Siege of
Olbia, c. 220 BC
First clash of East Germanic Basternae and Scirii with Rome
Cimbrian War, 113–101 BC
Was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutones. Together they defeated the Boii, many of whom joined them. The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened.
The Cimbri initially set about complying peacefully with Rome's demands, but soon discovered that romans had laid an ambush against them. Infuriated by this treachery, they attacked and, at the Battle of Noreia, annihilated roman´s army. That same year, they defeated another Roman army at the Battle of Burdigala and killed its commander. In 107 BC, the Romans were defeated again, this time by the Tigurini, who were allies of the Cimbri whom they had met on their way through the Alps.
In 105 BC, Rome gathered the largest force it had fielded since the Second Punic War, and possibly the largest force it had ever sent to battle. The force consisted of over 80,000 men, along with tens of thousands of support personnel and camp followers in two armies, one led by each consul. The consuls, disliking and distrusting each other, they erected separate camps on opposite sides of the river; by so doing they left their disunited force open to separate attack. The Battle of Arausio was the costliest defeat Rome had suffered since Cannae.
By 102 BC, Rome was ready to move against the Teutones. He chose his ground carefully and built a well-fortified camp on the top of a hill near Aquae Sextiae, where he lured the Teutones and their allies the Ambrones into attacking him. During their attack they were ambushed from the rear by a select force. The Teutones were routed and massacred and their king, Teutobod, was placed in Roman chains.
In 101 BC, the Cimbri returned to Gaul and prepared for the final stage of their struggle with Rome. For the first time they penetrated through the Alpine passes. It would be at Vercellae where the superiority of the new Roman legions and their cavalry were clearly demonstrated. In the devastating defeat the Cimbri were virtually annihilated, and both their highest leaders, Boiorix and Lugius, fell. The women killed both themselves and their children in order to avoid slavery. Thus the war, which began with a mass migration, ended in defeat and mass suicide.
First clash of East Germanic Basternae and Scirii with Rome
Cimbrian War, 113–101 BC
Was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutones. Together they defeated the Boii, many of whom joined them. The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened.
The Cimbri initially set about complying peacefully with Rome's demands, but soon discovered that romans had laid an ambush against them. Infuriated by this treachery, they attacked and, at the Battle of Noreia, annihilated roman´s army. That same year, they defeated another Roman army at the Battle of Burdigala and killed its commander. In 107 BC, the Romans were defeated again, this time by the Tigurini, who were allies of the Cimbri whom they had met on their way through the Alps.
In 105 BC, Rome gathered the largest force it had fielded since the Second Punic War, and possibly the largest force it had ever sent to battle. The force consisted of over 80,000 men, along with tens of thousands of support personnel and camp followers in two armies, one led by each consul. The consuls, disliking and distrusting each other, they erected separate camps on opposite sides of the river; by so doing they left their disunited force open to separate attack. The Battle of Arausio was the costliest defeat Rome had suffered since Cannae.
By 102 BC, Rome was ready to move against the Teutones. He chose his ground carefully and built a well-fortified camp on the top of a hill near Aquae Sextiae, where he lured the Teutones and their allies the Ambrones into attacking him. During their attack they were ambushed from the rear by a select force. The Teutones were routed and massacred and their king, Teutobod, was placed in Roman chains.
In 101 BC, the Cimbri returned to Gaul and prepared for the final stage of their struggle with Rome. For the first time they penetrated through the Alpine passes. It would be at Vercellae where the superiority of the new Roman legions and their cavalry were clearly demonstrated. In the devastating defeat the Cimbri were virtually annihilated, and both their highest leaders, Boiorix and Lugius, fell. The women killed both themselves and their children in order to avoid slavery. Thus the war, which began with a mass migration, ended in defeat and mass suicide.
Gallic Wars, 58-50 BC
The Battle of Vosges was fought between the Germanic tribe of the Suebi under the leadership of Ariovistus against six Roman legions under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar in 58 BC. This encounter is the third major battle of the Gallic Wars. Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine, seeking a home in Gaul.
Prior to the battle, Caesar and Ariovistus held a parley. Ariovistus' cavalry cast stones and weapons at the Roman cavalry. Caesar broke off negotiations and instructed his men not to retaliate to prevent the Suebi from claiming they were induced into a trap by their accepting an opportunity to talk.
The Germans attacked in several columns, moving so swiftly that there was no time for the Romans to hurl their pila and battle was fought proximally, with swords. A fierce struggle occurred in which the German left was broken after a stiff fight.
Overwhelmed, the Germanic tribesmen then fled for the Rhine closely pursued by the Romans. Ariovistus was driven back over the Rhine, which he would never cross again.
The Battle of Vosges was fought between the Germanic tribe of the Suebi under the leadership of Ariovistus against six Roman legions under the command of Gaius Julius Caesar in 58 BC. This encounter is the third major battle of the Gallic Wars. Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine, seeking a home in Gaul.
Prior to the battle, Caesar and Ariovistus held a parley. Ariovistus' cavalry cast stones and weapons at the Roman cavalry. Caesar broke off negotiations and instructed his men not to retaliate to prevent the Suebi from claiming they were induced into a trap by their accepting an opportunity to talk.
The Germans attacked in several columns, moving so swiftly that there was no time for the Romans to hurl their pila and battle was fought proximally, with swords. A fierce struggle occurred in which the German left was broken after a stiff fight.
Overwhelmed, the Germanic tribesmen then fled for the Rhine closely pursued by the Romans. Ariovistus was driven back over the Rhine, which he would never cross again.
Battle of
the Teutoburg Forest, 9 CE
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as clades Variana (the Varian disaster) by Roman historians, took place in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus. The anti-Roman alliance was led by Arminius, who had acquired Roman citizenship and received a Roman military education, allowing him to personally deceive the Roman commander and foresee the Roman army's tactical responses.
Despite several successful campaigns and raids by the Roman army in the years after the battle, they never again attempted to conquer Germanian territory east of the Rhine River.
Varus' name and deeds were well known beyond the empire because of his ruthlessness and crucifixion of insurgents. While he was feared by the people, he was highly respected by the Roman senate
Arminius, along with his brother Flavus, had been sent to Rome as tribute by their father, Segimerus the Conqueror, chieftain of the noblest house in the tribe of the Cherusci. Arminius then spent his youth in Rome as a hostage, where he had received a military education, and even been given the rank of Equestrian. During Arminius' absence, Segimerus was declared a coward by the other Germanic chieftains, because he had submitted to Roman rule, a crime punishable by death under Germanic law. Between 11 BCE and 4 CE, the hostility and suspicion between the Germanic tribes deepened.
After his return from Rome, Arminius became a trusted advisor to Varus, but in secret he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had traditionally been enemies. These included remaining elements of the Suebi, who had been defeated by Caesar in the Battle of Vosges. Using the collective outrage over Varus' tyrannous insolence and wanton cruelty to the conquered, Arminius was able to unite the disorganized tribes who had submitted in sullen hatred to the Roman dominion, and maintain said alliance until the most opportune moment to strike.
While Varus was on his way from his summer camp he heard reports of a local rebellion, reports which had been fabricated by Arminius. Varus decided to quell this uprising immediately, expediting his response by taking a detour through territory that was unfamiliar to the Romans. Arminius, who accompanied him, directed him along a route that would facilitate an ambush. Another Cheruscan nobleman, Segestes, brother of Segimerus and unwilling father in law to Arminius, warned Varus the night before the Roman forces departed, allegedly suggesting that Varus should apprehend Arminius, along with other Germanic leaders whom he identified as participants in the planned uprising. His warning, however, was dismissed as stemming from the personal feud between Segestes and Arminius. Arminius then left under the pretext of drumming up Germanic forces to support the Roman campaign. Once free from prying eyes, he immediately led his troops in a series of attacks on the surrounding Roman garrisons.
Varus' forces included his three legions, six cohorts of auxiliary troops (non-citizens or allied troops) and three squadrons of cavalry (alae). Most of these lacked combat experience, both with regards to Germanic fighters, and under the prevalent local conditions. The Roman forces were not marching in combat formation, and were interspersed with large numbers of camp followers. As they entered the forest northeast of Osnabrück, they found the track narrow and muddy. According to Dio Cassius a violent storm had also arisen. He also writes that Varus neglected to send out reconnaissance parties ahead of the main body of troops.
The line of march was now stretched out perilously long — between 15 and 20 kilometers. It was in this state when it came under attack by Germanic warriors armed with light swords, large lances and narrow-bladed short spears called fremae. The attackers surrounded the entire Roman army, and rained down javelins on the intruders. Arminius, recalling his education in Rome, understood his enemies' tactics, and was able to direct his troops to counter them effectively by using locally superior numbers against the dispersed Roman legions. The Romans managed to set up a fortified night camp, and the next morning broke out into the open country. The break-out was accompanied by heavy losses to the Roman survivors, as was a further attempt to escape by marching through another forested area, as the torrential rains continued. The rain prevented them from using their bows because sinew strings become slack when wet, and rendered them virtually defenseless as their shields also became waterlogged.
The Romans undertook a night march to escape, but marched into another trap that Arminius had set. There, a sandy, open strip on which the Romans could march was constricted by the hill, so that there was a gap of only about 100 meters between the woods and the swampland at the edge of the Great Bog. The road was further blocked by a trench, and, towards the forest, an earthen wall had been built along the roadside, permitting the Germanic tribesmen to attack the Romans from cover. The Romans made a desperate attempt to storm the wall, but failed. The Germanic warriors then stormed the field and slaughtered the disintegrating Roman forces. Varus committed suicide.
Roman casualties have been estimated at 15,000–20,000 dead, and many of the officers were said to have taken their own lives by falling on their swords in the approved manner. Many officers were sacrificed by the Germanic forces as part of their indigenous religious ceremonies, cooked in pots and their bones used for rituals. Others were ransomed, and some common soldiers appear to have been enslaved.
The victory was followed by a clean sweep of all Roman forts, garrisons and cities east of the Rhine.
Upon hearing of the defeat, the Emperor Augustus, was so shaken that he stood butting his head against the walls of his palace, repeatedly shouting: "Quintili Vare, legiones redde!“ ('Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!') The legion numbers XVII and XIX were not used again by the Romans. The battle abruptly ended the period of triumphant Roman expansion that followed the end of the Civil Wars 40 years earlier.
Arminius sent Varus' severed head to Maroboduus, king of the Marcomanni, the other most powerful Germanic ruler, with the offer of an anti-Roman alliance. Maroboduus declined, sending the head to Rome for burial, and remained neutral throughout the ensuing war. Only thereafter did a brief, inconclusive war break out between the two Germanic leaders.
Though the shock at the slaughter was enormous, the Romans immediately began a slow, systematic process of preparing for the reconquest of the country. In 14 CE, just after Augustus' death and the accession of his heir and stepson Tiberius, a massive raid was conducted by the new emperor's nephew Germanicus.
After initial successful skirmishes in summer 15 CE, including the capture of Arminius' wife Thusnelda, the army visited the site of the first battle. They found heaps of bleached bones and severed skulls nailed to trees, which they buried.
Under Germanicus, the Romans marched another army, along with allied Germanic auxiliaries, into Germania in 16 CE, and forced Arminius' army to stand in open battle at Idistaviso in the Battle of the Weser River. Germanicus' legions inflicted huge casualties on the Germanic armies while sustaining only minor losses. A final battle was fought at the Angivarian Wall, repeating the pattern of high Germanic fatalities, which forced them to flee.
After a few more raids across the Rhine, which resulted in the recovery of two of the three legions' eagles lost in 9 CE, Tiberius ordered the Roman forces to halt and withdraw across the Rhine
Germanicus' campaign had been taken to avenge the Teutoburg slaughter and also partially in reaction to indications of mutinous intent amongst his troops. Arminius, who had been considered a very real threat to stability by Rome, was now defeated. Once his allied Germanic coalition had been broken and honour avenged, the huge cost and risk of keeping the Roman army operating beyond the Rhine was not worth any likely benefit to be gained.
