BATTLES BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHAPTERS 11 AND 12: ROME
Chapter 11
***BATTLE OF LAKE REGILLUS***
Sides: Romans vs. Latins
Time: 500 BC
Place: Latium, north of Rome
Action:
As the Romans grew in power after the founding in 753 BC, they
encountered neighbors and fought them in the Greek style, using
javelins, and and armored infantry in phalanx. The Romans were
victorious here, and built the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum
to celebrate their win.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Rome was a step closer to controlling central Italy.
***BATTLE OF ALLIA***
Sides: Romans vs. Celts
Time: 390 BC
Place: Rome
Action:
After defeating the Etruscans five years earlier, following a nine year
struggle, the Romans were proud. Their representatives were arrogant in
some way to a Celtic tribe besieging an Etruscan city. The Celts
promptly marched on Rome instead. The Celts outnumbered the Romans and
defeated them right outside their own city. The Celts fought in a
disorganized way, with strange war cries and a wild appearance- which
unnerved the Romans. Some Romans died in the Tiber because their armor
was too heavy to swim. The victorious Celts surrounded the city, and
only left when they were paid in gold.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Romans never forgot the humiliation of that day. They retooled and
rebuilt their walls. They looked at how to make improvements in the
phalanx.
***BATTLE OF TRIFANUM***
Sides: Romans and Samnites vs. Latins and Campanians
Time: 338 BC
Place: Campania, southern Italy
Action:
At first the Campanians asked for Rome's help against Samnite raids,
but Rome moved in to Campania and took it for themselves. The Latins and
Campanians became allies and rose in revolt, fighting and nearly
defeating the Romans at Mt. Vesuvius in 340 BC. General Torquatus
vanquished the revolt at Trifanum. He was tough. He executed his own son
for disobeying orders.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Latins and Campanians came back into the Roman fold.
***BATTLE OF THE CAUDINE FORKS***
Sides: Samnites vs. Romans
Time: 321 BC
Place: Apennine mountians, southeast Italy
Action:
This was an ambush by the Samnites on the Romans in the Apennines. The
Samnites used large cut trees to block both sides of a pass, while they
rained arrows down on the Romans caught in between. Forced to surrender,
the Romans were only let out by going "under the yoke" of an arch made
by Samnite arrows, as a symbol of their subservience and humiliation.
The Roman Senate rejected the entire deal made by the Romans with the
Samnites, however.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Romans were infuriated.
***BATTLE OF SENTINUM***
Sides: Romans vs. Samnite-Etruscan-Celtic-Umbrian alliance
Time: 295 BC
Place: Umbria, central Italy
Action:
Four Roman Legions split up to hunt down and destroy the alliance
members. One side diverted the Celts and Etruscans while the other
engaged the Samnites at Sentinum. It went well but then Celtic
charioteers clashed with Roman cavalry. Roman consul Decius, leader of
the legions, galloped into the center of the fray on a suicide mission
to inspire his troops, which he did. With renewed vigor the Romans won
the day.
Casualties:
8,500 Roman, 25,000 allied
Consequence: The Romans mastered central Italy
***BATTLE OF HERACLEA***
Sides: Romans vs. Greeks
Time: 280 BC
Place: Apulia, the 'heel' in the Italian boot
Action:
Greek colonies had existed in southern Italy for hundreds of years. The
Romans and other Italian tribes learned much from their contact with
the Greek culture. Fearing being put under Roman rule, the Greek city of
Terentum invited renowned General Pyrrhus to defend the region. He
brought over 20,000 soldiers and elephants, and was made military
commander of southern Italy. The Romans had never seen elephants, nor
did their horses respond well to them. The two forces clashed and no
quarter was given. The slaughter was so great that Pyrrhus said, "One
more such victory and I am lost," hence the term 'pyrrhic victory.'
Casualties: 11,000 Greeks, 15,000 Romans
Consequence:
Bloodshed was great on both sides. Phyrrus marched north to Rome but to
his shock they would not do a deal. Instead they marched south again
and fought another terrible battle. Despite their victory, the Greeks'
days as independent in Italy were numbered.
***BATTLE OF BENEVENTUM***
Sides: Romans vs. Greeks
Time: 275 BC
Place: Campania (near Naples)
Action:
Syracuse, the Greek city, had a beef with a new power on the other
coast of the Mediterranean, Carthage, a Phoenician colony in North
Africa (present day Tunis, Tunisia). Phyrrus went to help the Greek city
against rising Carthage. When he returned a Roman army fought him into a
corner. The hope of fighting Roman power was running out.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Phyrrus was recalled, and 7 years later was in a streetfight in Argos,
and someone threw a tile out of a window and knocked him out. He was
decapitated by a passing enemy soldier.
***BATTLE OF MYLAE***
Sides: Rome vs. Carthage
Time: 260 BC
Place: Sicily
Action:
Rome ruled Sicily but Carthage was mistress of the seas. The Punic Wars
would decide the fate of the Mediterranean, clash of the titans style.
Roman innovation came into play now. They built a full navy in two
months' time by reverse engineering captured triremes and quinqueremes,
and then outfitting them with corvus gangplanks so they could latch onto
the Carthaginian ships and fight hand-to-hand.
Casualties: 31 Carthaginian ships captured, 14 sunk.
Consequence: Roman shock victory.
***BATTLE OF ECNOMUS***
Sides: Rome vs. Carthage
Time: 256 BC
Place: Mediterranean Sea
Action:
Four years after Mylae, the Romans amassed a huge force of ships, 330
of them, and sailed against Carthage with troop transports bound for
North Africa. The clash in the sea saw the front of the Roman formation
break through the Carthaginian defense and then turn around to help the
Roman ships in the rear, winning the day and capturing ships by the
corvus method.
Casualties: The Romans sank 30 Carthaginian ships and captured 64, losing 24.
Consequence: In a total reversal of
fortuna,
when the dominant Roman fleet reached North Africa and deposited its
soldiers there, they did battle and were picked up. But a storm sank
100,000 soldiers to the bottom of the sea.
