Battle of the Willows 377
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 377 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Bulgaria | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Gothic War of 376–382 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ancient Rome | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 43.2167, 27.5833 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Willows (377) took place at a place called ad Salices ("town by the willows"), or according to Ammianus, a road way-station called Ad Salices ("by the Willows"); probably located within 15 kilometres of Marcianople (modern day Dobrudja, Bulgaria), although its exact location is unknown. Forces from the Western Roman Empire under the command of Richomeres advanced westward, while forces of the eastern Roman Empire under Traianus and Profuturus advanced northward where they joined forces to attack the Goths who had recently rebelled under command of Fritigern. and were laying waste to the northern Balkans.
The only extant description comes from Ammianus who left few details; he gives a lengthy description of the dead and dying, but no information on the number of combatants. At one point the Roman left wing gave way, but it was re-enforced and held. The battle ended with nightfall. The result was a bloody draw with both sides taking many losses; the Goths remained encamped behind their war-wagon circle for over a week after the battle.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Willows (revision 1380979720), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Marcianople 376 · 0 km
- Battle of Kozludzha 1774 · 13 km
- Battle of Varna 1444 · 24 km
- Siege of Varna (1201) 1201 · 27 km
- Siege of Varna (1828) 1828 · 27 km
- Battle of Kulevicha 1829 · 38 km
Other battles of the Gothic War of 376–382
- Battle of Marcianople 376
- Battle of Adrianople 378
- Battle of Constantinople (378) 378
- Siege of Adrianople (378) 378
- Battle of Thessalonica (380) 380
All 6 battles of the Gothic War of 376–382 →
Browse more: battles in Bulgaria · Europe · Ancient battles