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Visigoths, led by FRITIGERN and Alavius, were asking permission to migrate and to settle across the
Lower Danube, near Thrace. Valens allowed them to enter the Empire with the demand that they
surrender their arms and submit all male children as hostages. The hostages were handed over, the arms
were not. The arrival of equally alarmed Ostrogothic remnants threw all of Thrace into confusion, and a
war broke out. Rome faced Visigoth and Ostrogoth elements, as a general rebellion threatened the entire
Danube front. In Thrace, Fritigern (Alavius having been killed in an ambush) joined the Ostrogoth kings,
Alatheus and Saphrax (or Safrax), to duel with Valens' Greek legate, Sebastian. The Goths were defeated
several times by inferior forces.
GRATIAN, emperor of the West, took steps to pacify the Danube. Sensing that an opportunity was
within his reach, not only to crush the barbarian hordes but also to lay claim to greatness for the act,
Valens precipitately marched from Constantinople to attack the Goths. The emperor possessed nearly
60,000 men, mostly infantry, while Fritigern and his allies numbered over 100,000, evenly divided
between horse and foot. On August 9, 378, Valens, unwilling to wait for Gratian, pressed his legions into
battle.
His assault was well-timed, being launched while the mainly Ostrogoth cavalry was away. The Visigoths,
facing an organized army with their own limited cavalry on their flanks, were driven back into the large
wagon camp that had been erected. Valens pushed on, but suddenly the Ostrogoths turned and made a
charge that was to revitalize military tactics for the next thousand years. Crushed, routed and finally
annihilated, the immobilized Roman legions were ridden down by the horsemen. Few escaped from the
catastrophe. Valens died with 40,000 other Roman soldiers.
The battle of Adrianople was felt more deeply and politically than the number of casualties warranted. St.
Ambrose called it "the end of all humanity, the end of the world," a statement that was dramatic and
prophetic. Rome was no longer invincible, and the barbarians were pressing on the frontiers.
¤ ADRIATIC SEA The sea between Italy and the Balkans that served for many centuries as a conduit of
trade and over which Grecian civilization spread throughout Italy. Although always plagued by pirates and
natural hazards, the Adriatic played a role in the shaping of Roman economic power. Safe transport of
vessels was made possible after the rise to power of Emperor AUGUSTUS (63 B.C.-14 A.D.), with the
stationing of fleets as monitors of the sea lanes. The home port of these fleets was AQUILEIA, at the head of
the Adriatic, the largest trading city in the area. See also PIRACY.
¤ ADUATUCA Also called Atuatuca in some records; an engagement between AMBIORIX and the
Romans took place at this site in what is now Belgium in the winter of 54-53 B.C. Ambiorix, the tall
chieftain of the Eburones, began an uprising against the widely scattered, winter-quartered Roman
legions. The attack came as a surprise to Caesar's lieutenant in northern Gaul, Q. Titurius SABINUS.
Sabinas' command was spread over the countryside and was vulnerable to assault. Ambiorix was aware
of the military risks in a frontal assault against the Roman positions, and offered safe passage to Sabinus
and his troops. The Gallic chieftain did not keep his word. Sabinus and his men were slaughtered.
Buoyed by his success, Ambiorix attacked Caesar's other commander, Quintus Tullius Cicero, and
suffered defeat. The entire region controlled by Ambiorix and his people was eventually overrun by
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