Goar (born before 390, died between 446 and 450) was a leader of the Alans in 5th-century Gaul. Around the time that the Vandals and other Alans under Respendial crossed the Rhine in 405 or 406, Goar's band of Alans quickly joined the Romans, and subsequently played a role in the internal politics of Gaul. Biography Joining the Romans Goar is first mentioned as 'Goare' in the Frigeridus fragment, embedded in Gregory of Tours's work, describing the Vandal–Frankish war that preceded the Crossing of the Rhine (the crossing was dated to 31 December 406 by Prosper of Aquitaine). According to Frigeridus, the Roman-allied Franks were inflicting heavy casualties on the Vandals over the course of probably several battles, killing 20,000 Vandal warriors and their king Godigisel, and were on the verge of exterminating the tribe. At that point – according to MacDowall (2016) probably in the summer or autumn of 406 – another Alan king, Respendial, came to the Vandals' rescue and defeated the Franks, "although Goar had gone over to the Romans." It's unclear from Frigeridus' account whether Goar actually joined the Franks in fighting against the Vandals and Respendial's Alans; but in any case, other sources make clear that Goar's Alans were eventually settled in Gaul near Orléans by the Romans, while the Vandals, Suevi, and Respendial's Alans continued into Spain. According to bishop Hydatius' chronicle, the Vandals were the first to arrive in Spain in September or October 409, while Gregory notes that Suebi and Alans (presumably those led by Respendial) followed them later. It is not stated where these groups originated, although most historians identify these Alans with those settled by Gratian in Pannonia c. 380. Usurpation of Jovinus Goar next appears in 411, when he and Gundahar, king of the Burgundians, joined in setting up the Gallo-Roman senator Jovinus as Roman Emperor at Mainz (as described by Olympiodorus of Thebes). At the time, another usurping emperor, Constantine III, was being besieged at Arles by Honorius' general, the future emperor Constantius III. Constantine's supporters in northern Gaul defected to Jovinus, contributing to Constantine's defeat. Jovinus then threatened Constantius with "Burgundians, Alamanni, Franks, Alans, and all his army" (presumably including Goar). Jovinus' usurpation was put down two years later, however, when the Visigoths entered Gaul after their sack of Rome the previous year. The Visigothic king Athaulf, after a period of indecision, sided with the government of