***BATTLE OF DREPANA***
Sides: Rome vs. Carthage
Time: 249 BC
Place: Sicilian waters
Action:
Five years after the catastrophe in the storm, the Romans rebuilt a
fleet and had new soldiers at the ready, with the mission of expelling
Carthage from Sicily completely. This meant taking the stronghold of
Lilybeaum. The consul was on board ship, and spread seed for sacred
chickens to eat. They did not eat, and he had them thrown overboard. Bad
move. When the Roman fleet got to the place the Carthaginian fleet was
supposed to be, it had already departed, and doubled back to entrap the
Romans. They rammed down 93 Roman ships out of 130, losing only a few.
It was a great victory for Carthage.
Casualties: 8,000 Romans
Consequence:
A few years later, Rome cut the supply line for Carthage's forces still
on Sicily, and they had to withdraw, giving the island to Rome.
***BATTLE OF TREBIA***
Sides: Carthage vs. Rome
Time: 218 BC
Place: Milan, northern Italy
Action:
General Hannibal of Carthage inherited a gripe against Rome from his
father. He marched a large army of 30,000 up through Iberia (Spain) and
laid siege to a Roman city. He lost most of his 37 elephants in the
snowy Alps. His arrival was a shock. He beat the Romans along a northern
river, and his success won him some Celtic recruits. At the Trebia
river, he tricked the Romans into leaving their back exposed, where
another army commanded by his brother hacked it down.
Casualties: 30,000 Romans, 5,000 Carthaginians.
Consequence:
It was the start of the Second Punic War, the most devastating the
Romans would face. Unlike the Persians, who often mismanaged their
large, multiethnic
armies by trying to standardize them, Hannibal found and used his
Iberian (slingshots), Carthaginian (cavalry), Numidian Berbers
(javelins) and Celtic
(infantry) soldiers' best fighting traits. He would now deploy these.
***BATTLE OF LAKE TRASIMENE***
Sides: Carthage vs. Rome
Time: 217 BC
Place: Perugia, Umbria, central Italy
Action:
Continuing his dominance for over a year, Hannibal moved across the
Apennines, a swamp and the Arno river to circle around the Roman army
protecting the capital to the north. As he predicted, they would quickly
move south to intercept, and prepared a guard at a pass between steep
hills and Lake Trasimene. When the Romans were marching through, his
infantry rushed down from the hills above. Many not killed were drowned,
forced into the lake. Thousands surrendered.
Casualties: 30,000 Romans killed.
Consequence:
The lakeside slaughter meant the road to the city was open, and
Hannibal circled around it to the south, devastating the countryside as
he went.
***BATTLE OF CANNAE***
Sides: Carthage vs. Rome
Time: 216 BC
Place: Apulia, the Italian heel.
Action:
The worst defeat ever inflicted on the Romans occurred after Hannibal
captured a supply depot for the Legions, and a massive army set out to
meet him decisively. Hannibal sent a messenger asking if they were ready
to fight. They did not, and moved to a narrow field, where Hannibal's
cavalry would not be as effective. Hannibal had his infantry move in,
then withdraw, pulling the Romans into an encirclement with a river on
one side and Numidian and Iberian forces coming from the other. As the
Romans fought them off, his Carthaginian cavalry attacked the Roman
horsemen, who could not maneuver in the tight spot. In hand to hand
combat, Hannibal's men went to town on the Romans, killing 50,000 in one
of the worst days in the history of warfare.
Casualties: 50,000 Romans, 6,000 Carthaginians.
Consequence:
This crippling defeat inspired some Greek cities in the south of Italy,
like Syracuse, to side with Carthage- a historic enemy just like the
Romans. As the Roman farms were burned, things looked better and better
for Hannibal, as he wore down the countryside.
***SIEGE OF SYRACUSE***
Sides: Rome vs. Syracuse
Time: 212 BC
Place: Sicily
Action:
Hannibal's victories underscored his biggest problem- he had no siege
engines and he took no towns of importance in Italy, as all had
defensive walls he could not break. But the Greek city of Syracuse had
no love for Rome, and backed Carthage. A Roman amphibious force arrived
to lay siege to it. The Romans had ladders they hoisted to the city's
walls and then used pulleys to raise the other side for scaling the
wall. But the great scientist Archimedes was in charge of the defense of
the city. His catapults and ballistas fired upon the Romans. Time went
by and the Syracuseans had a festival to Artemis, goddess of the hunt.
Some Romans sneaked over the walls and rampaged in the town, killing
many, including Archimedes, before being slain. But a traitor opened the
gates, and the Romans sacked the city.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: Hannibal was still in Italy, and four more difficult years went by, and his army required reinforcements.
***BATTLE OF METAURUS***
Sides: Carthage vs. Rome
Time: 207 BC
Place: north-central Italy
Action:
Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal brought reinforcements numbering 30,000
from North Africa through Spain and the Alps. Would he be as successful
as Hannibal? A large Roman army went out to meet him, numbering 40,000.
Seeing himself outnumbered, Hasdrubal withdrew by night with his men
across the river Metaurus. The moon was dark, however, and they lost
their way. A Roman force ambushed them and it was a free-for-all, the
Romans killing 5 for every 1 lost.
Casualties: Rome: 2,000, Carthage: 10,000.
Consequence: This battle marked the turn of the tide of the Punic Wars.
***BATTLE OF ZAMA***
Sides: Rome vs. Carthage
Time: 202 BC
Place: Carthage (Tunisia, North Africa)
Action:
It was 15 years into the war. Hannibal held southern Italy, and the
peninsula was in shambles. Now Roman General Scipio made a brilliant if
desperate move. He withdrew with a massive army to Iberia, where he did
battle against lesser forces, and moved across the Straits of Gibraltar
and east to Carthage itself. The city agreed to peace and recalled
Hannibal. Scipio likewise returned to Italy- but then promptly returned,
and attacked the city. Hannibal's forces went out to meet them, but
Scipio learned how to manipulate the maniple formation "so that they
could move aside and let the charging beasts pass harmlessly through the
gaps in the line." Additionally, the Numidian Berbers switched to the
Roman side, and the Roman infantry went to work on the open plains of
North Africa. There was much bloodshed on both sides. Then Scipio's
cavalry drove off Hannibal's horsemen, and at just the right time turned
back to clash his foot soldiers from behind, driving them into the
maniples of the Legionnaires.
