Battle of Arausio

Battle of Arausio

Part of: Cimbrian Wars

date	October 6, 105 BC Chr.
place	Arausio , on the banks of the Rhone
output	Devastating defeat of the Romans
consequences	Led to the army reform of Marius

Parties to the conflict
Roman Empire	Ambrons, Teutons, Cimbri
Commander
Quintus Servilius Caepio Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Marcus Aurelius Scaurus	Boiorix Teutobod
Troop strength
allegedly 80,000 legionaries and the entourage of 40,000 people	reportedly over 200,000
losses
high	low

On October 6, 105 BC Chr. Became a Roman army, southern Gaul was intended to protect, in a battle of arausio , today's Orange in Provence , from the Cimbri and Teutons defeated.

prehistory

The wandering peoples of the Teutons, Cimbri and Ambrones under the leadership of King Boiorix moved south from the Rhone Valley to Arausio. Here they were provided by two armies under the command of the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and the consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus . Both of them had come with their armies with the intention of protecting the Roman province of Gallia ulterior from the invasion and of preventing the enemy from advancing into Italy.

course

On October 6, 105 BC A battle broke out on the left bank of the Rhone , the Romans fought with their backs to the river. The exact course of the battle is not known, but it is known that Caepio did not want to relinquish the supreme command of his army to Mallius Maximus because, in his opinion, the latter would have been of too little status. The split resulted in two Roman armies of roughly equal strength, which did not work together and camped in separate camps, being led individually against the enemy, which is believed to be the main reason for the legions' debacle. The battle ended with a devastating defeat for the Romans, both armies were wiped out, both Roman camps and the entourage were captured by the enemy.

According to the ancient chronicler Valerius Antias , around 80,000 legionaries and 40,000 supply servants and sutlers were slain, which would mean more than in the most severe Roman defeat to date, the Battle of Cannae , but these numbers are considered exaggerated. In fact, considerable parts of the Roman army were able to escape by fleeing, including Caepio himself.

consequences

There is no information about the losses on the part of the Cimbri and Teutons. Daneta Billau estimates that 15,000 Germans were killed. After the battle, as was customary at the time, the booty was completely sacrificed to the gods. It was a crushing defeat of the Roman armed forces, which indirectly led to army reform by Gaius Marius (104 BC), which greatly increased the fighting power of the Roman armed forces. Contrary to expectations and against all fears, the victors did not move on towards Rome. Instead , the Cimbri migrated westward to Spain , while the Teutons migrated into the interior of Gaul in search of land and settlement.

literature

• Theodor Mommsen : Roman history. Second volume. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1861, p. 178 ff.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. Titus Livius , perioche 67 .
2. ↑ Cf. Carl Ludwig Peter: Geschichte Roms. Volume 2. Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, Halle 1866, p. 62.
3. ↑ See Jürgen Deininger : Arausio. In: Johannes Hops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 1: Aachen - Bajuwaren . 2nd completely revised and greatly expanded edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 1973, p. 382.