Battle of Turkey-red cotton

See also: Battle of Turkey-red cotton (homonymy)

The battles of Turkey-red cotton or of Adrianople (today Edirne in European Turkey) place had the August 9th 378. It indicates the confrontation between the Roman army , ordered by the Roman Empereur Valens and certain Germanic tribes, mainly of the Visigoths ( Goths Thervingues ), and of the Ostrogoths ( Goths Greuthungues ), ordered by Fritigern. It is about one of the greatest Roman military disasters of the 4th century, comparable with the demolished of Cannes. This battle does not result from an invasion, but from a Mutinerie of federate the Goths established in the Roman Empire.

Thanks to the account of two contemporary historians, Ammien Marcellin and Paul Orose, the course of the battle is relatively well-known.

Context

At the origin, Goths came from the south of the Scandinavia, but as from the 1st century they had emigrated in direction of south-east, and had been established two centuries later in the large plains located at the north of the Black Sea. They is there that they were divided into two branches, the Ostrogoths (of the Gothic Ost Goths, " Goths of Est") and the Visigoths (of the Gothic Wiss Goths, " Goths of Ouest"), separated by the Dniestr. Thereafter, they moved towards south-west, frequently crossing the borders of the Roman Empire and delivering themselves to plundering, until they obtain by a treaty the province of Dacie (left western current the Romania) in exchange of peace, under the reign of Aurélien (270 - 275). Constantin I {{er}} gave them the statute of federate ( fœderati ) of the Empire, and charged them with defending the Danubian Limes , in exchange of an important amount of money. The problem was not regulated by it for all that; indeed, nothing prevented Goths from claiming more money than an unspecified Roman legion. However, in spite of the economic crises of IIIe and IVe centuries, the Romans preserved abundant financial resources: each time Goths considered necessary an increase in their balance, they plundered one or two cities before returning on their grounds, thus informing the Romans that additional subsidies would be welcome. It was thus until in 370, date on which they were combined to the Roman soldiers revolted against the emperor Valens before being overcome. Valens, to punish Goths, stops the deliveries of vivres what weakens Goths considerably, causes famines and encourages much to emigrate towards the Roman Empire to find a work as slaves there.

In 370, Goths had to face a new enemy: the Huns. These people of riders from Asia had overcome very quickly the Alains of the the Volga and had extended his authority on the steppes of Russia. They gained the victory over Ostrogoths in 370, and those enlarged the rows of the hunnic army in the engagements against the other Germanic people. The news transmitted by reducing Ostrogoths towards the west reflects their neighbors Visigoths on the war footing; in spite of that, they were also overcome in 376 when Huns crossed Dniestr. However, unlike Ostrogoths, they found time to flee and asked for to the Romans the permission of pass the the Danube and to settle in Mésie (the Serbia and the current Bulgaria). After having lengthily hesitated, Valens gives the order to the army and the administration Romans to organize the reception of the Goths populations in the empire. In fact, the Romans needed colonists to emphasize depopulated provinces, but also troops to protect the borders and to prepare a war against Persia: the arrival of 200 with 300 000 people, of which 100 000 able to fight, volunteers to cultivate and defend a border slightly populated and badly defended, was a true aubaine. The Roman army then very largely consisted of Germanic troops which protected the borders from an empire in prey with a demographic serious attack.

Initially, the Visigoths were to form as a Messiah an almost independent kingdom, which was to pay the tax and to be useful in the army when the circumstances would require it; Rome would have provided weapons and equipment, and would have taught the military techniques of use in the Roman army. Actually, the authorities in responsibility of organize the reception of Goths, more worried by the possibilities of benefitting immediate from the situation than to manage it as well as possible, are made overflow. The administration is not prepared to deal with such important populations. The Goths populations remain lengthily on both sides of the Danube and are threatened by the famine. Then, part of Goths is brought more to the South.

Impossible coexistence

The arrival of the Visigoths as a Messiah was disapproved by part of the Roman company. Some see in the presence of the Visigoths as an autonomous entity inside the Empire an imminent danger, a tumor which one day or the other would be at the origin of serious problems. However, the Praetor S Modeste and Tatien favorable to the establishment of were federated, considering that there were much more advantages than of dangers to be expected some. However, the populations already established in the area very little appreciated to have to deal with whole populations. Actually, the Roman Empire is at that time an multi-ethnic empire, which counts the many German ones until the highest ranks of the army. Goths are also for a long time under the cultural influence of the Romans, and in particular, are majoritairtement followers of the Arianisme which is a Chrétienne sect that the empeuror of the East Valens supports then, to the detriment of the Orthodoxe ones. For many Romans, the risk of rebellion is weak, the Visigoths having for some time shown already their will to serve the Empire and to adopt many aspects of the Roman culture. In the worst of the cases, if the Visigoths came from there to want to leave the Mésie, they would be found taken as in a vice between Huns and the imperial troops of the East and Occident, without possibility from of going away.

