Crisis of 376 CE, Battle of Adrianople, and roots of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire

Many falsely believe that the Western Half of the Roman Empire began it's decline in the 3rd Century, and decline accelerated in the 4rth Century with Christianity becoming the religion of the Empire. This is mostly due to the largely outdated accounts of the great British 18th Century historian, Edward Gibbon.

But the reality, according to modern scholarship, is very different. According to the historian Peter Heather in his account on "The Fall of the Roman Empire", modern archeological evidence dispels Gibbon's views, and the Western Roman Empire as late as 375 CE was in fact stable, prosperous, and far from collapse. In his book, Peter Heather explains how Roman Africa, and most of the provinces of the Western Empire were undergoing a financial boom, and modern archeological evidence of massive villas and large scale farming and commerce show that the provinces in the west were stable and doing well despite nearly a century of heavy taxation.

CRISIS OF 376 CE



As you can see from the map above, although many of the familiar tribes in the story of the collapse of the West had made their way to the Roman frontiers by 200 CE, they had failed to challenge the borders of the Roman world in any significant way prior to 376 CE. The Empire, even the western half, were just too strong and well organized for any barbarians to stand a chance...until 376 CE. What happened?


Late Roman soldier

Historical sources tell us that in 376 CE the entire Visigothic world showed up at the Roman frontier. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children. And behind them were many other tribes. They came out of desperation, speaking of unspeakable horrors visited upon them by a migrating Asian tribe known as the Huns.

Valens, AD 364-378.
AR Siliqua, Treveri, 367-378.
Obv.: D N VALEN-S P F AVG; Pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: VRBS ROMA; Roma seated left on cuirass, holding Victory set on globe in her right hand and spear in her left // TRPS•
Reference: RIC IX 27b and 45a.

Emperor Valens, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, could not cope with the sudden large scale waves of migration, so he allowed the barbarians access to the Empire with the hope he could wipe them out at a later date.

While Valens made plans with Gratian, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, to send a combined Eastern and Western Army to wipe out these hundreds of thousands of barbarian intruders, Valens reneged on promises of food and aid to the Visigoths and other tribes, and as a result they began to starve.

BATTLE OF ADRIANOPLE

By 378 CE, the barbarians had enough and rose in a massive revolt against the Roman authorities. Valens sent word to Gratian to send Western soldiers to the East as the key battle was at hand.


Portrait of Gratian from Solidus **NOT MINE**

But Gratian instead sent his troops to mop up minor border skirmishes in his side of the Empire, leaving Valens in the battlefield hopelessly awaiting the promised reinforcements. Gratian never showed up, and Valens went to battle with a much smaller force than anticipated, and the results were calamitous for the Roman world.


Battle of Adrianople

Valens, outnumbered and not wearing a helmet, was either struck in the head and killed, or was seriously wounded and evacuated from the field, only to die when a barn housing retreating Roman soldiers was burned by the Visigoths. A large portion of the Roman army laid dead in the field.


ROOTS OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE

With the massive defeat at Adrianople of the Eastern Roman forces, the word spread throughout the Barbarian world and the tribes sensed Roman weakness and opportunities for territory and wealth, and suddenly the paths into the Roman world lay open. It wasn't long before the Franks, Vandals, Lombards, and other desperate barbarian tribes fleeing the Hunic onslaught desided it was worth taking their chances within the borders of the Roman Empire, rather than staying behind and facing the formidable Huns.

Although the Eastern half, thanks to capable Emperors, were able to more or less stand up to this onslaught, and the Western half managed to also hold off the mass migrations for a while too, the western half had the misfortune from 393 CE forwards of being ruled by a weak child Emperor, Honorius. As western court officials battled one another for the favor of this child Emperor, the Vandals, Franks and other tribes broke through to Gaul and Hispania, and the inevitable path to decline set in as one province after another was ravaged and lost to the Empire, thus depriving the Western half of much needed wealth to maintain an army capable of dealing with the Barbarian threat. The Western half would never recover.

