Classical Studies: Analyzing the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD

This essay provides a detailed analysis of the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD, a significant conflict between the Eastern Roman Army led by Emperor Valens and the Gothic rebels under Fritigern. The essay explores the background of the battle, highlighting the tensions between the Romans and the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. It examines the reasons for the Roman defeat, including tactical errors, underestimation of Gothic forces, and the superiority of Gothic cavalry. The analysis emphasizes the battle's role as a turning point, signaling the decline of Roman power and the beginning of the 'Barbarian Invasion' period. The essay concludes that the Gothic victory was due to superior tactics, strategic positioning, and the exhaustion of the Roman infantry, marking a significant shift in military dominance and contributing to the eventual fall of the Western Roman Empire. Desklib provides students access to similar past papers and solved assignments for academic support.

Running head: CLASSICAL STUDIES
Classical Studies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The following paper aims to discuss upon a very important event from the chronicles of
history. The event that will be discussed here took place between 3rd and 5th century. This event
is battle of Adrianpole in the year 378 AD. It began from the month of August in the earlier
mentioned year. This event is also known as Battle of Hadrianopolis. The different facts about
the event and background of the event will be discussed in this paper. The battle had been fought
between Eastern Roman Army and Gothic rebels.
The Emperor of Eastern Roman emperor was Valens. The battle place was Turkey in
present Europe and this battle had continued for several years. Many casualties had been
recorded due to this war. In this paper the background of this battle will be analyzed and reasons
for this battle will be explored. The outcome of this battle was the defeat of Eastern Roman
Army that was led by Valens. The Gothic people of different regions took part in this battle. The
convincing loss of Roman power was a path breaking incident in annals of history.
Background of the battle
In this section, the background of Battle of Adrianpole will be discussed. The belligerents
in this battle Eastern Roman Army and Germanic Visigoths had been very fierce to gain
command over another.1 In this terrific battle, the leader of Germanic Visigoths was Fritigern.
The Visigoth force was supported by different Ostrogothic and other forces. This back up for
Visigoths worked for them in a surreal manner. The sections of Gothic people who took part in
this battle were mostly Thervings and Gretungs. There were several non-Gothic Alans in this
1 Marcellinus, Ammianus. The Later Roman Empire:(aD 354-378). Penguin UK, 2004.

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scenario as well. The Emperor Valens of Eastern Roman Army was defeated by reinforced
Gothic people. It was fought at Erdine i.e. in modern Turkey. The Gothic war that started in 376
can be regarded as the beginning of process for this battle. The outcome of the Gothic War led to
fall of Western Roman Empire in 5th century. The fierce contest between the Roman infantry and
barbaric horsemen was a great contest indeed. This victory of Germanic Visigoth forces led to
invasion of Gothic forces into Roman territory.2 The historians have recorded the fact that
around 20000 people were killed from the Roman side. The Huns were also considered as a very
strong force in this scenario. This battle of Adrianpole was similar to Battle of Cannae if range of
casualty is discussed. The geographic position for this battle was also surrounded by river of
Danube. The Alans were stretched in a vast region in both Europe and Asia.
The Gothic people belonged to Germanic origin and they settled in the northern side of
Black Sea. However, Roman Empire did not give up their hopes but they fought back and
revived their lands. The Visigoth people were led by Fritigern and leader of Ostrogoth people
were led by Alatheus and Saphrax. The human slaughter in that region was an immense factor
indeed. This powerful force went towards Western parts of Asia but they found emerging power
of Huns there. They found Huns to be very ferocious in nature. The Visigoths were permitted
within Roman Empire as immigrants but Ostrogoths or Eastern Goths were not permitted to live
in Roman Empire.
However, the relationship between Gothic power and Roman Empire went through
deterioration. The Gothic power had gained control over River Danube. Then they went towards
Constantinople and seal the victory over there as well. The Eastern Roman Army got this news
2 Marcellinus, Ammianus. The Later Roman Empire:(aD 354-378). Penguin UK, 2004.