In the facts, the treaty does not apply, because of corruption and of the incompetence of the Roman administration in load of the management of the Goth question. The Balkans were a very poor area, and corruption seems to have been very current in the Roman civils servant, for whom it was an average naturalness to grow rich. The taxes took excessive proportions, until depriving them of their means of subsistence, in particular because of the comes of Mésie, Lucipinus, and of its Maximus assistant. Lucipinus made great business transactions, reselling at an exorbitant price the food raw materials and resources that the Empire had placed at the disposal for construction of new establishments. Chiefs of Visigoths of Messiah, whose Fritigern (in Gothic Frithugarnis , that which wishes peace) first of all observes the conditions fixed by Lucipinus, then it start to show reserves after the successive visits of the tax collectors. The evolution of their attitude can be explained by several factors: first of all, the death of the notable Alavivus Visigoth, who until there recommended docility to Fritigern; then, the arrival as a Messiah of a group ordered by Athanaric, on its own account, and for a long time hostile in Fritigern and its policy of collaboration with the Romans - indeed, it had been abandoned in Dacie at the time of the offensive of Huns, Valens having refused to accommodate them in the Empire. Lastly, the fact that the patience of Fritigern did not resist the vexations imposed by Lucipinus, and this more especially as harvests had been bad in 377 and that the famine threatened the people.

At the time of a banquet in which take part the Visigoths chiefs in the palate of Lucipinus, a revolt bursts and the Visigoths which camps around the city massacre Roman militiamans. Lucipinus is informed, and makes eliminate the guards from the Goths chiefs. Then, inexplicably, it leaves the Goths chiefs, of which Fitigern, to join their troops. Does Lucipinus, vis-a-vis the Goths revolt, think of being able to manage the situation without the help of Valens, but it fails? Being considered released of their engagement with respect to the Romans, the Visigoths then decide to recover their goods by razziant the Roman populations of Mésie, and the rich person province of Thrace. Goths troops which protected from the towns of Thraces then join Fitigern and two not very important Roman detachments were overcome successively. The Goths warriors are equipped thus with Roman weapons. During two years, Goths devastate the provinces of Thrace and Messiah, but without managing to take a city.

The plan of counter-attack of Rome

At the time of the rebellion of Goths, Valens was with Antioche, in Syria, from where it prepared a campaign against the Persian Empire which, since centuries, threatened the borders of the Roman Empire in the Middle East and supported the revolts of the local people against Constantinople, in particular that of the Cilicie, choked in blood in 375, or that of Buckwheats of Palestine, Phénicie and of the the Sinai, which were overcome into 377. Benefitting from the lull on this face, Valens undertook to transfer the troops from veterans towards Balkans, where he managed to form what appeared to the historians of the time like one of the more large armies of all the history of the Roman Empire.

With Andrinople, where it installed its camping as well as the imperial treasure intended to finance the countryside, it gathered seven legions, whose hard core was formed by 5 000 veterans of the palatine legions, the elite of the Roman army of the time, supported by the palatine auxiliaries and others auxiliary Troops, on the whole close to 21 000 men. The Roman army also counted 28 000 light auxiliaries, almost completely deprived of defensive armament.

In accordance with the use in force in the Roman army of the time, the main role was allotted to the infantry, while the cavalry played a secondary part, consisting in supporting the infantry. However, the detachment of cavalry employed in Andrinople was far from being negligible: it included/understood 1 500 riders of elite of the imperial guard ( Schola palatinæ ), 1 000 palatine riders and 5 000 equities comitatenses (literally “cavalry of accompaniment”). Within this last group, one found units of Arab cavalry and archers ridden.

Nevertheless, such an impressive army of it was not less very different from the invincible Roman legions from formerly, in particular with regard to the equipment. Of course, the years of economic crisis had weighed on the army, which left to countryside much less better trained than before. The troops of heavy infantry had replaced the armor plates ( lorica segmentata ) by the Coat of mail, less effective, which was carried until there only by the auxiliaries (which at that time very often did not have any defensive armament). The sword, the antique Roman sword, had been replaced by another, the longer, the Spatha . The Pilum had almost disappeared; on the other hand, certain units of infantry and cavalry carried a long lance. The ecu ( scutum ) rectangular had also been abandoned with the profit of less expensive round or oval metal or wood models, similar to those of the barbarians. The quality of the discipline and the instruction had been also degraded. It would be however erroneous of speaking about an attenuation even of a disappearance of the Roman technical superiority: the modification of the power struggle between Goths and Romains on the battle field is above all due to political and tactical errors.

