AUC PHILOLOGICA
AUC PHILOLOGICA

AUC Philologica (Acta Universitatis Carolinae Philologica) is an academic journal published by Charles University. It publishes scholarly articles in a large number of disciplines (English, German, Greek and Latin, Oriental, Romance and Slavonic studies, as well as in phonetics and translation studies), both on linguistic and on literary and cultural topics. Apart from articles it publishes reviews of new academic books or special issues of academic journals.

The journal is indexed in CEEOL, DOAJ, EBSCO, and ERIH PLUS.

AUC PHILOLOGICA, Vol 2024 No 2 (2024), 143–159

On the Origins of the Gothic Leader Alaric: Between Claudian and Zosimus

Oto Mestek

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/24646830.2024.9
published online: 22. 10. 2024

abstract

Alaric has often been seen as the leader of the Visigothic people, from 395 to his death in 410. Before his rebellion against the Roman Empire in 395, he served in the Roman military, participating in the campaign against Eugenius and Arbogast in 394. His early career is mentioned in the work of the historian Zosimus. But his background is shrouded in mystery. In the middle of the 6th century, Jordanes wrote about his noble origin and the Visigothic dynasty of Balthi. This has led some historians to look for Alaric’s origins among the chieftains and nobility of the Gothic tribe of the Thervingi. Among contemporary authors, only the verses of the poet Claudian mention Alaric’s birth. This article explores the possibilities of Alaric’s origin and the internal policies of the Goths living in Roman territory. Most likely, the person of Alaric was more closely associated with the Roman army than is usually thought.

keywords: Alaric; Visigoths; Claudius Claudianus; Zosimus; Goths; Gainas; Peuce Island; Scythia Minor

references (85)

1. AASS = Acta sanctorum. 1643-.

2. AE = L'Année épigraphique. 1888-.

3. Amory, P., 1997. People and Identity in Ostrogothic Italy, 489-554. Cambridge / New York / Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. CrossRef

4. Arce, J., 2018. Alarico (365/370-410 A. D.). La integración frustrada. Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia.

5. Bachrach, B. S., 1973. A History of the Alans in the West: From Their First Appearance in the Sources of Classical Antiquity through the Early Middle Ages. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

6. Băjenaru, C., 2010. Minor Fortifications in the Balkan-Danubian Area from Diocletian to Justinian. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Mega.

7. Blockley, R. C., 1981. The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire. Liverpool: Francis Cairns.

8. Boin, D., 2020. Alaric the Goth: An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

9. Bratož, R., 2015. 'Athaulf zwischen Pannonien und Rom'. In: T. Vida (ed.), Romania Gothica II: The Frontier World Romans, Barbarians and Military Culture. Proceedings of the International Conference at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 1-2 October 2010. Budapest: Eötvös Loránd University, Institute for Archeological Sciences / Martin Op[it]z Kiadó, 15-49.

10. Braund, D., 1994. Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC-AD 562. Oxford: Clarendon Press. CrossRef

11. Burns, Th. S., 1994. Barbarians within the Gates of Rome: A Study of Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, ca. 375-425 A.D. Bloomington / Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

12. Burns, Th. S., 2003. Rome and the Barbarians, 100 B.C.-A.D. 400. Baltimore / London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

13. Cameron, A., 1970. Claudian: Poetry and Propaganda at the Court of Honorius. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

14. Christensen, A. S., 2002. Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths: Studies in a Migration Myth. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press / University of Copenhagen.

15. CIL = Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum. 1863-.

16. Coombe, C., 2018. Claudian the Poet. Cambridge [et al.]: Cambridge University Press. CrossRef

17. Daryaee, T., 2009. Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London / New York: I. B. Tauris. CrossRef

18. Drinkwater, J. F., 2007. The Alamanni and Rome 213-496 (Caracalla to Clovis). Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press. CrossRef

19. Elton, H., 1996a. 'Fravitta and Barbarian Career Opportunities in Constantinople'. Medieval Prosopography 17/1, 95-106.

20. Elton, H., 1996b. Warfare in Roman Europe, AD 350-425. Oxford: Clarendon Press. CrossRef

21. Faber, E., 2010. 'Athanarich, Alarich, Athaulf. Zum Wandel westgotischer Herrschaftskonzeptionen'. Klio 92, 157-169. CrossRef

22. García Moreno, L. A., 2017. España, siglo V. La Monarquía goda Balta y la Diócesis de las Españas. Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado.

23. Geary, P. J., 2002. The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton / Oxford: Princeton University Press.

24. Giese, W., 2004. Die Goten. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.

25. Gillett, A., 2000. 'Jordanes and Ablabius'. In: C. Deroux (ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History X. Bruxelles: Latomus, 479-500.

26. Gnilka, Ch., 2017. Prudentius, Contra orationem Symmachi. Eine kritische Revue. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag.

