Editing Battle of Adrianople (section)

==Composition of the Roman troops==
{{Further|Late Roman army|East Roman army}}
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2016}}
[[File:Late Roman soldier re-enactor depicting an infantry officer.jpg|thumb|200px|A re-enactor portraying a junior Roman officer of the 4th century [[AD]]. Soldiers would have worn a similar panoply to this.]]
Valens' army may have included troops from three Roman field armies: the Army of Thrace, based in the eastern Balkans, which may have sustained heavy losses in 376–377; the 1st Army in the Emperor's Presence; and the 2nd Army in the Emperor's Presence. Both armies in the Emperor's Presence were normally based at Constantinople in peacetime but had been committed to the Persian frontier in 376 and sent west in 377–378.<ref name="Eastern">Eastern ''Notitia Dignitatum'', parts 5, 6, & 8.</ref><ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Historiae'', book 31, chapters 7 & 11.</ref>

Valens' army included units of veterans, men accustomed to war. The entire force consisted of seven [[Roman legion|legions]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=keeZBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA70|last=Coombs-Hoar|first=Adrian|publisher=Casemate Publishers|isbn=978-1781590881|title=Eagles in the Dust: The Roman Defeat at Adrianopolis AD 378|page=70|year=2015|access-date=2019-07-13}}</ref> – among which were the [[Legio I Maximiana|Legio I ''Maximiana'']]{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}} and imperial auxiliaries – of 700 to 1000 men each. The cavalry was composed of mounted archers (''sagittarii'') and ''[[Scholae Palatinae|Scholae]]'' (the imperial guard). 
[[File:Germaniciani seniores shield pattern.svg|thumb|200px|Shield pattern of the ''Germaniciani seniores'', according to ''[[Notitia dignitatum]]''.]]

Ammianus Marcellinus makes references to the following forces under Valens:
* Legions of ''Lanciarii'', and ''Mattiarii''. The {{Lang|la|[[Notitia Dignitatum]]}} lists both as ''legiones palatinae''. Some{{who|date=November 2012}} claim that the Mattiarii may have been allied forces.{{dubious|date=November 2012}}{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} However, ''mattiarii'' may refer to mace-armed infantry (''mattea'' being Latin for mace).{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} Valens is referred to as seeking protection with the Lanciarii and Mattiarii as the other Roman forces collapsed (apparently a sign of how desperate the battle had become). Eventually they were unable to hold off the Goths.
* A battalion{{clarify|date=November 2012}} of Batavians; they were apparently held in reserve and fled, given a reference to a ''comes'' named Victor attempting to bring them up into battle but unable to find them.
* ''Scutarii'' (shielded cavalry) and archers. As one or both were under the command of [[Bacurius the Iberian]], these may have been allied auxiliary troops from [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Caucasian Iberia]] (part of modern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) rather than Roman proper.

He also refers to the following officers:
* [[Richomeres|Ricomer]], Frankish ''[[Comes]]'' of Gratian's ''Domestici'' (the corps of bodyguards of the emperor who were stationed in the imperial palace) sent to assist Valens in 376. He offered to act as a hostage to facilitate negotiations when Equitus refused. He survived the battle, indicated due to retreating.
* [[Sebastianus (magister peditum)|Sebastianus]], arrived from Italy previously, and clearly operating as one of Valens' generals. Killed in the battle.
* [[Victor (magister equitum)|Victor]], [[magister equitum|master-general of the cavalry]], a [[Sarmatia]]n by birth, who led the officers counselling waiting for Gratian.
* [[Equitius (soldier)|Equitius]], a relation of Valens, a tribune and high steward of the palace. He refused to act as a hostage, as he had been a prisoner of the Goths in Dibaltum and escaped, and now feared revenge. Killed in the battle.
* [[Bacurius the Iberian|Bacurius]] (presumably Romanised Bakur), a native and possibly prince of Iberia, in command of the archers and/or ''scutarii'' with Cassio that accompanied Ricimer as hostage, and who attacked without orders.
* [[Traianus (magister peditum)|Traianus]], apparently in command of Roman forces before Valens assumed command, who was described as an illustrious man whose death in the battle was a great loss. He was supposedly still alive when Valens sought refuge with the ''Lanciarii'' and ''Mattiarii''.
* Victor, the ''[[comes]]'' who tried to bring the Batavian reserve battalion into action.
* Cassio, in command of the archers and/or ''scutarii'' accompanying Ricimer as hostage.
* [[Saturninus (consul 383)|Saturninus]], ''magister militum vacans'', referred to as being able to stay alive by retreating. 
* Valerianus, Master of the Stable. Killed in battle.
* Potentius, tribune of the Promoti, a branch of the cavalry, son of Ursicinus, former commander of the forces.{{clarify|date=November 2012}} He "fell in the flower of his age, a man respected by all persons of virtue."
* Thirty five tribunes, including those of units and those of the staff, who were killed. Presumably there were more than this, but who survived.

===Strength of Valens' army===
Several modern historians have attempted to estimate the strength of Valens' army.

Warren Treadgold estimates that, by 395, the Army of Thrace had 24,500 soldiers, while the 1st and 2nd Armies in Emperor's Presence had 21,000 each.<ref>Treadgold, Warren, 1995, ''Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081'', Stanford, [[Stanford University Press]].</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}} However, all three armies include units either formed (several units of ''Theodosiani'' among them) or redeployed (various legions in Thrace){{citation needed|date=November 2012}} after Adrianople.<ref name="Eastern" /> Moreover, troops were needed to protect Marcianopolis and other threatened cities, so it is unlikely that all three armies fought together.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Some modern historians estimated the real number of Roman troops to be as many as 15,000 men, 10,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry.<ref name=HP181 />

===Order of battle of Valens' army===
It is not possible to precisely list the units of the Roman army at Adrianople. The only sources are Ammianus, who describes the battle but mentions few units by name, and the eastern {{Lang|la|[[Notitia Dignitatum]]}}, which lists Roman army units in the late 4th to early 5th century, after [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]]. Many units listed in the Balkans were formed after Adrianople; others were transferred from other parts of the Empire, before or after Adrianople; others are listed in two or more sectors. Some units at Adrianople may have been merged or disbanded due to their losses. The Roman forces consisted of heavy infantry, various archers and cavalry.<ref>Simon Macdowall, ''Adrianople Ad 378'', Osprey Publishing, 2001, {{ISBN|1-84176-147-8}}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}