Battle of Frigidus - Final Clash of Roman Paganism and Christianity

The ancient Roman state was no stranger to civil wars. At the first glance, it would almost seem that the Romans had as much a tendency to fight each other, as they did people beyond their borders. What they all share is that they all had some impact on Rome. Some weakened it, some strengthened it, and some outright transformed it. This video will discuss an event that would influence the European continent for the years to come: The battle of Frigidus and how Christianity hammered the final nail in the coffin of paganism in the Roman empire.
The final battle would take place at the Frigidus, the frigid river, what are today river Vipava and its tributary Hubelj, in present-day Slovenia. Despite the sinister name, the river itself didn’t affect the battle much and mainly serves as a geographical mark for the battle, though some sources depict the river being full of bodies, clogging the water flow that was colored red from blood.
The battle of Frigidus was a battle of ideologies, between east and west, and between the old and new Roman armies. The Emperor of the eastern half, Theodosius, refused to support his new counterpart in the west - Eugenius. And so, Theodosius marched from Constantinople across Thracia and the Balkans towards Italy. He managed to gather a larger army than Eugenius, and was joined by many Goths, Thracians, Armenians and other Foederati and allies, totaling around 50.000. He split his army in 5 parts. In contrast, the army of Eugenius was more complete and had a simpler structure, with the main body of Romans joined by Frank and Aleman foederati, totaling between 30.000 and 40.000 men.
In truth, no military experts of the time left us a good recap of the event. These were passed on mostly by clerical functionaries and poets, whose point of view and motives can easily be considered as lacking or skewed. And like many battles of antiquity, the battle of Frigidus left us no material evidence that would paint us a better picture of the battle.
But the facts are that the pagan worship had already been dying for some time before the battle. Both emperors, Theodosius and Eugenius, had been christians and if there ever was a clear battle between paganism and Christianity in the Roman empire, then Christianity already won long before the battle at Frigidus. The great importance of the battle was mostly ascribed to it after it was already over. With hindsight, we can see that the battle only reinforced events and characteristics that were already showing within the empire over centuries. The supremacy of Theodosius and his dynasty endured, as did the military supremacy of the eastern part of the empire. Despite Theodosius trying to achieve unity of the empire, it would only continue to split. The importance of barbaric armies and its military commanders would only grow, as would Christianity among the Roman population, especially among high officials. With this victory, the Roman empire was for the last time united under a single emperor, Theodosius. But that wouldn’t last long, as he would die only four months later in what is today Milan, Italy.
And so, while the battle became an important symbol for Christianity, it was really only one more mosaic piece in what was the decline of the Roman empire.
After the battle, a Gothic commander who fought under Theodosius, angered by the lack of recognition they got, despite as many as 10000 casualties suffered, would use the experience gained in the battle, to rise up against his Roman overlords and march on Rome itself. That man was Alaric of Visigoths.
Timestamps:
0:00 - Context for the Battle of Frigidus
2:33 - Theodosius marches against Eugenius into Italy
4:11 - Battle Proceedings
6:29 - Last Stand of Roman Paganism?
7:21 - Aftermath of the Battle of Frigidus
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Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/1m...
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[@jonny-b4954]

I'm just like, where TF are the updates? March was the last one?

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

No, it was only about 3 weeks ago