Battle of Adrianople (324)
| date | July 3, 324 |
|---|---|
| place | near Adrianople (today Edirne in Turkey ) |
| output | Decisive victory of Constantine I. |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Constantine's army |
Licinius's army |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 120,000 infantrymen and 10,000 cavalrymen | 150,000 infantrymen and 15,000 cavalrymen |
| losses | |
|
insignificant |
approx. 34,000 fallen |
In the battle of Adrianople , the Roman emperor Constantine defeated his rival Licinius and thus decided the battle for the Roman Empire for himself.
prehistory
After Konstantin Licinius had already forced several concessions and assignments of territory after the battles of Cibalae and Mardia in 316, calm prevailed for the time being. But after Constantine had successfully defended himself against invading Goths and undertook a punitive expedition across the Danube , he did not want to tolerate any more rivals in the empire - at the height of his fame at that time. Without any previous aggression from Licinius, he began preparing for war. He gathered 120,000 infantrymen and 10,000 cavalrymen in Thessalonike , consisting mainly of his experienced veterans. His preparations did not go unnoticed, however, and Licinius assembled an army of 150,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalrymen. His cavalry was drafted from Phrygia and Cappadocia . His fleet of 350 triremes was superior to that of Constantine, because the latter only owned 200 smaller ships. Strangely enough, Licinius did not use them to penetrate into the core areas of Constantine and attack them. As always cautious Licinius moved to Adrianople and built a fortified camp near the city. There he moved with most of his troops.
Course of the battle
Constantine had advanced as far as Adrianople and was stopped by the Hebros River . However, it is unlikely that he sent all of the troops into battle. The army of Licinius occupied the heights from the river to the city itself. The enemy armies faced each other for a few days, apart from minor skirmishes and reconnaissance operations. Constantine also pretended to build a bridge. On July 3, Constantine dared to cross the river with twelve companions according to the pagan (and hostile to Constantine) historian Zosimos and, after the arrival of the rest of the troops, defeated Licinius' army.
In reality the battle turned out differently. Constantine had about 5,000 archers and a division of cavalry behind the enemy occupy a forest unnoticed by the enemy. Thereupon he had ordered the crossing of the river and had faced the enemy with his troops. He himself led the cavalry across the river. Licinius was driven to give up his advantageous terrain by those archers, since he could not take the forest, which had meanwhile been secured by more infantry. The archers and the seasoned veterans of Constantine wreaked havoc among the troops of Licinius Zosimos. Constantine motivated his soldiers by having his personal standard, the labarum , brought wherever his lines of battle began to falter . At the end of the day the fortified camp of Licinius was taken by storm by the troops of Constantine. It was only when it was dark that Licinius' army could flee to the coast, where his fleet was waiting, and to Byzantium .
consequences
The following day the remaining refugees surrendered to Constantine. While Constantine was advancing to Byzantium, his son Crispus defeated the fleet of Licinius under Abantus in the sea battle at Kallipolis . On September 18, Constantine defeated Licinius again in the battle of Chrysopolis , who then surrendered and was interned in Thessalonica. The decisive victory, however, was that of Adrianople. Martinianus , who had meanwhile been promoted to co-emperor by Licinius , also fell into Constantine's hands. Constantine had thus achieved sole rule and reunited the Roman Empire under one ruler.
literature
- Elisabeth Herrmann-Otto : Constantine the Great . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2007.
- Charles M. Odahl: Constantine and the Christian Empire . Routledge, London a. a. 2004, ISBN 0415174856 .
- Oliver Schmitt: Constantine the Great (275–337) . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 2007.