| Battle of Bolia | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFall of the Roman Empire andRoman–Germanic Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ostrogoths | Gepids Heruli Rugii Sarmatians Sciri Suebi Supported by: Western Roman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Theodemir | Hunimund Edeko Onoulphus Alaric Babai Beuca | ||||||
TheBattle of Bolia took place in 468 between theOstrogoths (Amal dynasty) and a coalition ofGermanic tribes in the Roman province ofPannonia.[1] It was fought on the south side of theDanube near its confluence with the riverBolia, in present-dayHungary. The Ostrogoths won, achieving supremacy in Pannonia, but soon migrated south towards richer lands.[2][3][4]
Following the death ofAttila, various Germanic and other tribes sought their independence from hisempire.[5] They allied under the command ofArdaric, theGepid king, and defeated the Huns and supporting forces at theBattle of Nedao in 454 CE.[6] While the role of the Ostrogoths in that battle is unclear,[6][7] it resulted in their independence as well.[8] After the Battle of Nedao, the newly freed tribes jockeyed for supremacy in Pannonia for the next fifteen years, most eventually becomingfederates of the Eastern Roman Empire.[9]
The Amal Goths were led byTheodemir, brother-in-law to the Ostrogoths' chiefValamir, who had been killed prior to the battle. The coalition included theSuevi underHunimund, theSciri under Hunulphus and Edicon (Edeko, Edica, Edika), theSarmatians, theGepids, theRugians, and likely included the Heruli.[3] TheRoman EmperorLeo I supported the anti-Goth coalition, despite the advice of his generalAspar.[2] Despite Valamir's death, the Ostrogoths won,[10] and the battle marked the end of the Sciri as a separate people.[1]
While some authors[11] have simply stated that the Bolia River remains unidentified; nonetheless, in 1934 the historianLudwig Schmidt attempted to identify the Bolia with theIpeľ,[12] and this identification continued to be followed by Wolfram,[2] and several other modern authors, without further analysis.[13] However, as Émilienne pointed out such an identification would not place the battle in Pannonia.[14] In order to fix that, Wolfram then suggested that the battle was across the Danube from the mouth of the Ipeľ at47°47′N18°53′E / 47.783°N 18.883°E /47.783; 18.883,[2] which would have placed it near what is now the village ofPilismarót, in present-dayHungary; however, that area is not aplain. As the battle is described as occurring in Pannonia on a plain,[15] some authors place it some sixty-five kilometers further west on the eastern side of theLittle Hungarian Plain,[3] which would make the Bolia River theConcó River, and place the battle near present dayCsém at47°41′N18°03′E / 47.683°N 18.050°E /47.683; 18.050.
In the opening clashes the Ostrogothic king, Valamir, father of Theodoric the Great, lost his life; but shortly after, the Sciri met with crushing defeat near the Bolia river (468 A.D.)