In 402, the
Geougen, a nomadic
Tartar people of northern
Asia who had gradually replaced the
Sienpi as the dominant people of the vast plains of
Mongolia and
Siberia during the fourth century, extended their conquests by defeating the
Huns on the upper
Volga, who themselves had once been masters of the lands from which their victors had come. Pushed westwards by this advance of the East Asian hordes, the Huns retreated further into
Europe, driving from their homeland the
Suevi,
Vandals and
Burgundians who had occupied central Europe from the
Vistula to the
Elbe.
Radagaisus, a warrior from the area of present-day
Mecklenburg, took command of a formidable section of these tribes, who were determined to unite for the invasion of the
Roman Empire, in whose territory they hoped to find ample space for settlement, undisturbed by the constant attacks of the Asian barbarians who were overrunning the areas of present-day
Poland and
Germany. In late 405 or early 406, Radagaisus and his vast army, recruited from some of the wandering tribes of the
Alani and some of
Alaric's
Goths, angered by their recent defeat, broke across the undefended
Danube frontier and entered
Rhaetia. Stilicho, Master General of the West, had recently stripped the other provinces, including those on the
Rhine and
Danube, of their regular garrisons in order to repel Alaric's first invasion of Italy. This allowed Radagaisus to cross the Alps into Italy before meeting Stilicho's resistance. == Battle ==