Hungry for glory, he foolishly attacked the Goths at Adrianople, August 9, 378 AD without waiting for the reinforcements which he knew were on the way. In the greatest military disaster the Roman empire had suffered since Teutoberger Wald, and possibly Cannae, Valens was killed and his entire army destroyed; the northeastern portion of the empire (Thrace) was overrun by hungry and vengeful barbarians. This was the beginning of the end for Rome, and the world was never the same.