The third legionary standard was recovered in 41 CE from the Chauci. The recovered aquilae were placed within the Temple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger).
Around 50 CE, bands of Chatti invaded Roman territory in Germania Superior and began to plunder. The romans attacked the Chatti from both sides and defeated them, and joyfully found and liberated Roman prisoners, including some from Varus' legions who had been held for 40 years.
Teutoburg Forest has been seen as a pivotal clash, which ended Roman expansion into northern Europe. After Arminius was defeated and dead, Rome tried to control Germania east of the Rhine and north of the Danube indirectly, by appointing client kings. Italicus, a nephew of Arminius, was appointed king of the Cherusci, and Vangio and Sido became vassal princes of the powerful Suebi.
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, described as clades Variana (the Varian disaster) by Roman historians, took place in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus. The anti-Roman alliance was led by Arminius, who had acquired Roman citizenship and received a Roman military education, allowing him to personally deceive the Roman commander and foresee the Roman army's tactical responses.
Despite several successful campaigns and raids by the Roman army in the years after the battle, they never again attempted to conquer Germanian territory east of the Rhine River.
Varus' name and deeds were well known beyond the empire because of his ruthlessness and crucifixion of insurgents. While he was feared by the people, he was highly respected by the Roman senate
Arminius, along with his brother Flavus, had been sent to Rome as tribute by their father, Segimerus the Conqueror, chieftain of the noblest house in the tribe of the Cherusci. Arminius then spent his youth in Rome as a hostage, where he had received a military education, and even been given the rank of Equestrian. During Arminius' absence, Segimerus was declared a coward by the other Germanic chieftains, because he had submitted to Roman rule, a crime punishable by death under Germanic law. Between 11 BCE and 4 CE, the hostility and suspicion between the Germanic tribes deepened.
After his return from Rome, Arminius became a trusted advisor to Varus, but in secret he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had traditionally been enemies. These included remaining elements of the Suebi, who had been defeated by Caesar in the Battle of Vosges. Using the collective outrage over Varus' tyrannous insolence and wanton cruelty to the conquered, Arminius was able to unite the disorganized tribes who had submitted in sullen hatred to the Roman dominion, and maintain said alliance until the most opportune moment to strike.
While Varus was on his way from his summer camp he heard reports of a local rebellion, reports which had been fabricated by Arminius. Varus decided to quell this uprising immediately, expediting his response by taking a detour through territory that was unfamiliar to the Romans. Arminius, who accompanied him, directed him along a route that would facilitate an ambush. Another Cheruscan nobleman, Segestes, brother of Segimerus and unwilling father in law to Arminius, warned Varus the night before the Roman forces departed, allegedly suggesting that Varus should apprehend Arminius, along with other Germanic leaders whom he identified as participants in the planned uprising. His warning, however, was dismissed as stemming from the personal feud between Segestes and Arminius. Arminius then left under the pretext of drumming up Germanic forces to support the Roman campaign. Once free from prying eyes, he immediately led his troops in a series of attacks on the surrounding Roman garrisons.
Varus' forces included his three legions, six cohorts of auxiliary troops (non-citizens or allied troops) and three squadrons of cavalry (alae). Most of these lacked combat experience, both with regards to Germanic fighters, and under the prevalent local conditions. The Roman forces were not marching in combat formation, and were interspersed with large numbers of camp followers. As they entered the forest northeast of Osnabrück, they found the track narrow and muddy. According to Dio Cassius a violent storm had also arisen. He also writes that Varus neglected to send out reconnaissance parties ahead of the main body of troops.
The line of march was now stretched out perilously long — between 15 and 20 kilometers. It was in this state when it came under attack by Germanic warriors armed with light swords, large lances and narrow-bladed short spears called fremae. The attackers surrounded the entire Roman army, and rained down javelins on the intruders. Arminius, recalling his education in Rome, understood his enemies' tactics, and was able to direct his troops to counter them effectively by using locally superior numbers against the dispersed Roman legions. The Romans managed to set up a fortified night camp, and the next morning broke out into the open country. The break-out was accompanied by heavy losses to the Roman survivors, as was a further attempt to escape by marching through another forested area, as the torrential rains continued. The rain prevented them from using their bows because sinew strings become slack when wet, and rendered them virtually defenseless as their shields also became waterlogged.
The Romans undertook a night march to escape, but marched into another trap that Arminius had set. There, a sandy, open strip on which the Romans could march was constricted by the hill, so that there was a gap of only about 100 meters between the woods and the swampland at the edge of the Great Bog. The road was further blocked by a trench, and, towards the forest, an earthen wall had been built along the roadside, permitting the Germanic tribesmen to attack the Romans from cover. The Romans made a desperate attempt to storm the wall, but failed. The Germanic warriors then stormed the field and slaughtered the disintegrating Roman forces. Varus committed suicide.
Roman casualties have been estimated at 15,000–20,000 dead, and many of the officers were said to have taken their own lives by falling on their swords in the approved manner. Many officers were sacrificed by the Germanic forces as part of their indigenous religious ceremonies, cooked in pots and their bones used for rituals. Others were ransomed, and some common soldiers appear to have been enslaved.
The victory was followed by a clean sweep of all Roman forts, garrisons and cities east of the Rhine.
Upon hearing of the defeat, the Emperor Augustus, was so shaken that he stood butting his head against the walls of his palace, repeatedly shouting: "Quintili Vare, legiones redde!“ ('Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!') The legion numbers XVII and XIX were not used again by the Romans. The battle abruptly ended the period of triumphant Roman expansion that followed the end of the Civil Wars 40 years earlier.
Arminius sent Varus' severed head to Maroboduus, king of the Marcomanni, the other most powerful Germanic ruler, with the offer of an anti-Roman alliance. Maroboduus declined, sending the head to Rome for burial, and remained neutral throughout the ensuing war. Only thereafter did a brief, inconclusive war break out between the two Germanic leaders.
Though the shock at the slaughter was enormous, the Romans immediately began a slow, systematic process of preparing for the reconquest of the country. In 14 CE, just after Augustus' death and the accession of his heir and stepson Tiberius, a massive raid was conducted by the new emperor's nephew Germanicus.
After initial successful skirmishes in summer 15 CE, including the capture of Arminius' wife Thusnelda, the army visited the site of the first battle. They found heaps of bleached bones and severed skulls nailed to trees, which they buried.
Under Germanicus, the Romans marched another army, along with allied Germanic auxiliaries, into Germania in 16 CE, and forced Arminius' army to stand in open battle at Idistaviso in the Battle of the Weser River. Germanicus' legions inflicted huge casualties on the Germanic armies while sustaining only minor losses. A final battle was fought at the Angivarian Wall, repeating the pattern of high Germanic fatalities, which forced them to flee.
After a few more raids across the Rhine, which resulted in the recovery of two of the three legions' eagles lost in 9 CE, Tiberius ordered the Roman forces to halt and withdraw across the Rhine
Germanicus' campaign had been taken to avenge the Teutoburg slaughter and also partially in reaction to indications of mutinous intent amongst his troops. Arminius, who had been considered a very real threat to stability by Rome, was now defeated. Once his allied Germanic coalition had been broken and honour avenged, the huge cost and risk of keeping the Roman army operating beyond the Rhine was not worth any likely benefit to be gained.
The third legionary standard was recovered in 41 CE from the Chauci. The recovered aquilae were placed within the Temple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger).
Around 50 CE, bands of Chatti invaded Roman territory in Germania Superior and began to plunder. The romans attacked the Chatti from both sides and defeated them, and joyfully found and liberated Roman prisoners, including some from Varus' legions who had been held for 40 years.
Teutoburg Forest has been seen as a pivotal clash, which ended Roman expansion into northern Europe. After Arminius was defeated and dead, Rome tried to control Germania east of the Rhine and north of the Danube indirectly, by appointing client kings. Italicus, a nephew of Arminius, was appointed king of the Cherusci, and Vangio and Sido became vassal princes of the powerful Suebi.
Revolt of
the Batavi, 69-70 AD
The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited the delta of the river Rhine; and soon joined by some neighbouring Germanic tribes, from both inside and outside the empire's borders, and also by some Celtic tribes from Gallia Belgica.
Under the leadership of their hereditary prince Gaius Julius Civilis, an auxiliary officer in the Imperial Roman army, the Batavi and their allies managed to inflict a series of humiliating defeats on the Roman army, including the destruction of two legions. After these initial successes, a massive Roman army eventually defeated the rebels. Following peace talks, the Batavi submitted again to Roman rule, but were forced to accept humiliating terms and a legion stationed permanently on their territory, at Noviomagus.
The Batavi were a sub-tribe of the Germanic Chatti tribal group who had migrated to the region between the Old Rhine and Waal rivers in what became the Roman province of Germania Inferior. Their land, though potentially fertile alluvial deposits, was largely uncultivable, consisting mainly of Rhine delta swamps. Thus the Batavi population it could support was tiny: not more than 35,000 at this time.
They were a warlike people, skilled horsemen, boatmen and swimmers. They were therefore excellent soldier-material. In return for the unusual privilege of exemption from tributum (direct taxes on land and heads that most peregrini were subject to), they supplied a disproportionate number of recruits to the Julio-Claudian auxilia: one ala and 8 cohortes. They also provided most of the emperor Augustus' elite regiment of German Bodyguards (Germani corpore custodes), which continued in existence until AD 68. The Batavi auxilia amounted to about 5,000 men, implying that for the entire Julio-Claudian period, over 50% of all Batavi males reaching military age (16 years) may have enlisted in the auxilia. They were regarded by the Romans as the best and bravest (fortissimi, validissimi) of their auxiliary, and indeed of all their forces. In Roman service, they had perfected a unique technique for swimming across rivers wearing full armour and weapons.
Gaius Julius Civilis (an adopted Latin name) was a hereditary prince of the Batavi and the prefect (commanding officer) of a Batavi cohort. A veteran of 25 years' distinguished service in the Roman army, he and the 8 Batavi cohorts had played an important role in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the subsequent subjugation of that country (43-66).
By 69, however, Civilis, the Batavi regiments and the Batavi people had become utterly disaffected from Rome. After the Batavi regiments were withdrawn from Britain in 66, Civilis and his brother (also a prefect) were arrested by the governor of Germania Inferior on false accusations of treason. The governor ordered the brother's execution, and sent Civilis to Rome in chains for judgement by the Roman emperor Nero. (the brother was still a peregrinus i.e. a non-citizen subject of the empire, while Civilis, as his name implies, had been accorded Roman citizenship, which entitled him to have his case heard by the emperor in person). While Civilis was in prison awaiting trial, Nero was overthrown in AD 68. Galba was proclaimed emperor. He acquitted Civilis of the treason charge and allowed him to return home.
Back in Germania Inferior, however, it seems that Civilis was arrested again, this time on the order of the new governor, acting at the urging of the legions under his command, which demanded Civilis' execution. Meanwhile, Galba disbanded the German Bodyguards Regiment, which he distrusted due to the loyalty they had given to Nero in the latter's final days. This alienated several hundred crack Batavi troops, and indeed the whole Batavi nation, who considered it a grave insult. At the same time, relations collapsed between the 8 Batavi cohorts and their parent-legion XIV Gemina, to which they had been attached since the invasion of Britain 25 years earlier. The hatred between the Roman legionaries and their German auxiliaries erupted in serious fighting on at least two occasions.
At this juncture, the Roman empire was convulsed by its first major civil war for a century, the Year of the Four Emperors. Now in urgent need of the Batavi's military support, Civilis was released. In return, the Batavi regiments helped Vitellius defeat Otho's forces at the Battle of Bedriacum. Vitellius' governor in Germania Inferior, desperate to raise more troops, lost the goodwill of the Batavi by attempting to conscript more Batavi than the maximum stipulated in their treaty. The brutality and corruption of the Roman recruiting-centurions, who were also responsible for many cases of sexual assault on Batavi boys, brought already deep discontent in the Batavi homeland to the boil.
