Gothic Revolt of Tribigild

In Nakoleia (Anatolia), Tribigild, with the rank of comes or count, led a department of mounted Goths who were centrally stationed here to guard the military roads through the region.[3] According to current historians, the same situation arose in Anatolia as with the Goths who had fought alongside Emperor Theodosius in the Battle of the Frigidus in 394.[4] In addition, according to surviving contemporary history, prior to the rebellion there was a power struggle between Gainas, who was of Gothic descent, and the influential imperial counselor Eutropius, who could exert the most influence on the young emperor Arcadius.The revolt spread throughout Asia Minor as a growing number of dissatisfied peasants and slaves joined in addition to the Goths.In contrast, it seems more logical that Gainas, who first found himself in a privileged imperial position after a failed attempt by Eutropius to put down the rebellion, refrained from attacking Tribigild on the basis of a calculated plan.When Tribigild's Goths reached Chalcedon on the opposite side of Constantinople, Gainas managed to convince him to join his coup.Gainas and Tribigild managed to leave Constantinople alive, but several thousand Goths, including many women and children who lived in the city as part of the Eastern Roman military establishment, were massacred.To try to break the impasse, Alaric took his people to Italy in the fall of 401 and over the next twelve months attempted to make a deal with Stilicho, the effective commander of the western army.