Adrianople, Battle of

or Battle of Hadrianopolis

(AD 378) Battle fought in what is now Edirne, Tur.

, that marked the beginning of serious Germanic incursions into Roman territory. It pitted the Roman army under the emperor Valens against the horsemen of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and other Germanic tribes. The Roman army was annihilated and Valens died on the battlefield. His successor, Theodosius I, and the Goths agreed in 382 that the Goths would help with imperial defenses in exchange for food subsidies. The treaty set the pattern for later barbarian intrusions.

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▪ ancient Rome

Adrianople also spelled  Hadrianopolis 

      (Aug. 9, AD 378), battle fought at present Edirne, in European Turkey, resulting in the defeat of a Roman army commanded by the emperor Valens at the hands of the Germanic Visigoths led by Fritigern and augmented by Ostrogothic and other reinforcements. It was a major victory of barbarian horsemen over Roman infantry and marked the beginning of serious Germanic inroads into Roman territory.

      The Goths annihilated the Roman army; by some accounts, the Romans lost 40,000 men. Valens, who had failed to await reinforcements from Gratian, his nephew and co-emperor, was killed on the battlefield. An accommodation (382) was reached with the Goths (Goth) by Theodosius I, Valens' successor as Eastern co-emperor, whereby the Goths agreed to aid in the imperial defenses in exchange for annual food subsidies, establishing a pattern for later barbarian intrusions into the empire.

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