On August ninth, in the year 378, one of the most important battles in world history took place. While largely forgotten today, it was a critical battle that contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire. And it wasn't just a loss for the Roman Army, it also resulted in the death of an Emperor, and it also contributed to the rise of a group known as the Visagoths, who would go on to spread throughout much of Europe over the next several centuries. Learn more about the Battle of Adrianople and how it changed the course of history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Hey, everyone. This is Gary. If you're listening to this podcast, you clearly are someone who likes to learn every day. And if you want to add a little more learning into your everyday routine, check out Ted Talks Daily, the podcast that brings you a new Ted Talk every weekday. In less than 15 minutes a day, you'll hear about some of the big ideas shaping our world. This includes everything from artificial intelligence to the search for dark matter and more. Listen to Ted Talks Daily wherever you get your podcast.

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There's a very good chance that many of you have never even heard of the Battle of Adrianople. And if you have heard of it, there's a very good chance that you probably don't know much about it. The Battle of Adrianople took place during a time in the late Roman Empire that doesn't get nearly the attention of the early Roman Empire. It was fought against an opponent known as the Goths that, again, many people might have heard of, but they don't know much about. Nonetheless, the Battle of Adrianople played a pivotal role in the decline of the Empire. To understand what happened and why it was so important, we first have to understand the situation in the late fourth century. In the third century, Rome suffered through what was known as the crisis of the third century. It was a period of great instability that saw invasions, rebellions, and a continual succession of short-term emperors, most of whom died violently. This all almost resulted the collapse of the Empire. It eventually ended with the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, who reorganized the Empire between East and West and established separate co-equal emperors that governed each part of the Empire.

There's actually a bit more to it than that, but that will suffice for the purposes of this episode. The system of Eastern and Western emperors remained mostly intact for most of the next century, and it was still the case by the later part of the fourth century. In the year 364, the Emperor Valentinian I assumed control of the Western half of the Empire after being elected by his legions. And afterwards, he installed his younger brother, Valens, as Emperor in the East. Valens was a Christian, but he was an Arian Christian, a sect that was considered heredical by the dominant Nisine Christians. The Arian heresy was one of the most important issues during that period, and we'll be the subject of a future episode. But for the purposes of this episode, Valens' religion caused conflict with other Christians in his empire. The other major issue that colored the rule of Velen's were foreign wars, in particular, wars against two groups, the Sassanid Persian Empire in the East and the Goths to the North. I've covered the Sassanid Empire in a previous episode. What is relevant to this episode are the Goths. Despite the contemporary use of the word, the Goths weren't a bunch of kids who hung out underneath bleachers who wore dark clothing, heavy eyeliner, and listened to the cure.

The Goths were a group of Germanic tribes that played a crucial role in the history of the late Roman Empire in the early medieval period. They were originally from Scandinavia and migrated southwards over the course of centuries, eventually becoming a dominant force in the Roman territories. The Goths were eventually divided into two main branches, the Visigoths or Western Goths, and the Ostrogoths or Eastern Goths. They migrated down the Vistula River in Poland and eventually settled in areas the Western Black Sea in what is today modern-day Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria. From the year 367 to 369, Valens fought the Goths in what became known as the First Gothic War. An army of 30,000 Goths, led by their king Erminerik invaded Thrace, what is today northeastern Greece, Southeastern Bulgaria, and European Turkey. Valens counterattacked, but the war was brought to a standstill with no real resolution. Ultimately, in the year 369, peace peace was negotiated as Veylan's attention was turned to the Sassanids in Persia. In 375, Valentinian, Vaelan's co-emperer and older brother, died and was replaced in the West by his 16-year-old son, Gratian. While Vaelan's attention was directed towards the east, events were transpiring with the Goths north of the border.

They had been invaded by another group from the Eurasian steps, the Huns. The Huns would go on to cause problems for the for the next century, but this was one of the first times that they actually appeared on the historical radar. The Huns caused the Goths to flee, so they crossed the Danube and headed to the Roman province of Thrace. In the year 376, the co-kings of the Goths, Elvivis and Fritigern, appealed to Valens to let the Goths settle there, and Valens consented. The idea behind letting the Goths settle in Roman lands was that they would become farmers and soldiers, and eventually become part of the empire. The Goths were also mostly Arian Christians at the time, just like Valens. The idea actually wasn't a bad one in theory. The Roman Empire was enormous and encompassed many different ethnic groups. Having the Goths settled in Roman lands could provide an established population that could defend the land from invaders. There were approximately 200,000 Goths that migrated to Thrace. The problem came with the implementation of the plan. The settlement of the Goths was overseen by a military magistrate by the name of Loupa Kinnis. Loupa Kinnis was incredibly corrupt and used his position to enrich himself at the expense of the Goths.

