[gothic-l] Did the Gothic fleet operate on the Rhine?

[andreas.schwarcz at UNIVIE.AC.AT]

On 16 Jul 2001, at 10:05, dirk at smra.co.uk wrote:

> Hello all!
> 
> Wolfram said in 'The Goths' (p.190) that before 475 the Salian Franks
> had attacked the kingdoms of the Heruls, Varni and Thuringians on the
> Rhine, but were beaten back by a Gothic fleet. This is mentioned in
> the context of Visigothic policies to strengthen small kingdoms like
> the Heruls, Varni and Thuringians in the rear of the Franks to weaken
> the threat that they posed. Wolfram explained that the Atlantic fleet
> of the Visigoths stood under experienced Roman comanders and had
> operated with success at long distances also against the Saxons, but
> is that really  to mean that they should have sailed down the Rhine to
> fight of the Salian Franks in order to support the Heruls, Varni and
> Thuringian allies on the lower Rhine?
> 
> cheers,
> Dirk
> 
Dear Dirk,
I think Wolfram overinterprets here two letters of Apollinaris 
Sidonius (VIII 3,3 and VIII 9, 5, not 8.5, as Wolfram has it). There 
was a Roman fleet led by Roman officers under the command of 
Euric, and it fought successfully against Saxon pirates on the 
Atlantic coast  south of the Loire, but all that Sidonius tells us 
about the Franks and Heruls is that they came as supplicants to 
Euric´s court. He does not give us  any naval enterprise of a Gothic 
fleet entering the Channel to fight a Frankish fleet there. Here one 
takes better the more restricted interpretation of Emilienne 
Demougeot, Formation de l'Europe vol.2/2, pp.641 f.

Kind regards
                      Andreas
Ao.Univ.Prof.Dr.Andreas Schwarcz
Institut für österreichische Geschichtsforschung
Universität Wien
Dr.Karl Lueger-Ring 1
A-1010 Wien
Österreich
Tel.0043/1/42-77/272-16
Fax 0043/142-77/92-72

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