Battle of Naissus

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Battle of Naissus
Part of: Gothic Wars of Rome
date 269
place Naissus (today Niš in Serbia )
output Victory of the Romans
Parties to the conflict

Roman Empire

Goths

Commander

Claudius Gothicus

Troop strength
unknown 50,000
losses

unknown

Between 30,000 and 50,000

The battle of Naissus took place in the summer of 269 near present-day Niš in Serbia .

prehistory

Since 238 the Roman Empire has been repeatedly ravaged by invasions by the Goths . In the decades of conflict - apart from brief interruptions - large parts of the Balkan Peninsula were devastated. In June 251, Emperor Decius and his son and co-emperor Herennius Etruscus fell at the Battle of Abrittus after they had been ambushed by the Gothic king Kniva . Although the successors of Decius succeeded in stabilizing the situation somewhat, an invasion of unprecedented proportions was soon to come.

The Goth invasion of 267

In the year 267 broke Gothic armies, accompanied by the tribe of the Heruli , from the northern shore of the Sea of Azov with reportedly 2,000 ships and 320,000 men toward the Aegean on. Once there, they visited the numerous destinations in the Aegean region, including Crete , Rhodes and Cyprus . During the siege of Athens, if the Historia Augusta is to be believed, the historian Dexippus is said to have distinguished himself, who is said to have succeeded in putting together a citizen militia and driving away the invaders. In the spring of 268, Emperor Gallienus succeeded in confronting the warbands of the Goths and Heruli on their way to Macedonia on the Nestos River and inflicting a serious defeat on them. But before he could take any further action against the invaders, he was recalled to Italy due to the rebellion of his general Aureolus , whom he had entrusted with the security of Northern Italy , where he fell victim to a conspiracy of his Illyrian officers that same year.

Claudius Gothicus, the battle of Naissus and its aftermath

The new emperor, Marcus Aurelius Claudius (he was given the epithet Gothicus posthumously), immediately set out on a campaign against the warbands, which were still devastating the Balkan Peninsula, and faced a part, supposedly 50,000 men, near Naissus, today's Niš in Serbia , to battle. Before the fight broke out, the Heruli ran over to Claudius. He managed to achieve a complete victory. Between 30,000 and 50,000 Goths are said to have remained on the battlefield. This victory enabled the Romans to attack and destroy the remaining Goths roaming the Balkan Peninsula.

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