Gothic and Vandal warfare
Encyclopedia
The Goths
, Gepids, Vandals
, and Burgundians
were East Germanic groups who appear in Roman records in Late Antiquity
. At times these groups warred against or allied with the Roman Empire
, the Huns
, and various Germanic tribes.
The size and social composition of their armies remains controversial.
(associated with the Wielbark (Willenberg) culture) followed the Vistula
, Bug
, and Dnestr rivers and settled among the Dacians
, Sarmatians
, Bastarnae
, and other peoples of the Black Sea steppes. These Germanic people brought their name and language to the Gothic people who emerged in the 3rd century (associated with the Chernyakhov Culture
).
At the same time, other Germanic people of the Baltic Sea (associated with the Przeworsk culture
) followed other trade routes to the middle-Danubian plains (Vandals) or the Main river (Burgundians).
Horse nomads with bow-armed cavalry armies, including the Sarmatians (or Iazyges, Roxolanni, Taifali, and Alans) had long ruled the plains north of the Danube and the steppes north of the Black Sea (since about 1200 BCE). (The Goths and Vandals were mainly farmers with infantry armies). In some areas, the Sarmatians, Taifali, and Alans preserved their dominance until the Huns arrived.
The Gothic people had divided into two or more groups by the end of the 3rd Century. These groups lasted from the late 3rd Century to the late 4th Century. The Thervingi lived between the Danube and the Carpathians west of the Dnestr river; the Greuthungi, and possibly other groups, lived east of the Dnestr river.
Jordanes
, a mid 6th Century historian describes a large Greuthung kingdom in the late 4th century, but Ammianus Marcellinus
, a late 4th Century historian, does not record this. Many modern historians, including Peter Heather
and Michael Kulikowski
, doubt that it was ever particularly extensive (and suggest one or more smaller kingdoms).
attacks in the late 4th Century. As a result several groups sought refuge in the Roman Empire; two of the more successful groups, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, absorbed smaller groups and gained independence within the Roman Empire. Another group, the Crimean Goths
survived on the Black Sea. The Vandals
and Burgundians
shared similar histories.
The Visigothic and Burgundian kingdoms in Gaul fell to Clovis
' Frankish invasions in the early 6th Century; the Vandal kingdom in north Africa, and the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and Illyria fell to Justinian I
's Byzantine invasions by the mid 6th Century. The Visigothic kingdom in Hispania survived (despite losing most of their old Gallic territory) until the Islamic conquest of Hispania in the early 8th Century.
The 3rd and 4th-Century Gothic tribes could not match the population or extent of the Roman Empire. The 4th-Century Thervingi settled over about 100,000 km² between the Carpathian mountains, Olt river, Danube river, and Pruth river. (The East Roman Empire held about 1,500,000 km² in round numbers). The destruction of one Gothic army would leave its tribe vulnerable to Roman attacks; the destruction of one Roman army could be countered by other Roman armies moving into the war zone (as happened after Adrianople). Therefore 3rd and 4th-Century Gothic armies could not take as many risks as Roman armies could.
The Gothic people
generally settled in unwalled farming settlements along the main rivers. These settlements were vulnerable to Roman, Hunnish, or other attacks, even by small raiding parties. Two Roman-style valla
were built, one by Anthanaric
on and a second one
by an unknown king in the region of Ukraine, Moldovia and Romania.
Valens
and the Roman army
invaded Therving lands in 367 and 369. Athanaric
and his supporters avoided battle; his army abandoned the Danubian plains and retreated into the Carpathian mountains. The Goths could not defeat the Romans in battle and defend their homes.
Alan
and Hunnic
raiders attacked various Gothic lands in the 370s; they attacked Therving lands c. 375. Athanaric
and his supporters sought battle; the main Gothic army assembled on the Dnestr river, with forward units scouted 30 km ahead. The Hunnic raiders avoided the scouts and attacked the main army at night.
