Battle of Adrianople

Battle of Adrianople
Part of the Gothic War (376–382)
Map of the battle, according to the History Department of the US Military Academy
Date 9 August 378 Location Near Adrianople (modern-day Edirne, Turkey) 41°49′N 26°30′E / 41.81°N 26.50°E / 41.81; 26.50 Result Gothic-Alanian victory
Belligerents
Goths Alans	Eastern Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Fritigern Alatheus Saphrax	Emperor Valens † Sebastianus † Victor Traianus † Ricomer
Strength
20,000[1]	30,000[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown	10,000–15,000[3]or 20,000[4] (roughly two-thirds of the Roman force)[5]

The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) led by Fritigern. The battle took place in the vicinity of Adrianople, in the Roman province of Thracia (modern Edirne in European Turkey). It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.^[6]

As part of the Gothic War of 376–382, the battle is often considered the start of the events which led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.

A detailed contemporary account of the lead-up to the battle from the Roman perspective was written by Ammianus Marcellinus and forms the culminating point at the end of his history.^[7]