DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5625#0407
37°
Survey of the Ancient World
754. West
Goths pushed
across the
Danube by
the Huns;
battle of
Adrianople
(378 a.d.)
the begin-
ning of a
century of
continuous
barbaric
migration
755. Theo-
dosius (379-
395 a.d.)
restores the
Empire
756. Divi-
sion of the
Empire at
death of
Theodosius
(395 a.d.)
At this juncture barbarians of another race, having no Indo-
European blood in their veins, had been penetrating Europe
from Asia. These people were the Huns. They were the most
destructive of all the barbarian invaders. They pushed down
upon the lower Danube, and the West Goths (often called
Visigoths), fleeing before them, begged the Romans for per'
mission to cross the Danube and settle in the Empire. Valens,
who had followed Julian as emperor of the East, gave them
permission to do so. Thereupon friction between them and the
Roman officials caused them to revolt. In the 'battle which
ensued at Adrianople (378 a.d.), although the Goths could not
have had an army of over fifteen thousand men, the Romans,
or rather the Germans fighting for them, were defeated, and
the emperor Valens himself was killed. Henceforth the helpless-
ness of the Roman Empire was evident to all the world. This
movement of the West Goths and the battle of Adrianople were
the beginning of a century of continuous migration in which the.
Western Empire was slowly absorbed by the barbarians and
broken up into German kingdoms under German military leaders.
Theodosius, who succeeded Valens at Constantinople, was
the last of the great emperors to unite and rule the whole
Roman Empire. He came to an understanding with (.he West
Goths, allowing them to settle where they were, taking them
into his army, and giving their leaders important posts in the
government. But it was only by using the able and energetic
Germans themselves as his ministers and commanders that he
was able to maintain his empire. He even gave his niece m
marriage to his leading military commander, a Vandal named
Stilicho, and at his death, in 395 a.d., Theodosius intrusted to
this able German the care of his two young sons Honorius
and Arcadius.
Theodosius divided the Empire between these two youths,
giving to Arcadius the East and to Honorius the West. The
Empire was never to be united again. Indeed, after the
appearance of these two young emperors, the dismemberment
Survey of the Ancient World
754. West
Goths pushed
across the
Danube by
the Huns;
battle of
Adrianople
(378 a.d.)
the begin-
ning of a
century of
continuous
barbaric
migration
755. Theo-
dosius (379-
395 a.d.)
restores the
Empire
756. Divi-
sion of the
Empire at
death of
Theodosius
(395 a.d.)
At this juncture barbarians of another race, having no Indo-
European blood in their veins, had been penetrating Europe
from Asia. These people were the Huns. They were the most
destructive of all the barbarian invaders. They pushed down
upon the lower Danube, and the West Goths (often called
Visigoths), fleeing before them, begged the Romans for per'
mission to cross the Danube and settle in the Empire. Valens,
who had followed Julian as emperor of the East, gave them
permission to do so. Thereupon friction between them and the
Roman officials caused them to revolt. In the 'battle which
ensued at Adrianople (378 a.d.), although the Goths could not
have had an army of over fifteen thousand men, the Romans,
or rather the Germans fighting for them, were defeated, and
the emperor Valens himself was killed. Henceforth the helpless-
ness of the Roman Empire was evident to all the world. This
movement of the West Goths and the battle of Adrianople were
the beginning of a century of continuous migration in which the.
Western Empire was slowly absorbed by the barbarians and
broken up into German kingdoms under German military leaders.
Theodosius, who succeeded Valens at Constantinople, was
the last of the great emperors to unite and rule the whole
Roman Empire. He came to an understanding with (.he West
Goths, allowing them to settle where they were, taking them
into his army, and giving their leaders important posts in the
government. But it was only by using the able and energetic
Germans themselves as his ministers and commanders that he
was able to maintain his empire. He even gave his niece m
marriage to his leading military commander, a Vandal named
Stilicho, and at his death, in 395 a.d., Theodosius intrusted to
this able German the care of his two young sons Honorius
and Arcadius.
Theodosius divided the Empire between these two youths,
giving to Arcadius the East and to Honorius the West. The
Empire was never to be united again. Indeed, after the
appearance of these two young emperors, the dismemberment