The Roman Empire
fortified most of its cities and frontier garrisons in the 3rd & 4th Centuries. Fortified settlements were relatively safe from Gothic attacks.
Gothic attackers could choose unfortified targets; these included many cities in the 3rd Century, but were generally restricted to smaller towns and villa
e by the 4th Century, as more cities were fortified. Alternatively, they could attack fortified targets, relying on surprise, on treachery, or on siege warfare.
In the 3rd Century, several Gothic campaigns went by sea. In the 4th Century, few, if any, Gothic campaigns went by sea.
As soon as large Gothic groups settled on Roman territory, they faced military conflicts with the Roman government (as in the Gothic War (376–382)).
Major wars of the Goths include:
Notable battles of the Goths include:
(or Byzantine army
for the east) often recruited non-Roman soldiers into regular military units, as well as separate allied contingents (of laeti and foederatii). Most soldiers were probably Romans, many were probably non-Roman.
Notable battles of this period include that of Frigidus River
(394).
elites established their hegemony in Eastern and Central Europe by subduing or dislodging the local elites. The Hunnic rulers had thus an empire at their disposal with the resources of subject people who were required to supply additional forces for their ongoing raids and conquests. The most memorable of their rulers became Attila, who eventually challenged the Roman Empire for supremacy.
After the death of Attila, one of his subject rulers, Ardaric
waged a successful civil war against the heirs of Attila, helping several tribes to break apart and regain their independence.
Notable battles involving Vandal forces within the Hunnic army include the Battle of Chalons
(451) and the Battle of Nedao
(454).
, a mixed Gothic group settled in Moesia
. By the 390s Alaric
had become the client king of the Visigoths under the Roman empire
.
Between 395 and 418, Alaric
, Athawulf, and their immediate successors fought several campaigns, seeking offices for themselves and support for their followers. They transferred their base of operations from the eastern Balkans (395) to the western Balkans (397), Italy (408), and Aquitaine (c. 415).
These successive movements may have divided the army from much of its population base.
Notable battles of the Visigoths in the period include:
, the Vandals may, unlike other Germanic nations, have converted their army into one centered almost entirely on cavalry. This is likely in response to the mobility of the Moors
and other hostile tribes in North Africa. There is no evidence of the native Romanized Africans contributing militarily to their Vandal masters.
Notable battles of the Vandals include:
Ostrogothic Italy, like the Late Roman Empire, fortified its cities and military bases.
The Italian-Ostrogothic army, like the Late Roman and Byzantine army, could transport food and other military supplies from secure areas to war zones. This allowed the Ostrogothic army to assemble more troops in one place (than early Gothic armies) without consuming as much of the local food supply.
Notable battles of the Ostrogoths include:
Late Roman representational evidence, including propaganda monuments, gravestones, tombs, and the Exodus fresco, often shows Late Roman soldiers with one or two spears; one tombstone shows a soldier with five shorter javelins. Archaeological evidence, from Roman burials and Scandinavian bog-deposits, shows similar spearheads, though the shafts are rarely preserved.
Late Roman representational evidence sometimes still shows Roman swords. Archaeological evidence shows that the gladius has disappeared; various short semispathae supplement the older pugiones while medium-long spathae replace the medium-short gladii. These have the same straight double-edged blades as older Roman swords.
Representational evidence and recovered laths, as well as arrowheads and bracers, show Roman use of composite bows.
Representational evidence, recovered bosses, and some complete shields from Dara, show that most Roman infantry and some Roman cavalry carried shields.
Although the representational evidence, including gravestones and tombs, usually shows soldiers without armor, the archaeological evidence includes remains of scale armor, mail armor, and helmets.
Basic spearheads (including javelinheads) take about 3 hours of forging time, while swords can take about 37 hours without pattern welding, or about 110 hours with pattern welding (divided over several days or weeks of labor).
Mail armor takes well over 600 hours of forging time.
bible
translation we do know 4th Century Gothic military terms he used to describe the 1st Century Roman army
. These terms reflect the Gothic military organization that grew from its Germanic roots under Roman and Central Asian (Hunnic) influence.
