Gothic war of 436-439
Part of Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Date436-439
Location
France
Result Victory of the Romans
Belligerents
Visigoths West Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Theodoric I Aëtius, Litorius, Sigisvult

The Gothic War (436-439) was a military conflict between the Gothic foederati and the Western Roman Empire of Emperor Valentinian III. This war was fought in the Gallic provinces in the period 436 to 439. The main protagonists in this event were the Gothic leader Theodoric I and the commander-in-chief of the Roman army Aetius. In the contemporaine sources, this conflict is referred to as a war.[1] In addition to this conflict with the Goths, an uprising of the Burgundians and the Bagaudae played in the same period.

Sources

Little is known about the cause of this war and the battles that took place. Only in broad outlines can the course of the war be reconstructed, because no full account of the battles that were fought has been reported. [2] The little that has been handed down is based on fragments of chroniclers and occasional references from poets, rhetoricians and theologians.The main source about the events is Prosper. Furthermore, Hydatius and Sidonius Apollinaris are useful sources.

Background

The Visigoths who had acquired their own settlement area in the Gallic province of Gallia Aquitaine with the status of foederati after the Gothic War in Spain in 418, turned out not to be equally reliable in the period between 418 and 435.[2] In 426 there was even a large-scale uprising against the Roman Empire that was ended by military intervention by Aetius.[3] And again in 430 a Gothic army was defeated by Aetius.[4]

Causes

As is the case with the earlier rebellion of Theodoric I, no clear reason for this war is mentioned in contemporary sources. The basis for its origin must therefore be sought in the political situation of the Roman Empire in that period. Compared to the decade before, it was more stable, because after the Civil War between Bonifatius and Aetius ended in favor of the latter. Through this, Aetius became the most powerful person in the Western Empire between 433 and 450. He obtained the rank of magnificus vir parens patriusque noster and played the role of 'protector' of the empress mother Galla Placidia and her minor son Valentinian III.[5] Nevertheless, new powers came up as the king of the Burgundy foederati Gunther, who at times played a dominant role in eastern Gaul and was considered a dangerous opponent by Aetius.[6] And Theodoric I had not given up his ambitions for power either.

The course of the war

Start

When the Roman army is absent in 436 due to an uprising of the Bagaudae in Gallia Lugdunensis and the Burgundian uprising is resuring, Theodoric also cancels the treaty with the Romans. According to Hughes, there is an alliance between the Goths and the Burgundians on the initiative of Theodoric and out of dissatisfaction with Roman rule. [7] He wants to expand his territory towards the Mediterranean Sea and invades the surrounding area. To get your hands on the coastal region, it is important to first conquer the port city Narbonne. Theoderic concentrates on this his attack and besieges the city. In addition, access to Spain falls into his hands when he overruns the garrisons guarding the passes of the Pyrenees.

Aetius's reaction

The Romans' answer takes some time before the army takes action against the Goths. Aetius, the commander-in-chief of the Western Roman army, is in Italy because of the games organized around the awarding of his title of patrician. The simultaneous outbreak of the revolt of Goths and Burgundians forces him to deploy the army as effectively as possible, because in Gaul he only has the field army present, the Comitatenses, part of which has been deployed under General Litorius against the insurgen of the Baguads. Given the fragile peace he has achieved in his vast empire, he is not willing to lead the Goths both with army units from other areas that he would leave undefensed. Instead, he sends a delegation to the court of the Hun King Rua, requesting that a military force be made available to him. Although the dating is uncertain, it is very likely that it ceded to the Huns in 436-437 parts of Pannonia near the River Save. [8]

Until this army arrived in Gaul, it appears that Aetius used the forces present to control the combined Gothic and Burgundian uprising.

The Litorius Campaign

In 436, General Litorius completed the oppression of the Bacaudian uprising in Armorica. [9] He then moves south with his army. In 437 an army of Huns joins him to curb the revolt of the Goths.

Litorius first focuses on Narbonne, which is besieged by the Goths. However, with the arrival of the Romans, the Goths withdraw and the city is horrified.[10] Then he pulls up against the Goths in Aquitaine and the war moves to the core area of the Goths. Theoderik's army is being pushed further and further into the defensive and must retreat to the center of his power. He is entrenched in the capital Toulouse besieged by the Romans. After a long siege, he eventually surrenders to General Lotorius.

Armistice

Theodoric must lay down arms and is forced to comply with the treaty with the Romans.[11] In addition, he must supply troops to the Roman army if it suffers a defeat against the Suebi in Spain in 438. [12]

Resumption of the war

However, in 438 the war breaks out again. Historians suspect that the situation in Spain has to do with this and new developments in the Mediterranean region where the Vandals have focused on piracy and are increasingly operating. According to the sources, there was again a large-scale war that was initially difficult for the Goths. [13]

It seems that when Aetius returned to Ravenna after the marriage between Valentinian III and Licinia Eudoxia in Constantinople in early 438, he made changes to the command structure of the army in Gaul. Avitus, who had probably been magister militum per Gallias, was appointed praefectus praetorio Galliarum and replaced by Litorius. In addition, Aetius personally participated in the course of the war by temporarily taking over the supreme command.

