Battle of Abrittus

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The Battle of Abrittus (now Razgrad in Bulgaria ), also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii , occurred in 251 between the Roman legions and the Goths under their king Kniva . The Romans were defeated, the Roman Emperor Decius and his son Herennius were both killed during the battle. The defeat was largely caused by the mistakes of General Trebonianus Gallus , who attacked too violently. Decius was the first Roman emperor to be killed in a battle with barbarians .

Gothic groups had crossed the Danube and raided the provinces of Moesia and Dacia . Decius and Herennius set out to punish Kniva for his attack. The Goths were surprised by the emperor during the siege of Nicopolis on the Danube. On his approach they crossed the Balkan Mountains and attacked Philippopolis . Decius followed them, but a heavy defeat at Beroë made it impossible to save Philippopolis, which fell into the hands of the Goths, who treated the city with devastating cruelty.

However, the siege of Philippopolis had so exhausted the number and strength of the Goths that they offered to hand over their booty and their captives on condition of free withdrawal. But Decius, hoping to cut off their withdrawal, refused to negotiate the proposal. Kniva and his men were now on their way to their land with their booty when they met the Roman army. In an elaborate military consideration, Kniva divided his army into smaller and more agile units and began to push the Romans back into a swampland. In the first half of June 251 both armies met at Abrittus. Herennius fell, struck down by an enemy arrow. Decius survived the first meeting, but was slain with the rest of the army before the end of the day.

Trebonianus Gallus became emperor after Decius' death; he negotiated a contract with the Goths under surrender conditions, which allowed them to take their booty with them and return to their homeland, but also awarded them an annual tribute for respecting the borders of the Roman Empire.

Ammianus Marcellinus rates the treaty as one of the most serious military defeats of the Roman Empire, in a row with Varus ' defeat in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest , the invasion of the Marcomanni in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and the Battle of Adrianople in 378 .

literature

Remarks

  1. Ammianus Marcellinus May 31, 2012–17.