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Athanaric
Sign in to saveAthanaric or Atanaric (; died 381) was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths () for at least two decades in the 4th century. Throughout his reign, Athanaric was faced with invasions by the Roman Empire, the Huns and a civil war with Christian rebels. He is considered the first king of the Visigoths, who later settled in Iberia, where they founded the Visigothic Kingdom.
Key facts
- Monarch.name
- Athanaric
- Monarch.succession
- King of the Thervingi
- Monarch.image
- 01-ATANARICO.JPG
- Monarch.caption
- Imaginary 1782 portrayal of Athanaric
- Monarch.reign
- 369–381
- Monarch.predecessor
- Aoric
- Monarch.successor
- Alaric I
- Monarch.royal house
- Balti dynasty
- Monarch.father
- Aoric
- Monarch.death_date
- 381
- Monarch.death_place
- Constantinople, Roman Empire
- Monarch.religion
- Gothic paganism
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Place of death
- Constantinople
- Child
- Wallia
- Father
- Aoric
- Sibling
- Rothesteus
- Occupation
- traditional leader or chief
- Family
- Balti dynasty
- Image
- 01-ATANARICO.JPG
Show 4 more facts
- date of death
- 0381-01-11
- date of birth
- 0318-00-00
- Commons category
- Athanaric
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~4 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Life
- See also
- References
Athanaric or Atanaric (; died 381) was king of several branches of the Thervingian Goths () for at least two decades in the 4th century. Throughout his reign, Athanaric was faced with invasions by the Roman Empire, the Huns and a civil war with Christian rebels. He is considered the first king of the Visigoths, who later settled in Iberia, where they founded the Visigothic Kingdom.
==Life== thumb|260px|Athanaric and Valens on the Danube, [[Eduard Bendemann, 1860]] Athanaric made his first appearance in recorded history in 369, when he engaged in battle with the Roman emperor Valens and ultimately negotiated a favorable peace for his people. During his reign, many Thervingi had converted to Arian Christianity, which Athanaric vehemently opposed, fearing that Christianity would destroy Gothic culture. According to the report of Sozomen, more than 300 Christians were killed in Athanaric's persecution during the 370s.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Athanaric” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.