He extorted the Goths and withhelded food, which initiated a famine. The Goths were so hungry that at one point, Lupacinnes offered to trade the Goths a slaughtered dog for every boy that they would sell into slavery. Eventually, the Goths became fed up with their situation under the Romans and revolted. They began raiding the Thracian countryside for food and supplies. For about two years, the Goths and the Romans fought without any real resolution to the conflict. Valens had been tied down in the east, fighting the Persians. And in the summer At 378, he returned to Constantinople and requested the aid from his co-emperer, Gratian in the West, to counter the new Gothic threat. After two years of no success, Valens decided to take matters into his own hands. In late July and early August 378, he waited for reinforcements to arrive from the West. As they were waiting, Valence was informed that the Goths were approaching with a force of about 10,000 men. Valence felt that this was his opportunity. He felt he could vastly outnumber the Gauss and could defeat them in one fell swoop. Valence decided that he would personally lead his troops into battle.

Moreover, he wasn't going to wait for Gratian to show up with reinforcements. Judgments. He was going to hog all of the glory for himself. His advisors told him, To make all hast in order that Gratian might not have a share of the victory, which was already but one. The fact that he had received word that Gratian had won victories on his way to relieving him only made his desire for glory all the greater. On August 9, 378, he set out with his army of approximately 15 to 30,000 men from the city Adrianople to meet the Gothic army. Here I should note that it was an extremely hot day. The region was suffering a heatwave, and it's been estimated by historians that temperatures reached above 100 degrees Fahrenheit or around 40 degrees celsius. I should also note that the day before the army set out, the Gothic commander, Frittegern, sent an envoy to Veyland offering peace in exchange for land, which was pretty much the original deal they had anyhow before Lupa Kineis ruined everything. Also, Vaelin had received word from Gratian to wait for his reinforcements, and this had been reiterated by his top commanders.

The Roman army under Vaelin, marched over eight miles in this temperature over exposed terrain. By the time they encountered the Gauss, they were exhausted and dehydrated. The Gauss began by starting grass fires to confuse the Romans and to reduce visibility. They also had fortified themselves themselves into defensive positions on high ground. The Romans, in a highly unusual move, began an unorganized attack on the Gauss. Usually, Roman forces were highly disciplined, especially compared to Germanic forces. Just as they were approaching the Gothic lines, they were hit by something unexpected, a large force of Gothic heavy cavalry. It began a route of the Roman forces. The disorganized attack was pushed back by the cavalry attack, as well as by the Gothic Infantry, which may have actually outnumbered the Romans. As the Roman lines fell apart, they were picked apart by Gothic archers. When the lines fell apart, they fell apart so completely that Vaelan's personal guards fled, leaving the Emperor unprotected. No one knows exactly what happened to Vaelan's, other than he was killed on the battlefield and never seen again. There were different stories told as to what happened to him. One held that he retreated to a village where he was captured and killed by the Goths and ultimately burned alive.

Another says that he was hit in the head by a projectile, which killed him because he wasn't wearing a helmet in battle. And yet another story is that he was surrounded by Goths once his bodyguard fled and killed on the spot. The Battle of Adrianople was the Roman's worst battlefield defeat in centuries. Historians considered it on a par with the defeat at Cany by the Carthaginians or at Carhie by the Parthians. An estimated two-thirds of the Roman forces in the East were killed in a single day. However, it wasn't just a major defeat. The Battle of Adrianople had long-term repercussions. For starters, the Goths eventually did come to peace with Vaelan's successor, Theodosius I. However, they never integrated into Roman society. They remained culturally and linguistically separate. The Goths in Thrice eventually became known as the Visigoths, or the Western Goths. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the late fifth century, the Visigoths spread throughout much of Europe. They established a kingdom in France and later occupied Spain and parts of North Africa. The Visigoth Kingdoms in Spain and North Africa would exist until the Islamic conquest of the eighth century. Some historians consider the performance of the Gothic cavalry to be the beginning of heavy cavalry and the origin of European knights.

Granted, these were a far cry from the fully armed with lances and heavy warhorses that would appear centuries later. But the Gothic shielded cavalry was also a significant departure from the way cavalry had been used by the Romans for centuries. But perhaps the biggest implication of the Battle of Adrianople was that it was the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Even though the battle was fought in the Eastern part of the Empire and the Eastern Emperor was killed, the Goths eventually caused more problems in the West than in the East. Historians debate exactly when the decline of the Roman Empire started, but the battle of Adrianople is often given as an inflection point in history. The death of an Emperor on the battlefield was an incredible blow to morale and destroyed the myth of an invincible Roman Empire. The loss of such a huge part of the Roman Army materially weakened Rome in a way that it may never have completely recovered from, even if the ranks of the army were eventually restored. Finally, the battle of established what was once just a barbarian force on the edge of the Empire as a permanent presence within the Empire, a presence that would eventually grow and spread until it ultimately caused the destruction of the Roman Empire itself.

The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Ben Long and Cameron Kiefer. Today's review comes from listener HeHeHeHeHeHeHeHeHe over on Apple podcasts in the United States. They write, Amazing pod. I always watch for a new podcast to come out. I especially love the ones about aircraft. Could you do more of those? Well, thanks. He, he, he, he, he.