Fritigern: a Christian prior to 376?

[ValentinianVictrix]

I must thank you Alan for this very interesting topic. You have raised some very interesting questions that have been overlooked by many authors. The issue of course is when exactly did the 'civil war' between Fritigern and Athanaricus actually take place. Was it before 376AD or afterwards? Socrates appears to place it after the conclusion of the treaty between Valens and Athanaricus in 369 on the Danube. This would be logical, Athanaricus had suffered a defeat at the hands of Valens and the treaty removed some obligations and tributes that would have been paid under the treaty placed on the Goths by Constantine. This may well have placed him in a bad light and caused rebellion amongst his chieftains. However, both Ammianus and Sozomen place the civil war to around 376 when the Goths were given permission by Valens to cross the Danube, whilst Zosimus places it to after the Batlle of Adrianople. Its pretty clear that Zosimus had got his history dates mixed up so I think we can discount what he said, but its difficult to ignore Ammianus and Sozomen who were living contemporary with the events.