In the summer of 69, Civilis was commander of the Batavian auxiliary troops allocated in the Rhine legions. He was aware of Roman military tactics which gave him ideas on how to defeat them. The first action was to set up a decoy and Civilis induced a rebellion outside of Batavia.
The tribe of the Cananefates was living in lands between the Batavians and the North Sea. The Cananefates, led by their chief Brinno, attacked several Roman forts, including Traiectum. With most of the troops in Italy fighting in the civil war, the Romans were caught off guard. The commander of the Rhine legions sent auxiliary troops to control the situation. The result was another disaster for the Romans. Civilis assumed the role of mastermind of the rebellion and defeated the Romans.
The roman commander ordered two legions to deal with the problem. Accompanying them were three auxiliary units, including a Batavian cavalry squadron, commanded by Claudius Labeo, a known enemy of Civilis. The Batavian regiment deserted to their countrymen, giving a blow to the already feeble morale of the Romans. The result was disastrous: a Roman army was beaten and the legions forced to retreat to their base camp of Castra Vetera.
By this time, the Batavians were independent and clearly had the upper hand. Even Vespasian, who was fighting Vitellius for the imperial throne, saluted the rebellion that kept his enemy from calling the Rhine legions to Italy. The Batavians were promised independence and Civilis was on his way to becoming king.
But this was not enough for the Batavians. Civilis chose to pursue vengeance and swore to destroy the two Roman legions. The timing was well chosen. With the civil war of the Year of the Four Emperors at its peak, it would take some time before Rome could produce an effective counterattack. Moreover, the eight Batavian auxiliary units of Vitellius' army were on their way home and could be easily persuaded to join the rebellion for an independent Batavia. This was an important reinforcement. Apart from being veteran troops, their numbers were greater than the combined Roman troops stationed in Moguntiacum and Bonna.
In September 69, Civilis initiated the siege of Castra Vetera, the camp of the 5,000 legionaries. The camp was very modern, filled with supplies and well defended, with walls of mud brick and wood, towers and a double ditch. After some failed attempts to take the camp by force, Civilis decided to starve the troops into surrender.
News of Vitellius' defeat arrived, but Civilis still continued the siege. He was not fighting for Vespasian; he was fighting for Batavia. The romans started to prepare a counterattack to rescue the besieged legions. Civilis was not going to wait until they were fully prepared and launched a surprise attack. In the evening of December 1 his best eight cavalry regiments attacked the Romans. The Roman army won the battle and destroyed the Batavian cavalry. But their own losses were enormous.
The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited the delta of the river Rhine; and soon joined by some neighbouring Germanic tribes, from both inside and outside the empire's borders, and also by some Celtic tribes from Gallia Belgica.
Under the leadership of their hereditary prince Gaius Julius Civilis, an auxiliary officer in the Imperial Roman army, the Batavi and their allies managed to inflict a series of humiliating defeats on the Roman army, including the destruction of two legions. After these initial successes, a massive Roman army eventually defeated the rebels. Following peace talks, the Batavi submitted again to Roman rule, but were forced to accept humiliating terms and a legion stationed permanently on their territory, at Noviomagus.
The Batavi were a sub-tribe of the Germanic Chatti tribal group who had migrated to the region between the Old Rhine and Waal rivers in what became the Roman province of Germania Inferior. Their land, though potentially fertile alluvial deposits, was largely uncultivable, consisting mainly of Rhine delta swamps. Thus the Batavi population it could support was tiny: not more than 35,000 at this time.
They were a warlike people, skilled horsemen, boatmen and swimmers. They were therefore excellent soldier-material. In return for the unusual privilege of exemption from tributum (direct taxes on land and heads that most peregrini were subject to), they supplied a disproportionate number of recruits to the Julio-Claudian auxilia: one ala and 8 cohortes. They also provided most of the emperor Augustus' elite regiment of German Bodyguards (Germani corpore custodes), which continued in existence until AD 68. The Batavi auxilia amounted to about 5,000 men, implying that for the entire Julio-Claudian period, over 50% of all Batavi males reaching military age (16 years) may have enlisted in the auxilia. They were regarded by the Romans as the best and bravest (fortissimi, validissimi) of their auxiliary, and indeed of all their forces. In Roman service, they had perfected a unique technique for swimming across rivers wearing full armour and weapons.
Gaius Julius Civilis (an adopted Latin name) was a hereditary prince of the Batavi and the prefect (commanding officer) of a Batavi cohort. A veteran of 25 years' distinguished service in the Roman army, he and the 8 Batavi cohorts had played an important role in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the subsequent subjugation of that country (43-66).
By 69, however, Civilis, the Batavi regiments and the Batavi people had become utterly disaffected from Rome. After the Batavi regiments were withdrawn from Britain in 66, Civilis and his brother (also a prefect) were arrested by the governor of Germania Inferior on false accusations of treason. The governor ordered the brother's execution, and sent Civilis to Rome in chains for judgement by the Roman emperor Nero. (the brother was still a peregrinus i.e. a non-citizen subject of the empire, while Civilis, as his name implies, had been accorded Roman citizenship, which entitled him to have his case heard by the emperor in person). While Civilis was in prison awaiting trial, Nero was overthrown in AD 68. Galba was proclaimed emperor. He acquitted Civilis of the treason charge and allowed him to return home.
Back in Germania Inferior, however, it seems that Civilis was arrested again, this time on the order of the new governor, acting at the urging of the legions under his command, which demanded Civilis' execution. Meanwhile, Galba disbanded the German Bodyguards Regiment, which he distrusted due to the loyalty they had given to Nero in the latter's final days. This alienated several hundred crack Batavi troops, and indeed the whole Batavi nation, who considered it a grave insult. At the same time, relations collapsed between the 8 Batavi cohorts and their parent-legion XIV Gemina, to which they had been attached since the invasion of Britain 25 years earlier. The hatred between the Roman legionaries and their German auxiliaries erupted in serious fighting on at least two occasions.
At this juncture, the Roman empire was convulsed by its first major civil war for a century, the Year of the Four Emperors. Now in urgent need of the Batavi's military support, Civilis was released. In return, the Batavi regiments helped Vitellius defeat Otho's forces at the Battle of Bedriacum. Vitellius' governor in Germania Inferior, desperate to raise more troops, lost the goodwill of the Batavi by attempting to conscript more Batavi than the maximum stipulated in their treaty. The brutality and corruption of the Roman recruiting-centurions, who were also responsible for many cases of sexual assault on Batavi boys, brought already deep discontent in the Batavi homeland to the boil.
In the summer of 69, Civilis was commander of the Batavian auxiliary troops allocated in the Rhine legions. He was aware of Roman military tactics which gave him ideas on how to defeat them. The first action was to set up a decoy and Civilis induced a rebellion outside of Batavia.
The tribe of the Cananefates was living in lands between the Batavians and the North Sea. The Cananefates, led by their chief Brinno, attacked several Roman forts, including Traiectum. With most of the troops in Italy fighting in the civil war, the Romans were caught off guard. The commander of the Rhine legions sent auxiliary troops to control the situation. The result was another disaster for the Romans. Civilis assumed the role of mastermind of the rebellion and defeated the Romans.
The roman commander ordered two legions to deal with the problem. Accompanying them were three auxiliary units, including a Batavian cavalry squadron, commanded by Claudius Labeo, a known enemy of Civilis. The Batavian regiment deserted to their countrymen, giving a blow to the already feeble morale of the Romans. The result was disastrous: a Roman army was beaten and the legions forced to retreat to their base camp of Castra Vetera.
By this time, the Batavians were independent and clearly had the upper hand. Even Vespasian, who was fighting Vitellius for the imperial throne, saluted the rebellion that kept his enemy from calling the Rhine legions to Italy. The Batavians were promised independence and Civilis was on his way to becoming king.
But this was not enough for the Batavians. Civilis chose to pursue vengeance and swore to destroy the two Roman legions. The timing was well chosen. With the civil war of the Year of the Four Emperors at its peak, it would take some time before Rome could produce an effective counterattack. Moreover, the eight Batavian auxiliary units of Vitellius' army were on their way home and could be easily persuaded to join the rebellion for an independent Batavia. This was an important reinforcement. Apart from being veteran troops, their numbers were greater than the combined Roman troops stationed in Moguntiacum and Bonna.
In September 69, Civilis initiated the siege of Castra Vetera, the camp of the 5,000 legionaries. The camp was very modern, filled with supplies and well defended, with walls of mud brick and wood, towers and a double ditch. After some failed attempts to take the camp by force, Civilis decided to starve the troops into surrender.
News of Vitellius' defeat arrived, but Civilis still continued the siege. He was not fighting for Vespasian; he was fighting for Batavia. The romans started to prepare a counterattack to rescue the besieged legions. Civilis was not going to wait until they were fully prepared and launched a surprise attack. In the evening of December 1 his best eight cavalry regiments attacked the Romans. The Roman army won the battle and destroyed the Batavian cavalry. But their own losses were enormous.
Knowing that the Romans would come to Castra Vetera, Civilis abandoned the siege and threatened to attack Moguntiacum. The Romans were misled and rushed to the rescue of their main base in Germania Superior. In Moguntiacum they received the news of Vespasian's accession to the throne. The roman commander decided to celebrate the event by distributing a sum of money to the legions. But these legions were historically loyal to Vitellius, their former commander, and this act of generosity was interpreted as an offense. The commander was murdered and his second-in-command deserted, leaving the Roman army in a state of confusion.
Civilis saw his chance and before the Romans knew what was happening, his troops besieged Castra Vetera once more.
The year 70 started with the odds favoring the rebels. Two legions were still besieged at Castra Vetera and the rest of the Roman army was not large enough to cope with the revolt. Apart from the Batavian rebellion, the Trevirans and Lingones had declared the independence of Gaul. At Castra Vetera the situation was desperate. Food supplies had run out and the besieged legions were eating horses and mules to survive. With no prospect of a relief, the commander of the troops, decided to surrender.
The legions were promised safe conduct if they left the camp to be sacked by the rebels. All weapons, artillery material and gold was left to plunder. The two legions marched out of the camp but after only a few kilometers they were ambushed by Germanic troops and destroyed. The commander and principal officers were made slaves and given as a present to Veleda, the prophetess who had predicted the rise of the Batavians.
After this success, Civilis went to Colonia Agrippina and set up camp there. In the next months, he invested his time in convincing other tribes from northern Gaul and Germania to join the rebellion.
The rebellion in Germania was now a real threat to the Empire. Two legions had been lost, two others were controlled by Julius Sabinus, a new rebel emperor. This could not be allowed for much longer. As soon as Vespasian had the Empire in his hands and the situation in Italy under control, he decided to act. Not wanting to risk a defeat, an enormous army of eight legions was summoned. Most parts of these legions were deployed to pacify other parts of Gaul and Germania Superior and secure the Rhine frontier. Still, Cerialis' army was a massive one and posed a serious threat to the rebels.
On the news of the approaching army Civilis' allies surrendered. Pushing down from all directions, the new roman commander forced the rebels and their (now scarce) allies to retreat to the North. The rebellion was now confined to Germania Inferior.
From his homeland of Batavia, Civilis tried for some time to attack the Roman army in a series of raids by land and, with help of his fleet, in the rivers Waal and Rhine. In one of these raids, Civilis managed to capture the flagship of the Roman fleet. This was a humiliation that demanded a response. Romans invaded Batavia.
At the outset of the rebellion, Rome was heavily preoccupied with major military operations in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War. However, the war was essentially over. When Civilis heard that Jerusalem had fallen, and he realized that Rome would now bring its full resources to bear upon him, Civilis very wisely made the best peace that he could. Indeed, his people were spared, if subjugated.
Peace talks followed. A bridge was built over the river Nabalia, where the warring parties approached each other on both sides. The general agreements are unknown but the Batavians were forced to renew their alliance with the Roman Empire and to levy another eight auxiliary cavalry units. The Batavian capital was destroyed and its inhabitants ordered to rebuild it a few kilometers downstream, in a defenseless position. Moreover, a legion would be stationed close by, to secure peace.
