Editing Quadi (section)

===Second letter of Saint Jerome===
[[File:Saint Jerome Writing-Caravaggio (1605-6).jpg|thumb|Saint Jerome Writing (c. 1605–1606). Oil on canvas, 112 x 157 cm (44 x 61.8 in). Galleria Borghese, Rome]]
The last contemporary mention of the Quadi as an identifiable people is in another letter by Saint Jerome from 409, but it places them far from home. He lists them first among the peoples who were occupying Gaul at that time: "Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Herules, Saxons, Burgundians, Allemanni and—alas! for the commonweal!—even Pannonians".<ref>{{harvtxt|Kolník|2003|p=636}} citing Jerome's [[wikisource:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume_VI/The Letters of St. Jerome/Letter_123|letter 123]] to Ageruchia</ref> Scholars note that apart from the Saxons, Burgundians and Alemanni, who were already well-known near the Rhine, and the Alans who were newcomers from Ukraine who had already played an important role in the Roman military, the others appear to have been long-term neighbours from the Middle Danube area. The Vandals and Sarmatians listed next after the Quadi are generally understood to include the [[Hasdingi]] Vandals and Sarmatians who had been eastern neighbours of the Quadi for centuries.{{sfn|Wolfram|1997|p=160}} The Pannonians from within the empire were the Quadi's long-term neighbours to the south.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|pp=80-81}} The ''Cosmographia'' written by [[Julius Honorius]], and ''[[Liber Generationis]]'', indicate that the Heruli were already settled on the Danube near the Marcomanni and Quadi for some time.{{sfn|Liccardo|2024}} The [[Gepids]] had already settled somewhere near their future location in [[Dacia]] in the 3rd century, among the Quadi's eastern neighbours.{{sfn|Pohl|1998}} 

The chain of events which led to large numbers of Middle Danubian people to suddenly move west along the Danube, towards Gaul, are not well understood but several are frequently discussed.
*In 401, the poet [[Claudian]] described how [[Raetia]] was troubled by the local [[Vindelici]] there while Stilicho was preoccupied in Italy with the invasion of [[Alaric I|Alaric]], a Gothic military leader from inside the empire. According to Claudian, "the peoples (''gentes'') broken their treaties (''foedera'', implying a pact with non-Romans) and, encouraged by the news of Latium's trouble, had seized upon the glades of Vindelicia and the fields of [[Noricum]]". The text says that Stilicho's victories forces were "Vandal spoils" (''Vandalicis ... spoliis'') and so many scholars believe Vandals were involved. Furthermore, there are proposals that they included the same groups who later went to Hispania, including both Silingi and Hasdingi. This would mean that Vandals had already moved and gather near the Rhine.<ref>See for example {{harvtxt|Goffart|2006|pp=87-88}}, and {{harvtxt|Castritius|2006|pp=177,180}}, and {{harvtxt|Heather|2009|pp=173,182}} who are all citing Claudian's ''Gothic War'' ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0690%3Apoem%3D1 Latin], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Claudian/De_Bello_Gothico*.html#363A English]). (Some translators, including the Platnauer translation cited by Heather, assume that "Vandalicis" is intended to refer to the local Vindelici.)</ref>
*In 406, the year of the Rhine crossing of the Vandals and Alans, [[Radagaisus]], a Gothic leader from outside the empire, attacked Italy with a very large force from the Middle Danube itself. Modern scholars have proposed various connections between these events and the movement westwards of the Vandals and others.{{sfn|Goffart|2006|p=89}}