Known terms include:
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
, Gepids, Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
, and Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
were East Germanic groups who appear in Roman records in Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
. At times these groups warred against or allied with the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, and various Germanic tribes.
The size and social composition of their armies remains controversial.
History
In the 3rd Century, some Germanic people of the Baltic SeaEarly history of Pomerania
After the glaciers of the Ice Age in the Early Stone Age withdrew from Pomerania, in what are now northern Germany and Poland, they left a tundra. First humans appeared, hunting reindeer in the summer. A climate change in 8000 BC allowed hunters and foragers of the Ertebølle-Ellerbek culture to...
(associated with the Wielbark (Willenberg) culture) followed the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
, Bug
Bug
A bug is an insect of the order Hemiptera, known as the "true bugs".Bug or BUG may also refer to:-Biology:* Informally, most arthropods, except marine crustaceans, including individuals or species of** centipede** insect** millipede** mite...
, and Dnestr rivers and settled among the Dacians
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
, Sarmatians
Sarmatians
The Iron Age Sarmatians were an Iranian people in Classical Antiquity, flourishing from about the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD....
, Bastarnae
Bastarnae
The Bastarnae or Basternae were an ancient Germanic tribe,, who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited the region between the eastern Carpathian mountains and the Dnieper river...
, and other peoples of the Black Sea steppes. These Germanic people brought their name and language to the Gothic people who emerged in the 3rd century (associated with the Chernyakhov Culture
Chernyakhov culture
The Sântana de Mureș–Chernyakhiv culture is the name given to an archaeological culture which flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what today constitutes Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and parts of Belarus...
).
At the same time, other Germanic people of the Baltic Sea (associated with the Przeworsk culture
Przeworsk culture
The Przeworsk culture is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex that dates from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. It was located in what is now central and southern Poland, later spreading to parts of eastern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia ranging between the Oder and the middle and...
) followed other trade routes to the middle-Danubian plains (Vandals) or the Main river (Burgundians).
Horse nomads with bow-armed cavalry armies, including the Sarmatians (or Iazyges, Roxolanni, Taifali, and Alans) had long ruled the plains north of the Danube and the steppes north of the Black Sea (since about 1200 BCE). (The Goths and Vandals were mainly farmers with infantry armies). In some areas, the Sarmatians, Taifali, and Alans preserved their dominance until the Huns arrived.
The Gothic people had divided into two or more groups by the end of the 3rd Century. These groups lasted from the late 3rd Century to the late 4th Century. The Thervingi lived between the Danube and the Carpathians west of the Dnestr river; the Greuthungi, and possibly other groups, lived east of the Dnestr river.
Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
, a mid 6th Century historian describes a large Greuthung kingdom in the late 4th century, but Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
, a late 4th Century historian, does not record this. Many modern historians, including Peter Heather
Peter Heather
Peter Heather is a historian of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, currently Professor of Medieval History at King's College London. He has held appointments at University College London and Yale University and was Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History at Worcester College, Oxford until...
and Michael Kulikowski
Michael Kulikowski
Michael Kulikowski is an American historian, tenured at the University of Tennessee, who is a specialist in the history of the western Mediterranean world of Late Antiquity...
, doubt that it was ever particularly extensive (and suggest one or more smaller kingdoms).
Realms in the Roman Empire
This Gothic society faced internal strife and HunnishHuns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
attacks in the late 4th Century. As a result several groups sought refuge in the Roman Empire; two of the more successful groups, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, absorbed smaller groups and gained independence within the Roman Empire. Another group, the Crimean Goths
Crimean Goths
Crimean Goths were those Gothic tribes who remained in the lands around the Black Sea, especially in Crimea. They were the least-powerful, least-known, and almost paradoxically, the longest-lasting of the Gothic communities...
survived on the Black Sea. The Vandals
Vandals
The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Vandals under king Genseric entered Africa in 429 and by 439 established a kingdom which included the Roman Africa province, besides the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics....
and Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
shared similar histories.
