Godron Doherty describes how the Battle of Adrianople inspired the latest in his Legionary Series.
The clash of the Romans and the Goths near Adrianople in 378 CE surely qualifies as one of history’s most pivotal battles: one that permanently lodged the Goths within the Roman Empire as an independent force. The battle saw the utter destruction of two-thirds of the Eastern Empire’s military manpower. Two master-generals of the cavalry and infantry, two great officers of the palace and thirty-five tribunes were found among the slain. Sixteen legions were never reformed after that bloody day. Since the outset of the Legionary series, I’ve always known that Pavo, Gallus and the men of the XI Claudia were destined to be there on the battlefield, and with the 5th volume of the Legionary series, ‘Gods & Emperors’, it finally came to be.
The two great forces met around noon on 9th August 378 AD at some as yet unidentified site roughly a morning’s march north or northwest of Adrianople. All we know of the location is that the Gothic horde – minus their lethal Greuthingi cavalry – got there first and arranged their many wagons in a huge defensive laager or circle (more likely a series of smaller, adjacent circles) on an advantageous area of high ground. It also seems that this gave them control of the scant local water sources – vital given the reportedly extreme summer that year. There is much debate as to the exact whereabouts of the battle that I won’t go into here. For those who are interested, you can browse through photos and discussion of the candidate sites at my blog:
www.gordondoherty.co.uk/writeblog/thebattleofadrianople.
Anyway, when Emperor Valens and his legions drew close to this ridge around midday, they must have been confronted with an intimidating sight: the horde, shimmering, waiting up there. Size estimates of the opposing forces’ vary, some arguing that each side fielded around fifteen thousand men, others claim it was more like sixty thousand warriors each. Most agree, however, that when the legions ascended the slope to stand just paces from the Goths at the brow of their ridge, the Romans would have been equal in number to the Goths, and might even have enjoyed a slight advantage. But even at that point, battle was not a certainty.
With the opposing lines poised, just waiting for the order to attack, there were final and fraught attempts at conciliation between Fritigern and Valens – and this outcome would have been hugely desirable to both leaders. As envoys went back and forth between the lines, the legions stood in the baking heat in full armour while the Goths enjoyed the shade of their wagons and water from barrels within the laager. Some of the Goths even took to lighting the grass near the ridge to let hot smoke billow downhill and into the faces of their enemy, increasing their discomfort. For some two hours the attempts at negotiation continued until the rash and reckless Bacurius of the Scutarii, an Iberian officer positioned on the Roman right, took matters into his own hands. He and his cavalry seemingly breached Valens’ orders not to engage and sprang forward to attack the Gothic left. This shattered the last hopes of treaty and an all-out clash ensued. Both sides struggled for supremacy for some time in the baking heat. The Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, describes it as thus:
Then the two lines of battle dashed against each other, like the beaks (or rams) of ships, and thrusting with all their might, were tossed to and fro, like the waves of the sea.
And it might have been a bloody but indecisive clash, had the Greuthingi cavalry not arrived unexpectedly and suddenly. As Marcellinus describes it:
…the cavalry of the Goths returned with Alatheus and Saphrax, and with them a battalion of Alani; these descending from the mountains like a thunderbolt, spread confusion and slaughter among all whom in their rapid charge they came across.
The huge influx of cavalry reinforcements turned the battle irrevocably. They smashed into a flank of the engaged Roman line, routing Bacurius and his Scutarii before pouring round the rear of the Roman infantry centre to envelop the imperial army. Soon, the Roman cavalry on the left were routed too and the legions were left to face a thick noose of Goths alone:
The foot-soldiers thus stood unprotected, and their companies were so crowded together that hardly anyone could pull out his sword or draw back his arm. Because of clouds of dust the heavens could no longer be seen, and echoed with frightful cries. Hence the arrows whirling death from every side always found their mark with fatal effect, since they could not be seen beforehand nor guarded against.
Nearing dusk, the Army of the Eastern Roman Empire broke. Tattered remnants of ancient legions fled, bloodied and hunted down by pursuing Goths as they went. Valens tried to call upon his meagre Batavian reserve but they ignored his call and fled. So, the Emperor of the East was left in the midst of it all with just a few loyal but bloodied and well-depleted units. It seems they guarded him fiercely until he was struck by an arrow.
Some say Valens’ body was lost in the last bout of butchery that ended the battle, others claim he was taken to a nearby farmhouse by a handful of loyal soldiers and it was in there he died when the building was set alight. However, legend has it that one Goth who witnessed the blaze swore that he saw someone escape the flames…
The day ended with the Goths victorious. The battle itself certainly did not end the Roman Empire, but it did set in motion a chain of events that would see the rise of Alaric and his Visigoths and, in time, the Ostrogoths. These two peoples would go on to play a huge part in toppling the Western Roman Empire. Pivotal? I’d certainly say so.
Legionary: Gods & Emperors takes Pavo and the XI Claudia onto the bloody fields of Adrianople on that crucial day, yet the battle is just a part of their tumultuous journey – a story of brotherhood and treachery, of daring and dread. Only the bravest will stand firm to spit in fate’s eye…
Gordon’s website: www.gordondoherty.co.uk
