Europe 459: Valamir’s invasion of Illyricum

Roman attempts to reassert themselves along the Danube in the late 450s antagonized King Valamir of the Ostrogoths, who responded to Leo I’s refusal to continue tribute payments by invading the Eastern Roman Empire in 459. Eventually the two sides came to terms and in 462 Leo agreed to resume payments in return for Ostrogothic hostages (including Valamir’s young nephew Theodoric).

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459 Nepotianus–Theodoric II Treaty ▲

In late 458 or early 459, following his victory at the Battle of Arelate, the Western Roman magister militum Nepotianus signed a peace treaty with the humbled Visigothic king Theodoric II, restoring the Roman–Visigothic alliance. Accordingly, on behalf of the Romans, Theodoric dispatched his dux Sunieric to Baetica with a large force—apparently including Heruli coastal raiders—and recalled Cyrila, his former commander in Spain, to Gaul. Meanwhile, the Suebian factions in Spain pillaged parts of Gallaecia and Lusitania, before apparently withdrawing to their own territories in the face of the arrival of Visigothic reinforcements. in wikipedia

459–462 Valamir’s invasion of Illyricum ▲

In 459, angered that the Eastern Roman emperor Leo I had stopped tribute payments and that Theodoric, a rival Goth, had gained favor in Constantinople, the Ostrogothic king Valamir and his brothers Theodemir and Videmir invaded the Empire. Marching from the Danube and through Illyricum, the Ostrogoths ravaged Roman territory all the way to the Adriatic, where they threatened the city of Dyrrachium (Durrës, Albania). Hostilities lasted until 462, when Leo finally agreed to pay the Ostrogoths an annual tribute of three hundred pounds of gold in return for hostages, including Theodemir’s seven-year-old son Theodoric. in wikipedia

459–463 Revolt of Vache II ▲

In 459, taking advantage of the Sasanian civil war between Peroz I and Hormizd III, King Vache II of Albania threw off Persian suzerainty, united eleven mountain kings behind him, and seized control of the fortifications of the Derbent Pass. As Peroz moved to suppress the revolt, Vache let the Maskuts through the pass and, with their support, defeated the Persian army in battle, inflicting serious casualties on them. The Albanians continued to hold out until 462–463, when, with the support of the Onogurs from across the Caucasus, Peroz suppressed the revolt and forced Vache to abdicate, bringing the Albanian kingdom to an end. in wikipedia

459 Battle of Ray ▲

By 459 the Sasanian usurper Peroz managed to secure 30,000 troops from the Hephthalite king Faganish in exchange for the border fortresses of Termez and Vashgird on the Amu Darya. He then marched west from Khorasan into Persia, where, with the additional support of the forces of his former tutor, Rahman Mihran, he defeated his brother Shah Hormizd III at Ray. During the battle, Hormizd fell into Rahman’s hands and was promptly executed, after which Rahman formally crowned Peroz as Shah. in wikipedia