And in yet another master stroke, on 1 March AD 293 Diocletian promoted one of his most experienced military officers, Gaius Galerius, to the title of Caesar at Sirmium, whilst at the same time Maximian promoted Marcus Favius Constantius to the title of Caesar at Milan. These new appointments were to act as loyal understudies to the Emperors, to ensure if anything happened to either Diocletian or Maximian then a smooth transition would occur and hopefully prevent the problems that had plagued the Empire during the reigns of the preceding Emperors.
The Goths again began to make their presence felt during this period as Diocletian campaigned against several Gothic tribes, the Taifali and the Tervingi, from AD 289 to 291.18 It is during this period that Kulikowski believes the Tervingi rise to power began. He linked the campaigns against the Sarmatians and the Carpi as evidence of those tribes being displaced from their homelands by the more powerful Tervingi Goths. This is not an unrealistic view; exactly this happened to the Alans and the Greuthungi and Tervingi Goths when the Huns began to drive them out of their lands during the late AD ‘360s’. Kulikowski’s view that the Romans may have had a hand in the Tervingi’s rise to power may also be correct when we look at Valens’ own meddling in Gothic affairs in Chapters Four and Five. The last campaign of AD 291 saw a period of relative peace with few, if any, Gothic incursions. It may well be the Goths had their hands full north of the Danube with the other tribes they were extending their influence over.
Another possible reason for the Goths remaining quiet was that they found peaceful employment with the Romans from the mid-AD ‘280s’ as Jordanes claimed. According to Jordanes, the Goths provided support in a campaign against the Sassanids and Diocletian and Maximian may have had Gothic support when the Tetrarchy started to breakdown after they abdicated in AD 305. A period of civil war broke out as the newly appointed Emperors did not have the full support required to keep them on their respective thrones. After the dust settled in AD 313 only two claimants remained standing, in the East the anti-Christian Licinius, and in the West the Christian sympathizer Constantine. Although relations between the two were initially neutral, the situation between them broke down and another civil war broke out. Both had support from barbarians, Franks served in Constantine’s army, whilst Goths served with Licinius. By AD 324 there was only one sole ruler of the Roman Empire, Constantine, known to history as Constantine the Great.19
The Goths from Constantine to the reign of Valens
Constantine continued the reformation of both the Empire and its army, making sweeping changes in both areas (see Chapter Fifteen). Two years before becoming sole Emperor, Constantine crossed the Danube to deal with the Sarmatians, killing their King Rausimodus, and capturing those who were not slain during the battle.20 This led to further campaigns against the Goths and Sassanids after AD 324, despite the claims of Zosimus to the contrary.21 Constantine inflicted a massive defeat on the Goths in AD 332 and imposed a treaty upon them that included a condition that the Goths were to provide troops upon request.22 Jordanes’ claim that the Goths supplied manpower to assist in building the new capital of Constantinople due to this treaty may not be as fanciful as his similar claim that they ‘…furnished him forty thousand men to aid him against various peoples. This body of men, namely, the Allies, and the service they rendered in war are still spoken of in the land to this day.’23 There is no doubt that the defeat inflicted upon the Goths was such that they did not trouble the Romans for at least the next thirty years (however see below). This did not prevent the Goths under their King Geberich from further extending their territory into the land of the Asdingi Vandals where the Goths inflicted a crushing defeat upon them. This caused the remnants of that tribe to petition Constantine who settled them in Pannonia.24 Gothic expansion continued under King Hermanaric, who had succeeded to the throne of the Amali upon the death of Geberich. Jordanes claimed that Hermanaric conquered the following tribes – the Gothescytha; Thiudos; Inaunxis; Vasinabroncae; Merens; Mordens; Imniscaris; Rogas; Tadzans; Athaul; Navego; Bubegenae; Coldae; Venethi; Aesti and the Heruli, extending Gothic rule from the Black Sea to the Baltic.25
By 337 Constantine was making preparations for an invasion of Sassanid Persia. Whilst there is no direct evidence that Constantine had approached the Goths for support, it would seem highly probable that the treaty obligations placed upon them would have led to them supplying manpower for the invasion. Constantine had advanced to Nicomedia where he fell ill and died on 22 May AD 337. There is some confusion over whether the campaign had got underway before he died in 337 but his death put the campaign on hold. Constantine’s sons, Constantius, Constantine and Constans, divided the Empire between them but they soon fell out and war again wracked the Empire. Constantine fell in battle against Constans in AD 340 whilst Constans was murdered in a coup in AD 350, leaving Constantius to face Magnentius who had usurped Constans. Constantius emerged the victor in AD 353 after one of the bloodiest civil war battles in Roman history, a battle that was to have far reaching consequences for the Roman state as it would take many years for the Empire to bring its army back up to strength. The conflict between Magnentius and Constantius left Gaul overrun by barbarian tribes who took full advantage of the chaos in that province (there is the suspicion that Constantius did nothing to prevent this as a punishment for that province’s support for Magnentius). Like his father before him Constantius now became sole ruler of the Roman Empire after Magnentius’ death in AD 353.