The Visigothic and Burgundian kingdoms in Gaul fell to Clovis
Clovis I
Clovis Leuthwig was the first King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of royal chieftains, to rule by kings, ensuring that the kingship was held by his heirs. He was also the first Catholic King to rule over Gaul . He was the son...
' Frankish invasions in the early 6th Century; the Vandal kingdom in north Africa, and the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy and Illyria fell to Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
's Byzantine invasions by the mid 6th Century. The Visigothic kingdom in Hispania survived (despite losing most of their old Gallic territory) until the Islamic conquest of Hispania in the early 8th Century.
Gothic society and forces in the 3rd and 4th Centuries
The Gothic tribes did not have long-term standing armies but relied on short-term levies and/or volunteers. Most would return to their farms after some time. Most came on foot and fought as infantry, though some brought horses and fought as cavalry. Like their Roman opponents, most soldiers had thrusting spears, throwing spears, and shields; though swords, and bows, were also used. Unlike their Roman opponents, few could afford metal armor.The 3rd and 4th-Century Gothic tribes could not match the population or extent of the Roman Empire. The 4th-Century Thervingi settled over about 100,000 km² between the Carpathian mountains, Olt river, Danube river, and Pruth river. (The East Roman Empire held about 1,500,000 km² in round numbers). The destruction of one Gothic army would leave its tribe vulnerable to Roman attacks; the destruction of one Roman army could be countered by other Roman armies moving into the war zone (as happened after Adrianople). Therefore 3rd and 4th-Century Gothic armies could not take as many risks as Roman armies could.
The Gothic people
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
generally settled in unwalled farming settlements along the main rivers. These settlements were vulnerable to Roman, Hunnish, or other attacks, even by small raiding parties. Two Roman-style valla
Vallum
Vallum is a term applied either to the whole or a portion of the fortifications of a Roman camp. The vallum usually comprised an earthen or turf rampart with a wooden palisade on top, with a deep outer ditch...
were built, one by Anthanaric
Athanaric's Wall
Fortification line erected by the king of the Thervings Athanaric, between the banks of river Gerasius and the Danube to the land of Taifali , most probable Athanaric's Wall has reused the old roman limes called: Limes Transalutanus...
on and a second one
Greuthungi Wall
The Upper Trajan's Wall is the modern name given to a fortification located in the central area of modern Moldavia. Some scholars consider it to be of Roman origin, while others think it was built in the third/fourth century by the Germanic Greuthungi to defend their borders against the Huns...
by an unknown king in the region of Ukraine, Moldovia and Romania.
Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
and the Roman army
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
invaded Therving lands in 367 and 369. Athanaric
Athanaric
Athanaric was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths for at least two decades in the fourth century. His name, Athanareiks, means "Year King" or "King for the Year" comes from the Gothic word Athni meaning "year" and the Gothic Reiks meaning "king."A probable rival of Fritigern, another...
and his supporters avoided battle; his army abandoned the Danubian plains and retreated into the Carpathian mountains. The Goths could not defeat the Romans in battle and defend their homes.
Alan
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
and Hunnic
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
raiders attacked various Gothic lands in the 370s; they attacked Therving lands c. 375. Athanaric
Athanaric
Athanaric was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths for at least two decades in the fourth century. His name, Athanareiks, means "Year King" or "King for the Year" comes from the Gothic word Athni meaning "year" and the Gothic Reiks meaning "king."A probable rival of Fritigern, another...
and his supporters sought battle; the main Gothic army assembled on the Dnestr river, with forward units scouted 30 km ahead. The Hunnic raiders avoided the scouts and attacked the main army at night.
The Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
fortified most of its cities and frontier garrisons in the 3rd & 4th Centuries. Fortified settlements were relatively safe from Gothic attacks.
