In 378 AD, The Roman army under the command of the emperor Valens, suffered its worst defeat since the Battle of Cannae over five centuries prior. Outside the town of Adrianople, the Romans, through a combination of bad intelligence and an unfounded confidence on the part of Valens, lost to the Gothic army.
In 375, the Huns had driven the Goths out of their homelands. With no where left to go, the Gothic tribes pressured Valens to allow them to live as foederati (allies) within Roman territory. Seeing this as an opportunity to ease his manpower shortages and increase the size of his army,…
