378 CE
A catastrophic year for the Roman Empire as Emperor Valens was killed and his army annihilated by Gothic cavalry at the Battle of Adrianople, one of the most devastating military defeats in Roman history.
Conflict & Security
- The Battle of Adrianople was fought on August 9 in Thrace, where a Roman army under Emperor Valens was destroyed by a combined force of Visigoths and Ostrogoths led by Fritigern.
- Emperor Valens was killed in the battle along with two-thirds of the eastern Roman field army, a loss of perhaps 20,000 soldiers that left the eastern empire temporarily defenseless.
- The Gothic cavalry charge that shattered the Roman lines at Adrianople has been cited by historians as a turning point in military history, demonstrating the growing dominance of heavy cavalry over infantry.
- The Goths had crossed the Danube into Roman territory two years earlier as refugees fleeing the Huns, but Roman mistreatment and exploitation had driven them to revolt against imperial authority.
Geopolitics & Governance
- The defeat at Adrianople forced Rome to abandon its traditional policy of defeating and subjugating barbarian peoples, and instead to negotiate settlements allowing Gothic groups to live within the empire as semi-autonomous federates.
- Gratian, the western emperor, appointed the Spanish general Theodosius to take command of the eastern empire following the death of Valens, a decision that would prove consequential for the future of Rome.
Culture & Society
- The world population was approximately 220 million.
Climate & Environment
- Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was approximately 278 parts per million, as later confirmed by ice core analysis.