Gothic attackers could choose unfortified targets; these included many cities in the 3rd Century, but were generally restricted to smaller towns and villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
e by the 4th Century, as more cities were fortified. Alternatively, they could attack fortified targets, relying on surprise, on treachery, or on siege warfare.
In the 3rd Century, several Gothic campaigns went by sea. In the 4th Century, few, if any, Gothic campaigns went by sea.
As soon as large Gothic groups settled on Roman territory, they faced military conflicts with the Roman government (as in the Gothic War (376–382)).
Major wars of the Goths include:
- Gothic raid on Istria (238)Histria (Sinoe)Ancient Histria or Istros , was a Greek colony or polis on the Black Sea coast, established by Milesian settlers to trade with the native Getae. It became the first Greek town on the present day Romanian territory. Scymnus of Chios , the Greek geographer and poet, dated it to 630 BC...
- Gothic raid on Marcianople (249)
- CnivaCnivaCniva was the Gothic chieftain who invaded the Roman Empire in the third century CE. He successfully conquered the city of Philippopolis, now present day Bulgarian city Plovdiv, and killed the emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus at the Battle of Abrittus as he was attempting to leave...
's Gothic raid on PhilippopolisPlovdivPlovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
(250–251) - Seaborne raids on the Balkans (c. 252)
- Seaborne raids on Asia Minor (c. 256)
- Seaborne raid on the Aegean (c. 268)
- Gothic raids on the Balkans (c. 270)
- AurelianAurelianAurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
's Roman raids north of the Danube (c. 271) - Gothic raids on Asia Minor (c. 275)
- Gothic (?) raids in the Balkans (c. 330?)
- Constantine IIConstantine II (emperor)Constantine II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 340. Co-emperor alongside his brothers, his short reign saw the beginnings of conflict emerge between the sons of Constantine the Great, and his attempt to exert his perceived rights of primogeniture ended up causing his death in a failed invasion of...
's Roman invasion north of the Danube (332) 100.000 goths killed. Ariaricus son of the goths king captured - Constantine Campaign on the left bank of Lower Danube (today Romania), Constantine gain the title DACICUS MAXIMUS
- JulianJulianJulian is a common male given name in Britain, United States, Ireland, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France , Spain, Latin America and elsewhere....
's Roman invasion of Persia (363) (?) - Roman Civil War between Procopius and ValensValensValens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
(365) - ValensValensValens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...
' raids on the Thervings (367–369) - Hunnic raids on the Greuthungs (c. 370)
- Hunnic raids on the Thervings (c. 376)
- Gothic revolt in the Balkans (c. 376–382)
- Gothic Civil War between FritigernFritigernFritigern or Fritigernus was a Tervingian Gothic chieftain whose decisive victory at Adrinaople the Gothic War extracted favourable terms for the Goths when peace was made with Gratian in 382.-War against Athanaric:...
& AthanaricAthanaricAthanaric was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths for at least two decades in the fourth century. His name, Athanareiks, means "Year King" or "King for the Year" comes from the Gothic word Athni meaning "year" and the Gothic Reiks meaning "king."A probable rival of Fritigern, another...
(?) - OdotheusOdotheusOdotheus was a Greuthungi king who in 386 led an incursion into the Roman Empire. He was defeated and killed by the Roman general Promotus. His surviving people settled in Phrygia.- Invasion of Roman Empire :...
' crossing of the Danube (?)
Notable battles of the Goths include:
- AbrittusBattle of AbrittusThe Battle of Abritus, also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii, occurred in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior probably in July, 251, between the Roman Empire and a federation of Scythian tribesmen under the Goth king Cniva. The Romans were soundly defeated, and Roman emperors Decius and...
(251) - NaissusBattle of NaissusThe Battle of Naissus was the defeat of a Gothic coalition by the Roman Empire under Emperor Gallienus near Naissus...
(268) - Marcianople (376/77)
- Ad SalicesBattle of the WillowsThe Battle of the Willows took place at a place called ad Salices , or according to Roman records, a road way-station called Ad Salices ; probably located within 15 kilometres of Marcianople , although its exact location is unknown...
