Back Pas del Rin Catalan Rhinovergangen 406 Danish Rheinübergang von 406 German Διάβαση του Ρήνου Greek Invasión del Rin Spanish Passage du Rhin (406) French Rynoerstek Frisian Prelazak Rajne 406. Croatian Rajnai átkelés (népvándorlás) Hungarian Attraversamento del Reno Italian
The crossing of the Rhine River by a mixed group of barbarians which included Vandals, Alans and Suebi is traditionally considered to have occurred on the last day of the year 406 (December 31, 406).[1] The crossing transgressed one of the Late Roman Empire's most secure limites or boundaries; as such, it has been considered a climactic moment in the decline of the Empire. It initiated a wave of destruction of Roman cities and the collapse of Roman civic order in northern Gaul. That, in turn, occasioned the rise of three usurpers in succession in the province of Britannia. Therefore, the crossing of the Rhine is a marker date in the Migration Period during which various Germanic tribes moved westward and southward from southern Scandinavia and northern Germania.
- ^ "The Roman Decline". Empires Besieged. Amsterdam: Time-Life Books Inc. 1988. p. 38. ISBN 0705409740.
For on the bitterly cold night of December 31, 406, there was apparently no Roman army on guard when a host of Vandal, Alan, Suevi and Burgundian warriors, with their families and possessions, crossed the frozen Rhine and headed southwest through Gaul. This time, Rome's frontiers had been breached by barbarians who meant to stay.