27. Goetz, H.-W., 2003. 'Regna and Gentes: Conclusion'. In: H.-W. Goetz, J. Jarnut, W. Pohl (eds.), Regna and Gentes: The Relationship between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World. Leiden / Boston: Brill, 597-628. CrossRef

28. Goffart, W., 2006. Barbarian Tides: The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. CrossRef

29. Gračanin, H., 2006a. 'The Huns and South Pannonia'. Byzantinoslavica 64, 29-76.

30. Gračanin, H., 2006b. 'Goti i južna Panonija' [Goths and South Pannonia]. Scrinia Slavonica 6, 83-126.

31. Halsall, G., 2007. Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568. Cambridge / New York: Cambridge University Press. CrossRef

32. Halsall, G., 2014. 'Two Worlds Become One: A 'Counter-Intuitive' View of the Roman Empire and 'Germanic' Migration'. German History 32, 515-532. CrossRef

33. Heather, P., 1996. The Goths. Oxford / Malden: Blackwell Publishers.

34. Heather, P., 1997. 'Foedera and foederati of the fourth century'. In: W. Pohl (ed.), Kingdoms of the Empire: The Integration of Barbarians in Late Antiquity. Leiden / New York / Köln: Brill, 57-74. CrossRef

35. Heather, P., 2007. 'Goths in the Roman Balkans c. 350-500'. In: Poulter (2007a: 163-190). CrossRef

36. Heather, P., 2010. Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe. Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press.

37. Heather, P., 2017. Der Untergang des Römischen Weltreichs. Deutsch von Klaus Kochmann. 4. Auflage. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag.

38. Heather, P., Matthews, J., 2004. The Goths in the Fourth Century. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.

39. Hershkowitz, P., 2017. Prudentius, Spain, and Late Antique Christianity: Poetry, Visual Culture, and the Cult of Martyrs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossRef

40. Hoffmann, D., 1963. 'Die spätrömischen Soldatengrabschriften von Concordia'. Museum Helveticum 20, 22-57.

41. Hoffmann, D., 1978. 'Wadomar, Bacurius und Hariulf. Zur Laufbahn adliger und fürstlicher Barbaren im spätrömischen Heere des 4. Jahrhunderts'. Museum Helveticum 35, 307-318.

42. Kampers, G., 2008. Geschichte der Westgoten. Paderborn [et al.]: Ferdinand Schöningh. CrossRef

43. Kokowski, A., 2007. Goci. Od Skandzy do Campi Gothorum (od Skandynawii do Półwyspu Iberyjskiego) [The Goths: From Scandza to the Campi Gothorum (from Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula)]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Trio.

44. Kornbluth, G., 2008. 'The seal of Alaric, rex Gothorum'. Early Medieval Europe 16, 299-332. CrossRef

45. Kulikowski, M., 2007. Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric. Cambridge [et al.]: Cambridge University Press. CrossRef

46. Kulikowski, M., 2019. Imperial Tragedy: From Constantine's Empire to the Destruction of Roman Italy (AD 363-568). London: Profile Books.

47. Lenski, N., 2002. Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press.

48. Leppin, H., 2003. Theodosius der Große. Auf dem Weg zum christlichen Imperium. Darmstadt: Primus-Verlag / Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.

49. Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G., 1990. Barbarians and Bishops: Army, Church, and State in the Age of Arcadius and Chrysostom. Oxford: Clarendon Press. CrossRef

50. Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G., 1992. 'Alaric's Goths: nation or army?' In: J. Drinkwater, H. Elton (eds.), Fifth-century Gaul: a crisis of identity. Cambridge / New York / Oakleigh: Cambridge University Press, 75-83.

51. Lotter, F., Bratož, R., Castritius, H., 2003. Völkerverschiebungen im Ostalpen-Mitteldonau-Raum zwischen Antike und Mittelalter (375-600). Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter. CrossRef

52. Marasco, G. (ed.), 2003. Greek and Roman Historiography in Late Antiquity: Fourth to Sixth Century A.D. Leiden / Boston: Brill. CrossRef

53. Meier, M., 2019. Geschichte der Völkerwanderung. Europa, Asien und Afrika vom 3. bis zum 8. Jahrhundert n. Chr. München: C.H. Beck. CrossRef

54. Mestek, O., 2021. Království Vizigótů: Podmínky a aspekty získání královské moci [Kingdom of the Visigoths: Terms and Aspects of Takeover of the Royal Power]. Master's thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Arts. https://dspace.cuni.cz/handle/20.500.11956/150919.

55. Negin, A., D'Amato, R., 2018. Roman Heavy Cavalry (1): Cataphractarii & Clibanarii, 1st Century BC-5th Century AD. Oxford / New York: Osprey Publishing.

56. O'Flynn, J. M., 1983. Generalissimos of the Western Roman Empire. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press.

57. PLRE I = A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, J. Morris, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Volume I: A.D. 260-395. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.

58. PLRE II = J. R. Martindale, The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Volume II: A.D. 395-527. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.

59. Pohl, W., 2004. Die Germanen. 2. Auflage. München: R. Oldenbourg Verlag. CrossRef

60. Poulter, A. G. (ed.), 2007a. The Transition to Late Antiquity: On the Danube and Beyond [= Proceedings of the British Academy 141]. Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press.