Casualties: 35,000 Romans, 45,000 Carthaginians
Consequence: Carthage surrendered and the Second Punic War was over.
***Battle of Cynoscephalae***
Sides: Romans vs. Macedonians
Time: 197 BC
Place: Thessaly, Greece
Action:
Five years after winning the terrible Second Punic War, the Romans had a
grand reputation. At the Battle of Chios Island, perpetrated by Philip V
of Macedonia, regional powers like Athens, Rhodes and Pergamum
got wind of his expansionism, and appealed to Rome for help in limiting
Macedonia's ambitions. Rome was happy to comply. Philip unexpectedly
bumped into a Roman army with his own, and a battle of phalanx versus
maniple began. Macedonia's phalanx was stronger up front, but the
chessboard-style layout of the maniple made it more maneuverable. It
broke the phalanx from the flank and cut the Macedonians to pieces.
Casualties: 700 Romans killed, 8,000 Macedonians.
Consequence: Macedonia would no longer be in Rome's way.
***Battle of Magnesia***
Sides: Rome and Pergamum vs. Seleucid Asia
Time: 190 BC
Place: Smyrna on the Ionian coast (Izmir, Turkey)
Action:
At Raphia, the Seleucids lost much of their prestige, along with the
Levant. Now the Romans smelled decay. Scipio advanced with Pergamon
allies into Anatolia. Antiocus III the Great, however, fielded the same
elephant brigades and Syrian fighters and chariots used against Ptolemy
25 years earlier. But that was just the problem. His strategy was stale.
He sent needed forces around to harrass the Romans' camp, while leaving
the infantry exposed. The Romans shocked his elephants and they bucked
and made chaos. Then the slaughter began.
Casualties: 350 Rome-Pergamum killed, 53,000 Seleucids
Consequence: The decline and fall of Seleucid Asia was just a matter of time.
***Battle of Pydna***
Sides: Romans vs. Macedonians
Time: 168 BC
Place: near Mount Olympus, northern Greece
Action:
This was the battle that ended the independence of Greece and
Macedonia, turning them into provinces of the Roman Republic. At first,
the Macedonian phalanx, sarissa spears lowered and shields interlocked,
held their own. They stopped the legionnaires from fighting hand-to-hand.
But as soon as the Romans could strike from the sides and back, opening
holes in their formation, their unwieldy long spears became
inappropriate. They dropped them and pulled their daggers, but that was
no good against the Roman short swords. The slaughter was total. Later
the Romans destroyed Corinth for resisting their rule. That was also
complete.
Casualties: 1,000 Romans, 20,000 Macedonians killed
Consequence: Macedonia and Greece fell to Rome.
***SIEGE OF CARTHAGE***
Sides: Rome vs. Carthage
Time: 149 BC
Place: Carthage
Action:
Much time has passed, almost 50 years, since Zama. But Roman Senator
Cato the Elder finished every speech he gave by slamming his fist down
and yelling, no matter the subject he was speaking about, "Carthage must
be destroyed!" At the time, Carthage was busy fighting with the
Numidians who changed sides at Zama so many years before. Rome weighed
the options and saw the opening. The city had 20 miles of walls like
Athens, and like Athens it could be resupplied by sea if under siege.
The Romans laid siege anyway, with battering rams, but not very
successfully. Then Scipio's son Scipio Aemilianus took charge. Like
Athens, Carthage caught plague and starvation. After three relentless
years, the Romans broke down the city walls and Carthage surrendered.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
The short and sweet Third Punic War was over, every last Carthaginian
was captured, and sold into slavery. Many were sent to Italy or another
province, and the Mediterranean Sea became "Mare Nostrum", "Our Sea",
often referred to by now as "A Roman Lake." Rome reigned supreme.
***Battle of Aqua Sextae***
Sides: Teuton-Ambrone alliance vs. Romans
Time: 102 BC
Place: near present day Monte Carlo, France
Action:
Aside from the Celts in Gaul were bands of Germanic warriors, some of
whom made border skirmishes into Roman territory. An alliance of these
bands defeated a Roman force at Arausio, and then the Senate gave Gaius
Marius command of a Legion with orders to destroy them. His forces drew
forward the Teutons, who attacked without considering the 3,000 hidden
Romans in the mountain forest, who sprung with shield and sword extended
from behind the barbarians. They were obliterated.
Casualties: 100,000 Teutons killed or captured
Consequence: This battle quieted the northern border for half a century.
***Spartacus' Uprising***
Sides: Romans vs. Slave Army
Time: 73 BC
Place: southern Italy
Action:
North of Naples in the town of Capua was a gladiator's camp. The
gladiators were slaves, of course, made to fight to the death to the
sounds of a cheering Roman crowd in the arenas. One of them was
Spartacus, a Greek captured in Thrace, who worked in a mine before being
pulled as fit enough to be a gladiator. Over 80 gladiators escaped from
Capua and instigated a slave rebellion across southern Italy, and
defeated a Roman force, taking their weapons. With these they took on a
larger force, and gained even more. The Senate acted, giving General
Marcus Licinius Crassus a powerful army to subdue Spartacus' slave army.
At the battlefield, Spartacus killed his own horse to show his men he
intended on fighting to the death, which he did, but so did his men.
Crassus gave no quarter. 6,000 slave-warriors were captured alive, and
crucified along the road to show what happens to slaves who take up
their hand against Rome.
Casualties: over 6,000 slaves, unknown number of Romans
Consequence: This was the largest slave revolt in history.
***Battle of Carrhea***
Sides: Romans vs. Parthians
Time: 53 BC
Place: Syrian desert east of the Euphrates river
Action:
As the Romans expanded eastward past Greece into the Levant and beyond,
Mesopotamia became the battleground between Rome and Parthia, the
latest incarnation of the old polyglot Persian Empire, reborn under
Mithriadates. The Parthian empire was moving its capital west to
Mesopotamia (Ctesiphon) and focusing on gaining that region. The Roman
Legions there were far from home. Their bows were strong enough that
they fired the arrows at such as speed that it could pierce Roman armor.
