Farnobius (died AD 377) was a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

chief who was killed in a battle with the Roman army of Frigeridus while trying to cross the mountains from Thrace into Illyricum.

Biography

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

Greuthungi The Greuthungi (also spelled Greutungi) were a Gothic people who lived on the Pontic steppe between the Dniester and Don rivers in what is now Ukraine, in the 3rd and the 4th centuries. They had close contacts with the Tervingi, another Gothic ...

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 century 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 Gothic War may refer to: *Gothic War (248–253), battles and plundering carried out by the Goths and their allies in the Roman Empire. *Gothic War (367–369), a war of Thervingi against the Eastern Roman Empire in which the Goths retreated to Mont ...

, Farnobius led his people across the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

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 seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in ...

, and poured into

Moesia Secunda Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

, 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 ( la, Taifali, Taifalae or ''Theifali''; french: Taïfales) were a people group of Germanic or Sarmatian origin, first documented north of the lower Danube in the mid third century AD. They experienced an unsettled and fra ...

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

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 menti ...

which was defended by the ''

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

'', 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 ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

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 anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae' ...

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