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and they went out of the city to get face to face with them for a clash. Their army was led by
Valens and found Fritigern led Visigoth force near Adrianople or Erdine. Both the Visigoth and
Ostrogoth Army went towards Roman Army of Valens and they were completely confused. A
fierce battle began between those forces.3 The charge was so immense that Roman Army had no
clue because they did not expect so much of annihilation. The Roman Army of Valens was
waiting for further reinforcements from Gratian. He was the co-emperor and nephew of Valens.
However, he was killed in the battlefield so reinforcements never arrived.4
Analysis of the battle
This battle is regarded as one of the memorable battles in the chronicles of history. This
battle is seen as a clash that indicated the decline of Roman Empire. The defeat of Roman forces
was the trailer of so many things to come in future. The Roman Empire and its emperors were
unable to exert their power and authority in the vulnerable border regions. Some historians have
opined that this time period in Roman history can be called ‘Barbarian Invasion’ period. Many
people migrated to different parts of the Roman Empire and they wanted to replace the Roman
forces. Many people also believe that people migrated to this place from different regions of the
world.5 This is why historians are of the opinion that this age should be called the ‘Age of
3 Burns, Thomas S. "The Battle of Adrianople: A Reconsideration." Warfare in the Dark Ages. Routledge, 2017.
165-174.
4 Poulter, Andrew. "Goths on the lower Danube: their impact upon and behind the frontier." Antiquité Tardive 21
(2013): 63-76.
5 Coulston, J. C. N. "Late Roman military equipment culture." War and Warfare in Late Antiquity (2 vols.). Brill,
2013. 461-492.

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Migration’ instead. Keeping this idea in mind, it can also be said that refuges belonging to
Germanic Gothic tradition went on to revolt against their hosts i.e. Romans. The Roman Empire
almost lasted for 600 more years and these Gothic people became a part of this culture indeed.
This battle of Adrianpole was won by Gothic people in place of Roman army for several
reasons. One of the foremost reasons is the advantageous defensive position that Gothic forces
had. The Visigoth force had quite a good back up in the form of Ostrogoths, their counterparts.
Valens, leader of the Eastern Roman Army was not able to launch a fast attack on the enemy
forces. Their interception power was also weak.6 Their forces were not organized properly. The
Roman forces should have destroyed Gothic infantry before the arrival of Gothic cavalry.
Another option was open before Roman forces and it was to make isolations between Gothic
infantry and their families. They could have done this and wait till Gothic cavalry arrived. This
would be a better option to intercept the Gothic cavalry. It would also have been easier for them
to destroy the Gothic forces.7 Valens could not launch a lethal assault that was needed to destroy
the Gothic army completely. However, Fritigern had used a very good and useful tactics that was
highly useful. He used smoke and fire to distract the Roman Army.8 After that, they acquired the
strong defensive position until arrival of Roman Army. The outcome of this situation was very
predictable. The Roman Army was very tired, thirsty and feeling hot because of smoke and fire
6 Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin. The decline of the ancient world. Routledge, 2014.
7 Hebblewhite, Mark. The Emperor and the Army in the Later Roman Empire, AD 235–395. Routledge, 2016.
8 Dando-Collins, Stephen. Legions of Rome: The definitive history of every Roman legion. Hachette UK, 2012.

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they had to confront. In this juncture, Gothic forces were indeed superior to them by means of
energy and strategy. The fresh battle troops of Gothic Army dominated the battle and they neat
down Roman forces. There are some common reasons as to why Roman troops were not able to
battle with Ostrogoths and Visigoths.9
The first reason was mastery over tactics by Fritigern. His tactical intelligence was so
immense that he did exploit the approach of Roman Army through his Gothic scouts. Valens was
not able to intercept the location of Gothic army. The Gothic Army led by Fritigern took this
advantage in a great manner. Valens could not even take advantage of cavalry’s absence of
Fritigern.10 Gothic Army was also very quick and they understood the approach of Roman army
and unleashed their assault massively11 Thus Gothic Army got the huge advantage over their
Roman counterparts. The historic details of the battle of Adrianople are found in writings of
Ammianus Marcellinus. The Visigoths and Ostrogoths generally belonged to Scandinavia. The
Goths were very aggressive but they had been defeated by Huns who were considered as fiercer
than Goths.12
9 Taylor, Donathan. roman empire at War: a compendium of roman battles from 31 bc to ad 565. Pen and Sword,
2016.
10 Bunson, Matthew. Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. Infobase Publishing, 2014.
11 Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin. The decline of the ancient world. Routledge, 2014.
12 Mitchell, Stephen. A history of the later Roman Empire, AD 284-641. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.