61. Poulter, A. G., 2007b. 'The Transition to Late Antiquity'. In: Poulter (2007a: 1-50). Romanescu, G., Bounegru, O., Stoleriu, C. C., Mihu-Pintilie, A., Nicu, C. I., Enea, A., Stan, C. O., 2015. 'The ancient legendary island of PEUCE - myth or reality?' Journal of Archeological Science 53, 521-535. CrossRef

62. Scharf, R., 2001. Foederati. Von der völkerrechtlichen Kategorie zur byzantinischen Truppengattung. Wien: Holzhausen.

63. Schleicher, F., 2021. Iberia Caucasia. Ein Kleinkönigreich im Spannungsfeld großer Imperien. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer. CrossRef

64. Southern, P., Dixon, K. R., 1996. The Late Roman Army. New Haven / London: Yale University Press.

65. Speidel, M. P., 1977. 'The Roman Army in Arabia'. In: H. Temporini, W. Haase (eds.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II. 8. Berlin / New York: Walter de Gruyter, 687-730.

66. Steinacher, R., 2021. 'Rome and Its Created Northerners'. In: M. Friedrich, J. M. Harland (eds.), Interrogating the 'Germanic': A Category and its Use in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Berlin / Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 31-66. CrossRef

67. Stickler, T., 2007. 'The Foederati'. In: P. Erdkamp (ed.), A Companion to the Roman Army. Malden / Oxford / Carlton: Blackwell Publishing, 495-514. CrossRef

68. Thompson, E. A., 1948. A History of Attila and the Huns. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

69. Thompson, E. A., 1963. 'The Visigoths from Fritigern to Euric'. Historia 12, 105-126.

70. Treadgold, W., 2007. The Early Byzantine Historians. Basingstoke / New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

71. Urbainczyk, Th., 1997. Socrates of Constantinople: Historian of Church and State. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. CrossRef

72. Vukadinović, S., Smirnov-Brkić, A., 2022. 'Mentions of the Danube in the Poetry of Claudius Claudianus'. Istraživanja, Journal of Historical Research 33, 7-23. CrossRef

73. Wenskus, R., 1961. Stammesbildung und Verfassung. Das Werden der frühmittelalterlichen gentes. Köln / Graz: Böhlau Verlag. CrossRef

74. Wiewiorowski, J., 2008. Duces of Scythia Minor: A Prosopographical Study. Poznań: Wydawnictvo Contact.

75. Wijnendaele, J. W. P., 2016. 'Stilicho, Radagaisus, and the So-Called "Battle of Faesulae" (406 CE)'. Journal of Late Antiquity 9, 267-284. CrossRef

76. Wijnendaele, J. W. P., 2018. ''Dagli altari alla polvere.' Alaric, Constantine III, and the downfall of Stilicho'. Journal of Ancient History 6, 260-277. CrossRef

77. Wijnendaele, J. W. P., 2019. 'Sarus the Goth: from imperial commander to warlord'. Early Medieval Europe 27, 469-493. CrossRef

78. Wijnendaele, J. W. P., 2022. 'Ammianus on Mallobaudes and Magnus Maximus: A Response to Theodosian Discourse?' In: M. Hanaghan, D. Woods (eds.), Ammianus Marcellinus from Soldier to Author. Leiden / Boston: Brill, 204-227. CrossRef

79. Williams, S., Friell, G., 1994. Theodosius: The Empire at Bay. London: B.T. Batsford.

80. Wolfram, H., 1975. 'Athanaric the Visigoth: monarchy or judgeship. A study in comparative history'. Journal of Medieval History 1, 259-278. CrossRef

81. Wolfram, H., 1988. History of the Goths. Translated by Thomas J. Dunlap. New and completely revised from the second German edition. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press.

82. Woods, D., 1996. 'Subarmachius, Bacurius, and the Schola scutariorum sagittariorum'. Classical Philology 91, 365-371. CrossRef

83. Zahariade, M., 2006. Scythia Minor: A History of a Later Roman Province (284-681). Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert.

84. Zahariade, M., 2007. 'The Tetrarchic Reorganization of the Limes Scythicus'. In: L. F. Vagalinski (ed.), The Lower Danube in Antiquity (VI C BC - VI C AD): International Archaeological Conference, Bulgaria-Tutrakan, 6.-7. 10. 2005 Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Archaeology and Museum / Tutrakan History Museum, 293-304.

85. Zahariade, M., 2017. 'The Scythian section of Notitia Dignitatum: a structural and chronological analysis'. In: N. Hodgson, P. Bidwell, J. Schachtmann (eds.), Roman Frontier Studies 2009: Proceeding of the XXI International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies (Limes Congress) held at Newcastle upon Tyne in August 2009. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing, 509-518. CrossRef

Creative Commons License
On the Origins of the Gothic Leader Alaric: Between Claudian and Zosimus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

230 x 157 mm
periodicity: 3 x per year
print price: 150 czk
ISSN: 0567-8269
E-ISSN: 2464-6830

Download