The fate of Civilis is unknown.
Civilis saw his chance and before the Romans knew what was happening, his troops besieged Castra Vetera once more.
The year 70 started with the odds favoring the rebels. Two legions were still besieged at Castra Vetera and the rest of the Roman army was not large enough to cope with the revolt. Apart from the Batavian rebellion, the Trevirans and Lingones had declared the independence of Gaul. At Castra Vetera the situation was desperate. Food supplies had run out and the besieged legions were eating horses and mules to survive. With no prospect of a relief, the commander of the troops, decided to surrender.
The legions were promised safe conduct if they left the camp to be sacked by the rebels. All weapons, artillery material and gold was left to plunder. The two legions marched out of the camp but after only a few kilometers they were ambushed by Germanic troops and destroyed. The commander and principal officers were made slaves and given as a present to Veleda, the prophetess who had predicted the rise of the Batavians.
After this success, Civilis went to Colonia Agrippina and set up camp there. In the next months, he invested his time in convincing other tribes from northern Gaul and Germania to join the rebellion.
The rebellion in Germania was now a real threat to the Empire. Two legions had been lost, two others were controlled by Julius Sabinus, a new rebel emperor. This could not be allowed for much longer. As soon as Vespasian had the Empire in his hands and the situation in Italy under control, he decided to act. Not wanting to risk a defeat, an enormous army of eight legions was summoned. Most parts of these legions were deployed to pacify other parts of Gaul and Germania Superior and secure the Rhine frontier. Still, Cerialis' army was a massive one and posed a serious threat to the rebels.
On the news of the approaching army Civilis' allies surrendered. Pushing down from all directions, the new roman commander forced the rebels and their (now scarce) allies to retreat to the North. The rebellion was now confined to Germania Inferior.
From his homeland of Batavia, Civilis tried for some time to attack the Roman army in a series of raids by land and, with help of his fleet, in the rivers Waal and Rhine. In one of these raids, Civilis managed to capture the flagship of the Roman fleet. This was a humiliation that demanded a response. Romans invaded Batavia.
At the outset of the rebellion, Rome was heavily preoccupied with major military operations in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War. However, the war was essentially over. When Civilis heard that Jerusalem had fallen, and he realized that Rome would now bring its full resources to bear upon him, Civilis very wisely made the best peace that he could. Indeed, his people were spared, if subjugated.
Peace talks followed. A bridge was built over the river Nabalia, where the warring parties approached each other on both sides. The general agreements are unknown but the Batavians were forced to renew their alliance with the Roman Empire and to levy another eight auxiliary cavalry units. The Batavian capital was destroyed and its inhabitants ordered to rebuild it a few kilometers downstream, in a defenseless position. Moreover, a legion would be stationed close by, to secure peace.
The fate of Civilis is unknown.
Marcomannic
Wars, AD 166-180
The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum, "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges as well as related conflicts with several other barbarian peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube. The struggle against the Germans and Sarmatians occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations, whose book 1 bears the note "Among the Quadi at the Granua".
During the previous years the Roman Empire began to be attacked upon all sides. A war with Parthia lasted from 161 to 166. The returning troops brought with them a plague (the so-called Antonine Plague), which would eventually kill an estimated 5 million people, severely weakening the Empire. At the same time, in Central Europe, the first movements of the Great Migrations were occurring, as the Goths began moving south-east from their ancestral lands at the mouth of River Vistula, putting pressure on the Germanic tribes from the north and east. As a result, Germanic tribes and other nomadic peoples launched raids south and west across Rome's northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube.
Beginning in 162 and continuing until 165, an invasion of Chatti and Chauci in the provinces of Raetia and Germania Superior was repulsed. In late 166 or early 167, a force of 6,000 Langobardi and Lacringi invaded Pannonia. This invasion was defeated by local forces with relative ease, but they marked the beginning of what was to come. In their aftermath, the military governor of Pannonia initiated negotiations with 11 tribes. In these negotiations, the Marcomannic king Ballomar, a Roman client, acted as a mediator. In the event, a truce was agreed upon and the tribes withdrew from Roman territory, but no permanent agreement was reached. In the same year, Vandals (Astingi and Lacringi) and the Sarmatian Iazyges invaded Dacia, and succeeded in killing its governor. To counter them, a legion was moved from Moesia Inferior to Dacia Superior, closer to the enemy.
In 168 the Marcomanni and the Victuali had crossed the Danube into the province, but the approach of the imperial army to Carnuntum was apparently sufficient to persuade them to withdraw and offer assurances of good conduct.
In the autumn of 169, Ballomar had formed a coalition of Germanic tribes. They crossed the Danube and won a decisive victory over a force of 20,000 Roman soldiers near Carnuntum. Ballomar then led the larger part of his host southwards towards Italy, while the remainder ravaged Noricum. The Marcomanni razed Opitergium and besieged Aquileia. This was the first time hostile forces had entered Italy since 101 BC, when Gaius Marius defeated the Cimbri and Teutones. The army of praetorian prefect tried to relieve the city, but was defeated and its general slain.
Forces from the various frontiers were dispatched against Ballomar. Aquileia was relieved, and by the end of 171, the invaders had been evicted from Roman territory. Intense diplomatic activity followed, as the Romans tried to win over various barbarian tribes in preparation for a crossing of the Danube. A peace treaty was signed with the Quadi and the Iazyges, while the tribes of the Hasdingi Vandals and the Lacringi became Roman allies.
In 172, the Romans crossed the Danube into Marcomannic territory and achieved success, subjugating the Marcomanni and their allies, the Varistae or Naristi and the Cotini. During this campaign, the chief of the Naristi was killed by the Roman General Marcus Valerius Maximianus.
In 173, the Romans campaigned against the Quadi, who had broken their treaty and assisted their kin, and defeated and subdued them. During this campaign, a famous incident, the so-called "miracle of the rain", occurred. A legion was hemmed in by a superior Quadi force and almost forced to surrender because of the heat and thirst. They were saved, however, by a sudden shower, which refreshed the Romans, while lightning struck the Quadi. Contemporaries and historians attributed it to divine intervention: Dio stated that it was called by an Egyptian magician praying to Mercury, while Christian writers such as Tertullian attributed it to a prayer by Christians.
In the same year, Didius Iulianus, the commander of the Rhine frontier, repelled another invasion of the Chatti and the Hermunduri, while the Chauci raided the shoreline of Gallia Belgica.
In the next year, the Romans marched against the Quadi, whereupon the Quadi deposed their pro-Roman king, Furtius, and installed his rival, Ariogaesus, in his place. Marcus Aurelius refused to recognize him, and turning back, deposed and exiled him to Alexandria. Thus, by late 174, the subjugation of the Quadi was complete. In typical Roman fashion, they were forced to surrender hostages and provide auxiliary contingents for the Roman army, while garrisons were installed throughout their territory.
The respite was to be brief. In 177, the Quadi rebelled, followed soon by their neighbours, the Marcomanni and Marcus Aurelius once again headed north, to begin his second Germanic campaign (secunda expeditio germanica). The Romans fought and prevailed against the Quadi in a decisive battle at Laugaricio. The Quadi were chased westwards, deeper into Greater Germania.
The war had exposed the weakness of Rome's northern frontier, and henceforth, half of the Roman legions (16 out of 33) would be stationed along the Danube and the Rhine. Numerous Germans settled in frontier regions like Dacia, Pannonia, Germany and Italy itself. The Germanic tribes were temporarilly checked, but the Marcomannic Wars were only the prelude of the invasions that would eventually disassemble and end the Western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries.
The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum, "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges as well as related conflicts with several other barbarian peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube. The struggle against the Germans and Sarmatians occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations, whose book 1 bears the note "Among the Quadi at the Granua".
During the previous years the Roman Empire began to be attacked upon all sides. A war with Parthia lasted from 161 to 166. The returning troops brought with them a plague (the so-called Antonine Plague), which would eventually kill an estimated 5 million people, severely weakening the Empire. At the same time, in Central Europe, the first movements of the Great Migrations were occurring, as the Goths began moving south-east from their ancestral lands at the mouth of River Vistula, putting pressure on the Germanic tribes from the north and east. As a result, Germanic tribes and other nomadic peoples launched raids south and west across Rome's northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube.
Beginning in 162 and continuing until 165, an invasion of Chatti and Chauci in the provinces of Raetia and Germania Superior was repulsed. In late 166 or early 167, a force of 6,000 Langobardi and Lacringi invaded Pannonia. This invasion was defeated by local forces with relative ease, but they marked the beginning of what was to come. In their aftermath, the military governor of Pannonia initiated negotiations with 11 tribes. In these negotiations, the Marcomannic king Ballomar, a Roman client, acted as a mediator. In the event, a truce was agreed upon and the tribes withdrew from Roman territory, but no permanent agreement was reached. In the same year, Vandals (Astingi and Lacringi) and the Sarmatian Iazyges invaded Dacia, and succeeded in killing its governor. To counter them, a legion was moved from Moesia Inferior to Dacia Superior, closer to the enemy.
In 168 the Marcomanni and the Victuali had crossed the Danube into the province, but the approach of the imperial army to Carnuntum was apparently sufficient to persuade them to withdraw and offer assurances of good conduct.
In the autumn of 169, Ballomar had formed a coalition of Germanic tribes. They crossed the Danube and won a decisive victory over a force of 20,000 Roman soldiers near Carnuntum. Ballomar then led the larger part of his host southwards towards Italy, while the remainder ravaged Noricum. The Marcomanni razed Opitergium and besieged Aquileia. This was the first time hostile forces had entered Italy since 101 BC, when Gaius Marius defeated the Cimbri and Teutones. The army of praetorian prefect tried to relieve the city, but was defeated and its general slain.
Forces from the various frontiers were dispatched against Ballomar. Aquileia was relieved, and by the end of 171, the invaders had been evicted from Roman territory. Intense diplomatic activity followed, as the Romans tried to win over various barbarian tribes in preparation for a crossing of the Danube. A peace treaty was signed with the Quadi and the Iazyges, while the tribes of the Hasdingi Vandals and the Lacringi became Roman allies.
In 172, the Romans crossed the Danube into Marcomannic territory and achieved success, subjugating the Marcomanni and their allies, the Varistae or Naristi and the Cotini. During this campaign, the chief of the Naristi was killed by the Roman General Marcus Valerius Maximianus.
In 173, the Romans campaigned against the Quadi, who had broken their treaty and assisted their kin, and defeated and subdued them. During this campaign, a famous incident, the so-called "miracle of the rain", occurred. A legion was hemmed in by a superior Quadi force and almost forced to surrender because of the heat and thirst. They were saved, however, by a sudden shower, which refreshed the Romans, while lightning struck the Quadi. Contemporaries and historians attributed it to divine intervention: Dio stated that it was called by an Egyptian magician praying to Mercury, while Christian writers such as Tertullian attributed it to a prayer by Christians.
In the same year, Didius Iulianus, the commander of the Rhine frontier, repelled another invasion of the Chatti and the Hermunduri, while the Chauci raided the shoreline of Gallia Belgica.
In the next year, the Romans marched against the Quadi, whereupon the Quadi deposed their pro-Roman king, Furtius, and installed his rival, Ariogaesus, in his place. Marcus Aurelius refused to recognize him, and turning back, deposed and exiled him to Alexandria. Thus, by late 174, the subjugation of the Quadi was complete. In typical Roman fashion, they were forced to surrender hostages and provide auxiliary contingents for the Roman army, while garrisons were installed throughout their territory.
The respite was to be brief. In 177, the Quadi rebelled, followed soon by their neighbours, the Marcomanni and Marcus Aurelius once again headed north, to begin his second Germanic campaign (secunda expeditio germanica). The Romans fought and prevailed against the Quadi in a decisive battle at Laugaricio. The Quadi were chased westwards, deeper into Greater Germania.
