RELICS OF ROME,
or
SAVAGE TRIBES IN COUNTLESS NUMBERS
or
SAVAGE TRIBES IN COUNTLESS NUMBERS
Chapter 1: GOTHS IN ROME
Part 1: Alaric the Goth
Alaric I of the Visigoths, Alareiks I of the Goths, Alaric the Goth, or Alaric the Great, was a Visigothic King from 395 to 414, succeeded by Ataulf in 414.
Alaric was born in about 370. Around this time, the Visigoths were a people called the Thervingian Goths [1] living north of the Danube. During Alaric’s childhood, the Goths mass-migrated across the Danube river to escape the Huns. Initially, they actually had sponsorship from the Eastern Romans, for Emperor Valens believed that accepting the Goths as foederati would assist him in expanding his army and tax base. However, the Romans mistreated the Goths. They supposedly left the old and weak on the other side of the river where they would be vulnerable to the Huns, while those who did cross the river were forced into a small area of land. The Romans also failed to confiscate the Goths’ weapons--though the officials in charge were supposed to do so, they were bribed, and thus the Goths were not only angry but armed.
Due to all this, and a famine that struck the Goths, the Gothic War began in 376. The Goths ravaged Roman territories in the Haeman Peninsula [2], destroyed a Roman army, and even killed Emperor Valens. They were then driven back to Thrace in 381, and in 382, peace was made. But the Gothic War had irrevocable effects--other barbarian tribes became more confident that they might be able to invade Rome and succeed, while the territories that the Goths had ravaged would take many years to recover.
Alaric himself started to become important in the early 390s. He led a band of Goths and others to attack Thrace, but was stopped by the Roman general Stilicho, who was half-Vandal. After this, he decided to start a career in service of the Romans. Initially, he served under the Gothic magister militum Gainas. In 394, Alaric led foederati to crush the usurper Eugenius, who opposed Theodosius I, the last Emperor of both the West and the East. During this campaign, which terminated at the Battle of the Frigidus, Alaric learned the weaknesses of Italy’s natural defensive barrier, the Alps.
In 395, Theodosius died, and his sons Arcadius and Honorius became the Eastern and Western emperors respectively. Arcadius, who showed no interest in ruling, had his reign controlled by his Praetorian Prefect, Rufinus. On the other hand, Honorius, who was still a minor, had magister militum Stilicho as his guardian. And Stilicho also claimed to be the guardian of Arcadius, causing tension between West and East.
Alaric the Goth had hoped that, during the switching of offices after Theodosius’s death, he would be promoted from commander to general. But he did not get promoted. Alaric, though disappointed, saw an opportunity. The Visigoths in Moesia were restless, partly due to having endured many losses at Frigidus, and were ready to rebel. Alaric decided to arrive there, and was promoted to the status of King. Supposedly, they raised him up on a shield during this proclamation. No longer would the Goths slumber in peaceful subjection to others; rather, they would seek their own kingdom ruled by their own hand.
King Alaric attempted to strike Constantinople. However, finding it unfeasible to undertake a siege, he went westward along the same path he had taken eastward, then went south into Thessaly. It is said that he may have gone through the pass of Thermopylae, which was unguarded.
Meanwhile, the Romans and most of their army were fighting Hunnic raids. Rufinus decided to go negotiate with Alaric directly. This was futile, and only caused Constantinopolitans to suspect that Rufinus was in league with the Goths. Stilicho had been marching east and was in a position to destroy Alaric’s army, but Rufinus was hacked to death by his own soldiers and Stilicho ordered by Arcadius to depart from Illyricum.
The absence of Rufinus and Stilicho allowed Alaric to ravage Greece with little opposition. Attica was particularly ravaged, though Athens itself was spared. The Peloponnesus was invaded subsequently. Alaric looted its famous cities, including Corinth, Sparta, and Argos, and sold their inhabitants into slavery.
In 397, Stilicho arrived in Greece, crossing the sea. He managed to trap the Goths in the mountains of Pholoe. But Alaric still managed to escape, possibly because Stilicho was once again called back. Suspicions arose that he had been conniving with Alaric.
Alaric, crossing the Gulf of Corinth, conquered Epirus. He rampaged and ransacked until he was appointed as the magister militum of Illyricum, or Greece and southern Illyria. And for the next few years the Visigoths would remain there.
[1] They may have been merely related to them.
[2] In Antiquity, the Balkans were called the Peninsula of Haemus.
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