Farnobius (died AD 377) was a Gothic chief who was killed in a battle with the Roman army of Frigeridus while trying to cross the mountains from

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

into Illyricum.

Biography

Farnobius was the ''optimatus'' (or chieftain) of one of the

Greuthungi The Greuthungi (also spelled Greutungi) were a Goths, Gothic people who lived on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe between the Dniester River, Dniester and Don river, Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. T ...

tribes, who were pressing on the Danubian frontier during the 370s as a result of westward pressure by the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

. In 376, with the outbreak of the Gothic War, Farnobius led his people across the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

from

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

, and poured into Moesia Secunda, together with two other Greuthungi tribes, led by

Alatheus Alatheus and Saphrax were Greuthungi chieftains who served as co-regents for Vithericus, son and heir of the Gothic king Vithimiris. Alatheus Alatheus ( 376–387) was a chieftain of the Greuthungi. He fought during the Hunnish invasion of 376, ...

and Saphrax. Soon however, Farnobius broke away from the coalition, and proceeded to operate independently from the rest of the Greuthungi. Farnobius’ tribe were soon joined by a group of

Taifals The Taifals or Tayfals ( or ''Theifali''; ) were a people of Germanic peoples, Germanic or Sarmatian origin, first documented north of the lower Danube in the mid third century AD. They experienced an unsettled and fragmented history, for the mo ...

, and they proceeded to ravage lower Moesia. In 377, Farnobius attacked a Roman

castra ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

Beroea Beroea (or Berea, ) was an ancient city of the Hellenistic period and Roman Empire now known as Veria (or Veroia) in Macedonia, Northern Greece. It is a small city on the eastern side of the Vermio Mountains north of Mount Olympus. The town is m ...

which was defended by the ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers"; : ) was a top-level military command used in the late Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, the e ...

'', Frigeridus. Frigeridus was forced to retreat from Thrace to Illyricum, where he managed to obtain reinforcements. He then returned to Thrace, moving through the mountains, where he surprised the troops of Farnobius, who were attempting to cross the same mountains. In the battle that followed, Farnobius was killed, and his troops captured. After Farnobius’ defeat and death, his forces were deported to

Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to supplement the population of the peninsula.Wirth, Gerhard, ''Rome and its Germanic Partners in the Fourth Century'' in Kingdoms of the Empire: The Integration of Barbarians in Late Antiquity (ed. Pohl, Walter) (1997), pg. 51

Sources

Ancient

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, occasionally anglicized as Ammian ( Greek: Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος; born , died 400), was a Greek and Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquit ...

, ''Rerum gestarum libri'', Book 31, Chapter 9

Modern

* Heather, Peter, ''The Visigoths from the Migration Period to the Seventh Century: An Ethnographic Perspective'',

Boydell & Brewer Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Martlesham, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, editio ...

Ltd (2003) * Lenski, Noel Emmanuel, ''Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D.'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

(2002) * Martindale, J. R.; Jones, A. H. M, ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', Vol. I AD 260–395, Cambridge University Press (1971) * Van Nort, Richard M., ''The Battle of Adrianople and the Military Doctrine of Vegetius'' (2007) * Wolfram, Herwig; Dunlap, Thomas J., ''History of the Goths'', University of California Press (1990)

References

{{reflist 377 deaths 4th-century Gothic people Year of birth unknown Military personnel killed in action Gothic warriors Gothic War (376–382)

Biography

See also

Sources

Ancient

Modern

References