Battle of Clastidium
The battle of Clastidium (today: Casteggio ) in 222 BC. In the course of the Celtic Wars of Rome in Northern Italy ended with a victory for the Romans, who then occupied the area of the so-called Gallia Cisalpina , d. H. the Po Valley, brought under their rule.
As early as 223 BC In the 4th century BC there was fighting between the Romans and the Celts in the Po Valley. The most important opponent of the Romans was the Insubrian tribe under their leader Viridomarus , who had their main town in Mediolanum, today's Milan . These were able to thwart a first transition of the Romans to the left bank of the Po, but the Romans succeeded in winning over the neighboring Celtic Cenomans and penetrating into the territory of the Insubrians. Because of an unfavorable omen, the Roman consul Gaius Flaminius was ordered back, but the latter refused to obey the order and referred to his successes against the Celts.
The decision was made in 222 BC. When Roman troops again advanced along the Po , this time under the command of Marcus Claudius Marcellus . The decisive battle finally broke out on its south bank at Clastidium (today's Casteggio near Voghera ). The Insubrian leader Viridomarus was killed in the battle; According to the sources, he was killed by Marcellus himself, who received the Spolia opima for it . The Romans were able to move into Milan and thus created a strategically important glacis with the Gallia Cisalpina. In the triumphal fasts of 222 BC. Germanic tribes are mentioned for the first time. However, this evidence is controversial in research, as it can also be a later paraphrase in the context of the Augustan fasting editorial office.
The Roman rule over this area was threatened again by the attack of Hannibal at the beginning of the Second Punic War only four years later, but the Roman victory over Carthage and the subsequent overthrow of Celtic insurgents secured suzerainty over the areas conquered after the victory of Clastidium.
Remarks
- ^ Titus Livius , epitoma 20: M. Claudius Marcellus cos. occiso Gallorum Insubrium duce, Vertomaro, opima spolia rettulit. Properz 4, 10, 39-41: Claudius a Rheno traiectos arcuit hostis, Belgica cum vasti parma relata ducis Virdomari ; Plutarch , Marcellus 6-8 ( English translation ).
- ↑ Franz Schön: Were we Teutons? . In: Eckart Olshausen, Holger Sonnabend (ed.): "We were Trojans" - Migrations in the ancient world . Stuttgart 2002, p. 167ff., Here p. 172.