Before the death of his father, Constantius had been sent during the AD ‘330s’ by Constantine to engage the Goths across the Danube and he was so successful that he not only caused the displacement of a reputed 100,000 Goths but he also received hostages including Ariaric, one of the Gothic kings’ sons.26 This led to a period of peace between Rome and the Goths that went almost undisturbed for the next thirty-five years. Although there is no mention of Constantius engaging in any further campaigns against the Goths, he did campaign successfully over the Danube against the Sarmatians and the Limogantes, removing them both as future threats against the Empire. Constantius may have enlisted Gothic support in these campaigns from both the Taifali and the Heruli. Ammianus records an approach Constantius made to the Taifali, Ammianus also further recorded that there were auxiliary units called the Taifali and Heruli in the Roman army at that time.27
Constantius had raised his nephew Gallus to the rank of Caesar in the East whilst dealing with the issues in the West. Gallus proved a political disaster and Constantius had Gallus murdered in AD 355. Problems again arose in the east when Sharpur II, King of Kings of the Sassanid Empire, who had proved troublesome during Constantine’s reign, went on the offensive. At the same time the Allemanni, a Germanic tribe living north of the Rhine, ravaged Gaul and occupied a number of towns and cities. Constantius realized he could not fight on two fronts and so in AD 356 he promoted his scholarly nephew Julian to the rank of Caesar and tasked Julian with dealing with the situation in Gaul. This may have been a cynical act on Constantius’ behalf as Julian had no military experience, he was more attuned to the world of books and arts and therefore was likely to suffer a ‘mishap’ against the barbarians he was to engage, without Constantius having to resort to other means to remove him.28 Unfortunately for Constantius, and fortunately for the West at that time, Julian proved to be a charismatic leader of men and from AD 357 he successfully engaged the Alamanni in a number of battles, the most notable being Argentoratum, smashing that tribe and capturing many nobles and kings. He also engaged other tribes north of the Rhine, including the Quadi, Salli and Franks, successfully dealing with them also. Julian restored not only the Rhine frontier but also brought Gaul back under Roman control, much to the delight of its inhabitants and to the chagrin of Constantius. The situation could not last long between them and when in February AD 360 Constantius sent a demand to Julian for a large number of Western troops for a proposed offensive against the Sassanids, the troops under Julian’s command rebelled and compelled Julian to become a relucta
nt usurper.29
Julian and Constantius both gathered their forces and marched towards each other but fortune smiled upon Julian again as Constantius fell ill on the march and died after reaching Mopsuestia in Cilicia on 3 November AD 361. On his deathbed Constantius named Julian as his heir, which probably surprised many at the time, no doubt also surprising Julian. Constantius wished for the Empire he had defended from all manner of foreign invaders for so long not to have to undergo the upheaval of another round of civil war and at least under Julian, who against the odds had proved both militarily and politically successful in the West, the Empire may well remain safe and secure.
