Frittigern

Frittigern was a fourth century co-king of the Thervingi Goths, along with Alavivus. When the Huns began to move into their territory in Dacia (modern-day Romania and Moldova) in the 370s Alavivus and Frittigern requested asylum from the Romans. This was granted by Valens, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, but they were treated badly by the local officials led by Lupicinus. Food was already scarce because of the influx of refugees and this was worsened by the Romans withholding the food sent for them. When they began offering the Thervingi food in exchange for their wives and daughters and dogmeat for their children, the unrest amongst them began to near a boiling point.

Assessing the situation, Lupicinus realized that he was in danger of a revolt by a group of people larger than his forces. In an attempt to maintain control of the situation Lupicinus marched the entire group of refugees south to his main base in Marcianople. In hindsight this was probably a mistake from a tactical standpoint, as this took the Goths closer to Constantinople, which did not have an emperor in residence at the time. In order to move such a large group of people Lupicinus pulled his soldier guarding the border (between Roman territory in the west and Gothic territory in the east, separated by the Danube). This was another error as the Romans had given sanctuary to the Thervingi, but had refused to do so for their neighbors, the Greuthingi. Now that the river was unguarded the Greuthingi crossed into Roman territory and began to follow the Romans and Thervingi as they travelled south. Still angry, the Thervingi dragged their feet as much as possible so that they could catch up.

Upon reaching Marcianople Lupicinus ordered the Thervingi to stay outside of the town with his forces in between, but "invited" Alavivus and Frittigern to a banquet. Lupicinus' reasoning behind this banquet is disputed. He could have intended to kill the kings all along, he could have been trying to separate the Thervingi people from their leaders in an attempt to prevent them from organizing. During the banquet word reached Lupicinus that fighting had broken out between his soldiers and Goths in town, resulting in several Romans being killed and/or robbed and the Thervingi organizing in preparation for a fight. Lupicinus immediately ordered the execution of the kings' retainers either in a show of force or an attempt to mitigate the danger he was in personally. Reports vary as to what happened next. Some say that Lupicinus ordered the execution of both kings, with Frittigern escaping but Alavivus being executed. Another says that Frittigern convinced Lupicinus to let him go back to his people in the hopes of calming the situation, but this report does not say anything about Alavivus. Either way, he is not mentioned again after the banquet and is presumed to have been killed.

Upon returning to his people, Frittigern formally broke ties with the Romans and joined forces with the Greuthingi and began to loot the countryside with Lupicinus and his forces in pursuit. The two forces met at the Battle of Adrianople, where the Roman forces were summarily defeated, and Lupicinus fled the battlefield in shame, subsequently disappearing from the historical record. Frittigern led a coalition of the Thervingi and Greuthingi, deserters, and local Goths who joined the cause in looting the countryside. With this combined force he was able to gather wealth and win battles against the Romans that culminated in the Battle of Adrianople.

Despite being such a big figure in the Gothic War of 376-382, Frittigern is not mentioned after the Battle of Adrianople. It is possible that he was killed or that he was put aside as part of the peace negotiations.