The war had exposed the weakness of Rome's northern frontier, and henceforth, half of the Roman legions (16 out of 33) would be stationed along the Danube and the Rhine. Numerous Germans settled in frontier regions like Dacia, Pannonia, Germany and Italy itself. The Germanic tribes were temporarilly checked, but the Marcomannic Wars were only the prelude of the invasions that would eventually disassemble and end the Western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Gothic Invasion, AD 250-271
Soon after Decius ascended to the throne in 249, barbarian tribes invaded the Roman provinces of Dacia, Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior. Two factors had contributed to growing unrest in the area north of Danube. First, Decius' predecessor Philip the Arab had refused to continue payments, initiated by Emperor Maximinus Thrax in 238, of annual subsidies to the aggressive tribes of the region. Second and more important, there were continuous movements of new peoples since the time of Emperor Severus Alexander. Decius may also have taken with him troops from the Danube frontier, in order to depose Philip in 249. The resultant military vacuum would inevitably attract invaders.
A tribal coalition under king Cniva crossed the Roman frontier, probably advancing in two columns. Other people of Germanic and Sarmatian origin (like Bastarnae, Taifals and Hasdingian Vandals), and Roman deserters as well, had joined the invaders. Cniva (Kniwa, meaning "knife") (flourished mid-3rd century AD) was a Gothic chieftain. The first column of Cniva's army, a detachment of about 20,000 or so likely led by the chieftains Argaith and Gunteric, besieged Marcianopolis, without success.] Then they headed south to besiege Philippopolis). Cniva's main column under the King himself crossed Danube at Oescus then headed eastwards to Novae, where he was repelled by the provincial governor (and future emperor) Trebonianus Gallus. Then the invaders headed south to plunder Nicopolis ad Istrum where Decius defeated them but not decisively. After these initial setbacks, the barbarians moved southwards through Haemus mountain and Decius pursued them to save Philippopolis. This time Decius' army was taken by surprise while resting at Beroe/Augusta Traiana. The Romans were heavily defeated in the ensuing battle. Decius was forced to withdraw his army to the north at Oescus, leaving Cniva ample time to ravage Moesia and finally capture Philippopolis in the summer of 251, in part with the help of its commander, Titus Julius Priscus who had proclaimed himself Emperor. It seems that Priscus, after receiving the news of the defeat at Beroe, thought that the Goths would spare him and the city. He was wrong and was killed when the city fell. Then the Scythians began returning to their homeland, laden with booty and captives, among them many of senatorial rank.
Probably in August of 251, the Roman army engaged the Scythians under Cniva near Abritus. The strengths of the bellingerent forces are unknown, but we know that Cniva divided his forces into three units, with one of these parts concealed behind a swamp.[17] the Gothic force was probably between 30,000 and 40,000 troops. Decius' own army consisted of 4-6 legions from the Danube frontier, along with available auxiliaries and cavalry, and was probably estimated to be 20-30,000 soldiers in total. Decius felt extremely confident that he would be able to crush the Goths in one final assault, but he would soon underestimate his enemy. It seems that Cniva was a skilled tactician and that he was very familiar with the surrounding terrain. Herennius Etruscus was killed by an arrow during a skirmish before the outset of the battle and that his father addressed his soldiers as if the loss of his son did not matter. He allegedly said, "Let no one mourn. The death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic".
The manoeuvre of the Scythians was ultimately successful. Decius' forces defeated their opponents in the front line, but made the fatal mistake of pursuing their fleeing enemy into the swamp, where they were ambushed and routed. The immense slaughter marked one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of the Roman Empire and resulted in the death of Decius himself.
Lactantius, a 4th-century early Christian and advisor to Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, described the emperor's demise as following : “he was suddenly surrounded by the barbarians, and slain, together with great part of his army; nor could he be honoured with the rites of sepulture, but, stripped and naked, he lay to be devoured by wild beasts and birds, a fit end for the enemy of God."
Gallus, who became emperor upon Decius' death, negotiated a treaty with the Goths under duress, which allowed them to keep their booty and return to their homes on the other side of the Danube. He also agreed to pay an annual tribute in return for the Goths' promise to respect Roman territory.
In 271, the Emperor Aurelian conclusively defeated the Goths and killed their king Cniva.
Soon after Decius ascended to the throne in 249, barbarian tribes invaded the Roman provinces of Dacia, Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior. Two factors had contributed to growing unrest in the area north of Danube. First, Decius' predecessor Philip the Arab had refused to continue payments, initiated by Emperor Maximinus Thrax in 238, of annual subsidies to the aggressive tribes of the region. Second and more important, there were continuous movements of new peoples since the time of Emperor Severus Alexander. Decius may also have taken with him troops from the Danube frontier, in order to depose Philip in 249. The resultant military vacuum would inevitably attract invaders.
A tribal coalition under king Cniva crossed the Roman frontier, probably advancing in two columns. Other people of Germanic and Sarmatian origin (like Bastarnae, Taifals and Hasdingian Vandals), and Roman deserters as well, had joined the invaders. Cniva (Kniwa, meaning "knife") (flourished mid-3rd century AD) was a Gothic chieftain. The first column of Cniva's army, a detachment of about 20,000 or so likely led by the chieftains Argaith and Gunteric, besieged Marcianopolis, without success.] Then they headed south to besiege Philippopolis). Cniva's main column under the King himself crossed Danube at Oescus then headed eastwards to Novae, where he was repelled by the provincial governor (and future emperor) Trebonianus Gallus. Then the invaders headed south to plunder Nicopolis ad Istrum where Decius defeated them but not decisively. After these initial setbacks, the barbarians moved southwards through Haemus mountain and Decius pursued them to save Philippopolis. This time Decius' army was taken by surprise while resting at Beroe/Augusta Traiana. The Romans were heavily defeated in the ensuing battle. Decius was forced to withdraw his army to the north at Oescus, leaving Cniva ample time to ravage Moesia and finally capture Philippopolis in the summer of 251, in part with the help of its commander, Titus Julius Priscus who had proclaimed himself Emperor. It seems that Priscus, after receiving the news of the defeat at Beroe, thought that the Goths would spare him and the city. He was wrong and was killed when the city fell. Then the Scythians began returning to their homeland, laden with booty and captives, among them many of senatorial rank.
Probably in August of 251, the Roman army engaged the Scythians under Cniva near Abritus. The strengths of the bellingerent forces are unknown, but we know that Cniva divided his forces into three units, with one of these parts concealed behind a swamp.[17] the Gothic force was probably between 30,000 and 40,000 troops. Decius' own army consisted of 4-6 legions from the Danube frontier, along with available auxiliaries and cavalry, and was probably estimated to be 20-30,000 soldiers in total. Decius felt extremely confident that he would be able to crush the Goths in one final assault, but he would soon underestimate his enemy. It seems that Cniva was a skilled tactician and that he was very familiar with the surrounding terrain. Herennius Etruscus was killed by an arrow during a skirmish before the outset of the battle and that his father addressed his soldiers as if the loss of his son did not matter. He allegedly said, "Let no one mourn. The death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic".
The manoeuvre of the Scythians was ultimately successful. Decius' forces defeated their opponents in the front line, but made the fatal mistake of pursuing their fleeing enemy into the swamp, where they were ambushed and routed. The immense slaughter marked one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of the Roman Empire and resulted in the death of Decius himself.
Lactantius, a 4th-century early Christian and advisor to Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, described the emperor's demise as following : “he was suddenly surrounded by the barbarians, and slain, together with great part of his army; nor could he be honoured with the rites of sepulture, but, stripped and naked, he lay to be devoured by wild beasts and birds, a fit end for the enemy of God."
Gallus, who became emperor upon Decius' death, negotiated a treaty with the Goths under duress, which allowed them to keep their booty and return to their homes on the other side of the Danube. He also agreed to pay an annual tribute in return for the Goths' promise to respect Roman territory.
In 271, the Emperor Aurelian conclusively defeated the Goths and killed their king Cniva.
The battle of Naissus came about as a result of two massive invasions of "Scythian" tribes into Roman territory between 267 and 269. The first wave came during the reign of Gallienus in 267 and started when the Heruli, raiding on 500 ships, ravaged the southern Black Sea coast and unsuccessfully attacked Byzantium and Cyzicus. They were defeated by the Roman navy but managed to escape into the Aegean Sea, where they ravaged the islands of Lemnos and Skyros and sacked several cities of the southern Greece province of Achaea, including Athens, Corinth, Argos, and Sparta. Then an Athenian militia pushed the invaders to the north where they were intercepted by the Roman army under Gallienus. He won an important victory near the Nestos River, on the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace, with the aid of the Dalmatian cavalry. Reported barbarian casualties were 3,000 men. Subsequently, the Heruli leader Naulobatus came to terms with the Romans.
A second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli—assembled at the mouth of river Tyras . After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube (Tomi, Marcianopolis), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis. Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of Gothic inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis or because it was defeated by the Roman navy. They then entered the Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete and Rhodes. While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia, it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing. On their way, they plundered Doberus and Pelagonia.
The Goths were engaged near Naissus by a Roman army advancing from the north. The battle took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretended flight. It seems that Aurelian, who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during reign of Claudius, led the decisive attack in the battle.
A large number of Goths managed to escape towards Macedonia, initially defending themselves behind their laager. Soon, many of them and their pack animals, distressed as they were by the harassment of the Roman cavalry and the lack of provisions, died of hunger. The Roman army methodically pursued and surrounded the survivors at Mount Haemus where an epidemic affected the entrapped Goths. After a bloody but inconclusive battle, they escaped but were pursued again until they surrendered. Prisoners were admitted to the army or given land to cultivate and become coloni. The members of the pirate fleet, after the failed attacks on Crete and Rhodes, retreated and many of them suffered a similar end. However the plague also affected the pursuing Romans and emperor Claudius, who died from it in 270.
The psychological impact of this victory was so strong that Claudius became known to posterity as Claudius II Gothicus ("conqueror of the Goths"). However devastating the defeat, the battle did not entirely break the military strength of the Gothic tribes. In 271, after Aurelian repelled another Gothic invasion, he abandoned the province of Dacia north of the Danube in order to rationalize the defense of the Empire.
A second and larger sea-borne invasion had started. An enormous coalition of Goths (Greuthungi and Thervingi), Gepids and Peucini, led again by the Heruli—assembled at the mouth of river Tyras . After failing to storm some towns on the coasts of the western Black Sea and the Danube (Tomi, Marcianopolis), the invaders attacked Byzantium and Chrysopolis. Part of their fleet was wrecked, either because of Gothic inexperience in sailing through the violent currents of the Propontis or because it was defeated by the Roman navy. They then entered the Aegean Sea and a detachment ravaged the Aegean islands as far as Crete and Rhodes. While their main force had constructed siege works and was close to taking the cities of Thessalonica and Cassandreia, it retreated to the Balkan interior at the news that the emperor was advancing. On their way, they plundered Doberus and Pelagonia.
The Goths were engaged near Naissus by a Roman army advancing from the north. The battle took place in 269, and was fiercely contested. Large numbers on both sides were killed but, at the critical point, the Romans tricked the Goths into an ambush by pretended flight. It seems that Aurelian, who was in charge of all Roman cavalry during reign of Claudius, led the decisive attack in the battle.
A large number of Goths managed to escape towards Macedonia, initially defending themselves behind their laager. Soon, many of them and their pack animals, distressed as they were by the harassment of the Roman cavalry and the lack of provisions, died of hunger. The Roman army methodically pursued and surrounded the survivors at Mount Haemus where an epidemic affected the entrapped Goths. After a bloody but inconclusive battle, they escaped but were pursued again until they surrendered. Prisoners were admitted to the army or given land to cultivate and become coloni. The members of the pirate fleet, after the failed attacks on Crete and Rhodes, retreated and many of them suffered a similar end. However the plague also affected the pursuing Romans and emperor Claudius, who died from it in 270.