Julian, once sole Emperor, embarked on two crusades, the reintroduction of Pagan worship, and the destruction of the Sassanids and their King of Kings, Sharpur II. In both of these enterprises he was spectacularly unsuccessful. Christianity had become the major religion of the Roman Empire from the time of Constantine and Constantius was a fervent worshiper of that faith and called many synods, much to the disgust of those with Pagan leanings such as Libanius; even Ammianus expressed some qualms about this in his description of Constantius after his death.30 Constantius had been rather too successful in this enterprise and Julian found a great deal of resistance to his efforts at reintroducing the old religions. He also began to raise an army to finally deal with Sharpur, possibly with the intent of placing Sharpur’s brother Hormisdas on the throne as one who would be a friend to Rome. He was ready to launch the offensive in AD 363 and marched with his army, possibly at least 60,000 strong over the Euphrates.31 Ironically this army included those same troops who had refused to come to Constantius when he had ordered them to three years before. Julian appears to have used his family connection to Constantius, and hence to Constantine, to request troops from the Goths as he had a contingent of ‘Skythian Auxilliaries’ or ‘Goths’ with him.32 Although the campaign met with a number of early successes, the closer to Ctesiphon he marched the stronger the Sassanid resistance became and he had not managed to face Sharpur in battle. Sharpur was in fact hastening towards Ctesiphon with a large army; Julian appears to have lost his nerve at this point and after an unsuccessful attempt to capture Ctesiphon he began to march his army back towards Roman territory. He never made it, he was mortally wounded in a major skirmish at Maranga against Sassanid forces that were harrying the rear of his column and he died from his wounds on 26 June AD 363, just a few short months into the campaign. What became of the ‘Scythians’ under Julian’s command is not recorded, presumably they made their own way back to their homelands or remained in the Empire and were enrolled into the ranks of the army.33
On 27 June AD 363 the army promoted one of the senior officers, Jovian, to the rank of Augustus. This was due to Julian having no heir, although it was claimed at the time that Julian had in fact named a relative, Procopius, as his heir. Jovian was faced with the awful task of trying to get a large Roman army back to safe territory intact. The only way he could do this was to enter into a humiliating peace treaty with Sharpur that ceded territory back to the Sassanids, territory that Constantius had fought so hard to protect. Along with the territory went cities such as Singara and Nisibis, where so much Roman and Sassanid blood had been spilt. Constantius must have been spinning in his tomb!
Jovian’s reign was short, he was dead by 17 February AD 364 and, leaving no heir, again the army took it upon themselves to raise one of their number to the purple. The first candidate refused, citing ill health and advanced age, the next candidate was Valentinian, a capable man of proven military prowess. And so on 26 February AD 364 Valentinian was proclaimed Emperor of the Roman Empire. Had Valentinian thought he was going to be sole Imperator he was badly mistaken. The army, not wishing to be left in the situation they faced when both Julian and Jovian died, demanded he take someone to be co-Emperor. And so, on 28 March 364 his younger brother Valens was raised to the purple. The Empire was divided between them, Valentinian taking the Western half of the Empire whilst Valens reigned over the East.34
Remarkably, the barbarian tribes beyond the Rhine and Danube had taken very little advantage of the situation from the death of Julian to the elevation of Valentinian and Valens. Such were memories of the defeats inflicted upon them by Constantius and Julian whilst they were still alive, and the forces left behind to defend the frontiers, that the Barbarians dared not act against the Romans.
This situation would not last long.
