Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity)

by Michael Kulikowski

[82] Alexandru Popa, ‘Die Siedlung Sobari, Kr. Soroca (Republik Moldau)’, Germania 75 (1997): 119–131.

  [83] Popa, Romains ou barbares, 45–49.

  [84] See generally Attila Kiss, ‘Die Schatzfunde č und č von Szilágysomlyó als Quellen der gepidischen Geschichte’, Archaeologia Austriaca 75 (1991): 249–60; Radu Harhoiu, The Treasure from Pietroasa in Romania, British Archaeological Reports, International Series 24 (Oxford, 1977); id., Die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit in Rumänien (Bucharest, 1997); Florin Curta, ‘Frontier ethnogenesis in late antiquity: the Danube, the Tervingi, and the Slavs’, in id., ed., Borders, Barriers and Ethnogenesis: Frontiers in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Turnhout, 2005), 173–204. For the fortifications of the site, Popa, Romains ou barbares, 66–69.

  [85] Tomb 14 at Hanska-Luterija, with fragments of many bronze vessels, a gold bracelet, and glass items, is a rare exception.

  [86] M. Kazanski, Les Goths (Paris, 1993) is the best short introduction to Sântana-de-Mureč/černjachov funerary sites, but see many useful articles collected in the following publications: Herwig Wolfram and Falko Daim, eds., Die Völker an der Mittleren und unteren Donau im fünften und sechsten Jahrhundert (Vienna, 1980); Patrick Perin, ed., Gallo-Romains, Wisigoths et Francs en Aquitaine, Septimanie et Espagne (Actes des če Journées internationales d’Archéologie mérovingienne. Toulouse, 1985) (Paris, 1991); Françoise Vallet and Michel Kazanski, eds., L’armée romaine et les barbares du če au če siècle, Mémoires publiées par l’Association Française d’Archéologie Mérovingienne V (Paris, 1993); Françoise Vallet and Michel Kazanski, eds., La noblesse romaine et les chefs barbares du če au če siècle, Mémoires publiées par l’Association Française d’Archéologie Mérovingienne č (Paris, 1995).

  [87] See especially Guy Halsall, Settlement and Social Organization: The Merovingian Region of Metz (Cambridge, 1995); Bonnie Effros, Merovingian Mortuary Archaeology and the Making of the Early Middle Ages (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2003).

  Chapter Five: Goths and Romans, 332–376

  [88] Ammianus, RG 26.10.3

  [89] Ambrose, De spir. sanct., prol. 17 (= CSEL 79: 23).

  [90] Hippolyte Delehaye, ‘Saints de Thrace et de Mésie’, Analecta Bollandiana 31 (1912): 161–300 at 276: Kunstanteinus (recte Kunstanteius) thiudanis, which are the Gothic spellings for Constantine and (the correct) Constantius.

  [91] Eusebius, Vita Const. 4.6; Descriptio consulum, s.a. 334 (Burgess, 236); Orig. Const. 31.

  [92] Eusebius, Vita Const. 4.7.

  [93] Before 340, both Constantius and Constans had taken the title Sarmaticus, implying either a joint campaign or two consecutive ones: T. D. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, MA, 1981), 262, with references.

  [94] Ammianus, RG 15.8.

  [95] That is the argument of T. D. Barnes, Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality (Ithaca, 1998).

  [96] Ammianus, RG 16.5.

  [97] Sarmatian raids in 357: Ammianus, RG 16.10. Campaign in 358: Ammianus, RG 17.12–13; Aurelius Victor 42. Destruction of the Limigantes (359): Ammianus, RG 19.3.

  [98] CIL 3: 3653 =ILS 775.

  [99] Ammianus, RG 22.7.8.

  [100] Eusebius, Vita Const. 4.5 does not demonstrate religious stipulations within the treaty, merely stating that Constantine subdued the barbarians under the sign of the cross, while no specifics can be read into Vita Const. 4.14.1 in which all nations are said to be steered by the single helmsman Constantine. The evidence of Eusebius is on this point surely to be preferred to the fifth-century Socrates, HE 1.18 and Sozomen, HE 2.6.1 where legendary accretions are to be suspected.