The psychological impact of this victory was so strong that Claudius became known to posterity as Claudius II Gothicus ("conqueror of the Goths"). However devastating the defeat, the battle did not entirely break the military strength of the Gothic tribes. In 271, after Aurelian repelled another Gothic invasion, he abandoned the province of Dacia north of the Danube in order to rationalize the defense of the Empire.
Alamannic
Wars, AD 259-357
As Emperor Valerian, Gallienus´s father, was unable to be present in the battlefield, he named his son Gallienus Emperor. While in 259 Valerian was fighting against the Sassanid Empire and the Goths, who by that time had sacked Thrace and Asia Minor, within the borders of the Rhine and the Alps, a Germanic confederation, the Alamanni, who occupied a good part of the Agri Decumates (the territory located between the mouth of the Rhine river and the Danube), crossed the Alpine steps and attacked the fertile plain of the Po river. The sacking of the area instilled terror in Rome, as it was not a walled city. The Senate of Rome hastily prepared a crowd of plebs for combat in an attempt to ensure that its shrinking army was capable of protecting the city. Gallienus had just defeated the pretender Ingenuus when the news arrived of the invasion by the Alamanni. He marched off with three legions to intercept the barbarians in Italy but the Alamanni had retreated before the unexpected resistance of the citizens of Rome and its Senate. When Gallienus arrived in the valley of the Po, he found the Alamanni in the vicinity of Mediolanum. The victory was total and the emperor received the title Germanicus Maximus.
The invasion by the Alamanni demonstrated the vulnerability of Italy and especially Rome. This later caused Emperor Aurelian to have a strong wall built to defend the capital of the Empire.
Ιn 268, the Alamanni and Juthungi, who had been making incursions into Roman territory since the reign of Marcus Aurelius, had broken through the Roman frontier at the Danube and crossed the Alps one more time. The power struggles in Mediolanum due to Aureolus' revolt, the murder of Emperor Gallienus and the resulting confrontation between Aureolus and Claudius, who had been nominated as emperor by Gallienus on his death bed, forced the Romans to denude the frontier of troops. Having defeated and killed Aureolus in the Siege of Mediolanum Claudius led his army, together with the remants of Aureolus' force, north to confront the Germans. The battle was fought along the banks of Lake Benacus in northern Italy, in 268. After a complete roman victory, Claudius assumed the title Germanicus Maximus. The future emperor Aurelian certainly played a part. Much of the German army was slaughtered on the field with the remainder retreating beyond the bounds of the empire
Since the winter of 270, the Roman army had been occupied with repulsing a Vandal invasion at the Danube frontier. The expedition was ultimately successful, however, the Juthungi tribe seized the opportunity by invading Italia, counting on the absence of the Roman army. Emperor Aurelian, who was in Pannonia with an army to control the withdrawal of the Vandals, hastily moved into Italia. He immediately sent them a message demanding their surrender, which they rejected by saying that if he wanted to challenge them they would show him how a free people could fight. Finally in early 271, they surprised the exhausted Roman army with an ambush at a wood near Placentia, and the Emperor was defeated.
The news of this humiliating defeat produced two short-lived military revolts. The Juthungi continued to move on Via Emilia towards Rome. Since no remarkable military force was left between the invaders and the capital, panic spread through the city which had grown far beyond its old walls. The Sibylline Books were consulted, and religious ceremonies performed to call for the gods' help.
Aurelian had rallied his men, and started pursuing the Juthungi, who were quickly moving towards a defenceless Rome. Finally, the Roman Army caught and forced a fight with the Juthungi on the Metaurus River, just inland of Fano. The crucial moment of the battle was when the Juthungi got pinned against the river, so that, when the Germanic line was forced to give way, many Juthungi fell in the river and drowned.
The Romans escaped disaster when Emperor Aurelian soundly defeated the Juthungi, leading to great celebration throughout the city.
As Emperor Valerian, Gallienus´s father, was unable to be present in the battlefield, he named his son Gallienus Emperor. While in 259 Valerian was fighting against the Sassanid Empire and the Goths, who by that time had sacked Thrace and Asia Minor, within the borders of the Rhine and the Alps, a Germanic confederation, the Alamanni, who occupied a good part of the Agri Decumates (the territory located between the mouth of the Rhine river and the Danube), crossed the Alpine steps and attacked the fertile plain of the Po river. The sacking of the area instilled terror in Rome, as it was not a walled city. The Senate of Rome hastily prepared a crowd of plebs for combat in an attempt to ensure that its shrinking army was capable of protecting the city. Gallienus had just defeated the pretender Ingenuus when the news arrived of the invasion by the Alamanni. He marched off with three legions to intercept the barbarians in Italy but the Alamanni had retreated before the unexpected resistance of the citizens of Rome and its Senate. When Gallienus arrived in the valley of the Po, he found the Alamanni in the vicinity of Mediolanum. The victory was total and the emperor received the title Germanicus Maximus.
The invasion by the Alamanni demonstrated the vulnerability of Italy and especially Rome. This later caused Emperor Aurelian to have a strong wall built to defend the capital of the Empire.
Ιn 268, the Alamanni and Juthungi, who had been making incursions into Roman territory since the reign of Marcus Aurelius, had broken through the Roman frontier at the Danube and crossed the Alps one more time. The power struggles in Mediolanum due to Aureolus' revolt, the murder of Emperor Gallienus and the resulting confrontation between Aureolus and Claudius, who had been nominated as emperor by Gallienus on his death bed, forced the Romans to denude the frontier of troops. Having defeated and killed Aureolus in the Siege of Mediolanum Claudius led his army, together with the remants of Aureolus' force, north to confront the Germans. The battle was fought along the banks of Lake Benacus in northern Italy, in 268. After a complete roman victory, Claudius assumed the title Germanicus Maximus. The future emperor Aurelian certainly played a part. Much of the German army was slaughtered on the field with the remainder retreating beyond the bounds of the empire
Since the winter of 270, the Roman army had been occupied with repulsing a Vandal invasion at the Danube frontier. The expedition was ultimately successful, however, the Juthungi tribe seized the opportunity by invading Italia, counting on the absence of the Roman army. Emperor Aurelian, who was in Pannonia with an army to control the withdrawal of the Vandals, hastily moved into Italia. He immediately sent them a message demanding their surrender, which they rejected by saying that if he wanted to challenge them they would show him how a free people could fight. Finally in early 271, they surprised the exhausted Roman army with an ambush at a wood near Placentia, and the Emperor was defeated.
The news of this humiliating defeat produced two short-lived military revolts. The Juthungi continued to move on Via Emilia towards Rome. Since no remarkable military force was left between the invaders and the capital, panic spread through the city which had grown far beyond its old walls. The Sibylline Books were consulted, and religious ceremonies performed to call for the gods' help.
Aurelian had rallied his men, and started pursuing the Juthungi, who were quickly moving towards a defenceless Rome. Finally, the Roman Army caught and forced a fight with the Juthungi on the Metaurus River, just inland of Fano. The crucial moment of the battle was when the Juthungi got pinned against the river, so that, when the Germanic line was forced to give way, many Juthungi fell in the river and drowned.
The Romans escaped disaster when Emperor Aurelian soundly defeated the Juthungi, leading to great celebration throughout the city.
The Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in AD 357 between the Late Roman army under the Caesar (deputy emperor) Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount king Chnodomar.
At this time the Alamanni confederation have been under the presidency of two patramount kings, Chnodomar and Westralp. Chnodomar was the driving force. A man of prodigious stature, strength and energy, he was nicknamed Gigas ("the Giant") by the Romans. He was a formidable sight in his "flashing" helmet (probably gold-leafed) and full parade armour. Under the paramount king were 7 other kings (reges), and petty kings (reguli).
In the East, emperor Constantius had been engaged in a lengthy war against the Persians under Shah Shapur II (337-350). But he immediately concluded a truce in order to deal with usurper Magnentius. A huge number of Rome's finest troops, were wiped out in the civil war. At the Battle of Mursa in Pannonia (351), one of the bloodiest in Roman history. Such massive losses of first-grade troops could not quickly or easily be replaced.
The Franks and Alamanni on the Rhine frontier now seized the opportunity presented by the absence of the best Roman forces in the civil war to overrun much of eastern Gaul and Raetia. They were incited to do so by letters from Constantius, in order to create a diversion in Magnentius' rear. The barbarians captured many of the Roman forts along the Rhine, demolished their fortifications and established permanent camps on the West bank of the river, which they used as bases to pillage Gaul during the four years that the civil war lasted (350-3). In excess of 20,000 Roman civilians were abducted from Gaul and forced to work in the Alamanni's fields. In turn, this would have reinforced Alamanni raiding in Gaul by freeing many from the harvest cycle.
Using his own comitatus, Constantius succeeded in driving the Alamanni out of Raetia (354), and binding the kings of southern Alamannia, Wadomar and Gundomad, with a treaty of alliance. Meanwhile, Silvanus made considerable progress in restoring the situation in Gaul. But the following year (355), Silvanus capitalised on his military success by proclaiming himself emperor at Colonia and leading his men in a rebellion against Constantius. After defeating him, Constantius appointed his cousin Julian as Caesar (deputy emperor) for the "Three Gauls" (the dioceses of Gaul, Spain and Britain) and gave him overall command of forces in Gaul
The task confronting Julian as he took up his command was daunting. The civil war had left Gaul in a chaotic state. The defensive line of the Rhine had largely collapsed. Moguntiacum, Borbetomagus, Nemetae Vangionum, Tabernae, Saliso and Argentorate were all in German hands. Apart from the major fortified city of Colonia Agrippina, only three strongpoints on the Rhine remained in Roman hands: a single tower near Cologne and two forts, at Rigodunum and Confluentes. Large barbarian bands were roaming and pillaging northeastern Gaul at will, reaching as far as the river Seine. Further, the Roman limitanei (border defence forces) along the Rhine had been decimated by the fall of most of their forts to the Germans, while those units that survived intact had mostly retreated from the frontier to garrison Gaul's cities.
But, after assessing the situation in Alsace, Julian evidently decided that his force was insufficient to prevail over the Alamanni alone. In 356 Julian concluded a peace treaty with the Franks
For the 357 campaign season, a plan was laid down at Constantius' headquarters in Mediolanum to trap the Alamanni in eastern Gaul in a pincer movement. But large bands of Alamanni, ignoring the threat posed by the Roman manoeuvre, invaded and ravaged the rich Rhone valley, even trying to take the major city of Lugdunum by assault. The attack was repulsed as the walls of the city proved too strong and the garrison, presumably limitanei troops, too valorous. Nevertheless, the Germans had devastated a large area and taken vast amounts of booty.
However, the Germans were now trapped in the interior of Gaul, as their return route to the Rhine was barred by the Roman armies. In Julian's sector, the Caesar destroyed the returning barbarian bands. But in the other sector, the main body of Germans were allowed to pass unmolested. The escaping force reached some islands in the Rhine near Argentoratum where the raiding-bands had moved their camps for safety in response to the Roman pincer movement. Although without boats, Julian´s men succeeded in reaching one island, as the river had become fordable at some points due to summer drought. An entire raiding-band was surprised and slaughtered, a success repeated on a few other islands. In response, the Germans evacuated the remaining islands, removing their sutlers, baggage and booty to the far side of the Rhine.
Meanwhile, in the vicinity of Argentoratum, the vanguard of Barbatio's army (Constantius´s magister militum) was ambushed by a strong German force and, instead of engaging, Barbatio led the rest of his force in a hasty retreat, under close pursuit by the Germans, out of Germania I and a good way into Raetia, in the process losing most of his sutlers, pack-animals and baggage. He sent his forces across the Alps into winter-quarters in Italy, despite it being the middle of the campaigning season and the Alamanni being far from defeated or ejected from Germania I. it seems unlikely that the magister would have risked breaking off operations unless confident of the emperor's approval.
