Battle of Argentoratum

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Battle of Argentoratum
Julian as Caesar on a solidus
Julian as Caesar on a solidus
date Fall 357
place near Strasbourg
output Victory of the Romans
Parties to the conflict

Alemanni

Roman Empire

Commander

Hortar , Suomar , Ur , Ursicinus , Vestralp , Chnodomar , Agenarich

Julian

Troop strength
According to Ammianus: 35,000
Modern estimate ( Hans Delbrück ): 6,000 - 10,000
13,000
losses

High

247

The Battle of Argentoratum or the Battle of Strasbourg took place in the autumn of 357 near what is now Strasbourg .

prehistory

According to the records of the late Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus , the Roman emperor Constantius II sent his nephew Julian and the Roman army master Barbatio to Rauracum (today Kaiseraugst ) to defeat the Alamanni . Due to the Laeten uprising and through the fault of Barbatio, who did not grant Julian any success, the Alemanni under the juggler king Chnodomar succeeded in routing the numerically superior Roman army. The Alemanni took advantage of the opportunity and occupied numerous cities on the left bank of the Rhine from Strasbourg via Zabern , Speyer , Worms , Mainz , Bingen , Koblenz to Andernach .

Course of the battle

The line-up at the beginning of the battle.
Clash of foot soldiers.

The Alemannic kings Hortar , Suomar , Ur , Ursicinus , Vestralp , ten sub-kings as well as many nobles under the leadership of Chnodomar and his nephew Agenarich (Serapio) gathered their armies and raised against Julian to reinforce their claim to the areas on the left bank of the Rhine. Julian allegedly faced an army of around 35,000 Alemanni, which were composed of various sub-tribes; however, this figure is likely to be greatly exaggerated to emphasize the importance of the Roman victory. Probably both armies were about equally strong, and the number 35,000 relates more to the total number of Alemanni involved in the war. A defector from Barbatios' defeated army correctly reported to the Alemanni that Julian had about 13,000 men under arms. Aware of their previous victories and superiority, the Alemanni sent messengers to Julian, telling him to leave the land they had acquired with bravery and arms. The left bank of the Rhine is now Alemannic area. Julian laughed at the ambassadors, took them prisoner, contrary to custom, and decided to go into battle before the entire Germanic force could assemble.

Julian marched with his army, in which Celtic and Germanic auxiliary troops also served, from Zabern in the direction of Strasbourg and "fed" himself on the way from the fields of Alemannic farmers. At Strasbourg, the Romans were already awaited ready to fight by the Alemanni, who had previously crossed the Rhine for three days and nights. Both opponents established their battle orders. The Romans set up their cavalry on the right wing, Chnodomar gathered his cavalry behind them on the left wing. Even before the battle began, the Alemannic foot troops urged their under-kings to get off their horses so that they could not run away in case of danger. Obviously, the Teutons were by no means convinced that they could win against a regular Roman army. Chnodomar led by example, and the rest of the kings got off their horses too.

Initially, the Alemanni succeeded in routing the Roman cavalry. Then the foot troops met and the battle raged to and fro. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, equal opponents, the Alemanni, fought wildly and stormily against the well-trained, equipped and experienced Roman soldiers due to their great physical strength and tall stature. Ultimately, the experience and superior discipline of the Roman army brought the decision. When the superiority of the Romans became apparent, Chnodomar and his surviving Alamanni tried to escape across the Rhine. The Romans pursued the disorderly fleeing Alemanni and drove them into the Rhine. However, it is unclear whether over 6000 dead Germanic tribes really remained on the battlefield (see below). Many a modern historian even believes that this was more the total number of Alamans, who were numerically clearly inferior to the Romans.

Chnodomar also tried to escape to his country across the Rhine, but was recognized and taken with three close friends and two hundred companions by a Roman cohort . Chnodomar surrendered and asked Caesar Julian for mercy; he was taken to Rome before the emperor and is said to have died of "old age" in a foreign camp on Mons Caelius .

Apparently only 243 soldiers and 4 military tribunes had fallen on the Roman side . On the Alemannic side, 6,000 men remained on the battlefield according to Ammianus Marcellinus (Amm. XVI. 12,63), 8,000 men according to Libanios , and about the same number - according to Zosimos - drowned in the Rhine; While the Roman casualty figures are likely to be authentic, the Alemanni casualties are, as already mentioned, highly exaggerated. Julian had peace treaties concluded with the kings involved in Strasbourg, whereby, depending on the strength of the resistance, quite drastic measures were used.

It is noteworthy that Julian wrote a booklet about the battle, deliberately imitating Caesar's Commentarii , but Julian reported far less soberly about his success. The little book has not survived, but Eunapios of Sardis , for example, referred to it. It is believed that Ammianus Marcellinus also used it as a source. Admittedly, it was received with little enthusiasm at the imperial court, since Julian only operated in Gaul on behalf of Constantius. The fact that Julian's soldiers allegedly spontaneously called him to Augustus on the battlefield , which he rejected, may have increased the suspicion of Caesar at court .

More important than the Roman victory at Strasbourg were ultimately Julian's subsequent campaigns on the right bank of the Rhine, with which the Romans were able to force the Alemannic princes to peace and provisional submission: the surviving Alemanni who returned to their districts after the battle of Strasbourg felt themselves apparently often not tied to the surrender of Chnodomar. Julian therefore had a bridge built over the Rhine near Mainz and crossed over. He rebuilt some fortifications in enemy territory and plundered the Alemannic area. Many Alemanni were tributaries in Rome. It was only after Julian's death in the war against the Persians that the Alemanni dared to attack Roman Gaul again.

swell

  • Sources on the history of the Alemanni. Translated by Camilla Dirlmeier.
    • Volume 1: From Cassius Dio to Ammianus Marcellinus . Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1976, ISBN 3-7995-6301-6 , pp. 29-31, 45-55.
    • Volume 2: From Libanios to Gregory of Tours. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1978, ISBN 3-7995-6303-2 , pp. 12-18.

literature

  • Frankäbüttel : Germanic rulers. From Arminius to Theodoric. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-534-18250-3 , pp. 52-61.
  • Karlheinz Fuchs, Martin Kempa, Rainer Redies: The Alamanni. 4th edition. License issue. Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1535-9 (exhibition catalog, Stuttgart et al., State Archaeological Museum Baden-Württemberg et al., 1997–1998).
  • Dieter Geuenich : History of the Alemanni . Verlag Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-17-012095-6 .
  • Jean-Jacques Hatt , Jacques Schwartz: The battlefield of Oberhausbergen (357 AD). In: Richard Klein (Ed.): Julian Apostata . Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1978, ISBN 3-534-07315-0 , pp. 318-330.

See also the references given in the Julian article .

Remarks

  1. Hans Delbrück , History of the art of war in the context of political history. Part 2: The Teutons. 2. Book: The Great Migration. 2nd chapter. (on-line)

Web links

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