  [101] Socrates, HE 4.33–34.

  [102] Cyril of Jerusalem, Catech. 10.19 (PG 34: 657–90 at 688C).

  [103] Province: Auxentius 35–37 (CCSL 87: 164–65) = 56–59 (PLS 1: 703–706); Philostorgius, HE 2.5. Nicopolis: Jordanes, Getica 267.

  [104] Philostorgius, HE 2.5.

  [105] Sozomen, HE 6.37.

  [106] Sozomen, HE 6.37.11.

  [107] Philostorgius, HE 2.5; trans. P. Heather and J. Matthews, The Goths in the Fourth Century (Liverpool, 1991), 144.

  [108] Ammianus, RG 31.3.1.

  [109] Ammianus, RG 29.1.11.

  [110] N. Lenski, Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth CenturyA.D. (Berkeley, 2002).

  [111] Ammianus, RG 26.10.3; 27.5.1–2; Eunapius, frag. 37 (Blockley) = 37 (Müller).

  [112] Zosimus, HN 4.10–11.

  [113] Valentia: Codex Theodosianus 8.5.49; 11.1.22; 12.1.113. Gratiana: Procopius, Aed. 4.11.20 (Haury, 149). Valentiniana: Notitia Dignitatum, Or. 39.27.

  [114] Coins: RIC 9: 219 (Constantinople 40). Inscription: CIL 3.7494 =ILS 770. More generally, Themistius, Or. 10.136a–b.

  [115] Ammianus, RG 27.5.6.

  [116] Themistius, Or. 10.133a; Ammianus, RG 27.5.7.

  [117] Ammianus, RG 27.5.8–9; 31.4.13; Themistius, Or. 10.134a.

  [118] Ammianus, RG 27.5.10; Themistius, Or. 10.135c–d; Zosimus, HN 4.11.

  [119] Themistius, Or. 10.135a.

  [120] Socrates, HE 4.33–34, and following him Sozomen, HE 6.37; Orosius, Hist. 7.33.19. See in general, N. Lenski, ‘The Gothic civil war and the date of the Gothic conversion’, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 36 (1995): 51–87.

  [121] Basil, Ep. 154, 164, and 165, following the identification of C. Zuckermann, ‘Cappadocian fathers and the Goths’, Travaux et Memoires 11 (1991): 473–86.

  [122] Text of the Passio in Hippolyte Delehaye, ‘Saints de Thrace et de Mésie’, Analecta Bollandiana 31 (1912): 161–300 at 216–21, with the translation of Heather and Matthews, Goths, 111–17.

  [123] Jerome, Chron., s.a. 369 (ed. Helm, 249i).

  [124] Delehaye, ‘Saints’, 279. See also the translations at Heather and Matthews, Goths, 125–30.

  [125] Socrates, HE 4.33–34; Delehaye, ‘Saints’, 276, but the manuscript tradition is faulty and the original name commemorated not entirely clear.

  Chapter Six: The Battle of Adrianople

  [126] The whole of Ammianus’ Hun excursus comes in 31.2.

  [127] Zosimus, HN 4.20.4.

  [128] See, e.g., Ammianus, RG 31.4.2 where rumour is explicitly cited as the source for people’s knowledge of events in the barbaricum.

  [129] Ammianus, RG 31.3.1–4.

  [130] Ammianus, RG 31.3.5–8.

  [131] Ammianus, RG 31.4.1–2.

  [132] Ammianus, RG 31.4.1.

  [133] Socrates, HE 4.33–34.

  [134] Basil, Ep. 237.

  [135] Themistius, Or. 10.

  [136] Ammianus, RG 31.4.5–7. Hostages are implied at Eunapius, frag. 42 (Blockley) = 42 (Müller).

