Radagaisus
Encyclopedia
Radagaisus was a Gothic
king
who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406. A commited Pagan
, Radagaisus evidentily planned to sacrifice the Roman Senators
to the gods and burn Rome
to the ground. Radagaisus was executed after being defeated by the half-Vandal general Stilicho
. 12,000 of his higher-status fighters were drafted into the Roman army and some of the remaining followers were dispersed, while so many of the others were sold into slavery
that the slave market briefly collapsed. These Goths
later joined Alaric I
in his conquest of Rome
in 410.
Radagaisus, whose early career and ultimate origins are unknown, fleeing Hunnic pressures, invaded Italy without passing through the Balkans
, which indicates that his invasion began somewhere on the Great Hungarian Plain
, west of the Carpathian Mountains
. Archaeological
finds of coin hoards, buried by residents who were apparently aware of Radagaisus's approach, suggest that his route passed through southeastern Noricum
and western Pannonia
. About this time Flavia Solva
was burned out and largely abandoned and Aguntum
was devastated by fire. An indeterminate number of refugees fled ahead of his army as it marched over the Alps
. It was said by contemporaries that Arian Christians
swelled his forces.
The Western Roman Empire
under Stilicho
(pictured) mobilized thirty numerii
(about 15,000 men) from the Italian field army
in response to Radagaisus's invasion. A second contingent of Roman troops, possibly recalled from the Rhine frontier, complemented the Italian forces. In addition, they received help from Gothic
auxiliaries
under Sarus
and Hunnic
forces under Uldin
. Alaric I
remained inactive through the whole episode, committed by treaty to Illyricum
.
Radagaisus's army had the run of northern Italy for at least six months while the Empire mobilized its forces. They eventually made their way to the bridgehead community of Florentia
. They blockade
d the city, where no less than a third of the Goth's troops and allies were killed.
, about 8 km away. There, Radagaisus abandoned his followers and tried to escape, but was captured by the Romans. Historian Peter Heather
hypothesizes that Radagaisus's escape attempt may have been compelled by a revolt within his forces. He was executed on 23 August 406. 12,000 of his higher-status fighters were drafted into the Roman army. Some of the remaining followers were dispersed, while so many of the others were sold into slavery
that the slave market briefly collapsed.
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406. A commited Pagan
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
, Radagaisus evidentily planned to sacrifice the Roman Senators
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
to the gods and burn Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to the ground. Radagaisus was executed after being defeated by the half-Vandal general Stilicho
Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of Vandal birth. Despised by the Roman population for his Germanic ancestry and Arian beliefs, Stilicho was in 408 executed along with his wife and son...
. 12,000 of his higher-status fighters were drafted into the Roman army and some of the remaining followers were dispersed, while so many of the others were sold into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
that the slave market briefly collapsed. These Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
later joined Alaric I
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
in his conquest of Rome
Sack of Rome (410)
The Sack of Rome occurred on August 24, 410. The city was attacked by the Visigoths, led by Alaric I. At that time, Rome was no longer the capital of the Western Roman Empire, replaced in this position initially by Mediolanum and then later Ravenna. Nevertheless, the city of Rome retained a...
in 410.
Invasion
Radagaisus's force probably consisted of about 20,000 fighting men. Many of the fighters were accompanied by their families and other noncombatants, meaning that the total size of Radagaisus's group may have approached 100,000.Radagaisus, whose early career and ultimate origins are unknown, fleeing Hunnic pressures, invaded Italy without passing through the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, which indicates that his invasion began somewhere on the Great Hungarian Plain
Great Hungarian Plain
The Great Hungarian Plain is a plain occupying the southern and eastern part of Hungary, some parts of the Eastern Slovak Lowland, southwestern Ukraine, the Transcarpathian Lowland , western Romania , northern Serbia , and eastern Croatia...
, west of the Carpathian Mountains
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
. Archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds of coin hoards, buried by residents who were apparently aware of Radagaisus's approach, suggest that his route passed through southeastern Noricum
Noricum
Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...
and western Pannonia
Pannonia
Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
. About this time Flavia Solva
Flavia Solva
Flavia Solva was a municipium in the ancient Roman province of Noricum. It was situated on the western banks of the Mur river, close to the modern cities of Wagna and Leibnitz in the southern parts of the Austrian province of Styria...
was burned out and largely abandoned and Aguntum
Aguntum
The ruins of Aguntum are Roman site in East Tirol, Austria, located ca. 4 km east of Lienz in the Drau valley. The city appears to have been built to exploit the local sources of iron, copper, zinc and gold...
was devastated by fire. An indeterminate number of refugees fled ahead of his army as it marched over the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. It was said by contemporaries that Arian Christians
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
swelled his forces.
The Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....
under Stilicho
Stilicho
Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of Vandal birth. Despised by the Roman population for his Germanic ancestry and Arian beliefs, Stilicho was in 408 executed along with his wife and son...
(pictured) mobilized thirty numerii
Numerii
The Roman army used some auxiliaries who were not so well trained. These were called numeri . The numeri were small groups of half-savage tribesmen, using their own weapons and commanded by their own chiefs. Their orders would be given in their own language, not Latin. Numeri were used as border...
(about 15,000 men) from the Italian field army
Field army
A Field Army, or Area Army, usually referred to simply as an Army, is a term used by many national military forces for a military formation superior to a corps and beneath an army group....
in response to Radagaisus's invasion. A second contingent of Roman troops, possibly recalled from the Rhine frontier, complemented the Italian forces. In addition, they received help from Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
auxiliaries
Auxiliaries
An auxiliary force is a group affiliated with, but not part of, a military or police organization. In some cases, auxiliaries are armed forces operating in the same manner as regular soldiers...
under Sarus
Sarus (Goth)
Sarus was a Gothic chieftain and commander for the emperor Honorius . He was known for his hostility to the prominent Gothic brothers Alaric I and Ataulf, and was the brother of Sigeric, who ruled the Goths briefly in 415.-Career:...
and Hunnic
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
forces under Uldin
Uldin
Uldin or Uldes was one of the primary chieftains of the Huns located beyond the Danube during the reigns of the Eastern Roman Emperors Arcadius and Theodosius II...
. Alaric I
Alaric I
Alaric I was the King of the Visigoths from 395–410. Alaric is most famous for his sack of Rome in 410, which marked a decisive event in the decline of the Roman Empire....
remained inactive through the whole episode, committed by treaty to Illyricum
Illyricum (Roman province)
The Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital...
.
Radagaisus's army had the run of northern Italy for at least six months while the Empire mobilized its forces. They eventually made their way to the bridgehead community of Florentia
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. They blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
d the city, where no less than a third of the Goth's troops and allies were killed.
Capture, death, and aftermath
Stilicho's army relieved the siege of Florentia as the city was approaching the point of surrender. The Roman counterattack was extremely successful, and Radagaisus was forced to retreat into the hills of FiesoleFiesole
Fiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km NE of that city...
, about 8 km away. There, Radagaisus abandoned his followers and tried to escape, but was captured by the Romans. Historian Peter Heather
Peter Heather
Peter Heather is a historian of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, currently Professor of Medieval History at King's College London. He has held appointments at University College London and Yale University and was Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History at Worcester College, Oxford until...
hypothesizes that Radagaisus's escape attempt may have been compelled by a revolt within his forces. He was executed on 23 August 406. 12,000 of his higher-status fighters were drafted into the Roman army. Some of the remaining followers were dispersed, while so many of the others were sold into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
that the slave market briefly collapsed.
Ancient sources
- History of OrosiusOrosiusPaulus Orosius , less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Christian historian, theologian and student of Augustine of Hippo from Gallaecia...
- History of ZosimusZosimusZosimus was a Byzantine historian, who lived in Constantinople during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I . According to Photius, he was a comes, and held the office of "advocate" of the imperial treasury.- Historia Nova :...
- Chronicle of Prosper of AquitaineProsper of AquitaineSaint Prosper of Aquitaine , a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle.- Life :...
- Chronicle of Marcellinus ComesMarcellinus ComesMarcellinus Comes was a Latin chronicler of the Eastern Roman Empire. An Illyrian by birth, he spent most of his life at the court of Constantinople, which is the focus of his surviving work.-Works:...
- Augustine of HippoAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, City of God, V.23
Other accounts
- Edward GibbonEdward GibbonEdward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
in the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), Chapter 30
Further reading
- Drinkwater, John F., "The usurpers Constantine III (407-411) and Jovinus (411-413)", Britannia 29 (1998:269-98).
- Michael Kulikowski, "Barbarians in Gaul, Usurpers in Britain" Britannia 31 (2000:325-345).