Adrian Coombs-Hoar

Fascinating study of Battle of Adrianople, but with way too much speculation on the author's part. He gives us the possible origin of the Goths--Scandinavia near Baltic through north Poland, then south to mountainous and the steppe areas. Then he covers their internal history, rivalries between different tribes of Goths and their leaders. He covers Valens, younger brother of Emperor Valentinian and how he is made Emperor of the East. Valens is not as good a military strategist as his older brother. His forces are divided; much time is taken up with Armenia. To escape the Alans and Huns, Goths ask for shelter in the Roman Empire, which permission Valens grants. However, they are treated abominably and under Fritigern's leadership, fight against the Romans. The Battle of the Willows gives Romans a taste of what it is like to fight Goths--not a cakewalk, as the Romans had thought. Finally, near Adrianople [present-day Edirne, Turkey] there is a final showdown between Roman and Goth. Mistakes are made on each side, and Fritigern destroys the army of Valens, who is killed; history is not sure if in battle or burnt to death, seeking shelter. The author puts forth several suggestions where the battlefield may have been. And presents us with pure speculation on "what if such-and-such had or had not happened?" The author quotes extensively from Ammianus Marcellinus, interpreting many passages himself as to what he thinks Ammianus meant, and other historians who lived many years after the event. Ammianus's description of the battle is very gory; it wouldn't be out of place in some Roman military novels. And to the author, it is the beginning of the end for Rome; Alaric and Odoacer are not too far in the future.… (meer)