Battle of Pollentia
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Battle of Pollentia | |||||||
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Part of Gothic War (401-403) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Western Roman Empire | Visigoths | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Stilicho Honorius | Alaric I |
The Battle of Pollentia was fought on 6 April 402 (Easter) between the Romans under Stilicho and the Visigoths under Alaric I, during the first Gothic invasion of Italy (401–403). The Romans were victorious, and forced Alaric to retreat, though he rallied to fight again in the next year in the Battle of Verona, where he was again defeated. After this, Alaric retreated from Italy, leaving the province in peace until his second invasion in 409, after Stilicho's death.[1]
Background
Theodosius I, the last emperor of both the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire, died in 395, leaving his sons Arcadius and Honorius emperors of the East and West, respectively. However, the weakness of character of the two brothers, and their young age upon their accession to the throne, made it possible for ambitious and sometimes unscrupulous ministers to assume the effective rule of the Empire.[2]
In the west, the able
Stilicho, intending to rid the Empire of Rufinus and assume sole control over the whole of Theodosius' inheritance, in accordance with the latter's express orders, dispatched Gainas, a Gothic general, to destroy the haughty prefect.[8] Gainas effected the commission, though he was reduced to flagrant treachery. Next, however, he turned on his patron Stilicho, joining with the Eunuch Eutropius to supplant the influence of the Vandal minister over Arcadius; later, they would declare Stilicho a public enemy. The eastern and western administrations would remain disunited till 476 when the western empire finally collapsed.[9]
Meanwhile, about the time of Rufinus' fall, the
Alaric, established in his new Illyrian command, now set his sights on the western empire. Crowned king of the Goths by his troops for his successes hitherto, Alaric only waited long enough to exploit the resources of the Imperial armories in the province to finally supply his troops with adequate weapons and armor,
Stilicho had relied on the rivers of northern Italy to delay the barbarians long enough for his return; however, the unusual dryness of the weather left the rivers shallow and an insufficient barrier to Alaric's approach. Thus, by the time Stilicho arrived in Italy with his reinforcements, he found that Honorius had deserted Milan before the Gothic march, and had taken refuge in a city of
Battle
Interrupted (as above) by Stilicho's arrival in the attempt to lay siege to Hasta, the barbarians retreated west to Pollentia. Although some of his soldiers wished to continue the retreat, Alaric remained resolved to force the issue, and prepared for a pitched battle with the Roman army. In view of this Stilicho, hoping to take Alaric by surprise, chose to attack on Easter Sunday, 6 April 402, when the Arian Goths would be occupied with religious celebration. (Stilicho's impiety is a subject of scandal amongst some Christian historians.)[19][20]: 55 The result of the ensuing battle is a subject of partisan controversy, with most of the Roman sources claiming a clear victory, while the Gothic writers affirm the opposite result.[21] Alaric rallied his unprepared army with skill and courage to meet the Roman attack, and even succeeded in routing the Roman auxiliary cavalry of the Alani, whose king fell in the battle.[22] However, according to the most reliable writers,[23] the Goths were ultimately driven from the field with slaughter, and their camp was stormed and plundered by the victorious Romans. The recapture of the spoils of Greece and northern Italy, which had followed in Alaric's baggage train through the campaign, might alone justify Stilicho's claim of a great victory.[24] The conclusion of Claudian, Honorius' court-poet, demonstrates fairly well at least the Roman view of the battle: "Thy glory, Pollentia, shall live for ever...Fate pre-ordained thee to be the scene of our victory and the burial-place of the barbarians."[This quote needs a citation]
Stilicho offered to return the prisoners in exchange for the Visigoths returning to Illyricum, but upon reaching Verona, Alaric stopped his retreat and endeavoured to capture the city.[7]: 431 Stilicho and local forces surrounded the Visigoths and defeated them in the Battle of Verona. With many of his generals deserting him and swearing allegiance to Stilicho, Alaric was forced to leave Italy.[citation needed]
Aftermath
By 403 Alaric and the Visigoths had been pushed back to the Balkans where they remained a minor threat.[7]: 512 In 405 (according to Adrian Goldsworthy) or 407 (according to Averil Cameron) Stilicho and Alaric formed a treaty which conceded the latter's demands of title for himself and concession of 4,000 pounds of gold for his troops in exchange for absolute allegiance to the former.[25]: 139 Many senators were already upset that Stilicho wielded so much power and influence over the emperor Honorius and they knew he had his sights on the eastern empire as well. When the senators heard of this treaty with the barbarian king Alaric, Stilicho was declared a public enemy and guilty of treason in 408. He was executed shortly after.[25]: 139
Modern historian Peter Brown suggest that this was a mistake. "A strident chauvinism and a refusal to negotiate with the barbarians led to the sack of Rome in 410", during which Romans had to pay three times as much as Alaric originally wanted in order to ransom their city back from the Visigoths.[26]: 124
References
- ^ An Encyclopedia of World History, (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1952), chap. II., Ancient History, p. 121
- ^ Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chap. XXIX., pp. 1,027, 1,028
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,034
- ^ The fact is doubtful, as the appointment was private. Gibbon, p. 1,035
- ^ Gibbon, pp. 1,035–37
- ^ Zosimus, "Historia Nova", Books 4–6 Historia Nova
- ^ a b c d Cameron, Averil, and Peter Garnsey. The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. XIII the Late Empire AD 337–425. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,036, 1,037
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,039
- ^ Gibbon, chap. XXX., p. 1,047
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,048
- ^ Gibbon, Ibid.
- ^ Cameron, Averil. The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity. London: Routledge, 1993.
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,052
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,054
- ^ a b Gibbon, p. 1,055, editor's note
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,057
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,058
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,059
- ^ Dunn, Geoffrey. "Easter and the Battle of Pollentia." Journal of Religious History 34.1 (2010): 55–66. Print
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,059, note 45; Roman sources are Orosius, Prudentius, and Claudian; the Gothic, Cassiodorus and his abbreviater Jordanes
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,060
- ^ Claudian and Prudentius; the others were at a considerable remove of time. See Gibbon, Ibid., note 46
- ^ Gibbon, p. 1,060
- ^ a b Cameron, Averil. The Later Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1993. Print.
- ^ Brown, Peter. The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150–750. New York: Norton, 1989. Print.
Sources
- Claudian. The Gothic War. Trans. Maurice Platnauer. London: W. Heinemann, 1922. Print. Loeb Classical Library. p. 173.
- Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Book IV, pp. 15–17.