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The Goths became angry about Roman power and this had been the main reason for them
to attack Roman regions. They attacked Romans in a vicious manner and Romans had no clue
about it.13 The major fault of Romans was the fact that they underestimated the power of Gothic
people. The Goths were superior to Romans in the approach towards the battle. It is because
Romans were a professional armed force and they were well equipped as well. In this course
they thought Germanic Gothic force as a rebellious army. This is where the mistake was done.
They were not prepared for this battle and they did not apply their full forces. In this battle,
supremacy of cavalry forces over infantry had to be observed. The battle tactics had not been
employed perfectly in this occasion.14
Perhaps this was the main reason as to why Romans could not be able to stand up against
Gothic forces. The Roman infantry was very much exhausted by fire and smoke of Gothic army.
This was a mastery of tactics by Fritigern and his men. This routing of Roman forces was
perfectly designed and mastered by Gothic army. The Eastern Roman Empire was almost left
with no defense. The above mentioned fact of supremacy of cavalry over infantry lasted for
almost for next thousand years.15 In the middle of the fight, Roman force pushed Gothic forces
back but their cavalry returned in no time and attacked Romans out of the blue. This event is one
of the most remarkable facts of that battle. This was the turning point of Battle of Adrianople and
13 Hughs, Ian. Imperial Brothers: Valentinian, Valens and the Disaster at Adrianople. Pen and Sword, 2013.
14 Bennett, Matthew. "The myth of the military supremacy of knightly cavalry." Medieval Warfare 1000–1300.
Routledge, 2017. 171-183.
15 Dixon, Karen R., and Pat Southern. Late Roman Army. Routledge, 2014.

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the cavalry force of Gothic army came upon so viciously with their horses that Romans began to
escape. Nearly 20000-30000 Roman people had been killed in this battle. This was the ultimate
setback that Roman people could take.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that Battle of Adrianople is one of the most
fascinating battles in the annals of history taking place in 378 AD. The destruction of Roman
people had been the only outcome that could be possible in this war. The mass killing of 20000
to 30000 people in that war was a savage one by the offensive cavalry forces of Goths. Both the
Visigoths and Ostrogoths had taken the charge of attacking Romans brutally. The tactical
warfare of Gothic forces made them win the battle. This is how Gothic people took over the
Romans in a very dominant manner.
Bibliography
Bennett, Matthew. "The myth of the military supremacy of knightly cavalry." Medieval Warfare
1000–1300. Routledge, 2017. 171-183.
Bunson, Matthew. Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. Infobase Publishing, 2014.

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Burns, Thomas S. "The Battle of Adrianople: A Reconsideration." Warfare in the Dark Ages.
Routledge, 2017. 165-174.
Coulston, J. C. N. "Late Roman military equipment culture." War and Warfare in Late Antiquity
(2 vols.). Brill, 2013. 461-492.
Dando-Collins, Stephen. Legions of Rome: The definitive history of every Roman legion.
Hachette UK, 2012.
Dixon, Karen R., and Pat Southern. Late Roman Army. Routledge, 2014.
Gwynn, David M. The Goths: Lost Civilizations. Reaktion Books, 2017.
Hebblewhite, Mark. The Emperor and the Army in the Later Roman Empire, AD 235–395.
Routledge, 2016.
Hughs, Ian. Imperial Brothers: Valentinian, Valens and the Disaster at Adrianople. Pen and
Sword, 2013.
Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin. The decline of the ancient world. Routledge, 2014.
Marcellinus, Ammianus. The Later Roman Empire:(aD 354-378). Penguin UK, 2004.
Mitchell, Stephen. A history of the later Roman Empire, AD 284-641. John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
Poulter, Andrew. "Goths on the lower Danube: their impact upon and behind the
frontier." Antiquité Tardive 21 (2013): 63-76.
Taylor, Donathan. roman empire at War: a compendium of roman battles from 31 bc to ad 565.
Pen and Sword, 2016.

9CLASSICAL STUDIES