*Source material is my listening to Peter Heather's audio book on "The Fall of the Roman Empire." It is also available through Amazon Kindle. And yes, also available in book form for those of you who are old fashioned.

 

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Wow @Sallent very interesting story
As a side note, funny enough, I'm in Grenoble at the moment, visiting my parents : the city is said to having been founded by Gratian (under the name of Gratianopolis in the old days)

Q

 

Interesting write up!

I have an example of the same issue, with very similar toning. I wouldn't be surprised if they came from the same hoard or collection.

 

lovely toning on that new coin! a siliqua is a must have list coin for this year, it's going to happen (if at all possible). nice write up as well!

here's a recently reshot coin of valens i've had for about as long as i've been collecting...




and my only gratian...

 

Great write up @Sallent! I read Gibbons years ago, and was not aware of Peter Hearher's scholarship.

 

I always enjoy these excellent essays that place the coins in their historical context. We all have so much to learn from each other! A great coin to acquire on Rome's birthday.

 

Good and interesting thread.

VALENS
AV Solidus
OBVERSE: DN VALENS PER F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: RESTITVTOR REIPUBLICAE, Valens standing right, holding labarum in right hand & Victory on globe in left, cross to left. Mintmark star ANTE star
Struck at Antioch, 364 AD
3.6g, 19mm
Antioch RIC 2d,xxxvii-5

VALENS
AE3
OBVERSE: D N VALENS P F AVG, diademed draped & cuirassed bust right
REVERSE: GLORIA ROMANORVM, emperor walking right, head left, holding labarum and dragging bound captive behind him, dot BSISC in ex. R in right field.
Struck at Siscia 365 AD
2.1g, 19mm
RIC 5b.7

 

Nice! I really liked that coin Sallent and wanted to go for it too.

Wanna see my coins from Valens?

I know you do!


Valens, AD 364-378
AE, 3.1g, 18.5mm; 6h; Siscia
Obv.: DN VALEN-S PF AVG; pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right
Rev.: SECVRITAS-REIPVBLICAE, F in in left field, M in right field; Victory advancing right holding wreath in right hand and palm in left
In Ex.: ASISC


Valens, AD 364-375
AE, 2.6g, 17.5mm, 12h, Thessalonica
Obv.: DN VALEN-S PF AVG; pearl diademed, cuirassed, & draped bust right
Rev.: GLORIA RO-MANORVM, O(?) in left field, dot over Δ in right field; emperor walking right, holding labarum and dragging bound captive
In Ex.: TES

I have one more from Valens.

 

Thanks. It is a very thorough history of the available ancient sources and archeological data, so the book is a little dry. So fair warning, if you are looking for something that reads like an adventure or a novel, this might not be for you. But if you are interested in hard history, facts, and detailed account of the evidence, it is a decent book.



I'm also set to tackle "How Rome Fell", by Adrian Goldsworthy. I'm told this particular book might be even better than the above mentioned book. However, without reading it, I can't say for sure yet. I'll let you know once I'm done with it. It will be a little while.



In the past I've read 2 dozen books on Roman history ranging from the Republic through Constantine. However, I've never read or listened to books that specifically focused on the fall of Rome, so this is new grounds for me. I have to say the story of Rome's fall is so far just as interesting as its rise.

One book that has nothing to do with this topic, but I read last month and highly recommend, is this one. If you are interested in the Fall of the Roman Republic , you can't go wrong with this.

 

This is my kind of thread!

My best Valens:



My best and favorite of my few siliquae, of the extremely rare usurper Jovinus (411-413 AD):



And my only gold from the Germanic peoples, my tremissis of Sisebut (612-621 AD) from the Visigothic Kingdom in Spain. Hopefully my ancestors had jars full of these things :

And everyone thought I was crazy for liking this era

I have the first book, and I very much recommend it as well. I don't have the second one, another one to add to my list of reads!