Chnodomar could not ignore Julian's fortification of Saverne, as it threatened his control of Germania I and blocked his main access route into the interior of Gaul. He had come to see this region as Alamanni territory by right of conquest after occupying it for several years. He also claimed to possess letters from Constantius granting the Alamanni the right to occupy those lands. Chnodomar had been surprised and dismayed by Julian's successful campaigns of 355-7. But he was encouraged by his own success against Barbatio and the intelligence brought to him by a deserter that Barbatio's withdrawal had left the Caesar with only 13,000 men. Having driven two Roman magistri from the field Chnodomar had lost the barbarians' traditional fear of pitched battles with the Romans.
The Alamanni high kings now ordered a mass mobilisation of all the confederation's member tribes, gathering their bands at Argentoratum. In addition, they received the timely support of the Alamanni cantons near Raetia that had been pacified by Constantius in 355. Their leaders were overthrown in an anti-Roman coup by their optimates. Gundomad was slain and Wadomar forced at sword-point to break his treaty and lead his warriors to join Chnodomar. Finally, they summoned the assistance of non-Alamanni tribes (Burgundians), partly for services rendered in the past, partly for payment. At Saverne they gathered a huge combined force shown by the presence of all the Alamanni kings and German bands were crossing the Rhine to Argentoratum continuously for three days and nights. Their aim was to bring Julian to battle and crush him by sheer weight of numbers. They provoked Julian by sending him an ultimatum to evacuate Germania I immediately.
Julian was now faced with a finely-balanced judgement call. The safer option was to ignore Chnodomar's challenge and to keep his forces in their fortified bases and request and await reinforcements, if necessary until the following year's campaign season. But the performance of Barbatio and the imperial comitatus in the recent campaign cast doubt on whether such reinforcements would be supplied and on their value if they were. Such a course would also expose Gaul to a massive Germanic invasion just when the harvest was due. Alternatively, he could fight Chnodomar alone. This offered the prospect of a decisive victory, since the Alamanni forces were now, unusually, concentrated and not divided into many disparate bands. The Romans almost always won pitched battles with barbarians, because of their superior equipment, organisation and training. But in this case it was clearly a high-risk option because of the Germans' massive superiority in numbers. Julian decided to confront the Alamanni with just the forces at his disposal.
Julian's army set forth at dawn, and arrived within sight of the barbarian entrenchments (vallum) outside Argentoratum at around midday, after a march of 21 Roman miles.
Chnodomar, alerted by his lookouts that the Roman army was at hand, moved his army forward from its base before the ruined walls of Argentoratum to his chosen battlefield nearby.
The German host was waiting for the Romans, drawn up on the crest of the hill, to give Chnodomar's men the advantage of the slope. The German left wing was held by Chnodomar and his cavalry. He was well aware of the threat posed by the Roman heavy cavalry, Chnodomar had devised a stratagem. He interspersed lightly armed infantry among his cavalry. These were easy to conceal in the standing grain. The idea was that in a mêlée, the foot soldiers would bring down the cataphracts by crawling along the ground and stabbing their horses in their underbellies, which were unprotected. The dismounted riders, weighed down by their armour, could then easily be despatched on the ground. In the woods beyond the highway were a substantial force of warriors hidden in ambush on Chnodomar's orders. The right wing was under his nephew Serapio (who was given his Greek name by his Hellenophile father). Although still a teenager, Serapio had already proved a military leader worthy of his uncle. The rest of the line was divided into pagi units under five major kings and ten petty kings.
Julian drew up his infantry in two lines, widely spaced apart, each several ranks deep. This was a standard Roman line-up: the rear line troops were reserves who would be able to intervene if the enemy threatened to break through at any point, and to exploit opportunities as they arose. During the battle, the foot archers (sagittarii) formed the rear rank of the front line, to shoot over the heads of their own infantry. But at the start, archers were stationed in front of the main line, so that they could disrupt the enemy ranks with their missiles. This was especially likely if the Romans' archer forces were much stronger than Chnodomar's, giving them a competitive advantage in a long-range missile exchange. On the right wing was posted the entire cavalry. Most likely, the light cavalry would have been stationed in front, to harass the enemy before the heavy cavalry launched their shock charge. Set back from the left flank of the front line, Julian posted a separate division to face the woods beyond the highway, with orders to advance into them to launch a surprise attack on the German right wing. Julian himself, with his escort of 200 scholares, took up position in the gap between the Roman lines, giving him a close, but relatively protected, view of the action.
Julian's best hope for a quick victory lay in a cavalry breakthrough. Not only was the German cavalry probably smaller than his own, but its lack of armour made it vulnerable to his armoured regiments, especially the cataphracts. If they could rout the enemy horse, his squadrons could then wheel and attack the German lines in the flank or rear, and the battle would be as good as won. Julian's cavalry would thus aim to deliver a shock charge, careering forward in a wedge formation with the cataphracts forming the spearhead.
As soon as the two armies were drawn up, a clamour arose from the German ranks, loudly demanding that Chnodomar and his entourage of chiefs should dismount and lead the main body of German foot warriors from the front. Chnodomar and the chiefs immediately complied. In so doing, Chnodomar forfeited any strategic control of the battle, as, trapped in the centre of the action, he would have no way of knowing what was happening in other sectors. Julian, on the other hand, maintained a detached position throughout (with his escort) and so was able to respond to events all over the field.
The Roman main charge have been preceded by harassing attacks by the light cavalry. The mounted archers would execute what the Romans knew as the "Parthian attack": ride up to within range of the enemy, loose a volley of arrows, then hastily retreat, using the arrow distance to escape pursuit. This could be repeated several times, causing significant casualties and, ideally, enticing the enemy into a premature and disorganised charge. However, in this case, the German cavalry would have been prevented from charging as their interspersed infantry support would not have been able to keep up—most likely, they awaited the Roman cavalry at the halt, or moved forward slowly.
The Roman heavy cavalry now charged the German horsemen. In the ensuing mêlée, Chnodomar's stratagem paid dividends. The interspersed foot warriors wreaked havoc, bringing down the horses of the cataphracts and then killing their riders on the ground. Unnerved by these tactics, and by the injury of one of their tribuni, the cataphracts panicked and fled the field. In their headlong flight, they crashed into the Roman infantry on the right, which, however, was able to maintain formation because of the skill of the crack auxilia palatina regiments posted there. The cataphracts took refuge behind the infantry lines, where it took the personal intervention of Julian himself to rally them. One regiment of cataphracts refused to return to the fight and that after the battle, they were obliged by Julian to wear female clothes as punishment. The rest of the cavalry retreated with the cataphracts. The German cavalry was unable to capitalise on their success to outflank the Roman right. Nevertheless, Chnodomar had trumped Julian's best card.
Encouraged by their cavalry's success, the foot soldiers in the German front line gave a great roar and ran towards the Roman line. In the centre, German foot warriors repeatedly charged the serried ranks of Romans, hoping to break through by sheer weight of numbers. But the Roman front line held for a long time, inflicting severe casualties on the Germans who flung themselves recklessly at their massed spears. Then, a group of German chiefs and their best warriors formed a dense mass (globus), and, let through by the German front ranks, charged the Romans. This was a formation, also used by the Romans, known as a "hogshead" (caput porcinum), a wedge protected by armoured warriors on the outside. They succeeded, by desperate efforts, in punching a hole through the centre of the Roman front line. This was potentially disastrous for the Romans. But despite being cut in two, the Roman front line evidently did not collapse: the experienced frontline regiments managed to hold their separated wings in formation.
The hidden Germans eventually lost patience, advanced out of the woods and charged at Severus' division, only to be routed by Severus' crack troops.
Meanwhile, a large number of Germans poured through the breach in the Roman frontline and charged the centre of the Roman rear line. This position was held by a elite legion, which stopped the German attack in its tracks and then counterattacked, routing the breakthrough force. The breach in the front line was presumably filled, either by the separated wings of the front line reconnecting, or by the legion advancing from the rear line. The front line, now extended on the left flank by the rear line left wing began pushing the Germans back, and gradually hemmed them in from the flanks. At this point, the Germans were already exhausted and demoralised by their lack of progress and severe losses. The mass of their army was now trapped in an ever-tighter Roman crescent, with the troops on the edges being methodically cut down and the ones in the middle packed tightly together and unable to move. Finally, after more relentless pressure from the Romans, the German line collapsed: as panic spread through their ranks, the Germans broke formation and ran for their lives. Many did not run fast enough: pursued all the way to the Rhine by Roman cavalry and infantry, many were cut down as they ran. Large numbers attempted to swim across the river, but many drowned, hit by Roman missiles or weighed down by their armour.
6,000 Germans perished on the battlefield and in the pursuit on land Thousands more drowned as they tried to get across the river. About a third of the German force lost their lives. However, it appears that the majority escaped, including the eight reges alongside Chnodomar. The Romans lost just 243 men, including four tribuni (regimental commanders) of which two were commanders of cataphracti.
Chnodomar himself and his retinue tried to escape on horseback, hoping to reach some boats prepared for just such an emergency near the ruined Roman fort of Concordia, some 40 km downstream from Argentoratum. But they were cornered by a Roman cavalry squadron in a wood on the bank of the Rhine and surrendered. Brought before Julian, whom he begged for mercy, Chnodomar was sent on to the court of Constantius at Milan. Not long afterwards, he died of disease in a camp for barbarian prisoners in Rome.
The immediate aftermath of the battle saw a vigorous "ethnic cleansing" campaign as all Alamanni families who had settled in Alsace on stolen land were rounded up and expelled from imperial territory. Still in 357, Julian followed up the battle by an incursion into Alamanni territory beyond the Rhine. After ravaging the lands far and wide, he set about rebuilding a fort in the Agri Decumates originally built by Trajan in the early 2nd century. He then granted the anxious barbarians a 10-month truce. In 358, Julian first turned his attention to the Frankish tribes, crossing the lower Rhine and forced the Salii and Chamavi tribes to surrender and become tributarii. Finally, he again switched his attention to the Alamanni, crossing the Rhine at Mainz and forcing the submission of the new paramount kings Hortarius and Surmarius. In 359, Julian restored seven forts and town walls in the middle Rhine, obliging his new tributary Alamanni to provide the supplies and labour needed. He then crossed the Rhine, marched through the territory of the tributaries and devastated the lands of the other kings who had fought at Argentoratum, including Westralp. All were forced to submit and return the thousands of Roman civilians they had abducted and enslaved during the years of easy plunder. By 360 Julian to keep his near-mutinous troops occupied, crossed the Rhine and attacked the Attuarii tribe of the Frankish confederation.
Chnodomar, alerted by his lookouts that the Roman army was at hand, moved his army forward from its base before the ruined walls of Argentoratum to his chosen battlefield nearby.
The German host was waiting for the Romans, drawn up on the crest of the hill, to give Chnodomar's men the advantage of the slope. The German left wing was held by Chnodomar and his cavalry. He was well aware of the threat posed by the Roman heavy cavalry, Chnodomar had devised a stratagem. He interspersed lightly armed infantry among his cavalry. These were easy to conceal in the standing grain. The idea was that in a mêlée, the foot soldiers would bring down the cataphracts by crawling along the ground and stabbing their horses in their underbellies, which were unprotected. The dismounted riders, weighed down by their armour, could then easily be despatched on the ground. In the woods beyond the highway were a substantial force of warriors hidden in ambush on Chnodomar's orders. The right wing was under his nephew Serapio (who was given his Greek name by his Hellenophile father). Although still a teenager, Serapio had already proved a military leader worthy of his uncle. The rest of the line was divided into pagi units under five major kings and ten petty kings.
Julian drew up his infantry in two lines, widely spaced apart, each several ranks deep. This was a standard Roman line-up: the rear line troops were reserves who would be able to intervene if the enemy threatened to break through at any point, and to exploit opportunities as they arose. During the battle, the foot archers (sagittarii) formed the rear rank of the front line, to shoot over the heads of their own infantry. But at the start, archers were stationed in front of the main line, so that they could disrupt the enemy ranks with their missiles. This was especially likely if the Romans' archer forces were much stronger than Chnodomar's, giving them a competitive advantage in a long-range missile exchange. On the right wing was posted the entire cavalry. Most likely, the light cavalry would have been stationed in front, to harass the enemy before the heavy cavalry launched their shock charge. Set back from the left flank of the front line, Julian posted a separate division to face the woods beyond the highway, with orders to advance into them to launch a surprise attack on the German right wing. Julian himself, with his escort of 200 scholares, took up position in the gap between the Roman lines, giving him a close, but relatively protected, view of the action.
