Europe · Antiquity and the Roman world
Visigoths
drawn on the map AD 396–425
The Visigoths ("western Goths") emerged as a people during the Migration Period, probably descended from the Tervingi who entered the Roman Empire in 376 fleeing the Huns. Mistreated by Roman officials, they rebelled and, on 9 August 378, annihilated the eastern Roman army of Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople.
- Shown on the map
- AD 396–425
- Peak area
- 45k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Visigoths ("western Goths") emerged as a people during the Migration Period, probably descended from the Tervingi who entered the Roman Empire in 376 fleeing the Huns. Mistreated by Roman officials, they rebelled and, on 9 August 378, annihilated the eastern Roman army of Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople. Per Ammianus Marcellinus roughly two-thirds of the Roman army — the emperor himself and 35 tribunes among them — was destroyed (Peter Heather estimates 10,000–15,000 dead); Ammianus wrote that "no battle in our history except Cannae involved such a massacre." Settled as foederati by treaty in 382, the Goths were first united as a people under Alaric I (r. 395–410).
Decline and legacy
Alaric alternately fought and bargained with Rome, invading Italy repeatedly. When negotiations with Honorius collapsed, Alaric besieged and sacked Rome on 24 August 410 — the first fall of the city to a foreign enemy in almost 800 years, a landmark of late antiquity (though the churches were largely spared and the sack lasted three days). Alaric died soon after in southern Italy while planning to cross to Africa. He was succeeded by his brother-in-law Athaulf (r. 410–415), who led the Goths out of Italy into Gaul and married the captured imperial princess Galla Placidia (414), symbolising a policy of Gothic–Roman fusion. After Athaulf's murder and the brief reign of Wallia (r. 415–418), who campaigned for Rome against the Vandals and Alans in Spain, the Visigoths were **settled as foederati in Aquitaine (southwestern Gaul) in 418, with their capital at Toulouse** — the foundation of the Visigothic Kingdom (entry 23).
Common questions
- What were the Visigoths?
- The Visigoths ("western Goths") emerged as a people during the Migration Period, probably descended from the Tervingi who entered the Roman Empire in 376 fleeing the Huns. Mistreated by Roman officials, they rebelled and, on 9 August 378, annihilated the eastern Roman army of Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople.
- When are the Visigoths shown on the map?
- The border data draws the Visigoths AD 396–425. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
- How large were the Visigoths?
- At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Visigoths covered about 45,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
- How did the Visigoths end?
- Alaric alternately fought and bargained with Rome, invading Italy repeatedly. When negotiations with Honorius collapsed, Alaric besieged and sacked Rome on 24 August 410 — the first fall of the city to a foreign enemy in almost 800 years, a landmark of late antiquity (though the churches were largely spared and the sack lasted three days).
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory and its key figures as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, and academic and primary sources — Jordanes, Procopius, Gregory of Tours, Bede, Ammianus and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, read through the secondary literature. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Visigoths en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visigoths
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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