(377) - Adrianople (378)
Gothic and Vandal forces in the Late Roman army
The Late Roman armyRoman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
(or Byzantine army
Byzantine army
The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization...
for the east) often recruited non-Roman soldiers into regular military units, as well as separate allied contingents (of laeti and foederatii). Most soldiers were probably Romans, many were probably non-Roman.
Notable battles of this period include that of Frigidus River
Battle of the Frigidus
The Battle of the Frigidus, also called the Battle of the Frigid River, was fought between September 5–6 394, between the army of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius I and the army of Western Roman ruler Eugenius....
(394).
Gothic and Vandal forces in the Hunnic army
By the early 5th Century, HunnicHuns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
elites established their hegemony in Eastern and Central Europe by subduing or dislodging the local elites. The Hunnic rulers had thus an empire at their disposal with the resources of subject people who were required to supply additional forces for their ongoing raids and conquests. The most memorable of their rulers became Attila, who eventually challenged the Roman Empire for supremacy.
After the death of Attila, one of his subject rulers, Ardaric
Ardaric
Ardaric was the most renowned king of the Gepids. He was "famed for his loyalty and wisdom", one of the most trusted adherents of Attila the Hun, who "prized him above all the other chieftains"...
waged a successful civil war against the heirs of Attila, helping several tribes to break apart and regain their independence.
Notable battles involving Vandal forces within the Hunnic army include the Battle of Chalons
Battle of Chalons
The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains , also called the Battle of Châlons sur Marne, took place in AD 451 between a coalition led by the Visigothic king Theodoric I and the Roman general Flavius Aëtius, against the Huns and their allies commanded by their leader Attila...
(451) and the Battle of Nedao
Battle of Nedao
The Battle of Nedao, named after the Nedava, a tributary of the Sava, was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454. After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the Germanic subject peoples under the leadership of Ardaric, king of the Gepids, defeated the Hunnic forces of Ellac, the son of Attila,...
(454).
Visigothic armies
During the Gothic revolt of 376Gothic War (377–382)
The Gothic War is the name given to a series of Gothic battles and plunderings of the eastern Roman Empire in the Balkans between about 376/7 and 382...
, a mixed Gothic group settled in Moesia
Moesia
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...
. By the 390s Alaric
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
had become the client king of the Visigoths under the Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Between 395 and 418, Alaric
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
, Athawulf, and their immediate successors fought several campaigns, seeking offices for themselves and support for their followers. They transferred their base of operations from the eastern Balkans (395) to the western Balkans (397), Italy (408), and Aquitaine (c. 415).
These successive movements may have divided the army from much of its population base.
Notable battles of the Visigoths in the period include:
- PollentiaBattle of PollentiaThe Battle of Pollentia was fought on 6 April 402 between the Romans and the Visigoths.-Background:Theodosius I, the last emperor of both eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire, died in 395, leaving his sons Arcadius and Honorius emperors of the East and West, respectively...
(402) - VeronaBattle of VeronaThe Battle of Verona was fought in June of 403 by Alaric's Visigoths, and a Roman force led by Stilicho. Alaric was defeated and subsequently withdrew from Italy....
(402) - Narbonne (436)
- ChalonsBattle of ChalonsThe Battle of the Catalaunian Plains , also called the Battle of Châlons sur Marne, took place in AD 451 between a coalition led by the Visigothic king Theodoric I and the Roman general Flavius Aëtius, against the Huns and their allies commanded by their leader Attila...
(451) - VogladaBattle of VouilléThe Battle of Vouillé or Vouglé was fought in the northern marches of Visigothic territory, at Vouillé, Vienne near Poitiers , in the spring of 507 between the Franks commanded by Clovis and the Visigoths of Alaric II, the conqueror of Spain.Clovis and Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire agreed...
(507) - GuadaleteBattle of GuadaleteThe Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...
