The
Visigoths (
UK: ;
US: , ) were branches of the nomadic tribes of
Germanic peoples referred to collectively as the
Goths. These tribes flourished and spread during the late
Roman Empire in
Late Antiquity, or the
Migration Period. The Visigoths emerged from earlier Gothic groups (possibly the
Thervingi) who had invaded the Roman Empire beginning in 376 and had defeated the Romans at the
Battle of Adrianople in 378. Relations between the Romans and the Visigoths were variable, alternately warring with one another and making treaties when convenient. The Visigoths invaded Italy under
Alaric I and
sacked Rome in 410. After the Visigoths sacked Rome, they began settling down, first in southern
Gaul and eventually in
Spain and
Portugal, where they founded the
Visigothic Kingdom and maintained a presence from the 5th to the 8th centuries AD.