  [137] Attested by Zosimus, HN 4.20.6; Eunapius, frag. 42 (Blockley) = 42 (Müller).

  [138] Ammianus, RG 31.4.9; Orosius, Hist. 7.33.11.

  [139] Ammianus, RG 31.4.11; Zosimus, HN 4.20.6.

  [140] Ammianus, RG 31.4.12–13.

  [141] Ammianus, RG 31.5.3.

  [142] Ammianus, RG 31.5.4–8.

  [143] See especially Ammianus, RG 18.2.13; 21.3.4; 29.6.5; 30.1.18–22.

  [144] Ammianus, RG 31.5.9–17.

  [145] Ammianus, RG 31.6.1–3.

  [146] But see the account of them in Ammianus, RG 31.6–11.

  [147] Ammianus, RG 31.7.1.

  [148] Ammianus, RG 31.7.3–5.

  [149] Ammianus, RG 31.7.5–9.

  [150] Ammianus, RG 31.9.1–5. For another example, see 28.5.15, on the Alamanni.

  [151] Ammianus, RG 31.8.1–8; Zosimus, HN 4.22; Socrates, HE 4.38; Sozomen, HE 6.39.2.

  [152] Codex Theodosianus 7.6.3 (9 August 377).

  [153] Basil, Ep. 268.

  [154] Ammianus, RG 3.10.21.

  [155] Ammianus, RG 31.10.1–20.

  [156] Socrates, HE 4.38; Ammianus, RG 31.11.1; Zosimus, HN 4.21.

  [157] M. Speidel, ‘Sebastian’s strike force at Adrianople’, Klio 78 (1996): 434–37.

  [158] Ammianus, RG 31.11.1–5; Zosimus, HN 4.21; Eunapius, frag. 44.
4 (Blockley) = 47 (Müller); Theoderet, HE 4.33.2 for Valens on Traianus.

  [159] Ammianus, RG 31.12.3.

  [160] Ammianus, RG 31.12.4.

  [161] Ammianus, RG 31.12.4–7; Zosimus, HN 4.23–24.

  [162] Ammianus, RG 31.12.8–9.

  [163] Ammianus, RG 31.12.10–15.

  [164] Ammianus, RG 31.12.16.

  [165] Ammianus, RG 31.12.16–31.13.11.

  [166] Ammianus, RG 31.13.12–17; Zosimus, HN 4.24.

  [167] Ammianus, RG 31.13.18–19.

  [168] Themistius, Or. 16.206d.

  Chapter Seven: Theodosius and the Goths

  [169] Eunapius, frag. 39.9 (Blockley) = 38 (Müller).

  [170] Ammianus, RG 31.16.8.

  [171] Zosimus, HN 4.25–26. The date is established by the fact that Modares, a general of the new emperor Theodosius, had already won some victories in Thrace when the massacre in Asia Minor took place.

  [172] All earlier scholarly solutions are summarized in S. Elbern, ‘Das Gotenmassaker in Kleinasien (378 n. Chr.)’, Hermes 115 (1987): 99–106.

  [173] Scythians repulsed from Euchaita in Helenopontus: PG 46: 736–48, at 737A (encomium of St. Theodore, dated 17 February 380); young man shot by Scythians outside Comana Pontica: PG 46: 416–32 at 424C (sermon on baptism, undated), on both of which see C. Zuckerman, ‘Cappadocian fathers and the Goths’, Travaux et Memoires 11 (1991): 473–86.

  [174] Ammianus, RG 31.10.1–20.

  [175] S. Williams and G. Friel, Theodosius: The Empire at Bay (London, 1994).

  [176] Ammianus, RG 29.6.14–16.

  [177] Theoderet, HE 5.5.

  [178] N. McLynn, ‘“Genere Hispanus”: Theodosius, Spain and Nicene orthodoxy’, in K. Bowes and M. Kulikowski, eds., Hispania in Late Antiquity: Current Approaches (Leiden, 2005), 77–120.