(711)
Vandal Armies (406–534)
By the time of the Vandalic WarVandalic War
The Vandalic War was a war fought in North Africa, in the areas of modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria, in 533-534, between the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire and the Vandal Kingdom of Carthage...
, the Vandals may, unlike other Germanic nations, have converted their army into one centered almost entirely on cavalry. This is likely in response to the mobility of the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
and other hostile tribes in North Africa. There is no evidence of the native Romanized Africans contributing militarily to their Vandal masters.
Notable battles of the Vandals include:
- Sack of Rome (455)Sack of Rome (455)The sack of 455 was the second of three barbarian sacks of Rome; it was executed by the Vandals, who were then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus....
- Ad DecimumBattle of Ad DecimumThe Battle of Ad Decimum took place on September 13, 533 between the armies of the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, and the Eastern Roman Empire , under the command of general Belisarius. This event and events in the following year are sometimes jointly referred to as the Battle of Carthage, one...
(533) - Tricameron (533)
Ostrogothic armies (489–553)
Ostrogothic armies may have had the same organizational structure (with separate field armies and frontier armies) as contemporary Byzantine armies.Ostrogothic Italy, like the Late Roman Empire, fortified its cities and military bases.
The Italian-Ostrogothic army, like the Late Roman and Byzantine army, could transport food and other military supplies from secure areas to war zones. This allowed the Ostrogothic army to assemble more troops in one place (than early Gothic armies) without consuming as much of the local food supply.
Notable battles of the Ostrogoths include:
- Isonzo (489)Battle of Isonzo (489)The Battle of Isonzo is the name given to the battle fought on August 28, 489 on the banks of the Isontius River, not far away from Aquileia. This river is now known as the Isonzo in Italian, and Soča in Slovene...
- Verona (489)
- Faventia (542)Battle of Faventia (542)In the spring of 542, at the Battle of Faventia , an Ostrogothic army under king Totila scattered the larger Roman forces of generals Constantian and Alexander, beginning the resurgence of Gothic resistance to the Roman reconquest of Italy. Before the battle, Valaris, a gigantic Goth, challenged...
- TaginaeBattle of TaginaeAt the Battle of Taginae in June/July 552, the forces of the Byzantine Empire under Narses broke the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, and paved the way for the temporary Byzantine reconquest of the Italian Peninsula.From as early as 549 the Emperor Justinian I had planned to dispatch a major army...
(552) - Mons LactariusBattle of Mons LactariusThe Battle of Mons Lactarius took place in 552 or 553 in the course the Gothic War waged on behalf of Justinian I against the Ostrogoths in Italy....
(553)
Weapons and armor
There is little direct evidence for Gothic military equipment. There is more evidence for Vandal, Roman, and West Germanic military equipment, which provides the base for inferences about Gothic military equipment.Germanic and Roman weapons and armor
Generally speaking there was little difference between well-armed Germanic and Roman soldiers. Furthermore many Germanic soldiers served in the Roman forces. The Roman army was better able to equip its soldiers than the Germanic armies.Late Roman representational evidence, including propaganda monuments, gravestones, tombs, and the Exodus fresco, often shows Late Roman soldiers with one or two spears; one tombstone shows a soldier with five shorter javelins. Archaeological evidence, from Roman burials and Scandinavian bog-deposits, shows similar spearheads, though the shafts are rarely preserved.
Late Roman representational evidence sometimes still shows Roman swords. Archaeological evidence shows that the gladius has disappeared; various short semispathae supplement the older pugiones while medium-long spathae replace the medium-short gladii. These have the same straight double-edged blades as older Roman swords.
Representational evidence and recovered laths, as well as arrowheads and bracers, show Roman use of composite bows.
Representational evidence, recovered bosses, and some complete shields from Dara, show that most Roman infantry and some Roman cavalry carried shields.
Although the representational evidence, including gravestones and tombs, usually shows soldiers without armor, the archaeological evidence includes remains of scale armor, mail armor, and helmets.
