Sangiban
Encyclopedia
Sangiban was a fifth-century Alan
king at the time of Attila's invasion of Gaul
(451). He was the successor of Goar
as king of the Alan foederati
settled in the region around Aurelianum (modern-day Orléans
). According to Jordanes
, Sangiban had promised Attila before the Battle of Châlons
to open the city gates and deliver Aurelianum to the Huns
. Suspecting this, the Romans and Visigoths put Sangiban in the center of the line opposing the Huns, where they could prevent him from defecting. Thus the Alans bore the main brunt of the Hunnic assault, while the Goths were able to flank the Huns and ultimately drive them back.
Jordanes does not record whether Sangiban survived the battle. But in any case, the Alans of Aurelianum were conquered by the Visigoths a few years later and incorporated into the Gothic Kingdom of Toulouse.
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
king at the time of Attila's invasion of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
(451). He was the successor of Goar
Goar
Goar was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. He led his followers over the Rhine during the multi-tribe invasion of Gaul in 406, but quickly joined the Romans, and subsequently played a role in the internal politics of Gaul.-Invasion of Gaul:Goar is first mentioned in Gregory of Tours's...
as king of the Alan foederati
Foederati
Foederatus is a Latin term whose definition and usage drifted in the time between the early Roman Republic and the end of the Western Roman Empire...
settled in the region around Aurelianum (modern-day Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
). According to Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
, Sangiban had promised Attila before the Battle of Châlons
Battle of Chalons
The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains , also called the Battle of Châlons sur Marne, took place in AD 451 between a coalition led by the Visigothic king Theodoric I and the Roman general Flavius Aëtius, against the Huns and their allies commanded by their leader Attila...
to open the city gates and deliver Aurelianum to the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
. Suspecting this, the Romans and Visigoths put Sangiban in the center of the line opposing the Huns, where they could prevent him from defecting. Thus the Alans bore the main brunt of the Hunnic assault, while the Goths were able to flank the Huns and ultimately drive them back.
Jordanes does not record whether Sangiban survived the battle. But in any case, the Alans of Aurelianum were conquered by the Visigoths a few years later and incorporated into the Gothic Kingdom of Toulouse.