In addition, the Visigoths had received an instruction similar to that of the Romans, and so large that is to say the army joined together by Valens, it represented hardly half of manpower of the opposing army. To arrive at a comparable number of men, Valens required of the assistance to its nephew Gratien, emperor of Occident, which had hitherto succeeded with more or less of success pushing back the cruel invasions. This one accepted and was started with its troops to join the army corps of his/her uncle.

Battle order of the army of Valens

It is impossible to give a precise list of the units of the Roman army to Andrinople. The only known source is Ammien Marcellin, which does not give an estimate, however it is possible to guess the name of the units by basing on the composition of the Roman army reported by the Notitia dignitatum a document dating from the end of the 4th century or the beginning of the 5th century. A possible composition of the Roman army would be the following one:

1 500 Scholae (imperial Guard), ordered by Valens. Each Schola had a nominal composition of 500 men, but was to be in countryside more probably reduced with 400 men. It was probably divided into:

Scutarii Preceded (heavy cavalry);
Scutarii Secunda (heavy cavalry) which, with the Scutarii Prima , is Scutarii which attacked at the beginning of the battle;
Scutarii Sagittarii (archers with horse), probably of the assembled archers who followed the attack of Scutarii.

1 000 Equities Palatinae (crack cavalry). The units present at the time of the battle were probably:

Equities Promoti Seniores (heavy cavalry), of which the powerful orator, Potentius, was killed during the battle;
Committees Sagittarii Iuniores (light cavalry provided with arcs),
probably of the Committees Clibanarii ;

1 500 Equities Comitatenses (cavalry), the units present most probable being:

Equities Primi Scutarii (heavy cavalry);
Equities Promoti Iuniores (heavy cavalry),

5 000 Legiones Palatinae, of a nominal force of 1 000 men:

Lanciarii Seniores (heavy infantry), the best unit which will make face until the end of the battle;
Matiarii Iuniores (heavy infantry).

6 000 Auxilia Palatinae, approximately 500 men:

Batavi Seniori (heavy infantry), reserve;
Sagittarii Seniores Gallicani (archers);
Sagittarii Iuniores Gallicani (archers);
Tertiis Sagittarii Valentis (archers).

The sum of manpower quoted above arrives only at one total of approximately 15 000 men, quite lower than the assumptions formulated higher. That can be explained by the fact that all the units were not mentioned in the Notitia dignitatum (certain auxiliary troops in particular), but in any case encourages to consider all the statistical data with the greatest precaution.

Course of the battle

The August 9th 378 in the morning, the army of Valens left the luggage and the imperial signs in the surroundings of Andrinople, was started in direction of the North-East, and reached the camp goth in a plain, around two hours of the afternoon. Part of the troops of the Visigoths was there, protected behind the empty carriages which were used as barricades (system of the laager ). The reinforcements of Gratien had not arrived yet, so that one wonders which are the reasons which led Valens to go up to that point: it is possible that it did not plan to start the combat, and to lay out the troops with the sight of the Visigoths was perhaps only one means of pressure to obtain their rendering. Other historians think that Valens wanted to really start the combat at this time, trusting its troops of veterans to obtain the victory, and believer that to await Gratien would be not very honourable, and would oblige it to share the victory with a young emperor of Occident which had already had too many military successes to the taste of Valens. When it joins together its generals, Victor and Ricimer (originating in Germanie, which had organized the transfer of the Visigoths towards the Messiah) advised to him to await Gratien, while Sebastien defended the idea of an immediate attack, which would make it possible to benefit from the effect of surprise. Valens does not choose any of these solutions.

The Roman troops advanced on line, the heavy infantry of Trajan and the auxiliaries in the center, and the cavalry protecting the sides. Valens was held behind the troops of infantry, with her personal guard. When Goths transfer the Romans to approach, Fritigern required of parlementer; it is probable that its objective was not to refuse the combat, but to save time. Indeed, only the infantry and part of the cavalry were in the camping: the majority of the riders had left to forage, under the command of Ostrogoths Alathée and Saphrax.