  [179] Pan. Lat. 2.10–11; Theoderet, HE 5.5–6; Sozomen, HE 7.2.1; Orosius, Hist. 7.34.2–5; Epitome de Caesaribus 47–48.

  [180] The case for western help, though not accepted here, is best made in R. Malcolm Errington, ‘Theodosius and the Goths’, Chiron 26 (1996): 1–27.

  [181] Units: some or all of Notitia Dignitatum, Or. 5.64–66; 6.33, 62, 64, 67; 7.47, 57; 8.27, 32; 9.41, 46 (= 6.64), 47; 28.20; 31.64; 38.18–19, 32–33. Laws: Codex Theodosianus 7.13.8–11. Farmers: Libanius, Or. 24.16.

  [182] Zosimus, HN 4.30.2; 4.31.2–4.

  [183] Evidence tabulated at M. McCormick, Eternal Victory: Triumphal Rulership in Late Antiquity, Byzantium and the Early Medieval West (Cambridge, 1986), 41–46.

  [184] P. Heather, Goths and Romans, 332–489 (Oxford, 1991), 147–56, clarified the structural defect of Zosimus’ account for the first time.

  [185] Zosimus, HN 4.25.2–4.

  [186] Themistius, Or. 14.181b.

  [187] Zosimus, HN 4.31.2–4; Codex Theodosianus 7.18.3–5.

  [188] Zosimus, HN 4.33.1.

  [189] Zosimus, HN 4.33.1–2.

  [190] Descriptio consulum, s.a. 382 (Burgess, 241).

  [191] Themistius, Or. 16.

  [192] Synesius, De regno 21 (Terzaghi, 50C); Themistius, Or. 16.209a–210a; Pan. Lat. 2.22.3, but the reference to military service at 2.32.4 need not necessarily refer to the agreement of 382.

  [193] Themistius, Or. 16.211a.

  [194] Synesius, De regno 19 (Terzaghi, 43D).

  [195] Notitia Dignitatum, Or. 5.61; 6.61.

  [196] Campaign against Maximus: Philostorgius, HE 10.8; Zosimus, HN 4.45.3; Pan. Lat. 2.32.3–4; against Eugenius, Orosius, Hist. 7.35.19.

  Chapter Eight: Alaric and the Sack of Rome

  [197] R. Harhoiu, Die frühe Völkerwanderungszeit in Rumänien (Bucharest, 1997); M. Kazanski and R. Legoux, ‘Contribution à l’étude des témoignages archéologiques des Goths en Europe orientale à l’époque des Grandes Migrations: la chronologie de la culture de černjahov récente’, Archéologie médiévale 18 (1988): 7–53.

  [198] Descriptio consulum, s.a. 381 (Burgess, 241).

  [199] Zosimus, HN 4.35.1; 4.38–39.

  [200] Eunapius, frag. 59 (Blockley) = 60 (Müller).

  [201] Gregory of Nazianzus, Ep. 136.

  [202] Eunapius, frag. 59 (Blockley) = 60 (Müller); Zosimus, HN 4.56.2–3.

  [203] Zosimus, HN 5.5.4; Claudian, Get. 166–248; 598–647; Synesius, De regno 19–21. For Alaric’s Goths described as a gens: Claudian, č cons. Hon. 474; Get. 99, 134, 169, 533, 645–47.

  [204] Descriptio consulum, s.a. 383 (Burgess, 241).

  [205] Zosimus, HN 4.45.3.

  [206] Sozomen, HE 7.25; Theodoret, HE 5.18; Rufinus, HE 11.18; Ambrose, Ep. 51.

  [207] ILS 2949.

  [208] Claudian, Get. 524–25; č cons. Hon. 104–108.

  [209] Jordanes, Get. 146.

  [210] Zosimus, HN 4.50–51; Claudian, Ruf. 1.350–51.

  [211] Claudian, Stil. 1.94–115; Ruf. 1.314–22, č cons. Hon. 147–50.

