05-09-2014, 08:42 AM
I will continue to call him Athanaricus because that is what I believe he called himself once he crossed the Danube and went to live at Constantiople at the invitation of Theodosius. It was common practice for 'barbarian' Chieftains, Kings and Princes to change their names so that they sounded more 'Roman', Vadomarius, a King of the Alamanni did exactly that when entering Roman service for example.
I will also continue to believe that Athanaricus was initially a Greuthingi Iudex rather than a Tervingi one. Ammianus may actually have seen Athanaricus before that Iudex died. Ammianus will have been able to question those who knew Athanaricus whilst he was at Constantinople and also before he crossed the Danube. He was writing contemporary with the events of the surviving books of his history and unlike Jordanes he witnessed many of the events that occured.
The career of Athanaricus was certainly a checkered one. He was an Iudex of the Greuthingi Goths but after the defeat at the hands of Valens in 369 he was forced to accept a new treaty which had much less generous conditions attached to it. He was then probably ousted as a Greuthingi Iudex and it looks like he then sought refuge with the Tervingi. He led an anti-Christian faction that persecuted fellow Gothic Christians. A power struggle then ensued between Athanaricus and another Chieftain called Fritigern. Whilst initially Athanaricus had the upper hand, Athanaricus was yet again defeated when Valens sent the Army of Thrace over the Danube to support Fritigern. Athanaricus then fled with those who remained loyal to him to the Carpathian mountains where he then had to face constant Hunnic attacks. He tried to restore the old Roman field wall in Dacia called the Limes Transalutanus but was thwarted by a Hunnic assault and he was only able to escape to the mountains because the Huns were too laden down with plunder to pursue him. Many of his followers then left him at this point and moved southwards towards the Danube, following the example of Fritigern and the other Gothic chieftains. Athanaricus then moved down to the Danube where Valens refused him entry and he was forced back to mountains again. Once Valens was dead Theodosius agreed to his crossing of the Danube and he was treated as a honoured guest at Constantinople for the rest of his life there.
I will also continue to believe that Athanaricus was initially a Greuthingi Iudex rather than a Tervingi one. Ammianus may actually have seen Athanaricus before that Iudex died. Ammianus will have been able to question those who knew Athanaricus whilst he was at Constantinople and also before he crossed the Danube. He was writing contemporary with the events of the surviving books of his history and unlike Jordanes he witnessed many of the events that occured.
The career of Athanaricus was certainly a checkered one. He was an Iudex of the Greuthingi Goths but after the defeat at the hands of Valens in 369 he was forced to accept a new treaty which had much less generous conditions attached to it. He was then probably ousted as a Greuthingi Iudex and it looks like he then sought refuge with the Tervingi. He led an anti-Christian faction that persecuted fellow Gothic Christians. A power struggle then ensued between Athanaricus and another Chieftain called Fritigern. Whilst initially Athanaricus had the upper hand, Athanaricus was yet again defeated when Valens sent the Army of Thrace over the Danube to support Fritigern. Athanaricus then fled with those who remained loyal to him to the Carpathian mountains where he then had to face constant Hunnic attacks. He tried to restore the old Roman field wall in Dacia called the Limes Transalutanus but was thwarted by a Hunnic assault and he was only able to escape to the mountains because the Huns were too laden down with plunder to pursue him. Many of his followers then left him at this point and moved southwards towards the Danube, following the example of Fritigern and the other Gothic chieftains. Athanaricus then moved down to the Danube where Valens refused him entry and he was forced back to mountains again. Once Valens was dead Theodosius agreed to his crossing of the Danube and he was treated as a honoured guest at Constantinople for the rest of his life there.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