First phase

The two armies face lengthily and the battle bursts spontaneously with the general surprise. Indeed, without awaiting the end of the negotiations, the Powerful orator S Cassio and Bacurius of Ibérie give to their auxiliary troops the order to attack: they move towards the camping Visigoth while the remainder of the Roman infantry remains on her position. The left side of the cavalry also launches out to the attack, seeking to take Goths on side while those face two thin divisions of auxiliaries, which are pushed back without difficulty, put in escape, and must regain their positions of origin. For the Romans, the battle began of worst manners

Second phase

Fritigern thus regarded the negotiations as closed and ordered to attack, making leave the camp the majority of its troops to launch them to the meeting of the Roman army. At this point in time of the right-hand side the enormous army of riders arrived ordered by Alathée and Safrax, which ran up against the detachment of cavalry of the left side of the Romans, which had to be folded up after having undergone heavy losses. The Visigoths were already Masters of the ground; they launched on the Romans their weapons of jet, then the body with body engaged.

Third phase

While the Infanterie and the right side of the cavalry fought the Barbarians, and underwent heavy losses, the Cavalerie of the left side returned to the load and faced Alathée and Safrax, that such an operation took with deprived. They had to move back under the attack of the Romans, who arrived almost to the carriages Visigoths. It was the decisive moment of the battle; if the Roman cavalry could then have been constant by other units, it could undoubtedly have put in escape higher Barbarians of number, and have taken with reverse the infantry wisigothe.

In fact, the Roman cavalry was quickly submerged by the number; she lost foot, and did not receive a reinforcement, whereas the troops wisigothes remained inside the camp - and Fritigern itself - came to reinforce their cavalry. The disproportion of the forces was obvious, and what remained Roman cavalry was almost entirely destroyed, rare survivors having to flee the battle field.

Fourth phase

Once the Roman riders put in escape, the infantry ordered by Fritigern reinforced the first lines of the infantry gothe, while the cavalry of Alathée and Safrax circumvented the battle by the left to take with reverse the Roman army and to attack the rear-guard of Trajan. According to Ammien Marcellin, the arrival of the cavalry gothe, as emerged of nowhere, an effect particularly devastator had on the Roman soldiers. That in any case withdrew any possibility to them of operating.

Fifth phase

The soldiers who had been detached on the left side as of were now condemned, knowing well that they did not have any possibility of fleeing nor of leniency to wait on behalf of the Visigoths. Even if on this point the Latin historians undoubtedly exaggerate, it is thus comprehensible that the soldiers of these units fought until death, charging without any hope with victory against the rows increasingly more provided barbarians. The losses were enormous on the two sides, so much so that the number of corpses made displacements difficult on the battle field. The Roman units were completely dislocated; some could flee, others, encircled, had to fight until the end.

Lastly, the Roman troops which could it started the retirement, giving up their comrades with their fate. Last units of Trajan were crushed, while Valens went to take refuge behind what remained cavalry of the right side, which with some surviving auxiliaries tried to establish a focus of resistance around the emperor, auprès whose the generals Trajan and Victor were.

Died of Valens and end of the battle

With regard to the death of Valens, there exist various versions; it is impossible to know which is closest to the truth. According to one of these versions - that retained by Ammien Marcellin - Valens would have quite simply died after having received an enemy arrow while it fought at the sides of the soldiers of its personal guard. According to another, resulting from the testimony of one of the survivors of the combat, remained anonymous, there would have been evacuated battle field by its generals after being wounded, and would have taken refuge in a dwelling of the neighborhoods, or a guardroom. The Visigoths, ignoramus that Valens was there, but seeing Roman soldiers inside, would have put fire at it, thus killing all the occupants. At all events, it is certain that nobody could identify thereafter the body of Valens among the victims of the massacre, and it was undoubtedly buried anonymously with its soldiers.

After the battle

The Visigoths did not stop their offensive once the finished battle. They had just destroyed more the large army ever seen in the Balkans, and could be considered as Masters of this area. Moreover, they had killed the emperor of the East, which did not have children, which could plunge the Empire in a political serious attack: Gratien then emperor of Occident will await the end of the hostilities to name Théodose emperor of the East.

The Visigoths thus continued their policy of plundering and decided to start with Andrinople, very near, where was the imperial treasure and where a third of the army of Valens had taken refuge, that is to say approximately 20 000 men. It was spoils of very great value; to take the city also made it possible to control the roads for Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire of the East.

The catch of the city was however not thing easy. In addition to the urban militia, it had to be taken into account the survivors of the battle, even if the local authorities had not enabled them to enter the city: they had to build one second line of fortifications outside the city to put itself at the shelter. The population of Turkey-red cotton helped them in order to face the imminent arrival of Goths.

When they arrived, of large blocks of stone were placed behind the doors in order to prevent the enemy from entering the city. But that also prevented the army of Valens from being possibly folded up in the city. One thus includes/understands that to the sight of Goths, several hundreds of auxiliaries launched out in the battle, in a load as heroic as suicidal; all those which took share there perished.

