Battle of the Sambre (57 BC)
The march of the Romans through the Celtic area
| date | 57 BC Chr. |
|---|---|
| place | on the Sambre river , in north-eastern France |
| output | Victory of the Romans |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| less than 30,000 men (according to Gaius Julius Caesar: 75,000 men) | approx. 40,000 legionaries |
| losses | |
|
over 3,000 dead and wounded |
around 2,500 dead and wounded |
The Battle of the Sambre was a skirmish between Romans and Celts in the Gallic War . The course of the fighting is presented in Caesar's book De Bello Gallico in great detail and exciting, which is why this episode was often found in Latin reading books in the past.
prehistory
Gaius Iulius Caesar marched in 57 BC. BC with his eight legions in the course of his conquests during the Gallic War to the north. Through scouts and prisoners of war, he learned that the Nervier , a powerful Celtic tribe, had allied themselves with the Atrebates and the Viromanduers and were awaiting the Romans on the Sambre with a large army. So Caesar expected an ambush but also complained that the dense forests and many hedges in this part of Gaul meant that the enemies could not be tracked down.
course
According to Julius Caesar's report in the Bellum Gallicum, the course of events is as follows: On the day of the battle, the Roman army marched about 15 km to the banks of the Sambre and set up camp on a hill. While the soldiers were busy digging trenches and building entrenchments, the cavalry crossed the shallow river and there put Gallic horsemen who had gathered on the other bank to flight. At the same time, the Gauls formed battle in the nearby forest, but the Romans did not notice this due to the topographical conditions.
The Gauls suddenly broke out of the woods in two groups, crossed the river and attacked the Roman soldiers. In this situation Caesar failed to give his commanders precise orders so that they acted on their own, gathered their troops, threw back the attackers and crossed the river, so that many legionnaires were led away from the camp and a dangerous gap was created in the center the numerous hedges was not noticed.
Now Boduognatus , the Nervian war chief, led the actual raiding party right into this gap and conquered the Roman camp, while the majority of the Roman soldiers were still fighting on the bank of the river and had to laboriously climb the hill again. The force of the attack was so strong that the Roman lines were torn in the middle and individual soldiers were already beginning to flee because they thought the battle was lost. At that moment, Caesar, only now aware of the impending catastrophe, snatched the shield from one of the fleeing soldiers and went himself to the front line, where he brought the soldiers to a stop and gave the order to counterattack.
At the same time reinforcements appeared on the hill. It was a question of two legions that had guarded the supplies and arrived late on the battlefield, while many soldiers who had crossed the river and plundered into the Nervian camp finally turned back, so that the Gauls were surrounded and up to the last man was killed.
consequences
Caesar had an estimated 2,500 deaths that day, which are not mentioned in his own war report, while other ancient authors speak of the extermination of entire cohorts . Caesar's war report portrays the battle as a great victory, achieved through the superiority of his soldiers and his own tactical skills. On the other hand, Caesar conceals or glosses over his serious omissions as a general. According to his own statements, Caesar claims to have killed 60,000 Celts and almost annihilated the Nervian people. Nevertheless, this people reappear as a strong opponent at later parts of the Bellum Gallicum.
swell
- Gaius Iulius Caesar: De Bello Gallico , 2, 16-28
literature
- Duncan Norton-Taylor: Die Kelten , series: Time-life books, 1974, ISBN 90-6182-057-X , pp. 124f.
Individual evidence
- ^ Caesar: De Bello Gallico , 2, 16.
- ^ Caesar: De Bello Gallico , 2, 20.