When the Parthians approached, they launched a hail of such arrows and
swept their cavalry through the Roman lines. When General Crassus' son
was killed, they decapitated his body and put his head on a spear,
marching it in victory. After 10,000 Romans were captured, Crassus
ordered a retreat. The Parthians gave no quarter, to these, and killed
enormous numbers, including Crassus himself.
Casualties: 7,000 Parthians, 24,000 Romans
Consequence:
This was the greatest victory of the Parthian Empire and the nadir of
Rome. But while Crassus was skilled, there was yet another Roman general
operating at the same time far from the eastern borderlands, in the
forests of Gaul.
***Battle of Alesia***
Sides: Romans vs. Gauls (Celts)
Time: 52 BC
Place: Gaul (near modern Dijon, France)
Action:
General Julius Caesar had swept through the northern borders of the
Republic, subduing the Gauls and making of the land a Roman province.
Now a Gallic rebellion broke out under the warrior Vercingetorix. Caesar
himself emerged to stop him. With a large Roman force, he marched north
in pursuit. Surrounding the heavily defended base camp of the Celts,
with was really a whole town, Caesars' legions put down their spears and
picked up their shovels and axes. They built long ditches around the
entire fort, placed palisades on them, and built guard towers on the
palisades, essentially reverse-fortifying the fort, or rather, making it
into a gigantic prison! Seeing what was happening, however,
Vercingetorix ordered a violent escape. Some of his cavalry broke out of
the unfinished section, while women and children were sent out when the
food ran out. Caesar did not let them go. He bid them return, and,
standing in a field between the armies, the women, children and elderly
Celts one by one fell to the ground, starved out. Celtic reinforcements
arrived and sandwiched the Romans, assaulting them from two sides with
javelins, arrows and slingshots. But Caesar flew at them with his
legions, retaining a guard at the palisade. Vanquishing the
reinforcements, Vercingetorix emerged from the besieged town, put down
his sword in front of Caesar, and surrendered.
Casualties: 45,000 Romans, unknown number of Celts
Consequence:
After this vicious battle, Caesar had the right hands of the Celtic
warriors cut off to prevent them from picking a fight again, and each
Roman soldier got a Celtic warrior to keep or sell as a slave.
***Battle of Dyrrachium***
Sides: Caesar vs. Pompey
Time: 48 BC
Place: northwest Greece (Albania)
Action:
When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in northern Italy with his
loyal soldiers, something that was not legal for a general to do, he
began to march on Rome. He was very popular- his Commentaries were read
by all who could read. He was always in the middle of the battle
himself, earning the love of his troops. A messenger told him in Gaul
that the Senate might arrest him and put him on trial. At the same time,
he was betting that Romans were fed up with the decadence of the late
Republic, and tired of social war, and that they would support him in a
major coup d'etat. By crossing the Rubicon, Caesar started a civil war.
Gaius Pompey led legions loyal to the Senate against Caesar. He
strategically allowed Caesar to occupy Rome while he moved to mount an
amphibious assault with the loyal navy. But Caesar moved first. He moved
his men across the Adriatic to the Balkans, in civilian merchant boats
no less, and while outnumbered 2:1, Caesar's legions laid siege to
Pompey's military base. He tried to wall Pompey in, but Pompey broke out
and fought Caesar off.
Casualties: Caesar: 1,000, Pompey: unknown.
Consequence: Caesar moved off east into northern Greece.
***Battle of Pharsalus***
Sides: Caesar vs. Pompey
Time: 48 BC
Place: Thessaly, northern Greece
Action:
After Dyrrachium, Pompey's army followed Caesar and the two forces set
their camps in Thessaly on the plains of Pharsalus. They clashed, and
Pompey's infantry was getting the best of Caesar's, a general fray
ensued. Then Caesar led six cohorts of infantry under his personal
command into the fray, stabbing with their special pila javelins (with a
long, thin iron rod with an arrow point at the top) and knocking
Pompey's men off their horses. When Pompey's infantry advanced, Caesar's
men threw a hail of javelins and followed them with their swords.
Pompey's men fled this shock attack and were chased and cut down by
Caesar's cohorts.
Casualties: Caesar: 230 killed, Pompey: c. 2,000 killed
Consequence:
This was a huge victory for Caesar. Two months later Pompey was
assassinated and Caesar emerged victorious, and headed back to Rome.
Four years later, his popularity grew and he was declared
'dictator-for-life.' The Republic now had a leader. However, in
mid-March of 44 BC, he was assassinated by Senatorial conspirators
(including his friend Brutus) in the Roman forum. It is said no one had
ever been killed there before. Now, a power vacuum appeared.
***Battle of Philippi***
Sides: Republicans vs. Antony and Octavian
Time: 42 BC
Place: Macedonia
Action:
With Caesar dead, his nephew Octavian and General Marc Antony allied
together to hold off the forces of the Senate, but Brutus, Cassius
Longinus and most of the Senate wanted to smote out any chance of
another 'dictator-for-life.' Would Rome be a republic or an empire?
Armies loyal to both chased each other around, and at Philippi in
Macedonia, named for Alexander's father, Antony led his forces by
surprise across a swamp. They encircled Longinus' army, who, believing
there was no hope, took his own life. But meanwhile, Octavian lay ill
back at the camp with a smaller force. Brutus attacked the camp by
surprise. Octavian had to hide. Things being even now, the armies
withdrew from each other. Three weeks later, Brutus attacked, and it was
an epic fail. While he fought Octavian, Antony tested the resolve of
his men and pulled the swamp trick once again, coming to the rescue and
cutting Brutus' force to pieces.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
The alliance between Octavian and Antony remained strong. Antony
married his sister, and it seemed a royal family was in the making.
However, a decade later Antony went to Egypt, divorced Octavian's
sister, and chose to rule in oriental splendor with Cleopatra as his
consort. While Octavian was happy in the capital as chief administrator,
now the alliance was over.