The Visigoths advanced to the lines of defense, where they had to stop to fight under the walls of the fortress, while the Romans could throw any kind of projectiles to them since the ramparts. The attackers launched them also their weapons on besieged, but at a moment given the latter realized that the Barbarians started again the Lance S and the arrow S that they had received, which showed that their weapons became exhausted. To prevent Goths from starting again the projectiles, it was thus decided to weaken the bonds between the points and the remainder of the arrow or the lance: this way, the weapon could be useful once again, but broke definitively, that it or not achieved its goal. Moreover, the points became more difficult to extract when they wounded the attackers.

While the combat continued under the walls of the city, besieged completed to put in battle order a onager. Aiming at large troops wisigothes, the Romans launched a first projectile; it did not do many damage, but had an unquestionable psychological impact on the attackers, who did not have weapons of seat. They did not expect to see stones of such a size falling from the sky, and not knowing how to react, the cohesion of their forces was deteriorated considerably by it, facilitating the counter-attack of the Romans. After having undergone heavy losses, and having failed in a new attack, the Visigoths had finally to withdraw themselves and to move towards the North-East, leaving save the towns of Andrinople and Constantinople.

Once the retirement of Goths was confirmed to them, the surviving soldiers went to Constantinople, or found refuge in other cities of the neighborhoods. Many inhabitants of Turkey-red cotton, fearing wrongly the return of the barbarians, gave up their houses.

Consequences

The consequence principal - and most immediately connect - terrible defeat undergone by the Roman Empire of the East is the vacancy of the throne of Constantinople following the death of Valens. Before chaos does not seize the East, the emperor of Occident Gratien, nephew of late, allotted the throne to the Théodose general, originating in Hispanie, which was crowned into 379 and was known thereafter under the name of Théodose Large the. Théodose inherited the throne of Occident afterwards a few years, and was the last emperor to control the Roman Empire in its totality; this is why it is sometimes called " the last of Romains". Théodose directed in person a new campaign against Goths, which lasted two years, and at the end he managed to overcome them and negotiated a treaty with their new chief, Athanaric, in 382 (Fritigern was deceased the previous year of natural death): Goths recovered their statute of Fœderati Romans in Mésie.

Even if the new treaty could give the impression that one returned from there to the initial situation, it were certain that the power struggle between Goths and Romains had radically changed. After Turkey-red cotton, the Visigoths were fully conscious of their force and continued to extort money from the Romans each time they wished it. That which followed this policy in the most succeeded way was Alaric Ier, which managed to occupy an important load within the administration of the Byzantine Empire. When its requirements were not respected any more, it subjected Balkans to a ceaseless plundering, and took Athens. This policy ceased only when Rufin, tutor ostrogoth of the son of Théodose, gave him the title of Magister militum for the province of Illyrie. Such a concession was absolutely not in fact not with the advantage of the Visigoths, since it led them to be installed on less rich and fertile grounds that those from where they came, and whose sovereignty remained disputed between Occident and Byzantine Empires. The disappointment of Alaric with its new neighbors (who did not recognize his sovereignty) led finally to the Sac of Rome into 410, which was perceived by the contemporaries like the end of the world known at that time.

The defeat of Turkey-red cotton also had important consequences on the way which had the Romans to make the war. After the massacre, the Roman army found never again manpower which it reached before, and the army had to be restructured; the traditional system of the legions was abandoned. In fact, Théodose already applied to the Occident a model in application to the Eastern borders of the Empire; the Roman army was divided into small units of Limitanei (frontier troops, often of the federate barbarians) directed by a dux which controlled part of the border since a fortress where a mobile army corps ( Comitatenses ) was in garrison, and moved of a place to another according to the encountered problems. This new defense system was going to be mainly at the origin of the feudal system in force during the Moyen-âge. The battle of Turkey-red cotton proved also the effectiveness of the cavalry, of which the proportion increased within the armies with the detriment of the infantry. The new units of cavalry were often formed cruel mercenaries, in general of the Huns, Sarmates or Perses, which fought with a long sword and a lance, and can seem today the precursors of the medieval riders. One can thus understand that certain historians make battle of Turkey-red cotton the end of Antiquity, with the advent of the heavy cavalry and the decline of the infantry.

In the final analysis, it is before all Huns which profited from the chaos caused by Goths with Andrinople, since they benefitted from it to cross the Danube later about thirty years and to imitate the policy of plundering and extortion which the Visigoths had before implemented successfully. It is Attila, after being assembled on the throne of Huns in 434, which followed this policy most skilfully, holding to ransom during twenty years the Roman Empire of the East.

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