02-23-2013, 03:15 AM
I think we're talking about, at most four thousand Gothic cavalry, and substantially more Gothic infantry, against at least ten thousand Roman infantry.
There are a lot of ambiguities in Ammianus' account, probably derived from different survivors' experiences. He seems to have the cavalry flee early in the battle, and again late in it.
It's worth noting that both Roman cavalry commanders live and both Roman infantry commanders die, as does the emperor. It's likely that the cavalry got away and the infantry were trapped. If the Romans simply fled the field, then the Gothic cavalry could do the pursuing. If, as most interpretations assume the Roman infantry find themselves surrounded, then the Gothic infantry can also cut down the Roman infantry. It's like Cannae or Zama rather than Jena-Auerstadt.
Also, Ammianus has the battle begin with a Roman cavalry charge. And near the end he says "the carcasses of slaughtered horses covered the ground in heaps." Although he has the "trampling down horse and man" much earlier in the account, I still suspect they were trampling down those who had fallen at the beginning of the battle,
Ammianus describes desperate Roman attacks on the Goths, saying they "plunged into the dense masses of the foe, regardless of their lives and aware that there was no hope of escape," [this is where I get the idea of disorganized Roman counterattacks] and I think this fits an encirclement better than a flight. Later he says that "all were scattering in flight over unfamiliar paths," which fits a flight better than an encirclement, but one may describe the infantry and the other may describe the cavalry, or one may describe an earlier stage of the battle and the other a later stage [with the Romans forcing a gap in the encirclement, but collapsing anyway?]
Also, if the Roman infantry are surrounded, backing away from one threat could mean backing into another unit. At first, this would figuratively fit the description, as units become intermingled and lose their order. At the end, then, this could also literally fit the description of not having enough room to use their weapons. I think the threat, and morale collapse, and panic, could create the stampede/crowd crush, even without physical shoving.
Also, Ammianus, Vegetius, and Orosius all emphasize Gothic archers or missile-throwers.
There are a lot of ambiguities in Ammianus' account, probably derived from different survivors' experiences. He seems to have the cavalry flee early in the battle, and again late in it.
It's worth noting that both Roman cavalry commanders live and both Roman infantry commanders die, as does the emperor. It's likely that the cavalry got away and the infantry were trapped. If the Romans simply fled the field, then the Gothic cavalry could do the pursuing. If, as most interpretations assume the Roman infantry find themselves surrounded, then the Gothic infantry can also cut down the Roman infantry. It's like Cannae or Zama rather than Jena-Auerstadt.
Also, Ammianus has the battle begin with a Roman cavalry charge. And near the end he says "the carcasses of slaughtered horses covered the ground in heaps." Although he has the "trampling down horse and man" much earlier in the account, I still suspect they were trampling down those who had fallen at the beginning of the battle,
Ammianus describes desperate Roman attacks on the Goths, saying they "plunged into the dense masses of the foe, regardless of their lives and aware that there was no hope of escape," [this is where I get the idea of disorganized Roman counterattacks] and I think this fits an encirclement better than a flight. Later he says that "all were scattering in flight over unfamiliar paths," which fits a flight better than an encirclement, but one may describe the infantry and the other may describe the cavalry, or one may describe an earlier stage of the battle and the other a later stage [with the Romans forcing a gap in the encirclement, but collapsing anyway?]
Also, if the Roman infantry are surrounded, backing away from one threat could mean backing into another unit. At first, this would figuratively fit the description, as units become intermingled and lose their order. At the end, then, this could also literally fit the description of not having enough room to use their weapons. I think the threat, and morale collapse, and panic, could create the stampede/crowd crush, even without physical shoving.
Also, Ammianus, Vegetius, and Orosius all emphasize Gothic archers or missile-throwers.
