January 21, 381
Athanaric, (died Jan. 21, 381), Visigothic chieftain from 364 to 376 who fiercely persecuted the Christians in Dacia (approximately modern Romania). The persecutions occurred between 369 and 372; his most important victim was St. Sabas the Goth. In 376 Athanaric was defeated by the Huns. He fled with a few followers to Transylvania (region in present-day Romania), but the bulk of his people, led by Fritigern, fled to the Roman Empire. Athanaric, too, took refuge there in 381 but died at Constantinople a fortnight after his arrival.