In The Roman Empire
In 381, Athanaric unexpectedly came to the East Roman capital of Constantinople. According to Jordanes, he negotiated a peace with the new emperor, Theodosius I, that made some Thervings foederati, or official allies of Rome allowed to settle on Roman soil as a state within a state. Orosius (Historiae adversum paganos 7, 34) and Zosimus (New History 4, 34, 3-5) affirm this, but a more reliable source, Ammianus Marcellinus (Res gestae 27, 5, 10) tells us an entirely different story. According to him, Athanaric was banished by his fellow tribesmen and forced to seek asylum on the Roman territory. Cf. Themistius (oratio 15, 190-1), who likewise describes Athanaric as a supplicant and a refugee. Clearly, Athanaric was by then no authority to negotiate with; he was welcomed by Theodosius in Constantinople only because the Emperor wished to make a lasting impression on the Tervingi, who were still fighting the Romans.
A few weeks later, Athanaric died. A peace and a treaty with those Tervingi (or Visigoths), who still fought the Romans in Thrace, was concluded in 382 and it lasted until Theodosius' death in 395.
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