 

I'd also like to add my recommendation for a rather dry, factual book, at the other end of Roman history: Klaus Bringham's A History of the Roman Republic. This is required text book in many university Classical Studies programs, so you can find used copies as cheap as $10 on Amazon. It includes a very well-done section on RR coinage and the monetary system...

 

If it's available in audio form, I might buy it. Not that I don't like reading, because I do. I read a lot at work, plus I love reading books at night. However, I also like to get books in audio form to listen to while stuck in rush hour traffic here in Miami. Makes the traffic seem more bearable.

 

Excellent write up and cool siliqua! Gorgeous example, now I want one.

Thanks for all book recommendations!

 

Great post and great coins!

 

That thread developpment is very interesting. Maybe should it be featured ?

My own example of a Trier siliqua, followed by a big chunck AE1 (those are quite scarce)


Valens, Siliqua Treveri mint
DN VALENS PF AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
VRBS ROMA, Roma seated left, holding victory and sceptre, TRPS at exergue
2.15 gr
Ref : Cohen # 109, Roman coins # 4113



Valens, AE1 Aquilea mint, AD 364
DN VALEN - S PF AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right
RESTITVTOR REIPVBLICAE, Valens standing facing, head right, holding standard and victory. SMAQP at exergue
8.55 gr
Ref : Cohen # 40 (100Fr), RIC #6b

Q

 

I haven't read the book, so I can't pass judgement on Heather's overall thesis. However, I would like to point out that archaeological evidence of massive villas and large-scale farming in themselves do not necessarily suggest economic health and stability. They could, in fact, evince the opposite: extreme economic stratification. As more and more wealth and land coagulates into the hands of a small, powerful elite and gets locked up for generations, there are fewer resources left to divvy up among the general population. The extreme wealth of Westchester County, NY, where I currently live, does not tell us much about the economic health or stability of, for example, St. Lawrence County, NY, or rural Alabama.

BTW, Dr. Phillip Daileader, in a series of Great Courses lectures about the early middle ages, (which I highly recommend: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/early-middle-ages.html , but wait for it to go on sale), suggests that at least part of the reason for the late, western Roman decline was the sudden collapse of the population due to a series of devastating plagues.

 

Great story Sallent, thanks for sharing , couple of Valens follis from a (cheap) lot:


and his unreliable co emperor Gratianus:

 

Congrats Sallent. I felt I was taking a serious course in History with maps and various sources and references.
I believe the fact that being divided in 2 parts or Authorities, ancient Rome was going to fall sooner or later. Names and circumstances as well as tactical mistakes or others are just pure details.
I chose a bronze of Valens at an early age, maybe fourteen. Another coin of Gratian has a leaf in exergue.

 

I always find it amazing that as Rome's power was waning - in Asia it was business as usual.


HUNS!!!!!!!!!

Red Huns / Small Kushan
Kidarite Kingdom
Kidara
AR Drachm 29 mm x 4.11 grams
Kabul, Afghanistan mint (s.360 AD)
Obverse: 3 /4 Bust of king facing slightly right, wearing crown with streamers, KIDARA KU-SANASA in Brahmi above
Reverse: Fire altar flanked by attendants, SULAKHA in Brahmi below. 29mm, Ref:. Göbl, Hunnen Em. 11
Note: Rare and Superb.



Kushan Empire - Kidarite Huns
Bactrian Region
Gadahara-Peroz (AD 360-380)
AV Dinar 19.5 mm x 7.79 grams
Obverse: Formalized Kushan-style king sacrificing left; below arm, Brahmi legendGadahara at right, Piroz under arm; in left field, Kushana
Reverse: Realistic goddess Ardoksho (Tyche) enthroned facing, holding garland (diadem) and cornucopiae; in right field, Brahmi letter Sha; in left field, Tamgha.
Ref: Gobl 608

 

Wonderful thread, write-up and posts!!!

I couldn't agree more @Sallent---Valens' defeat was the beginning of the end for the Western Empire.

Naturally, I'll add one more: