Albin Michel, 2011.
Andrianople is a city within the great province of Thrace, a region currently divided between Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece. It is a frontier region for the Roman Empire, with vast territories occupied by the Goths all around. The Goths are definitely Barbarians (literally, «peoples from the outside»), but they have been peacefully implanted in Thrace for a long time and are well accepted. However, Roman tax collectors have taken to racketeering them little by little and they have taken up arms. They have been engaging in violent actions for two years, with at their head a brilliant leader, Fritigern, whom no Roman general has been able to put down. Well decided to settle the matter, the Roman Emperor of the Orient Valens, who resides in Constantinople, has sent his army to fight the rebels.
The Roman army is, by tradition, disciplined and above all extremely slow. The infantry is in appearance not much and no one member attains individual glory, but it is a steam roller. It is this slowness, in effect, which has always been its strength, this respect for strict procedure to the last detail. A Roman general is first and foremost a leader who applies the rules, not a hero. While on a campaign, whatever is happening, whatever the circumstances, the army stops marching in the beginning of the afternoon and then spends three hours, everyday, digging ditches and putting up fences to protect its camp for the night. Thanks to this organisational model, the Roman army has policed the largest and longest-lasting empire on earth.
Valens has informed his counterpart, the Western Emperor Gratien, who lives in Rome,and Gratien’s army has undertaken the long voyage to back up Valens. But it is slow getting there. On August 8, Valens presides a war council. Two views are in conflict. Victor, a true Roman general pleads for prudence : now that Gratien is coming with his numerous forces, we are sure to win. Victor is Sarmatian, an immigrant who has come from the steppes, but he has been educated in the Roman style and has become Roman to a fault : given to temporizing and respectuous of procedure to extremes.
The hawks didn’t see things that way, swayed by the impetuous Sebastianus. Roman by birth, considered the best commander of his time, a fair and straightforward leader of men, well-loved by his men, he has formed three thousand perfectly trained men and has led awe-inspiring commando operations against the Goths. Indeed he admires the profound commitment and bravery of his enemy and has come to function like them. Sebastianus has become a Barbarian warrior! That day, he estimates that the Goths are outnumbered and that he can thus attack right away and reap alone the glory of the victory. This is the paradox : Victor the Samartian argues for Roman prudence, Sebastianus the Roman argues for Barbarian impetuosity. Valens chooses in Sebastianus’ favour. He decides to attack the next day.
August 9 378, the Romans and Goths face off on the plains of Andrianople. As a good Roman army should, the infantry awaits the moment to attack, stroïc as ever, not much worried about the Goth army, which doesn’t look all that impressive. Strength and numbers appear to be on the side of Rome. But then something extraordinary happens, which no one had foreseen. Thousands of horsemen allied with the Goths, who had gone in search of forage, return to camp at that precise moment. Roman intelligence had done a count of ten thousand Goths before the battle, but did not know of this cavalry. Seeing their camp under attack, they charge the Roman cavalry and decimate it.
The roman infantry are thus surrounded by an ennemy cavalry. They are professionals : they resist one, then two, then a third assault but finally break due to greater numbers. Roman estimates had been dramatically off. The Goths and their Allies disposed of one hundred and fifty-five thousand men while Rome (without Gratien) tallied a mere fifty-seven thousand, cavalry, infantry and auxiliaries included. Losses are estimated at forty thousand men for the Romans, including Valens himself and Sebastianus. Andronipole is the worst defeat of the Roman Empire, the final battle from which it will never recover. The Barbarians no longer have any opposition. In 410, the Wisigoth («Western Goths») Alaric defeats and plunders Rome. The Roman Empire is no more. It is at Andrianople that all came tumbling down.
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