***Battle of Actium***
Sides: Octavian vs. Antony
Time: 31 BC
Place: Mediterranean Sea
Action:
Octavian saw Antony as a threat. His army from Rome marched into
western Greece, while Antony's army from Egypt was brought across the
sea to meet them. Instead of doing battle, however, Octavian slyly lay
in wait, while his own naval force under Marcus Agrippa made its way
toward Greece to lock in Antony's fleet. Antony sensed this and his army
boarded their ships to return to Egypt, only to find Agrippa in their
way. Antony ordered his fleet to split, some going left and others
right, and the ship carrying Cleopatra made its way through the
fighting. Fighters climbed on towers on the ships and threw flaming
missiles from the height upon the enemy ships. Agrippa was winning the
day. But Antony escaped (even though his flagship was sunk) on another
ship. He made it back to Egypt with a broken force, and a year later,
when Octavian arrived with an army in Egypt, Antony and Cleopatra took
their own lives, together.
Casualties: Antony: lost 150 ships, Octavian-Agrippa: unknown
Consequence:
The suicide of Antony and Cleopatra left Octavian as sole ruler of
Rome. He was declared Emperor Augustus Caesar by the Senate, and ruled
gloriously for decades, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a 200 year time of
relative calm and stability in the new empire, which despite bad rulers
like Caligula and Nero, was the place to be in the ancient world.
***Battle of Teutoberg Forest***
Sides: Romans vs. Germans
Time: 9 AD
Place: north of Munster, Germany
Action:
Roman expansion began moving into the northern forests of Germania
beyond the Rhine and Elbe rivers. The tribes sporadically revolted, and
in 9, over 15,000 soldiers under Publius Varus were sent, along with
German mercenaries under Arminius, to secure the frontier. After some
fighting, Arminius, who the Germans call Hermann, experienced an
awakening of heart. With his men, he realized there were things more
important than payment and social benefits, and abandoned the Romans.
But this was not enough. The line was drawn, and Hermann had drawn it.
Now the Germans struck at the Romans in the Teutoberg Forest, and struck
mercilessly, again and again, and the Romans lost their way. Soldier's
families were not spared, and all was soon lost. Varus took his own
life. Upon hearing about the tragedy, Augustus wrung his hands, saying,
"Varus, give me back my legions!"
Casualties: c. 14,000 Romans
Consequence:
While the Romans would enter the forests of Germania many times, and
conduct punishing assaults on the tribes there, the lands beyond the
Rhine and Danube rivers would remain permanently outside the suzerainty
of the Empire.
***Siege of Masada***
Sides: Romans vs. Israelites
Time: 73
Place: Dead Sea, Israel
Action:
When the province of Judea rebelled against Roman rule in 66, Nero's
order to have his statue worshiped as a god-idol in the Temple in
Jerusalem being the last straw, the legions marched under Vespasian and
Titus. When Jerusalem fell in 70, the rebellion was over, but one
fortress town in the mountains near the Dead Sea, Masada, refused to
surrender. The 10th Legion surrounded the tall fortress, but it was well
defended and well-provisioned. It could hold out for years in a siege.
So the Romans went to work building an amazing 660 ft. high ramp. They
butted the ramp against the wall of the fort, and rolled a multistory
siege tower slowly but inexorably up. Its bottom level had a battering
ram, and its top had ballistas to give cover to those operating the ram.
When the smashing began, the Jewish resistance knew it was only a
matter of time. Their commander, Eleazar ben Yair, ordered every last
fighter to take his own life rather than be taken prisoner, which they
did.
Casualties: 953 Jews
Consequence: Masada
ended Jewish resistance, and many Jews were exiled from the area of the
former Kingdom of Israel. Some went east to Babylon, others south to
Egypt, and across north Africa. By the middle ages, many were in Spain
and Italy, and beginning in the 14th century, many moved to Poland,
Russia and Germany. When the Zionist movement began in the 19th century,
and especially after 1945 and the Holocaust, many came back, full
circle as it were, to recreate Israel.
***Revolt of the Iceni***
Sides: Romans vs. Britons
Time: 60
Place: north of London, England
Action:
The Roman conquest of Britannia was led by Emperor Claudius. But a
decade later, Boudicca, queen of the Iceni tribe, led a revolt that
attracted her neighbor tribes to revolt as well. Londinium and other
towns were sacked. The legions marched from Anglesey in Wales and met
the rebels with pila javelins, which cut down the first line, and then
they advanced upon them with their swords until a rout of the rebels was
attained. Boudicca drank poison and the revolt was over.
Casualties: Romans: 400, Briton rebels: over 10,000
Consequence: Britannia was quiet for decades.
***Battle of Mons Graupius***
Sides: Romans vs. Caledonians
Time: 84
Place: near Aberdeen, Scotland
Action:
The Roman governor of Britannia, Agricola, heard of an uprising of the
Celts in the north. He sent his men to forestall it with cavalry. The
Caledonians had chariots, but these were defeated by the cavalry, and
then the infantry was felled as well, ending any potential for a revolt.
Casualties: Romans: 360, Caledonians: 10,000
Consequence:
Britannia would see other skirmishes, and finally in 122, Emperor
Hadrian ordered construction of a wall across the island, just south of
the English-Scottish border of today. The wall still stands in many
places.
***Dacian Campaign***
Sides: Romans vs. Dacians
Time: 106
Place: Dacia (modern Romania)
Action:
At the zenith of the Roman Imperium, Emperor Trajan moved to conquer
the area northeast of Greece. The Dacian tribe had been raiding across
the Danube into Roman territory, and Trajan sent in the legions in the
year 101. They built a bridge of boats over the Danube and crossed. The
Dacians surrendered but when the legions left they reorganized their
forces. In 106 they moved into raiding again, and this time Trajan saw
red. The legions built an actual bridge across the mighty river, and
moved in force. The Dacians went on the run, and the Romans smashed
their headquarters to pieces and hacked away the men one by one. With no
relief in sight, the Dacians committed mass suicide.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
After this campaign, Trajan moved into Arabia, Assyria and Mesopotamia,
and under his rule, recalled by Trajan's Column still standing in Rome,
the Imperium achieved its greatest extent.
