Alaviv

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Alaviv ( Latin Alavivus , also Alavius ) was a ruler of the Terwingen on the lower Danube in the 4th century during the reign of the Eastern Emperor Valens (364–378). In 375, with the arrival of the Huns, the Terwingen Empire of Athanaric broke up in the Balkans. In the following year, 376, Alaviv and Fritigern led part of the Terwingen across the Danube into the secure Roman Empire . Alavivs Terwingen are among the victors in the Battle of Adrianople on August 9, 378 and were significantly involved in the ethnogenesis of the Visigoths in the Roman Balkan provinces.

Life

Herwig Wolfram thinks it is conceivable that Alaviv, the supreme ruler of the fugitive Terwingen in 376, belonged to the family of the so-called elder Balthen and was Alarich's father.

position

Alaviv and Fritigern were together the leaders of the allied groups of fugitive Terwingen, but Fritigern, according to Herwig Wolfram, was not equal to Alaviv. Only with Alaviv's disappearance does Fritigern appear in Ammianus ' report of the events as the highest-ranking ruler of the Terwingen, taken up by Ostrom .

Danube crossing of the Terwingen

Marcianapolis on the Tabula Peutingeriana in the 4th century AD

After the Huns had destroyed the Greutungenreich Ermanarichs , they turned against Athanarich's Terwingenreich on the lower Danube. Athanaric wanted to repel the attack of the Huns in a well-developed position on the bank of the Dniester . In order not to be surprised by the Huns, he secured himself with a strong vanguard. The Huns, however, bypassed the Terwingen vanguard by a ruse, unexpectedly crossed the river during the night and defeated Athanaric's army with an attack before daybreak. The Athanaric Confederation, which had already been weakened by famine, internal disputes ( persecution of Christians ) and Valens' campaigns, disintegrated. With its end, in the following year 376, three Gothic sub-associations fled from the Huns to the south into the Roman Empire. Among them were Christian-Arian Terwingen, who, led by Alaviv and Fritigern , came in early autumn with the permission of Valens across the Danube Limes of the Moesia secunda to settle as subordinates ( Dediticii ) in this province (today's northern Bulgaria ).

"Itaque duce Alauiuo ripas occupauere Danubii, missisque oratoribus ad Valentem, suscipi se humili prece poscebant, et quiete uicturos se pollicentes et daturos, si res flagitasset, auxilia."

"Therefore, the Thervingers, under the leadership of Alaviv, occupied the bank of the Danube and sent envoys to Valens with the humble request that they should be received: they would keep calm and, if necessary, provide auxiliary troops."

Athanaric and his entourage, however, withdrew to Caucalandensis locus . At the end of the year 380, however, Athanaric was also forced to flee to eastern Roman territory with his entourage. With that the rule of the Terwingen had come to an end.

Both the Terwingen and the Greutungen of Alatheus and Safrac , which were also joined by the Huns and Alans of Farnobius in 377 , received settlement areas in the province of Moesia secunda.

“Nam postquam innumerae gentium multitudines per prouincias circumfusae pandentesque se in spatia ampla camporum, regiones omnes et cuncta oppleuere montium iuga, fides quoque uetustatis recenti documento firmata est. et primus cum Alauiuo suscipitur Fritigernus, quibus et alimenta pro tempore et subigendos agros tribui statuerat imperator. "

“Since these innumerable hordes of barbarians poured into the provinces and filled the land with their multitudes to the top of the mountains, we have new evidence of the correctness of those statements of the ancients. First, Alaviv and Fritigern were taken in, and they were to be given food first and then land to cultivate. "

Outbreak of the Gothic War (376–382)

When the Roman commander Lupicinus withdrew troops from the Danube in order to push the Terwingen to his headquarters in Marcianopolis (today Dewnja ), parts of the Greutungen (Gothic tribal association from the area of ​​today's Ukraine ), who also fled from the Huns, took the opportunity to cross the Danube to cross. The Terwingen marched slowly so that the Greutungen could catch up. There was an open uprising when Lupicinus tried to have Alaviv and Fritigern killed at a diplomatic dinner.

