synonymBattle of Adrianople (Adrianburg Battle) Generally refers to the battle of Adrianburg (the battle between the Goths and the Roman Empire)
Before the war, a group of Visigoths gotRoman emperorWith the permission of, he crossed the Danube River from northern Darcy (today's Romania) and moved to Misia Province and Thrace.The Visigoths who entered the country could not bear the oppression and atrocities of the Roman officials. In 376, they launched a big riot, which was supported by the people in the underground, and dealt a heavy blow to the Roman authorities.In 378, the Roman emperorValensLed by 30000 Roman troopsFreddy GalenThe Visigoths under their leadership launched a decisive battle, which ended in a big defeat, and Emperor Valens died in battle.After that, the Visigoths moved to Italy, continued to attack and further shook the rule of the Roman Empire.
Name
Battle of Adria Fort
Time of occurrence
August 9, 378
Location
Hadrian Castle in ancient Rome, Edirne in modern Turkey
Belligerents
Visigoths Roman Empire
Results
Visigoth wins, the Roman Empire loses, and the Emperor Valens dies.
Forces of the participating parties
About 30000 people in the Roman Empire About 30000 Goths
Casualties
Rome lost 2 senior officials, 35 captains, and 20000 soldiers died in battle
In 376 AD, two years before the battle of Adriapolis, a large number of refugees suddenly appeared in the Danube region on the border of the Roman Empire.The vast majority of these refugees are Goths, a branch of the northern Germanic nation.They were forced to leave their homes with their small property and flee further west because the Huns attacked their residence on the coast of the Black Sea.
According to the records of Amian, a Roman historian, the number of these refugees was up to 200000, of which 20000 were soldiers who could go into battle.Amian vividly depicts the scenes of these Goths fleeing in haste:
Influenced by the invasion of the Huns, most Goths chose to migrate
News spread all over the Goth tribes, and a nomadic people who had never heard of so far suddenly appeared, just like the snowstorm hit on the mountains, unstoppable, wherever they went, they were either occupied or destroyed.
These poor peopleGothsHe hoped to be sheltered by the Roman Empire and seek a place of refuge within the empire.For the Roman Empire, this was not an unprecedented request.As early as the reign of Nero in the first century AD, the empire once moved 100000 immigrants from the north bank of Danube to Thrace.In 300 AD, the Roman emperor also moved a large number ofDaciaIt is located along the line from Hungary to the Black Sea.
So when the Goths asked to move into the empire, many people felt it was not a bad thing.The officials praised the Emperor Valens for his good fortune, because a large number of barbarian immigrants not only meant that a large number of barbarian soldiers suitable for recruitment would enhance the military strength of the empire, but also meant that the taxes from the barbarians would enrich the Roman treasury.
The Portrait of Valens in Early Christian Art
Historical data do not tell us how Valens responded to the request of the Goths.But we know that a branch of the Goths, the Severngi tribe, crossed the Danube in 376.
The time when they crossed the Danube was just the time when the Danube defense was empty. At that time, the forces of the Balkan Peninsula were all transferred away because of the military threat of the Persians in the eastern part of the empire.In this way, the Goths in the Balkans would be like entering a land of no one, which was a very serious threat to the Roman Empire.The emperor Valens had to negotiate with the Severngi tribe and relaxed the terms of immigration. It was no longer the emperor who chose their settlement, but they chose their own settlement.
But because the Roman Empire did not provide enough food for the new immigrants, the hungry Severngi people began to riot.The local Roman commander can only transfer another Goth tribe on the Danube first——Gruseni, to cross the Danube to meet the Severngi.At the same time, a Hongmen banquet was held to assassinate the leader of the Severngi people.As a result, the decapitation plan failed, and the war between the Goths and the Roman Empire officially broke out.
The restoration of the Visigoth warrior. His equipment shows that the Goths were influenced by Rome
Despite the crisis of the third century, the Roman Empire in the fourth century still has considerable strength.Even if Rome lost its territory in the north of Germany, the north of Switzerland, the north of Danube, and the middle reaches of the Nile, its territory still reached Hadrian's Great Wall in the north, the Sahara Desert in the south, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, and Mesopotamia in the east.At that time, the Roman Empire with a population of 70 million was not only the largest country in the world, but also the most populous country.
Although Rome is still a super empire, it has undergone great changes in politics and military compared with the earlier stage of the empire.In the first and second centuries, the Roman army was composed of legions and auxiliary forces, while in the fourth century, it was composed of field troops and border guards.
Although entering the recession period, the Roman Empire was still the largest empire in the world at that time
Early Imperial Legion marching
In the early empire, there were 300000 to 350000 troops, half of which were legions and half of which were auxiliary troops.Both corps and auxiliary forces can go to various battlefields as mobile forces.Their weapons and equipment were very sophisticated, and their military discipline was also very strict. They were a powerful weapon for the early empire against foreign enemies.
The army of the late Empire expanded a lot, but there was no specific figure.Many historians have speculated on the number of Roman armies in the late period,MonsenIt is speculated that there were a total of 550000 troops in late Rome. The figure given by Nixie was 730000, that of Jones was 600000, that of Vahatti was 520000, and that of Skier was 500000.
In the later period, the defense of the empire mainly depended on a limited number of field armies
Although there are great differences in the estimation of the total number of troops, these historians are highly consistent in estimating the number of field troops, which is about 200000.
This may indicate a problem. Although the size of the army in the late empire was expanded, the army with mobile combat capability was more than 100000 less than that in the early empire.Therefore, the late Roman Empire was powerless to deal with thousands of foreign enemies.As for the border defense army, its duty is only to stay behind the fortifications as a garrison and passively defend, which often does not have much effect.
