Fritigern (also Fritigernus, died c. 380 CE) was a Visigothic king best known as the victor of the decisive Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE, which decimated the Roman army and haunted Roman military commanders for decades afterwards. He was a Thervingi Goth who converted to Arian Christianity and challenged the authority of the Visigothic king Athanaric (d. 381 CE), who persecuted the Gothic Christians, plunging the region into the Gothic Civil War of the early 370's CE.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 370 CEFritigern battles Athanaric in the Gothic Civil War.
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376 CEFritigern formally converts to Arian Christianity in order to enter the Roman Empire.
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376 CEFritigern and Alavivus lead their people across the Danube into Roman Thrace.
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378 CEBeginning of the First Gothic War with Rome.
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378 CEFritigern defeats Roman emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople.
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378 CE - 382 CEFirst Gothic War with Rome.
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c. 379 CE - c. 380 CEFritigern leads raids through Balkans down to Greece.
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380 CEDeath of Fritigern.
