Editing 378

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2011}}
{{About year|378|the number|378 (number)}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}
{{Year nav|378}}
{{M1 year in topic}}
[[File:Battle of Adrianople 378 en.svg|thumb|[[Battle of Adrianople|Battle of Adrianople (378)]]]]
__NOTOC__
Year '''378''' ('''[[Roman numerals|CCCLXXVIII]]''') was a [[common year starting on Monday]] of the [[Julian calendar]]. At the time, it was known as the '''Year of the Consulship of [[Valens]] and [[Valentinian II|Augustus]]''' (or, less frequently, '''year 1131 ''[[Ab urbe condita]]'''''). The denomination 378 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the [[Anno Domini]] [[calendar era]] became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

== Events ==
<onlyinclude>

=== By place ===
==== Roman Empire ====
* Spring &ndash; Emperor [[Valens]] returns to [[Constantinople]] and mobilises an army (40,000 men). He appoints [[Sebastianus (magister peditum)|Sebastianus]], newly arrived from Italy, as ''[[magister militum]]'' to reorganize the Roman armies in [[Thrace]]. 
* [[February]] &ndash; The [[Lentienses]] (part of the [[Alemanni]]) cross the frozen [[Rhine]] and raid the countryside. They are driven back by Roman ''[[auxilia palatina]]'' (Celtae and [[Petulantes]]), who defend the western frontier.
* [[May]] &ndash; [[Battle of Argentovaria]]: Emperor [[Gratian]] is forced to recall the army he has sent East. The Lentienses are defeated by [[Mallobaudes]] near [[Colmar]] ([[France]]). Gratian gains the title ''Alemannicus Maximus''.  
* [[Gothic War (376–382)|Gothic War]]: Valens sends Sebastian with a body of picked troops (2,000 men) to Thrace and renews the [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against the [[Goths]]. He chases down small groups of Gothic raiders around [[Edirne|Adrianople]].
* [[Fritigern]] concentrates his army at [[Kabile|Cabyle]] ([[Bulgaria]]). The Goths are mainly centred in the river valleys south of the [[Balkan Mountains]], around the towns of [[Stara Zagora|Beroea]], Cabyle and [[Burgas|Dibaltum]].  
* [[July]] &ndash; [[Frigeridus (dux)|Frigeridus]], Roman general, fortifies the Succi ([[Ihtiman]]) Pass to prevent the "barbarians" from breaking out to the north-west ([[Diocese of Pannonia|Pannonia]]).
* Gratian sets out from [[Lauriacum]] ([[Austria]]) with a body of light armed troops. His force is small enough to travel by boat down the [[Danube]]. He halts for four days at [[Sirmium]] ([[Serbia]]) suffering from [[fever]]. 
* [[August]] &ndash; Gratian continues down the Danube to the "Camp of Mars" (frontier [[fortification|fortress]] near modern [[Niš]]), where he loses several men in an [[ambush]] by a band of [[Alans]].
* Fritigern strikes south from Cabyle, following the [[Tundzha|Tundzha River]] towards Adrianople, and tries to get behind the [[Military supply chain management|supply lines]] to Constantinople.
* Roman [[reconnaissance]] detects the Goths. Valens, already west of Adrianople, turns back and establishes a fortified camp outside the city. 
* The Goths, with their [[wagon]]s and families vulnerable to attack, withdraw back to the north. Roman scouts fail to detect the [[Greuthungi]] cavalry [[foraging]] further up the Tundzha valley. 
* Fritigern sends a Christian [[priest]] to the Roman camp with an offer of terms and a letter for Valens. The peace overtures are rejected. 
* Valens leads an elite Roman army to Thrace to confront revolts, but is defeated in the [[Battle of Adrianople]].<ref>{{cite journal | first=Noel | last=Lenski | title=''Initium mali Romano imperio'': Contemporary Reactions to the Battle of Adrianople | journal=Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-2014) | volume=127 | year=1997 | pages=129–168 | doi=10.2307/284390 | jstor=284390 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/284390 | access-date=February 9, 2024}}</ref>
* The Goths attack Adrianople; they attempt to scale the [[Defensive wall|city walls]] with ladders but are repelled by the defenders, who drop lumps of [[masonry]].
* The Goths, supported by the [[Huns]], move on to Constantinople. Their progress is checked by the [[Saracen]]s, recruited from [[Arabia Petraea|Arab]] tribes who control the eastern fringes of the empire.
* October &ndash; The Greuthungi, faced with food shortages, split off and move west into Pannonia. Followed by their families, they raid villages and farmland.

==== Mesoamerica ====
* [[Siyaj K'ak']] begins to replace [[Maya civilization|Maya]]n kings with relatives of [[Spearthrower Owl]], emperor of [[Teotihuacan]].
* [[Siyaj K'ak']] conquers [[El Perú (Maya site)|Waka]] on January 8. 
* [[Siyaj K'ak']] conquers [[Tikal]] on January 16.
* [[Siyaj K'ak']] conquers [[Uaxactun]].

=== By topic ===
==== Architecture ====
* Valens completes the [[Roman aqueduct|aqueduct]] of Constantinople begun by [[Constantine the Great|Constantine I]].

==== Religion ====
* [[Gregory of Nazianzus]] is ordained [[bishop]] of Constantinople.
* [[Pope Damasus I]] is accused of [[adultery]] but is exonerated by Gratian.
</onlyinclude>

== Births ==
* [[Germanus of Auxerre]], Christian bishop (approximate date)

== Deaths ==
* [[August 9]] 
** [[Sebastianus (magister peditum)|Sebastianus]], Roman general (''[[magister peditum]]'')
** [[Traianus (magister peditum)|Traianus]], Roman general (''[[magister militum]]'')
** [[Valens]], Roman consul and emperor (b. [[328]])
* [[Arintheus|Flavius Arintheus]], Roman politician and general 
* [[Titus of Bostra]], Christian bishop and theologian

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:378}}
[[Category:378| ]]