Changes in equipment of the Roman Legion
We can make a simple comparison to deepen the difference between Rome's response to high intensity wars under the two military systems:
Tiberius assembled 100000 people in a few months when he suppressed the uprising in A.D. 6.
Trajan invested 100000 troops and 150000 troops in the two wars launched by the Kingdom of Darcy.More than 70000 troops were invested in the war against Parthia.
Before this war, the Roman army was preparing to expedition Persia in the East
In contrast, in the late empire, the largest battle was undoubtedly the emperorJulian The attack on Sassanian Persia, however, only 60000 people were involved in this battle.In previous years, when he fought against the barbarians on the Rhine River, he had only 20000 to 20000 troops under his command.Compared with the early and middle empire, the number of troops that could carry out field operations in late Rome was very small.
In this way, we cannot have too high expectations for the number of Roman troops in the battle of Adriapolis.What's more, even such a limited number of troops are drawn from their scattered stations, lacking the necessary synergy.After the outbreak of the Gothic War, the remaining Roman armies in the Balkans were quickly defeated.This is not only due to the small number of Roman troops in the Balkans, but also because most of them are border guards with low combat effectiveness.
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After defeating the only local field army, the Goths began to plunder and destroyed large areas of villages in the Balkans.It was only because they lacked the strength to attack the city that they turned a blind eye to the fortified fortresses and cities.
At this timeAntiochAfter receiving the news, Valens immediately began to transfer the eastern army to the Balkans.He also contacted the emperors of western RomeGratian, ask the other party for support.Gratian naturally promised his eastern colleague's request.In view of the fact that the barbarian tribes across the Rhine River have settled down much more than before, he dispatched the Gaul army to the Balkans as reinforcements.
But the sudden war in the Rhine basin forced Gratian to turn his gun back to Gaul.In early 378 AD, when Valens and his troops had reached the Balkan Peninsula, Gratian and his reinforcements were nowhere to be seen.As the days passed, Valens' soldiers began to become restless, and he himself was worried about the delay of reinforcements.Although Gratian promised that he would still rush to support, by August, more than half of the summer had passed, and Valens still did not wait for the reinforcements he wanted.Just at this time, it was said that the Goths were advancing from the north to Adria Fort, and their strength was only a small 10000.
The Goths from the Black Sea grassland have the strongest cavalry in the Germanic tribes
Hearing that the barbarians had only 10000 soldiers, Valens decided to lead the army to fight with them.Because he has 30000 troops on hand, he has a good chance of winning against the barbarians with only 10000 troops.So he led his army to the north of Adria Fort in a hurry to seek a confrontation with the barbarians.
Perhaps it was his destiny that Valens would die here. The information he got was wrong. The Romans mistook the Goths in the north of Adriaberg for the Severngi tribe, but they did not expect that the Gruseni people also joined the Severngi camp at this time, and the Goths' military strength reached more than 20000.
On August 8, the two sides were close enough to see each other's troops on the battlefield.The Goths sent envoys to seek peace, but Valens flatly refused to accept the peace talks. The Goths did not give up and sent two more envoys. Valens began to hesitate.Just when he arranged to exchange hostages to ensure the validity of the peace treaty, the two right wing forces of the Roman army launched an attack without receiving orders.After all, the battle inevitably began on August 9.
Although the Goths had defeated many Roman legions, they also knew that they could not win in front of the elite field legions.So they arranged an array of wagons surrounded by heavy wagons on their own front.Although their cavalry troops are good at fighting, they left the camp earlier to carry out reconnaissance and forage collection tasks, and they may not be able to help for a while.
The Roman field army attacking in array is still an excellent infantry
On the Roman side, light infantry and cavalry were deployed on the flank and heavy infantry were deployed in the center.However, at the beginning of the battle, the left wing of the Roman army had not yet put its battle array in place.So in the early stage of the campaign, the Roman right-wing forces launched attacks without authorization.Fortunately, they made good progress, and the Goths' infantry were forced to retreat to the cart and then defend it.The whole process developed so fast that the left-wing forces were delayed in completing their formation.
At this time, the war situation reversed.The Gothic cavalry returned from a place out of sight of the battlefield. Without any preparation, they rushed down from the nearby mountains like thunder and lightning, causing chaos.They killed everyone they saw wherever they went, and went straight to the left wing of the disorderly Roman army.After the left wing of Rome was defeated, the Goths rushed into the Roman middle army which was besieging the chariots.At the moment, the only counterattack force of the Romans, the cavalry, fled without fighting.The situation completely turned to the Goths, and the Romans were almost annihilated. Even Valens could not escape. After being injured, he was trapped in a wooden house and burned alive.
The battle of Adriaborg greatly affected the Roman Empire. Not only did the emperor die in battle, but also the Goths stayed in the empire for decades after that, becoming a cancer in the Roman Empire.Until the fall of the western Roman Empire, the Goths still existed and established their own kingdoms in Spain and Italy.
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Valens was not an incompetent monarch. He had effectively quelled the rebellion of Procopius, suppressed the Goths, and forced Sassanopos to seek peace.
Of course, this time the opponent has stronger organizational efficiency than the previous enemy, and its leaderFreddy GalenHe also excelled Valens in conducting art.But it was not Valens' responsibility to incur such a great defeat that almost all the troops were destroyed and he died in battle.
The Roman Empire had already declined at that time. In addition to various coincidental factors, the tragedy of Adriapolis was inevitable.