"Alauiuo et Fritigerno ad conuiuium corrogatis Lupicinus ab oppidi moenibus barbaram plebem opposito milite procul arcebat introire ad comparanda uictui necessaria ut dicioni nostrae obnoxiam et concordem, per preces necessi adsidue postulantem, ortisque et interitos estuña ortisque v interitos iurges. efferatique acrius barbari cum necessitudines hostiliter rapi sentirent spoliarunt interfectam militum manum. "

“Lupicin had invited Alaviv and Fritigern to a feast, but at the same time had raised troops to keep the advancing barbarians from the city : they demanded in peace and friendship, as our allies, to be allowed to buy food. Between them, who were denied the bare minimum, and the townspeople there were quarrels of a more serious nature and soon even a fight. The barbarians were very bitter that they wanted to withhold the indispensable, and robbed the corpses of the remaining Romans. "

The troops hastily drawn together by Lupicinus were defeated by the Goths. The Goths plundered the area around Marcianopolis, but because they were ignorant of the siege techniques, they did not attack this city or any other fortified places. Eventually they overcame the Balkan Mountains and moved towards Adrianopolis (now Edirne , Turkey). The Terwingian auxiliary troops stationed there joined the rebels.

Under the attack of the Huns in 375, Athanaric's previous Terwing confederation broke up. The part of the Terwingen, led by Alaviv and Fritigern across the Danube, was one of the victors of Adrianople on August 9, 378 and was significantly involved in the ethnogenesis of the Visigoths in the Roman Balkan provinces. At the end of the year 380, however, Athanaric was also forced to flee to eastern Roman territory with his entourage. With this the rule of the Terwingen in Dacia had come to an end.

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Ammianus Marcellinus . 31, 4-5. In: Wolfgang Seyfarth (Ed.): Ammiani Marcellini Rervm gestarvm libri qvi svpersvnt. In: Bibliotheca scriptorvm Graecorvm et Romanorvm Tevbneriana. Volume 2, new edition, De Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-519-01977-9 , pp. 168-174; David Coste (translator): Excerpts from Ammianus Marcellinus . Second complete edition. Volume 1: Primeval times . In: The historians of the German past. 2nd Edition. tape 3 . Leipzig 1884, p. 81–86 ( archive.org - German translation).
  2. ↑ a b Gerd Kampers:  Terwingen. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 30, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018385-4 , pp. 360–361.
  3. ↑ a b Herwig Wolfram : Gothic studies: people and rule in the early Middle Ages. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-52957-7 , (a) p. 118 , (b) note 44, p. 121 .
  4. ↑ a b Gerd Kampers: History of the Visigoths. Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76517-8 , p. 111.
  5. ↑ a b c Ammianus Marcellinus 31, 4.1-5.5. In: Wolfgang Seyfarth (Ed.): Ammiani Marcellini Rervm gestarvm libri qvi svpersvnt . Bibliotheca scriptorvm Graecorvm et Romanorvm Tevbneriana. Volume 2, new edition, De Gruyter, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-519-01977-9 , (a) Amm . 31 4.1: p. 168, (b) Amm . 31 4.8: p. 170, (c) Amm . 31 5.5: pp. 171-172.
  6. ↑ a b c David Coste (trans.): Excerpts from Ammianus Marcellinus . Second complete edition. Volume 1: Primeval times . In: The historians of the German past. 2nd Edition. tape 3 . Leipzig 1884 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - [a] p. 81, [b] p. 83, [c] p. 85.).
  7. ↑ Daniel Ziemann: From wandering people to great power. The emergence of Bulgaria in the early Middle Ages (7th – 9th centuries). Böhlau, Cologne / Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-09106-4 , p. 26.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Alaviv
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alavivus; Alavius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ruler of the Terwingen on the lower Danube
DATE OF BIRTH before 375
DATE OF DEATH after 375