  [212] Eunapius, frag. 58.2 (Blockley) = John of Antioch, frag. 187 (FHG 4: 608–10).

  [213] Orosius, Hist. 7.35.19; Zosimus, HN 4.58.2–3.

  [214] Zosimus, 4.58.6; Orosius, Hist. 7.35.19; Socrates, HE 5.25.11–16; Sozomen, HE 7.22–24; Rufinus, HE 11.33; Philostorgius, HE 11.2; Epitome de Caesaribus 48.7.

  [215] Socrates, HE 7.10.

  [216] Zosimus, HN 5.5.4.

  [217] Claudian, Ruf. 2.54–99; Eunapius, frag. 64.1 = John of Antioch, frag. 190 (FHG 4: 610).

  [218] Zosimus, HN 5.7.3; Eunapius, frag. 64.1 = John of Antioch, frag. 190 (FHG 4: 610).

  [219] Claudian, Stil. 2.95–96.

  [220] Claudian, Ruf. 2.105–23 and 235–39, with Gild. 294–96 and Stil. 1.151–69.

  [221] Claudian, č cons. Hon. 435–49; Stil. 1.188–245.

  [222] Zosimus, HN 5.5.6–8.; Claudian, Ruf. 2.186–96; Eunapius, VS 476, 482.

  [223] Claudian, č cons. 479–83; Zosimus, HN 5.7.2. Date: Paulinus, č. Ambrosii 45, 48, for the relevance of which see E. Burrell, ‘A re-examination of why Stilicho abandoned his pursuit of Alaric in 397’, Historia 53 (2004): 251–56.

  [224] Eunapius, frag. 64.1 = John of Antioch, frag. 190 (FHG 4: 610); Zosimus, HN 5.7.1 – both misdated, but both clearly referring to 397 because of their reference to Hellas.

  [225] Claudian, Eutr. 2.211–18; Get. 533–40.

  [226] Claudian, Stil. 1.269–81.

  [227] Main sources for the revolt: Synesius, De providentia 2.1–3; Socrates, HE 6.6.1–34; Sozomen, HE 8.4; Theoderet, HE 5.30–33; Zosimus, HN 5.18–19; Philostorgius, HE 11.8. My narrative follows A. Cameron and J. Long, Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius (Berkeley, 1993).

  [228] Date: Codex Theodosianus 9.40.17 (17 August 399).

  [229] Fasti Vindobonenses Priores 532 (Chron. Min. 1: 299).

  [230] Claudian, č cons. Hons. 201–15; 281–86.

  [231] Claudian, č cons. Hon. 229–33.

  [232] Sozomen, HE 8.25.3; 9.4.2–4.

  [233] The arguments of A. R. Birley, The Roman Government of Britain (Oxford, 2005), 455–60, very nearly persuade me to abandon my attempt, in ‘Barbarians in Gaul, usurpers in Britain’, Britannia 31 (2000): 325–45, to redate the Rhine crossing from the traditional 31 December 406 to 405.

  [234] Orosius, Hist. 7.37.13–16.

  [235] Olympiodorus, frag. 7.2 (Blockley) = 5 (Müller).

  [236] Olympiodorus, frag. 3 (Blockley) = 2 (Müller).

  [237] Olympiodorus, frag. 5.1 (Blockley) = 2 (Müller); Sozomen, HE 9.4; Philostorgius, HE 12.3.

  [238] Zosimus, HN 5.35.5–6.

  [239] Zosimus, HN 5.36.1–3.

  [240] Sozomen, HE 9.6–7.

  [241] Olympiodorus, frag. 7.3 (Blockley) = 6 (Müller); Zosimus, HN 5.38.

  [242] Sozomen, HE 9.7.

  [243] Zosimus, HN 5.46.1.

  [244] Zosimus, HN 5.45–51; Sozomen, HE 9.7.

  [245] On Olympiodorus, one should consult A. Gillett, ‘The date and circumstances of Olympiodorus of Thebes’, Traditio 48 (1993): 1–29.