Slovenia shares a long history with the Roman Empire. No surprise, given its location close to Aquileia, the second most important Roman city some 1600 years ago. For ages, it was a portal for migrating peoples and hostile tribes on their way to Rome. And the plain right in front of the Julian Alps, which is now the Slovenian Vipava region, was an ideal last stop to set up camp and to scramble for the battle. Likewise, the Roman defenders saw it as a perfect location to face and crush intruders.
The harbinger of doom.
But did you know that right on the spot, in 394 AD, a fierce battle sealed the faith of the mighty Roman Empire? Remarkably, this time there were no barbarians at the gate. It was in fact a sad civil war between two Roman armies with far fetching consequences and impact on modern history.
In that year Emperor Theodosius I was confronting the armies of Arbogast, a brilliant Germanic general (magister militum). The latter was his former trustee who treacherously seized power in the Western Roman Empire. He replaced sub-Augustus Valentinian II with Eugene as unlawful contra-emperor. They had already taken Rome while Theodosius was rushing back from Constantinople, at that moment the center of power.
And so, for already the second time, Slovenia was the scene of a bitter Roman civil war. Indeed, in 387 Theodosius I had already beaten another usurper, Magnus Maximus, near Ptuj (then Poetovio). In this war Arbogast was still fighting loyally on his side. This time, the opposing armies engaged in the Vipava valley. Chronicles describe the clash as The Battle of the Frigidus (Ad Fluvium Frigidum).
Most probably the name refers to the Hubelj or Vipava river, which confluence in the valley, both still known for their very cold water. The extremely violent confrontation started on the 5th of December 394 when a sub-legion of Goths, Huns and Arians under Eastern Roman command stormed Eugene’s fortifications right in front of the Hublj. And even though Theodosius army, more than 100.000 soldiers strong, largely outnumbered the 40.000 soldiers of Arbogast, they suffered such heavy losses that Theodosius had to withdraw in the evening to recover and lick his wounds.
The hand of God…
And at that moment the fight gets a spiritual and dramatic twist. While his generals pleaded to withdraw and search for reinforcements, Theodosius insisted to continue the fight, inspired by the vision of John of Lycopolis, a hermit who predicted an initial severe loss but ultimate victory for the Christian emperor. Indeed, he was first emperor who renounced the title of pontifex maximus (guardian of ancient Roman religion). Facing a pagan opponent, he was sure that God would be on his side.
While Theodosius vigorously prayed on the hills of Vrhpolje, overlooking the valley, the tides suddenly turned. In the evening, a substantial part of Eugene’s army led by general Arbition switched to his side. And when the next day the battle continued, a stormy wind, today known as “burja”, pushed Eugene’s army back, teared their shields out of their hands and turned their arrows against them.
Overwhelmed by the spectacular event and blinded the by the dust and debris Eugene’s troops soon surrendered. He was captured and beheaded on the bloody battlefield, while Arbogast fled and later committed suicide.
Still countless lives were lost and it is said that the water of the Hublj was stopped and turned red because thousands of bodies were piling up. The dramatic losses in this already second civil war left the Romans with a battered and weakened army and it would never recover anymore. Theodores might have reunited the Empire; it fell apart again soon after he died only a few months later.
In the chronicles, the battle was sold as a holy war of Christianity against pagan armies, thanks to the divine intervention of the burja. While it is a fact that Eugene had reinstalled some pagan cults to gain popularity and that his army fought under the banner of Jupiter, the battle of the Frigidus was a brutal history of intrigue, treason and internal power play. The good old Greeks would call it a Pyrrhic victory.
A turning point in world history.
But yet, an unsuspected winner emerged. In the aftermath Theodosius, convinced that his victory was due to a divine intervention, proclaimed Christianity as the one and only state religion allowed. He rigorously banned all ancient cults, symbols and pagan events, amongst which the Olympic games. We had to wait another 1502 years before they were reinstalled by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Today, this significant historical event gets more and more attention, in the region. In 1994, the “Cross of Theodosius” was erected on the rock in Vrhpolje on which, according to legend, the emperor has prayed for a divine intervention. And recently a yearly festival “Ad Fluvium Frigidum” commemorates this historic event. It includes a military parade and a reenacts of the Battle of the Frigid River.
So, it was game over in many senses. For the Roman Empire, for the Olympics, for Eugenius and also for Jupiter and friends because that day, Christianity was pivoted to become the largest religion in the world.
Could the battle really have witnessed a miracle after all or did the burja appeared just right on time? After all the stormy wind is a frequent phenomenon here. You do not need a miracle for that.
Divine intervention or just a romantic myth ? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind..
Visit:
Visit Vipava, a still not discovered Slovenian city.
Visit the mighty source of the Hublje.
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