Chapter 12
***Marcomannic War***
Sides: Romans vs. Germans
Time: 180
Place: eastern Germania (present day Slovakia)
Action:
In the battle portrayed at the beginning of the movie Gladiator (2000),
Emperor Marcus Aurelius and General Maximianus (Maximus in the movie)
led a decisive Roman victory against a coalition of Germanic tribes
including the Marcomanni and the Quadi, who had been involved in border
skirmishes for many years. Emperor Marcus Aurelius had been battling
them on and off for almost a decade. At the forest of Laugaricio, they
vanquished the coalition.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
In the movie, Emperor Marcus Aurelius is treacherously murdered by his
son Commodus, who then becomes emperor. The more likely story, however,
is that he died of fever in Vindobona (modern Vienna) sometime after the
battle. In either case, upon his death, the 300-year long decline of
the Empire began.
***Battle of Edessa***
Sides: Romans vs. Persians
Time: 260
Place: The Roman East (modern southeastern Turkey)
Action:
After nearly a century of decline, the Roman Empire fought a border war
with the reinvigorated Persian Empire, now called the Sassanian
Persians, under Shah Shapur I. It ended in utter disaster and is a
symbol of how far decay had set in the previous 80 years. It began when
Shapur boldly led forces into the eastern part of the Empire, sacking
Antioch. Meanwhile, the Romans had not good leadership- the imperial
purple was worn by a revolving door of men, usurpers, and whoever could
kill the current emperor and take it by force did. Emperor Aemilianus
held the scepter for three months after declaring himself general
following a victory in battle against the Germans. He marched into Italy
and his forces killed the current emperor. He was then assassinated in
turn by how own men when another general, Valerian, began his own 'march
on Rome' with a larger force. It was Emperor Valerian who met the
Persians in battle, after many of his soldiers caught the plague en
route. He was routed and the entire Roman army was captured, including
the emperor.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
Shapur spared the lives of the Romans and transported them to Susa, the
ancient capital, where they built a feat of engineering known as
Caesar's Dam. As for Valerian, he was humiliated by being used as a
footstool by Shapur, and then was slaughtered and stuffed, though
sources differ as to if and how. Either way, this was a low point, a
nadir, for the forces of the SPQR. It was 14 years later that a strong
emperor, Diocletian, finally reigned in the political chaos.
***Battle of the Milvian Bridge***
Sides: Constantine vs. Maxentius
Time: 312
Place: outside Rome
Action:
Diocletian's reforms included splitting the Empire into units like West
and East, and delegating regional responsibility to other emperors and
vice-emperors. Two such were Maxentius, ruler of Italy, and Constantine,
ruler of Gaul and Britannia. When Diocletian died, a power struggle
ensued. Maxentius was the favorite, he had 25,000 more men in his ranks
than Constantine. But Constantine, while marching from Gaul to Italia,
he "had been pondering the misfortunes that befall
commanders that invoke the help of many different gods, and decided to
seek divine aid in the forthcoming battle from the One God." At noon, he
saw a cross of light imposed over the sun, and the message, "Through
this sign, conquer." According
to Eusebius, not only Constantine, but the whole army saw the miracle.
That night, Constantine dreamed Christ appeared to him, and told him to
make a
replica of the sign he had seen in the sky. He placed Chi Rho (CR), the
first two letters of the name Christ, on the shields of his soldiers,
and marched into Italy. His forces defeated opponents in one battle
after another, and instead of waiting for Constantine to get to Rome,
Maxentius met him at the Milvian Bridge, and was defeated. His forces
clamored across a pontoon bridge across the Tiber, but it collapsed and
Maxentius himself died in the river.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
When Constantine marched into the city, he did not take revenge on
Maxentius' supporters. Also he did not, as was longstanding tradition,
make a final stop at the Temple of Jupiter at the end of his victory
parade. He was coming to the realization that something else entirely
was involved in the order of things. A year later in 313, Constantine
issued the Edict of Milan, making legal the religion of the God he
believed he saw on the face of the sun, and in his dreams. He himself
was baptized into Christianity, and a new chapter in the history of
Europe began.
***Battle of Strasbourg***
Sides: Romans vs. Alemanni
Time: 357
Place: Eastern France at the Rhine river
Action:
The German Alemanni had been making raids across the Rhine. Emperor
Julian moved to intercept them and conducted on and off fighting for a
year. When the Alemanni crossed the Rhine at present day Strasbourg,
they outnumbered the Romans and moved in on the Roman cavalry, stabbing
the horses before the riders. But the Roman infantry fired barrage after
barrage of artillery, bows and slingshots., wearing them down. The
Romans and their (other) German auxiliaries then went on the offensive,
driving the Alemanni out into the forests. Many drowned in the river in
escape.
Casualties: Romans 243, Alemanni: 6,000
Consequence:
So many skirmishes occurred between the Romans and Alemanni, that the
name of this particular German tribe survives in the French name for
Germany: Allemagne.
***Battle of Ctesiphon***
Sides: Romans vs. Persians
Time: 363
Place: near Baghdad, Iraq
Action:
Six years after winning at Strasbourg, and a century after the
humiliation of Edessa, Emperor Julian went on the offensive against
Sassanian Persia. They loaded 1,000 supply boats into the Euphrates
River, to provision the legions marching into Mesopotamia. After moving
the army, and the boats, across canals to the Tigris, they marched on
the Sassanian capital, Ctesiphon. Shah Shapur II fled after a skirmish,
but Emperor Julian could not break through the capital's fortifications,
and had to withdraw. He burned his supply boats and the army marched
back west. However, the Persians did not let them go. They saw weakness,
and acted. Using hit and run tactics, they harried the Romans, and in
one night raid, Julian himself was killed.
Casualties: Persians: unknown, Romans: 83,000
Consequence: This was the second time a Roman ruler was killed fighting Persia. Like before, it revealed Rome's increasing weakness.