Chapter Three
Valens, Procopius, and the Goths
As discussed in Chapter Two, Valentinian proclaimed Valens as Augustus on 28 March AD 364 in the suburb of Constantinople known as Hebdomum, or Septimum due to its distance from the city itself. No sooner than Valens had donned the purple than both he and Valentinian were struck down with fevers, the cause of which was unknown but there was a suspicion that it was due to sorcery. However, a thorough investigation instigated by the two Emperors found no evidence of this.1 They spent the winter of 364 ‘in perfect harmony’. Valentinian then divided the Empire and its generals between both Emperors; Valentinian gave himself the Western half of the Empire that included the provinces of Gaul, Africa, Britain, Greece and Italy, with Valens being given the rest of the provinces in the East. When these arrangements had been concluded Valentinian made his way to Mediolanum in Gaul, whilst Valens established his court in Constantinople.2
If Valens thought he was now going lead a life of ease and luxury he was very much mistaken. For, as Ammianus put it ‘At this time, as if trumpets were sounding the war-note throughout the whole Roman world, the most savage peoples roused themselves and poured across the nearest frontiers. At the same time the Alamanni were devastating Gaul and Raetia, the Sarmatae and Quadi Pannonia, while the Picts, Saxons, Scots and Attacotti were harassing the Britons with constant disasters. The Austoriani and other Moorish tribes raided Africa more fiercely than ever and predatory bands of Goths were plundering Thrace and Pannonia. The King of the Persians was laying hands on Armenia, hastening with mighty efforts to bring that country again under his sway.’3 Of course Ammianus was using hindsight when referring to events throughout the reigns of both Valens and Valentinian until their deaths, but even so it sounded suspiciously as if the Crisis of the Third Century was about to be repeated in the fourth!
No sooner had both Emperors taken up their residences than serious problems arose. The Alamanni, a Germanic tribe living north of the Rhine, who had been quiet since their defeat at the hands of Julian, became hostile and bands of them crossed over the Rhine frontier. The cause of this incursion was due to the Alamanni being given tributes that were inferior to that which they had been accustomed to receiving. And to add even more insult to the injury, the Alamannic envoys sent to receive the gifts were badly treated by Ursatius, a Magister Officiorum (Master of the Court) of Valentinian’s court. Said envoys on returning to their homes exaggerated the insults and this roused the Alamanni to seek revenge.4
At approximately the same time, Procopius, who I mentioned in Chapter Two as being named by Julian as his heir, ‘started a revolution’ and made a play for Valens’ throne. Valentinian received this news on 1 November AD 364. Valentinian sent Dagalaifus, an officer promoted by Jovian to the rank of Magister Armorum (Master of Arms), with an army to deal with the Alamanni threat, whilst Valentinian himself pondered on what to do about Procopius. There appeared to be some confusion as to the circumstances surrounding Procopius’ bid for power. Valentinian was unsure whether Valens had been killed and that was the catalyst for Procopius to declare himself, as the only report he received was from Aequitius, a Comes (Count, a senior officer) (later to become a Magister, a senior general) who himself had heard it in a report from an Antonius, a tribune commanding troops in Dacia who had himself only heard vague accounts from another, unnamed source.
Valentinian initially made preparations to head East to prevent Procopius advancing into Pannonia, the province that was Valentinian and Valens’ birthplace. However, he was persuaded to head back
to Gaul to deal with the Alamanni threat, leaving Valens, if he were still alive, to deal with Procopius by himself.5
Procopius was a cousin of Julian’s, on Julian’s mother’s side. He could claim some legitimacy for both the thrones of Valentinian and Valens as Julian had been sole Emperor upon his death. There were even rumours that Julian had ordered Procopius to assume power should things go badly for the Romans during the invasion of Sassanid Persia.6 Upon learning of Julian’s death, and the army having declared Jovian as Emperor, Procopius, fearing he would be put to death as a potential rival, fled and sought refuge with friends in Chalcedon. From here he was able to gather information about Valens and the state of the Empire in secret.
Events in the East were taking a turn for the worse as Valens appeared to be burdening the citizens of the East, rich and poor alike, with heavy taxes. And, at a most opportune time for Procopius, the Goths, quiet beyond the Danube since the heavy defeat inflicted upon them during the reign of Constantine, were rumoured to be making preparations to invade Thrace and the territory around.7 Valens, having already made preparations to head into Syria, was in Bithynia when he was informed about the Gothic plans and was forced to send troops to the areas where he believed the Goths would most likely be heading for. Procopius took advantage of the situation and made his play for power. He made contact with officers within two legions, the Divitenses and the Tungricani Iuniores and upon entering Constantinople he was acclaimed Emperor with their support.8
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