The Battle of Mons Colubrarius

One of the sparse feats recorded about Aëtius' participation tells of an important victory he won in a major battle, in which he reportedly slaughtered 8,000 Goths. [14]

Political circumstances in Ravenna required Aëtius to leave the further course of the Gothic war in the hands of Litorius after this battle. He was honored with a statue erected at the commission of the emperor in which Merobaudes praised him. In all likelihood, he had sufficient confidence in the strategic leadership of his generals Litorius and Sigisvult and in addition, the Goths had suffered a great defeat before that.

The Visigoths were increasingly defensively entrenched by the Romans and had to retreat to their capital Toulouse. The army deployed by the Romans against the Goths was again led by General Litorius.[15] During the siege of Toulouse, the Visigothic king Theodoric I makes a failure with the Roman camp attacking and the Romans inflicting heavy losses. Prosper summarized this: "Due to the thoughtfulness of the Romans, the opportunities turned and the Goths became the parent party".[16] Moreover, during the fallout, General Litorius falls into Gothic hands.[17]Shortly afterwards he was put to death.[18]

In the emergency that followed, the Goot (in Roman service) Vetericus temporarily took over the lead – at least if that is the meaning of Prosper's very short statement in the same period Vetericus was considered loyal to our state and known for the frequent demonstration of his skill in war”. He stabilized the situation after Theodorik's disastrous outbreak. More battles were fought, as the Romans sent new troops that consisted largely of auxiliary troops from Huns to be deployed against the Goths. [19]

End of the war and consequences

Now that there was an emergency, Aetius decided to take control of the Gallic army. In the course of 439, Aetius arrives in the south to end the war. There is little doubt that Aetius wanted to end the war with an important victory, which would help raise morale in the West and prevent the Goths from renewing their attempts at expansion. Aetius rushed towards Toulouse and began the siege of a Gothic military camp near their capital. After a brief break to build siege towers, his men broke through the walls of the camp and slaughtered the defenders, who could not flee.[20] Anyway, in the end, the Romans came out as winners in this war because the Visigoths suffered heavy losses. Theodoric negotiated with the Praetorian prefect Eparchius Avitus for peace.[21] The Roman victory assured future Gothic submission for more than twenty years. Apart from a short interlude under Thorismund, the Goths were loyal allies of the imperial government.[2]

Biography

  • Thompson, E.A. (1982) Romans and Barbarians, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI
  • Kulikowski, Michael (1997), The End of Roman Spain, University of Toronto.
  • Harrison, D. (1999), de volksverhuizingen, Uitgeverij Omniboek, Utrecht
  • McEvoy, Meaghan A. {2013), Child Emperor Rule in the Late Roman West,Oxford University Press
  • Hughes, I. (2012), Aetius: Attila's Nemesis, Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1783461349.
  • Hughes, I. (2020), Aetius: Attila’s Nemesis, PEN & SWORD MILITARY

References

  1. ↑ Hydatius, 108
  2. 1 2 3 Kulikowski 1997, p. 139.
  3. ↑ Prosper, 1290
  4. ↑ Hydatius, 82
  5. ↑ Hughes 2012, p. 94.
  6. ↑ Harrison 1999, p. 62.
  7. ↑ Hughes 2020, p. 439.
  8. ↑ Hughes 2020, p. 440.
  9. ↑ Prosper, s.a. 437
  10. ↑ Prosper, 1324
  11. ↑ Prosper, 1338, in: MGH AA 9, p. 477; Hydatius, 117, in: MGH AA 11, p. 23; Sidonius Apollinaris, 7. 295
  12. ↑ Thompson 1982, p. 173.
  13. ↑ Prosper, 1333
  14. ↑ Hydatius, s.a. 438
  15. ↑ Prosper, 1326
  16. ↑ Prosper, 1335
  17. ↑ Hydatius s.a. 439
  18. ↑ Prosper s.a. 439; Hydatius s.a. 439. Instead of being executed, Salvianus claims that he simply 'savoured away in a barbaric prison': Salvianus The Gubernatione Dei 7. 39-43. Cassiodorus only mentions the death of Litorius.
  19. ↑ Prosper, 1326
  20. ↑ Hughes (2020), p. 443; McEvoy (2013), p. 256–61; Frank M. Clover, 'Flavius Merobaudes: A Translation and Historical Commentary', Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 61, no.1 (1971), 13, Panegyric I, fr. 2B; Hydatius, 112
  21. ↑ Prosper, 1338
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