The Battle of Abritus, also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii, occurred near Abritus in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian tribesmen under the Gothic king Cniva. The Roman army was soundly defeated, and Roman emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus, his son, were both killed in battle. It was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Empire against the Germanic tribes, rated by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus as on par with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, the Marcomannic invasion of Roman Italy in 170, and the Battle of Adrianople in 378.
The Marcomanni were a Germanic people that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.
The 160s decade ran from January 1, 160, to December 31, 169.
The 170s decade ran from January 1, 170, to December 31, 179.
Year 170 (CLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Clarus and Cornelius. The denomination 170 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
The Quadi were a Germanic people who lived approximately in the area of modern Moravia in the time of the Roman Empire. The only surviving contemporary reports about the Germanic tribe are those of the Romans, whose empire had its border on the River Danube just to the south of the Quadi. They associated the Quadi with their neighbours the Marcomanni, and described both groups as having entered the region after the Celtic Boii had left it deserted. The Quadi may later have contributed to the "Suebian" group who crossed the Rhine with the Vandals and Alans in the 406 Crossing of the Rhine, and later founded a kingdom in northwestern Iberia.
Carnuntum was a Roman legionary fortress and headquarters of the Pannonian fleet from 50 AD. After the 1st century, it was capital of the Pannonia Superior province. It also became a large city of approximately 50,000 inhabitants.
The Iazyges were an ancient Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in c. 200 BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In c. 44 BC, they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Dacian steppe between the Danube and Tisza rivers, where they adopted a semi-sedentary lifestyle.
The Varisci were a Germanic tribe, the presumed prior inhabitants of a medieval district, Provincia Variscorum, the same as the Vogtland district of Saxony in Germany. They do not appear under that name exactly in ancient history, however, but rather come on stage boldly and abruptly in the Germania of Tacitus as the Naristi, with manuscript variants of Narisci and Varisti. Perhaps the historical name of the mediaeval province is to be regarded as the final authority, but there are other possibilities:
The Marcomannic Wars were a series of wars lasting from about 166 until 180 AD. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against principally the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges; there were related conflicts with several other Germanic, Sarmatian and Gothic peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman Empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube.
The Column of Marcus Aurelius is a Roman victory column in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief: it was built in honour of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and modeled on Trajan's Column. The Imperial Monument is dedicated to the former emperor of Rome and his war effort in the Barbarian wars of his reign as Caesar of Rome from 161-180 AD. Standing as a testament to Aurelius' military achievements, it offers a visual narrative of his campaigns against Germanic tribes along the Danube River. Though there aren’t many direct sources from the time of reign of Marcus Aurelius, the monument itself can tell us a great deal about the Romans in the creation of the monument and the scenes from it. The column of Marcus Aurelius is a depiction of Roman life during the reign of Marcus Aurelius; the monument not only tells us the reason it was built but the importance this emperor had on society and the respect he had earned. Based on common understanding of Roman life and the belief that citizens felt a duty toward public service, the benevolence of Marcus Aurelius was such that this monument was erected in his memory and preserved for its grandeur and representation. The monument contains a frieze, which depicts the Northern Germanic campaigns of Marcus Aurelius’ and his war with the Barbarians. The Romans called these wars North of the Danube, Bellum Germanicum or bellum Marcomannicum. Though the monument is more likely a monument for military achievement, it’s also considered a funerary monument, since the planning and erection of the monument happened around the same time as the death of Marcus Aurelius. The monument was said to either begin at the end of the wars in 176AD and he died in 180AD, the monument finished construction in 193AD.
Vindobona was a Roman military camp in the province of Pannonia, located on the site of the modern city of Vienna in Austria. The settlement area took on a new name in the 13th century, being changed to Berghof, or now simply known as Alter Berghof.
Marcus Valerius Maximianus was an important Roman general of the period of the Marcomannic Wars during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. He was born in the Roman colony of Poetovio, where his father, also called Marcus Valerius Maximianus, was a local censor and priest. He was decorated for services in the Parthian war of Lucius Verus and was appointed by Marcus Aurelius to ensure the armies in Pannonia were supplied by boats on the Danube.
The Roman–Parthian War of 161–166 was fought between the Roman and Parthian Empires over Armenia and Upper Mesopotamia. It concluded in 166 after the Romans made successful campaigns into Lower Mesopotamia and Media and sacked Ctesiphon, the Parthian capital.
The reign of Marcus Aurelius began with his accession on 7 March 161 following the death of his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, and ended with his own death on 17 March 180. Marcus first ruled jointly with his adoptive brother, Lucius Verus. They shared the throne until Lucius' death in 169. Marcus was succeeded by his son Commodus, who had been made co-emperor in 177.
'In the territory that is in present daySlovakia' was partly occupied by Roman legions for a short period of time. Slovakia as a country, did not exist until December 31, 1992 Marcomannia was a proposed province of the Roman Empire that Emperor Marcus Aurelius planned to establish in this territory. It was inhabited by the Germanic tribes of Marcomanni and Quadi, and lay in the western parts of the modern states and Slovakia and the Czech Republic (Moravia). Part of the area was occupied by the Romans under Marcus Aurelius between 174 AD and 180 AD. His successors abandoned the project, but the people of the area became steadily Romanized during the next two centuries. The Roman influence was disrupted with the invasions of Attila starting around 434 AD and as Slavic people later began to move into the area.
Marcus Claudius Fronto was a Roman senator and Consul, and a general in the Imperial Roman army during the reigns of emperors Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus.
Ballomar or Ballomarios was a leader of the Marcomanni during the Marcomannic Wars.
The Roman fort is an archaeological site located in Mušov, Czech Republic, of a Roman army camp on the Dyje-Svratka-Jihlava confluence. It was intended to become the capital of the proposed Marcomannia province (Moravia).
Roman Empire