Julian's best hope for a quick victory lay in a cavalry breakthrough. Not only was the German cavalry probably smaller than his own, but its lack of armour made it vulnerable to his armoured regiments, especially the cataphracts. If they could rout the enemy horse, his squadrons could then wheel and attack the German lines in the flank or rear, and the battle would be as good as won. Julian's cavalry would thus aim to deliver a shock charge, careering forward in a wedge formation with the cataphracts forming the spearhead.
As soon as the two armies were drawn up, a clamour arose from the German ranks, loudly demanding that Chnodomar and his entourage of chiefs should dismount and lead the main body of German foot warriors from the front. Chnodomar and the chiefs immediately complied. In so doing, Chnodomar forfeited any strategic control of the battle, as, trapped in the centre of the action, he would have no way of knowing what was happening in other sectors. Julian, on the other hand, maintained a detached position throughout (with his escort) and so was able to respond to events all over the field.
The Roman main charge have been preceded by harassing attacks by the light cavalry. The mounted archers would execute what the Romans knew as the "Parthian attack": ride up to within range of the enemy, loose a volley of arrows, then hastily retreat, using the arrow distance to escape pursuit. This could be repeated several times, causing significant casualties and, ideally, enticing the enemy into a premature and disorganised charge. However, in this case, the German cavalry would have been prevented from charging as their interspersed infantry support would not have been able to keep up—most likely, they awaited the Roman cavalry at the halt, or moved forward slowly.
The Roman heavy cavalry now charged the German horsemen. In the ensuing mêlée, Chnodomar's stratagem paid dividends. The interspersed foot warriors wreaked havoc, bringing down the horses of the cataphracts and then killing their riders on the ground. Unnerved by these tactics, and by the injury of one of their tribuni, the cataphracts panicked and fled the field. In their headlong flight, they crashed into the Roman infantry on the right, which, however, was able to maintain formation because of the skill of the crack auxilia palatina regiments posted there. The cataphracts took refuge behind the infantry lines, where it took the personal intervention of Julian himself to rally them. One regiment of cataphracts refused to return to the fight and that after the battle, they were obliged by Julian to wear female clothes as punishment. The rest of the cavalry retreated with the cataphracts. The German cavalry was unable to capitalise on their success to outflank the Roman right. Nevertheless, Chnodomar had trumped Julian's best card.
Encouraged by their cavalry's success, the foot soldiers in the German front line gave a great roar and ran towards the Roman line. In the centre, German foot warriors repeatedly charged the serried ranks of Romans, hoping to break through by sheer weight of numbers. But the Roman front line held for a long time, inflicting severe casualties on the Germans who flung themselves recklessly at their massed spears. Then, a group of German chiefs and their best warriors formed a dense mass (globus), and, let through by the German front ranks, charged the Romans. This was a formation, also used by the Romans, known as a "hogshead" (caput porcinum), a wedge protected by armoured warriors on the outside. They succeeded, by desperate efforts, in punching a hole through the centre of the Roman front line. This was potentially disastrous for the Romans. But despite being cut in two, the Roman front line evidently did not collapse: the experienced frontline regiments managed to hold their separated wings in formation.
The hidden Germans eventually lost patience, advanced out of the woods and charged at Severus' division, only to be routed by Severus' crack troops.
Meanwhile, a large number of Germans poured through the breach in the Roman frontline and charged the centre of the Roman rear line. This position was held by a elite legion, which stopped the German attack in its tracks and then counterattacked, routing the breakthrough force. The breach in the front line was presumably filled, either by the separated wings of the front line reconnecting, or by the legion advancing from the rear line. The front line, now extended on the left flank by the rear line left wing began pushing the Germans back, and gradually hemmed them in from the flanks. At this point, the Germans were already exhausted and demoralised by their lack of progress and severe losses. The mass of their army was now trapped in an ever-tighter Roman crescent, with the troops on the edges being methodically cut down and the ones in the middle packed tightly together and unable to move. Finally, after more relentless pressure from the Romans, the German line collapsed: as panic spread through their ranks, the Germans broke formation and ran for their lives. Many did not run fast enough: pursued all the way to the Rhine by Roman cavalry and infantry, many were cut down as they ran. Large numbers attempted to swim across the river, but many drowned, hit by Roman missiles or weighed down by their armour.
6,000 Germans perished on the battlefield and in the pursuit on land Thousands more drowned as they tried to get across the river. About a third of the German force lost their lives. However, it appears that the majority escaped, including the eight reges alongside Chnodomar. The Romans lost just 243 men, including four tribuni (regimental commanders) of which two were commanders of cataphracti.
Chnodomar himself and his retinue tried to escape on horseback, hoping to reach some boats prepared for just such an emergency near the ruined Roman fort of Concordia, some 40 km downstream from Argentoratum. But they were cornered by a Roman cavalry squadron in a wood on the bank of the Rhine and surrendered. Brought before Julian, whom he begged for mercy, Chnodomar was sent on to the court of Constantius at Milan. Not long afterwards, he died of disease in a camp for barbarian prisoners in Rome.
The immediate aftermath of the battle saw a vigorous "ethnic cleansing" campaign as all Alamanni families who had settled in Alsace on stolen land were rounded up and expelled from imperial territory. Still in 357, Julian followed up the battle by an incursion into Alamanni territory beyond the Rhine. After ravaging the lands far and wide, he set about rebuilding a fort in the Agri Decumates originally built by Trajan in the early 2nd century. He then granted the anxious barbarians a 10-month truce. In 358, Julian first turned his attention to the Frankish tribes, crossing the lower Rhine and forced the Salii and Chamavi tribes to surrender and become tributarii. Finally, he again switched his attention to the Alamanni, crossing the Rhine at Mainz and forcing the submission of the new paramount kings Hortarius and Surmarius. In 359, Julian restored seven forts and town walls in the middle Rhine, obliging his new tributary Alamanni to provide the supplies and labour needed. He then crossed the Rhine, marched through the territory of the tributaries and devastated the lands of the other kings who had fought at Argentoratum, including Westralp. All were forced to submit and return the thousands of Roman civilians they had abducted and enslaved during the years of easy plunder. By 360 Julian to keep his near-mutinous troops occupied, crossed the Rhine and attacked the Attuarii tribe of the Frankish confederation.
Great Conspiracy, AD 367-368
The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by Magnentius' losses at the Battle of Mursa Major after his unsuccessful bid to become emperor.
In the winter of 367, the Roman garrison on Hadrian's Wall rebelled, and allowed Picts from Caledonia to enter Britannia. Simultaneously, Attacotti, the Scotti from Hibernia, and Saxons from Germania landed in a coordinated and pre-arranged waves on the island's mid-western and southeastern borders, respectively. Franks and Saxons also landed in northern Gaul.
These warbands managed to overwhelm nearly all of the loyal Roman outposts and settlements. The entire western and northern areas of Britannia were overwhelmed, the cities sacked and the civilian Romano-British murdered, raped, or enslaved.
Nectaridus, the comes martime tractus (commanding general of the seacoast region), was killed and the Dux Britanniarum, Fullofaudes, was either besieged or captured and the remaining loyal army units staying garrisoned inside southeastern cities.
The miles areani or local Roman agents that provided intelligence on barbarian movements betrayed their paymasters for bribes, making the attacks completely unexpected. Deserting soldiers and escaped slaves roamed the countryside and turned to robbery to support themselves. Although the chaos was widespread and initially concerted, the aims of the rebels were simply personal enrichment and they worked as small bands rather than larger armies.
Emperor Valentinian I was campaigning against the Alamanni at the time and unable to respond personally. In the spring of 368 the Emperor sent out Count Theodosius with a relief force of four units as well as his son, the later Emperor Theodosius I and the later usurper Magnus Maximus. Once the troops landed, Theodosius marched with them to Londinium which he made his base. There he began to deal with the invaders. There he divided his troops into many parts and attacked the predatory bands of the enemy, which were ranging about and were laden with heavy packs; quickly routing those who were driving along prisoners and cattle, he wrested from them the booty which the wretched tribute-paying people had lost. And when all this had been restored to them, except for a small part which was allotted to the wearied soldiers, he entered the city, which had previously been plunged into the greatest difficulties, but had been restored more quickly than rescue could have been expected, rejoicing and as if celebrating an ovation.
An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts.
After discovering that the local Areani had collaborated with the invaders, Theodosius ordered that this be wound up.[9]
By the end of the year, the barbarians had been driven back to their homelands; the mutineers had been executed; Hadrian's Wall was retaken; and order returned to the diocese.
Theodosius also overcame and defeated the force of Valentinus, a Pannonian who had been exiled to Britain and joined the invaders.
Theodosius mounted punitive expeditions against the barbarians and extracted terms from them. The areani were removed from duty and the frontiers refortified with co-operation from border tribes such as the Votadini, marking the career of men such as Paternus.
The Great Conspiracy is a term given to a year-long war that occurred in Roman Britain near the end of the Roman occupation of the island. The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described it as a barbarica conspiratio that capitalized on a depleted military force in the province brought about by Magnentius' losses at the Battle of Mursa Major after his unsuccessful bid to become emperor.
In the winter of 367, the Roman garrison on Hadrian's Wall rebelled, and allowed Picts from Caledonia to enter Britannia. Simultaneously, Attacotti, the Scotti from Hibernia, and Saxons from Germania landed in a coordinated and pre-arranged waves on the island's mid-western and southeastern borders, respectively. Franks and Saxons also landed in northern Gaul.
These warbands managed to overwhelm nearly all of the loyal Roman outposts and settlements. The entire western and northern areas of Britannia were overwhelmed, the cities sacked and the civilian Romano-British murdered, raped, or enslaved.
Nectaridus, the comes martime tractus (commanding general of the seacoast region), was killed and the Dux Britanniarum, Fullofaudes, was either besieged or captured and the remaining loyal army units staying garrisoned inside southeastern cities.
The miles areani or local Roman agents that provided intelligence on barbarian movements betrayed their paymasters for bribes, making the attacks completely unexpected. Deserting soldiers and escaped slaves roamed the countryside and turned to robbery to support themselves. Although the chaos was widespread and initially concerted, the aims of the rebels were simply personal enrichment and they worked as small bands rather than larger armies.
Emperor Valentinian I was campaigning against the Alamanni at the time and unable to respond personally. In the spring of 368 the Emperor sent out Count Theodosius with a relief force of four units as well as his son, the later Emperor Theodosius I and the later usurper Magnus Maximus. Once the troops landed, Theodosius marched with them to Londinium which he made his base. There he began to deal with the invaders. There he divided his troops into many parts and attacked the predatory bands of the enemy, which were ranging about and were laden with heavy packs; quickly routing those who were driving along prisoners and cattle, he wrested from them the booty which the wretched tribute-paying people had lost. And when all this had been restored to them, except for a small part which was allotted to the wearied soldiers, he entered the city, which had previously been plunged into the greatest difficulties, but had been restored more quickly than rescue could have been expected, rejoicing and as if celebrating an ovation.
An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts.
After discovering that the local Areani had collaborated with the invaders, Theodosius ordered that this be wound up.[9]
By the end of the year, the barbarians had been driven back to their homelands; the mutineers had been executed; Hadrian's Wall was retaken; and order returned to the diocese.
Theodosius also overcame and defeated the force of Valentinus, a Pannonian who had been exiled to Britain and joined the invaders.
Theodosius mounted punitive expeditions against the barbarians and extracted terms from them. The areani were removed from duty and the frontiers refortified with co-operation from border tribes such as the Votadini, marking the career of men such as Paternus.