Chapter XXIV
Since the collapse of imperial authority outside Italy, the Visigoths have been the dominant power of the West. From the Loira to souther Hispania , their kingdom covered almost the entire territory of the old Gallic Praefecture. During the last century they exploited the imperial weakness and reliance on their power to carve their own kingdom, while the gothic kings proved to be more powerful than the western emperors, as the year passed and former Roman provinces were gradually absorbed by the barbaric entities. But these entities proved to be stable as long as their kings proved to be strong. During the past years, after the death of king Euricus, Alaric II engaged in something more difficult than the mere military conquest: preservation and integration of his domain. Both internally and externally the Gothic kingdom faced problem after problem, as the question of the contraposition between Roman and Goths remained while a new threat emerged in the north. The Franks under king Clovis showed an aggressiveness equal to that of the Goths one century earlier. In order to counter this threat, king Alaric had attempted an alliance with king Gundobad before losing this ally after Clovis’ recent victory. Therefore he pursued the diplomatic way, trying to avoid a conflict over southern Gaul. At first Clovis proved receptive to this attempt and even the Roman emperor showed support to this initiative, aimed at avoiding another conflict that could potentially threaten even the Italian peninsula.
Unfortunately, in the end, war proved to be the only solution, as Clovis had only dissimulated his real intention while Alaric was now forced to fight a conflict he had tried to avoid. The war broke out during the seventh year of the new century and saw the gothic army led by the king himself marching against the invaders. The two armies met in Aquitaine, at Vouille, not far from the Frankish-Gothic border. The fight between these two Germanic population saw an initial stalemate, until Clovis was able to engage and personally kill his Gothic opponent. The death of Alaric meant the end of any chance of victory for the Goths and the beginning of a period of hardship for their kingdom.
The victorious Franks proceeded to occupy the now almost undefended Gothic territories in Gaul, the three Aquitanian provinces, while their Burgundian subjects moved against the cities of southern Gaul. The empire however didn’t only watch the events that were taking place in Gaul.
Since the beginning of hostilities the emperor had readied his army in order to protect the western flank of his empire, but never he would have expected such outcome. As soon as news of the battle reached the emperor at Mediolanum, he ordered his army to move quickly in order to secure what was left of Gothic Gaul from the Franks and Burgundians. Officially his move was justified by the need to secure the throne for the young prince Amalaric, Theodoric’s grandson, against his illegitimate older brother Gesalec. The real reason behind this war however was the possibility to recover what the emperor had lost in Gaul more than 30 years ago. Several italic units were detached by the two Italian armies ( including the Burgundian frontier units) for a total of 7000 men. To these army the Roman could add 3000 Ostrogoth soldiers sent by Theodoric to protect his grandson’s rights. What was really exceptional in this war however was the fact that at the head of the army neither the emperor nor some old commander from previous war was present. Instead the Roman army was led by the young Caesar Flavius Iulius Marcianus,who had replaced his uncle Anthemius Iunior in the position of Comes Domesticorum Peditum. Supported by the Roman fleet and with the addition of one Scholae as a personal guard, Marcianus moved from Segusio to Gaul. Here the Romans took several minor coastal cities before encountering the metropolis of Arelate, once the administrative capital of the entire Gaul. The city was besieged by the Burgundian king Gundobad, who after receiving news of the incoming army, retreat back to his kingdom, leaving alone the gothic garrison of the city. Here the Roman population welcomed the imperial liberation while the small gothic garrison gladly accepted to officially serve the young Amalaric, as the Visigoths were not unanimously supporting Gesalec as their new king. From here Marcianus proceeded into two directions: north against the Burgundians who threatened to attack again Arelate and cut his supply lines, and then west against the province of Narbonensis I. After devastating the territory of the Burgundians, Marcianus took the city of Arausius, a key city on the road from Lugdunum ( Gundobad’s seat of power) to Arelate, thus securing the Gallic capital. After securing the recent conquest, Marcianus headed west toward the Gothic capital of Tolosa, while passing through import cities such as Nemausus and Narbo, before reaching Tolosa after an exhausting march. The Romans had crossed the entire southern Gaul in order to reach the capital before the Franks, who were currently busy subduing the Aquitanian territories, so that they could secure for themselves this strategic city, and for this reason Marcianus had ordered his soldiers to move more quickly than what was usually required from an army. The effort however had repaid, as the Romans were now besieging the target while only some day later the first Frankish units reached the city. Here any possible conflict was avoided, as Clovis had previously ordered to avoid any clash with the Roman army in order to avoid a worsening of the conflict. Therefore the Franks halted their march toward the Mediterranean, focusing on the pacification of the recently conquered Aquitania and Alvernia. Meanwhile the Romans could focus on Tolosa, where the local garrison and what was left of the gothic army of Alaric refused to surrender the capital. Their only hope now was the arrival of reinforces led by Gesalec himself.
