Battle of Adrianople (378)

Gothic cavalry destroys a Roman army and kills Emperor Valens, heralding Rome's decline.

Specifications & Metrics

year

378

Core Principles & Analysis

• Fritigern's Goths, reinforced by cavalry, overwhelmed the Roman field army.
• Emperor Valens and about two-thirds of his army died in the defeat.
• Contemporaries and historians ranked it among Rome's worst disasters since Cannae.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Battle of Adrianople