***Battle of Adrianopole***
Sides: Romans vs. Goths
Time: 378
Place: northeast Greece (present Edirne, Turkey)
Action:
As Troy was located on the strategic straits leading from the
Mediterranean to the Sea of Marmara, Constantine had decreed a new city
to be built on the site of the small Greek town of Byzantium, located on
the straits leading from the Sea of Marmara into the Black Sea. These
places are the dominant points in the area, and today Constantinople
separates Europe from the Middle East. It became the second Rome- the
second capital of the Empire, the jewel of the east. Now an Asiatic
force was on the move west into Europe, the Huns. They did battle with
the German Goths northwest of the Black Sea, who fled with their entire
tribes to take refuge and regroup from the storm. Eastern Emperor Valens
rejected the Ostrogoths request to cross the Danube into Roman
territory and settle. But they did anyway, 2,000,000 strong. Visigoths,
Sarmatians (Slavs) and Alans joined them, and Valens marched out with
the legions from Constantinople to their makeshift camp at Adrianopole.
But the Goths built the first great wagon laager, an encirclement of
connected wagons to make a base camp that could be defended in hostile
territory. The Gothic cavalry was away, and Valens decided to begin the
fight without his infantry yet in battle formation- and tired from the
126 mile march. A general attack began, but the Gothic cavalry returned
just then, and swiped in "like a thunderbold." Now the Gothic infantry
emerged from the laager, and began a rout of the Romans. Valens was cut
down and killed in the chaos.
Casualties: Goths: unknown, Romans: 40,000
Consequence:
"The plain was covered with carcasses, strewing the mutual ruin of the
combatants; the groans of the dying men were intense." Adrianople was
one of the largest battles of the era. Though the Romans lost, they
would, as was typical, regroup under Theodosius and secure the area. But
the offer was made to many Goths to remain as allies in exchange for
the land to settle on.
***Battle of Frigidus***
Sides: Theodosius vs. Arbogast
Time: 394
Place: Trieste, northeastern Italy
Action:
One thing the hiring of German soldiers did was confuse an already
confused situation between east and west emperors. One such leader,
Arbogast, a Germanic Frank, having just suppressed a rebellion in Gaul
at the behest of Emperor Theodosius I, promptly executed the western
emperor, when he tried to force him out of the area when the rebellion
was staid. He even set up a scholar, Eugenius, to take his place as
western emperor! Now Theodosius went after Arbogast, hiring 20,000
Visigoths under Alaric and some Vandals to help against the Franks. On
the north shore of the Adriatic, the forces met, and Arbogast won the
day, but the next day, high winds blew dust and sand into the eyes of
the Franks, "almost knocking them down" according to Grant, and the
Vandal leader, Stilicho, skillfully struck the heart of the Frankish
force. It was a rout, and Arbogast took his own life rather than be
caught.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
Theodosius put the Vandal leader in charge of the military defense of
the Western Empire, and retired to Constantinople, where he soon died.
The barbarians, however, learned of their true power over Rome. The
capital was moved to Ravenna, considered a safer location for the
western emperor, but the pope remained in Rome.
***First and Second Visigoth Sack of Rome***
Sides: Visigoths vs. Rome
Time: 408
Place: Rome
Action:
When Theodosius died, Stilicho, the Vandal leader, remained the
defender of the Empire. Alaric and the Visigoths made incursions into
Italy but he drove them back every time. But now the Western Empire
wanted to claim land from the Eastern Empire, specifically the Pretorian
Prefecture of Illyricum, centered on Salonika in Greece. After a mess
of barbarians under the Visigoth leader Alaric came across the Rhine to
organize as a fighting force to achieve this twisted goal, the Senate
decided to call it off. But the barbarians wanted to be paid anyway.
Stilicho argued to the Senate they should indeed pay them off under the
condition they would just to go away, but they deliberated too long
before voting to pay, and it wasn't much. Alaric was inflamed, and
political chaos started in the city. Eastern Emperor Arcadius died of an
illness, and Western Emperor Honorius was persuaded not to go east to
oversee the change of power by Stilicho, but Honorius believed Stilicho
was going to go to put his son on the throne. A mutiny in the Roman army
started, fomented by a power hungry general, Olympius, who declared
Stilicho an enemy of the state. The Vandal leader hid out in a church
but was discovered and executed. Olympius now led the legions against
all barbarian elements in Italy, and a general massacre began. The
Vandals and others moved north and joined Alaric's Visigothic forces.
Alaric marched against Rome in 408 and starved the city out until they
paid a hefty ransom including 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of
silver, some silks, and some pepper.
Casualties: unknown.
Consequence:
Pope Innocent I went to Ravenna to convince Emperor Honorius to make a
deal with Alaric whereby the Goths would be given a permanent homeland
in the northern provinces of Rhaetia (Switzerland) and Noricum
(Austria), and elevate Alaric as an official general. Honorius refused
and insulted Alaric in a letter. The Goths advanced on Rome again, and
burned its granaries at Portus. Now the Senate voted to replace
Honorius, and Alaric departed to Ravenna to depose him and install the
new emperor. But the Eastern Emperor sent reinforcements just in time to
save Honorius. Now Alaric asked for negotiations and Honorius agreed.
But just as they were being finalized, a Gothic force loyal to Honorius
attacked Alaric's forces, and Alaric's patience was at an end.
***Third Visigoth Sack of Rome***
Sides: Visigoths vs. Romans
Time: 410
Place: Rome
Action:
Alaric and the Visigoths came over the Seven Hills and burst through
Rome's Salarian Gate. They pillaged the city for three days straight.
They ransacked the mausoleum tombs of Augustus and Hadrian. They stole
things from St. John Lateran, but left St. Peter's alone. The citizens
were cut up, taken to slavery and otherwise mistreated. The emperor's
sister married one of Alaric's lieutenants.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
No matter how corrupt or misguided or evil the Roman government and
populace was, the Eternal City had not been sacked for 800 years. Now it
had, and this sent shockwaves throughout the Empire and beyond. St.
