“The marching Romans soon came upon the Gothic wagon laager. Scouts reported that it was perfectly circular (literally “turned by a lathe”) and probably sited on a hill as earlier wagon laagers of the previous two years had been. The Goths at the wagons uttered a “fierce and hideous yell” and the Roman officers began to marshal their line. Ammianus then offers us a detail that is important for interpreting the events of the battle: the right wing of the Roman cavalry was placed in front and the greater part of the infantry behind – Ammianus uses the term subsidebat, a term usually interpreted as “in reserve” although it could mean “in support”.

The cavalry of the Roman left wing was, however, absent; they were still travelling to the battlefield while the army was deploying. Other surviving sources offer help here. Sozomen tells us that Valens decided to attack before his men were in the proper order, while Socrates states that the Roman cavalry revolted and refused to engage. Whether this was the cavalry of the right wing or left wing is unclear, but it was probably the cavalry who did not make it onto the battlefield (perhaps their commander had recommended waiting for Gratian?).”

This episode was written by Murray Dahm.

Murray is an ancient and medieval military historian from New Zealand, living in Australia. He has written more than 100 articles on various aspects of ancient and medieval military history and other historical topics from all periods. He is the author of Macedonian Phalangite vs Persian Warrior, Athenian Hoplite vs Spartan Hoplite and Leuctra 371 BC, all from Osprey Publishing. He is a regular on the Ancient Warfare Podcast.