Late Roman Infantryman vs Gothic Warrior: AD 376-82

Ravaged by civil war and pressure from the Huns to the east, in late summer AD 376 the Gothic tribe of the Theruingi – up to 200,000 people under their leader Fritigern – gathered on the northern bank of the River Danube and asked the Eastern Roman emperor, Valens, for asylum within the empire.

After agreeing to convert to Arian Christianity and enrol in the Roman Army, the Goths were allowed to cross the Danube and settle in the province of Thrace. Far more people crossed the Danube than th...