Jerome said, "If Rome can perish, what can be safe?" And St. Augustine
wrote City of God as a response to those who blamed the decayed state of
the Empire on the early Christians. A few decades later, the Vandals
appeared on the horizon and laid another sack upon the city.
***Battle of Chalons***
Sides: Roman-Gothic alliance vs. Huns
Time: 451
Place: Marne river, northeast France
Action:
For a decade, a wave of Asiatic horsemen called the Huns struck fear
into the settled peoples of the Roman Empire. Their leader, Attila, was
called the Scourge of God. He cared nothing of conquest- only of pillage
and destruction. Grant says: "It seemed no one could resist the Huns'
swarms of horsemen, who darted around the battlefield, showered their
enemy with bone-tipped arrows, before closing in to finish off survivors
with swords and lassos." Now the Huns crossed the Rhine and invaded
Gaul. They sacked Strasbourg, Worms, Mainz, Cologne, Trier, Metz,
Tournai, Cambrai, Amiens, Beauvais, and Reims in quick succession, and
threatened Paris and Troyes, but at these locations the bishop was able
to make a truce with them, probably by giving them valuables from the
churches in exchange for not carrying out the sack. Now Attila's forces
broke open the wall of Orleans, when they received the message that the
Romans were on the march to them. The Romans at this time were
desperate, the core of the legions was made up of Visigothic mercenaries
fighting for Rome in exchange for citizenship- a symbol of advanced
imperial decay. General Aetius also sought the help of the Visigoths
themselves, under Theodoric. The details of the battle of Chalons, on
the Catalaunian Plains are hazy, but it is clear that in this last large
Roman military movement, the Huns never felt the kind of losses like
those they incurred at this battle, in which the Visigoths reigned
supreme, though Theodoric was killed in the battle.
Casualties: unknown- very high losses for both sides
Consequence:
Gibbon said, "Atilla's retreat across the Rhine confessed the last
victory which was achieved in the name of the Western Roman Empire." The Huns moved south later in the year, however, into Italy.
***Battle of Nadeo***
Sides: Germans vs. Huns
Time: 454
Place: Pannonia (western Hungary)
Action:
After Chalons, Attila regrouped and with Ostrogoth mercenaries, moved
into northern Italy, sacking many towns including Milan. In 452 he sent a
letter to Rome demanding the sister of the reigning emperor for
marriage, sensing he could then have a claim to the throne. Without
compliance in this, Rome would be sacked. Emperor Valentinian III sent a
delegation to meet Attila, headed by Pope Leo I the Great. For an
unknown reason, Attila retreated after their conversation and Rome was
saved. It could be the pope bought him off with a large amount of gold.
There is a story that Leo looked into the eyes of the Hun and
told
him to leave, and that Attila was so impressed with his gravity that he
obeyed. He may also have been afraid of the coalition that defeated him
at Chalons being reorganized. It is also possible plague broke out in
his camp, or that starvation was sweeping the land. But now in 453, the
Hunnic army moved north, sacking towns near present day Venice. Attila
planned a sacking of Constantinople, but died. In 454 on the plains of
Pannonia near the Sava river, all the Germanic tribes of the area
mobilized together against the Huns, now led by Attila's son. Led by the
Ostrogoths, the Gepids and others stormed from all sides and utterly
vanquished the Huns, whose total collapse was effected.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Hun survivors returned to Asia.
***Vandal Sack of Rome***
Sides: Vandals vs. Romans
Time: 455
Place: Rome
Action:
When Emperor Valentinian III died, his successor married his widow to
secure his claim to the throne and link himself with the family of
Theodosius the Great. His son married the daughter of Valentinian as
well. However, this daughter was already promised to the leader of the
Vandals, Genseric, who did not take kindly to that, as it terminated his
intended future claim to the throne. The Vandals advanced on Rome, and
Pope Leo met him. He convinced Gensaric not to 'vandalize' the city,
made him promise not to kill people, pillage churches, etc. if only they
would open the gates to him. He agreed, and the new emperor fled with
his son, demonstrating how little power the political leadership
actually had left. Both were killed in shame by a mob of angry citizens.
Unfortunately the Vandals did not exactly keep their word. They spent
two weeks vandalizing the city, stealing roof plates made of gold and
bronze, burning at least one church, and carrying off some people to
slavery to their headquarters in North Africa. Despite all this, less
brutality was shown to people than without Leo's intervention.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
The Vandals moved on, but the further humiliation of Rome and its
protracted decline was clear, and only the last fell swoop was needed,
and 21 years later, it happened.
***Ostrogoth Sack of Rome***
Sides: Ostragoths vs. Romans
Time: 476
Place: Rome
Action:
In 475 Orestes, the top general in Rome, lead a coup and deposed
Emperor Julius Nepos. For reasons unclear, he had his young son crowned
instead of himself. This son was named Romulus Augustulus, an eerie name
for the last emperor of Rome because it recalls both the first true
Roman, Romulus, and the first true emperor, Augustus. When the Odoacer,
leader of the paid Ostrogoth mercenaries of the Romans, heard about the
change of power, he demanded lands distributed to his tribe in northern
Italy. Odoacer called upon all Germanic mercenaries in Italy to rally to
his standard, and Orestes (who answered no in his son's name) fled to
Pavia, a walled town. Odoacer took the city and executed Orestes, but
the bishop was able to save the lives of the people by paying him off.
Other Ostrogoths executed Orestes' brother near Ravenna. Now Odoacer
marched into the capital and deposed young Romulus Augustalus, exiling
him, and ending the Western Empire.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:
Odoacer sent the royal vestments to Constantinople as a peace offering
to
Emperor Zeno, in hopes of his recognizing him as ruler of the west. They
compromised on titles, but in reality, all was crumbled at this point.
The East would remain, as the Empire of Byzantium, while the west would
be divided into 'barbarian kingdoms.'
Sources:
Grant, R.G. 2005. Battle. London: DK Publishing.
Grant, R.G. 2010. Commanders. London: DK Publishing.
Keegan, John. 1993. A History of Warfare. New York: Knopf.
Shaw, Robert. 1937. One Hundred Seventy Five Battles. Harrisburg: Military Publishing Co.
