Battle of Octodurum

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Battle of Octodurum
Part of: Gallic War
date Autumn 57 BC Chr.
place Octodurum , now Martigny , in Switzerland
output narrow victory of the Romans
Parties to the conflict

Gallic coalition: Veragrer

Roman Empire

Commander

Servius Sulpicius Galba

Troop strength
allegedly 30,000 men the Legio XII Fulminata , i.e. 5,000 legionaries

The Battle of Octodurum was a skirmish in the fall of 57 BC. Between Romans and Celts during the Gallic War .

prehistory

In 57 BC The Roman legate Servius Sulpicius Galba was appointed leader of the Legio XII Fulminata by Gaius Iulius Caesar . His task was to subdue the area at the mouth of the Dranse into the Rhone . The Veragrians lived in this area at that time . He and his 5,000 legionaries occupied the Octodurum settlement and stayed there for several weeks.

The battle

The Celtic tribe of the Veragrer was not intimidated by this move. They allied themselves with their neighbors, the tribe of seduni , and attacked in the fall 57 v. Chr. Despite their numerical superiority of tens of thousands of men, they were inferior to the battle-hardened legionaries. The Celtic archers could inflict heavy losses on the Romans with their sudden attack, but Octodurum remained in Roman hands.

consequences

The battle was less important for the further course of the war, but the Veragrians made no further attempt to attack the Roman legions.

swell

literature