Europe 467: Dengizich’s invasion of Thrace

In mid 467, while the Romans were preparing for their campaign against the Vandals, Dengizich’s Huns crossed the Danube and invaded the Diocese of Thraciae. Responding quickly, the Eastern Empire trapped a large Hunnic-led force in the Balkan Mountains and by the end of the year had compelled Dengizich to withdraw.

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467 Vandal Mediterranean raids ▲

In the spring of 467 the Eastern Roman emperor Leo I informed the Vandal king Gaiseric that Anthemius had been made Western emperor and that any further moves on Italy or claims on the imperial throne would lead to war. Gaiseric responded by denouncing the Eastern Romans for breaking their treaty with him and reasserting his position that Olybrius, through his marriage to Valentinian III’s daughter Placidia, was the rightful claimant to the Western throne. The Vandals then launched raids on Sicily, Italy, and Rhodes, causing a panic in Alexandria over fears that Egypt would be next. in wikipedia

467–468? Lazic–Svani war ▲

In 467 Lazica, backed by the Eastern Romans, tried to reconquer the Souani—the Svani of Svaneti—who had aligned themselves with Persia and Iberia. Shortly after the Romans promised to send troops from Roman Armenia to assist Lazica, a Persian embassy arrived, announcing that the Persians had defeated the Kidarites and taken their capital Balaam. Focused as he was on planning his campaign against the Vandals (468), Emperor Leo dismissed the envoys and presumably decided against committing his forces to the war. in wikipedia

467 Anthemius and Gaul ▲

Upon becoming Western Roman emperor in April 467, Anthemius summoned a number of Gallic aristocrats to Rome, many of whom—such as the famed poet Sidonius Apollonaris—swiftly complied and were awarded with leading positions at court. These overtures to the Gauls probably further weakened the power of Syagrius in the north and, together with the military buildup in Italy, may have encouraged some of the barbarian invaders to copy the Suebi and withdraw from their recent conquests. In any case, at about this time Augusta Treverorum (Trier) broke away from the domination of the Ripuarian Franks and for perhaps a decade existed as an independent Roman entity under the leadership of the comes Arbogast (a descendant of the 4th century Romano-Frankish general of the same name). in wikipedia

467 Remismund’s withdrawal ▲

When news reached Gaul and Hispaniae that Anthemius had arrived in Italy with a large army in the spring of 467, panic gripped the courts of the Visigoths and the Suebi. Concerned that the Romans might be planning an expedition against him, the Suebian king Remismund withdrew his raiding forces from Lusitania in order to consolidate his position in Gallaecia. However, when, within a few months, it became apparent that the Romans intended to mount a seaborne offensive on the Vandals in Africa, the Suebi regained confidence and, in an expedition led by the king himself, marched back into Lusitania. in wikipedia

467 Dengizich’s invasion of Thrace ▲

Despite Eastern Roman emperor Leo I’s agreement to allow the Hunnic king Dengizich to settle his followers south of the Danube in early 467, negotiations soon broke down, prompting Dengizich to invade the Diocese of Thraciae later the same year. In response the Eastern magister militum Aspar and a number of generals—including Anagast, Basiliscus, and Ostrys—marched to the scene with their armies and successfully trapped a substantial barbarian force in a mountain valley (perhaps the Shipka Pass or somewhere nearby in the Balkan Mountains). As the surrounded, predominantly Gothic, force approached starvation, the Romans incited the Goths within it to turn against their Hunnic leaders, then intervened to crush the survivors. What happened after this is uncertain, but it seems likely that Dengizich withdrew across the Danube with his remaining followers. in wikipedia

467 Fall of Balaam ▲

In 467 the Sasanian Persian shah Peroz I, allied with the Hephthalites, besieged and captured the Kidarite capital of Balaam in Tokharistan. Defeated, the Kidarites retreated across the Hindu Kush into Gandhara, abandoning their Central Asian holdings to the Hephthalites. Jubilant, the Persians announced their victory to the Eastern Romans in Constantinople in late 467 or early 468. in wikipedia

467?–477? Siege of Paris ▲

At some point in the 460s Childeric, king of the Salian Franks, besieged or blockaded Lutetia (Paris) and allegedly kept up the siege for ten years, causing a “great famine and hunger” in the city. As Childeric was still aligned with Syagrius’ regime in northern Gaul, it seems likely that Lutetia had been in revolt—possibly in support of Anthemius, who had acceded as Western Roman emperor in 467—and Childeric was acting to keep his ally’s territory intact. The most notable defender of Lutetia was the venerable Genevieve—later the patron saint of Paris—who helped organize the city’s resupply via the Seine during the siege and in another instance persuaded Childeric to spare prisoners he had taken from the city. in wikipedia

467? Fall of Singidunum ▲

To deal with Dengizich’s invasion of the Diocese of Thraciae in 467, the Eastern Roman would have recalled troops from Dacia and Illyricum. It may be in this context that the Ostrogoths reasserted themselves to threaten Noricum in the same year. Perhaps at the same time the Sarmatians crossed the Danube and seized Singidunum—a city that would be in their possession by c. 471. in wikipedia

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Europe 467: Dengizich’s invasion of Thrace

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Dengizich’s invasion of Thrace