reprieve, for a new war broke out when in 405 another Gothic tribe joined with other barbarians, this time from outside the empire, crossed the middle Danube and advanced into northern Italy, where they plundered the countryside and besieged towns and villages. This tribe was led by Radagaisus. [14] Although the imperial government struggled to muster sufficient troops to contain these barbarian invasions, Stilicho managed to quell the tribal threat under Radagaisus when he split his forces into three separate groups. Stilicho cornered Radagaisus near Florence and starved the invaders into submission. [14] Meanwhile, Alaric - who had been given the codicils of magister militum by Stilicho and was now being held by the West - waited delivered - on one side or the other to incite him to action, causing Stilicho to face difficulties from even more barbarians. [15]
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.
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.
The 400s decade ran from January 1, 400, to December 31, 409.
The 390s decade ran from January 1, 390 to December 31, 399
Stilicho was a military commander in the Roman army who, for a time, became the most powerful man in the Western Roman Empire. He was of Vandal origins and married to Serena, the niece of emperor Theodosius I. He became guardian for the underage Honorius. After nine years of struggle against barbarian and Roman enemies, political and military disasters finally allowed his enemies in the court of Honorius to remove him from power. His fall culminated in his arrest and execution in 408.
Wallia, Walha or Vallia, was king of the Visigoths from 415 to 418, earning a reputation as a great warrior and prudent ruler. He was elected to the throne after Athaulf and Sigeric were both assassinated in 415. One of Wallia's most notable achievements was negotiating a foedus with the Roman emperor Honorius in 416. This agreement allowed the Visigoths to settle in Aquitania, a region in modern-day France, in exchange for military service to Rome. This settlement marked a significant step towards the eventual establishment of a Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. He was succeeded by Theodoric I.
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.
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.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided between several successor polities. The Roman Empire lost the strengths that had allowed it to exercise effective control over its Western provinces; modern historians posit factors including the effectiveness and numbers of the army, the health and numbers of the Roman population, the strength of the economy, the competence of the emperors, the internal struggles for power, the religious changes of the period, and the efficiency of the civil administration. Increasing pressure from invading barbarians outside Roman culture also contributed greatly to the collapse. Climatic changes and both endemic and epidemic disease drove many of these immediate factors. The reasons for the collapse are major subjects of the historiography of the ancient world and they inform much modern discourse on state failure.
This is a chronology of warfare between the Romans and various Germanic peoples. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings, later Germanic invasions of the Western Roman Empire that started in the late second century BC, and more. The series of conflicts was one factor which led to the ultimate downfall of the Western Roman Empire in particular and ancient Rome in general in 476.
Radagaisus was a Gothic king who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406. A committed pagan, Radagaisus evidently planned to sacrifice the Senators of the Christian Roman Empire to the gods, and to burn Rome to the ground. Radagaisus was executed after being defeated by the general Stilicho. 12,000 of his higher-status fighters were drafted into the Roman army and some of the remaining followers were dispersed, while so many of the others were sold into slavery that the slave market briefly collapsed. These Goths later joined Alaric I in his conquest of Rome in 410.
The Gothic wars or Roman–Gothic wars were a long series of conflicts between the Goths and the Roman Empire between the years 249 and 554 AD. The main wars are detailed below.
The Battle of Verona was fought in June 402 by Alaric's Visigoths and a Western Roman force led by Stilicho. Alaric was defeated and forced to withdraw from Italy.
The Battle of Pollentia was fought on 6 April 402 (Easter) between the Romans under Stilicho and the Visigoths under Alaric I, during the first Gothic invasion of Italy (401–403). The Romans were victorious, and forced Alaric to retreat, though he rallied to fight again in the next year in the Battle of Verona, where he was again defeated. After this, Alaric retreated from Italy, leaving the province in peace until his second invasion in 409, after Stilicho's death.
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Uldin, also spelled Huldin is the first ruler of the Huns whose historicity is undisputed.
The siege of Florence took place in 405 or 406 AD during the War of Radagaisus between the Goths and the Roman Empire in Florence.
Olympius was a minister of the Western Roman Empire, in the court of the emperor Honorius. Olympius orchestrated the fall and execution of the capable general Stilicho, who had effectively been ruling the Western Roman Empire as regent of Honorius for over twelve years.
The War of Radagaisus was a military conflict in northern Italy in the period 405–406. This conflict was caused by the invasion of Radagaisus in 405. He invaded the Western Roman Empire with a huge population shortly after the empire had ended a war with the Visigoths. Due to the size of Radagaisus' army, it required a tremendous effort by the Romans to avert this danger. Commander-in-chief Stilicho was closely involved in the preparations that were made and personally directed the army's operations.
The revolt of Alaric I was a military conflict between the Roman Empire and a rebel army, probably composed mainly of Goths. This war consisted a number of armed conflicts in the period between 395 and 398, interspersed with periods of negotiations and sometimes even cooperation. During this war, the western and eastern parts of the Roman Empire did not always joint together because of conflicting interests. The protagonists in this conflict were the West-Roman commander-in-chief Stilicho, the Eastern-Roman prefect Rufinus, his successor Eutropius and Alaric I. The latter was an elected Gothic military leader and monarch, and later considered one of first Visigothic kings.