Experimental evidence
Modern blacksmiths, reenactors, and experimental archaeologists can duplicate Roman Age weapons and armor with Roman Age technology.Basic spearheads (including javelinheads) take about 3 hours of forging time, while swords can take about 37 hours without pattern welding, or about 110 hours with pattern welding (divided over several days or weeks of labor).
Mail armor takes well over 600 hours of forging time.
Military terminology
Via Wulfila'sUlfilas
Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila , bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy. Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work...
bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
translation we do know 4th Century Gothic military terms he used to describe the 1st Century Roman army
Roman army
The Roman army is the generic term for the terrestrial armed forces deployed by the kingdom of Rome , the Roman Republic , the Roman Empire and its successor, the Byzantine empire...
. These terms reflect the Gothic military organization that grew from its Germanic roots under Roman and Central Asian (Hunnic) influence.
Known terms include:
- Drauhtinon (to war)
- Gadrauhts (Soldier, Militiaman)
- Hundafaþs (used to describe a Roman Centurion) Common Germanic organization of troops of a hundred armed men (in the Scandinavian LeidangLeidangThe institution known as leiðangr , leidang , leding, , ledung , expeditio or sometimes lething , was a public levy of free farmers typical for medieval Scandinavians. It was a form of conscription to organise coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of the realm...
it could refer to less than a hundred or several hundred organized and armed men), literally meaning 'group of a hundred' - Harjis (Army)
- Hansa (used to describe a Roman Cohort) In Germanic terms meaning a band (of warriors); a related term is the later used , , , , for the Hanseatic LeagueHanseatic LeagueThe Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
- Hairus (Sword)
See also
- LeidangLeidangThe institution known as leiðangr , leidang , leding, , ledung , expeditio or sometimes lething , was a public levy of free farmers typical for medieval Scandinavians. It was a form of conscription to organise coastal fleets for seasonal excursions and in defence of the realm...
- Migration period spearMigration Period spearThe spear together with the sword, the longsax and the shield was the main equipment of the Germanic warriors during the Migration period and the Early Middle Ages.-Terminology:...
- Migration period swordMigration Period swordSwords of the Migration Period show a transition from the Roman era Spatha to the "Viking sword" types of the Early Middle Ages....
- Anglo-Saxon warfareAnglo-Saxon warfareThe period of Anglo-Saxon warfare spans the 5th Century AD to the 11th in England. Its technology and tactics resemble those of other European cultural areas of the Early Middle Ages, although the Anglo-Saxons, unlike the Continental German tribes such as the Franks and the Goths, do not appear to...
Sources
- Hugh Elton, Warfare in Roman Europe, AD 350-425, Oxford: Clarendon, 1996 ISBN 0198152418
- Peter HeatherPeter HeatherPeter Heather is a historian of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, currently Professor of Medieval History at King's College London. He has held appointments at University College London and Yale University and was Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History at Worcester College, Oxford until...
and John MatthewsJohn MatthewsJohn Matthews may refer to:* John Matthews , American NFL wide-receiver* John Matthews , New South Wales politician* John Matthews , Australian Anglican bishop...
, The Goths in the Fourth Century, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1991 ISBN 0853234264 - Ammianus MarcellinusAmmianus MarcellinusAmmianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
, Historiae, book 27, unknown publisher, unknown year - Joseph WrightJoseph Wright (linguist)Joseph Wright FBA was an English philologist who rose from humble origins to become Professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford University.-Early life:...
, A Primer of the Gothic Language, with Grammar, Notes, and Glossary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892 ISBN 1402149719 - William BennettWilliam BennettWilliam John "Bill" Bennett is an American conservative pundit, politician, and political theorist. He served as United States Secretary of Education from 1985 to 1988. He also held the post of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under George H. W...
, An Introduction to the Gothic Language, New York: Modern Language Association, 1980 ISBN 0873522958 - Ian Hughes, Belisarius: The Last Roman General, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, 2009 ISBN 9781594160851