Battle of Tridentum

Battle of Tridentum
	Part of the Cimbrian War
Date	102 BC
Location	in the valley north of Tridentum (modern day Trento, Italy)
Result	Roman tactical withdraw
Belligerents
Roman Republic	Cimbri
Commanders and leaders
Quintus Lutatius Catulus	Boiorix
Strength
Total: 6 legions (20,000-30,000 legionaries)Engaged:; 1 legion, the Samnites	Total: 400,000 (c.120,000 warriors)Engaged:; unknown
Casualties and losses
light	light

Last updated July 20, 2024

The Battle of Tridentum took place in a valley just beyond Tridentum in the Autumn of 102 BC. The Germanic Cimbri almost succeeded in overrunning a Roman camp in the middle of the Roman strategical retreat. The Romans were saved by the heroic charge of the men from the Samnite legion which bought the rest of the army enough time to cross the river and escape. Despite some light losses a disaster was averted.

Background

According to ancient sources, sometime around 120–115 BC, the Cimbri, a large Germanic tribe, left their homeland around the North Sea (in modern-day Denmark) due to climate changes. It is likely that they journeyed to the south-east and were soon joined by their neighbours the Teutones. On their way south they defeated several other Germanic, Celtic and Germano-Celtic tribes (such as the Boii). A number of these defeated tribes joined their migration. In 113 BC the Cimbri-Teutones confederation, led by Boiorix and Teutobod, defeated the Scordisci. The invaders then moved on to the Danube, arriving in Noricum, home to the Roman-allied Taurisci people. Unable to hold back these new, powerful invaders on their own, the Taurisci appealed to Rome for help.^[1]

The Romans tried to stop the Germanic invaders in 112 at the Battle of Noreia, in 107 at the Battle of Burdigala, and in 105 at the Battle of Arausio but met with defeat each time. The Battle of Arausio was considered the Romans' greatest defeat since Hannibal crushed their army at Cannae. Fortunately for the Romans, the Germans did not invade Italy after their victories but travelled through Gaul and Hispania instead. For a decade the Romans lived in fear of a Germanic invasion they thought would arrive at any moment.

Rome now turned to their most effective and capable general, Gaius Marius, whom they elected Senior Consul in 104 BC, 103 BC and 102 BC (eventually Marius would be consul an unprecedented seven times). While waiting for the Germanic tribes to move towards Italy Marius recruited, equipped and trained his army. In 102 BC Marius sent his consular partner, the junior Consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus, to Cisalpine Gaul with instructions to stop the Cimbri advance, while he marched against the Teutones in Transalpine Gaul.^[2]

Prelude

Catulus marched his army to Tridentum, a small trading town in one of the valleys in the Alps. From Tridentum he advanced up the valley to where it narrowed considerably. Catulus may have intended to use the valley's narrowness to his advantage because the Cimbri heavily outnumbered him. However, eventually the Romans decided on a strategical retreat.^[3]

Battle

By this time the Cimbri had become fully aware of the Roman presence, and decided to attack. The Cimbri first came across the camp of the Samnite Legion. The commander of the legion, the military tribune Marcus Aemilius Scaurus Junior, did not know what to do so the legion's Primus Pilus, Centurion Gnaeus Petreius acted instead. He led a heroic charge against the Cimbri to keep the advancing barbarians occupied long enough to give the rest of the men the opportunity to cross the river and escape. The Samnites got their men and wagons across the River Athesis and destroyed the bridge to prevent the Cimbri from following. There were, of course, some losses but the situation, humiliating as it was, was not as bad as it might have been.^[4]

Aftermath

For his actions, the aforementioned Primus pilus Gnaeus Petreius Atinas was awarded the Grass Crown, the highest military honor able to be bestowed upon a Roman soldier, which was only awarded when the actions of the recipient ensured the survival of the legion which offered it. At the time, Gnaeus Petreius Atinas was only the sixth Roman officer whose actions qualified for such a distinction.

The Cimbri now descended into the Po Valley spreading out over the area. Catulus and his staff decided that this fertile area would gain the Germanic tribes' attention for some time, long enough to give the Roman army time to regroup and link up with Marius' army. Roman citizens and Latin Rights holders were encouraged to leave the region for the time being.^[4] Catulus Caesar marched his army to Placentia where he intended to rendezvous with Marius' legions.^[5]

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus Junior was sent back to Rome to report the news to the Senate. His father, the Princeps Senatus Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, on hearing the news of his sons cowardice refused to see him and officially disowned him. Scaurus Junior then committed suicide.^[4]

Meanwhile, Marius had defeated and destroyed the Teutones at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae. The next year (101 BC) Marius and Catulus joined forces and defeated and destroyed the Cimbri at the Battle of Vercellae, finally ending the German threat.^[6]

In fiction

Colleen McCullough describes the battle in her novel The First Man in Rome , the first book in her Masters of Rome series. In her novel Gnaeus Petreius is awarded the Grass Crown for his heroism.

Related Research Articles

This article concerns the period 109 BC – 100 BC.

Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times.

Quintus Lutatius Catulus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 102 BC. His consular colleague was Gaius Marius. During their consulship the Cimbri and Teutones marched south again and threatened the Republic. While Marius marched against the Teutones in Gaul, Catulus had to keep the Cimbri from invading Italy. In this he failed; the Cimbri succeeded in invading the Po Valley. In 101 BC Catulus, as proconsul, continued the war against the Cimbri. Marius, elected consul for the fifth time, joined him and together they campaigned against the Germanic invaders in the Po Valley. At the Battle of Vercellae Marius and Catulus decisively defeated the Cimbri and ended the Germanic invasion. After Vercellae the two feuded, and Catulus consequently committed suicide following Marius's victory in the civil war of 87 BC.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.

Publius Rutilius Rufus was a Roman statesman, soldier, orator and historian of the Rutilia gens, as well as a great-uncle of Gaius Julius Caesar. He achieved the highest political office in the Roman Republic when he was elected consul in 105 BC.

The Battle of the Colline Gate, fought on 1 November 82 BC, was the decisive battle of the civil war between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the Marians, Samnites and Lucanians. Sulla won the battle at the northeastern end of Rome, near the Colline Gate, and secured control of Italy. Appian is the only source who provides details about the battle.

The Battle of Vercellae, or Battle of the Raudine Plain, was fought on 30 July 101 BC on a plain near Vercellae in Gallia Cisalpina. A Germanic-Celtic confederation under the command of the Cimbric king Boiorix was defeated by a Roman army under the joint command of the consul Gaius Marius and the proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus. The battle marked the end of the Germanic threat to the Roman Republic.

The Battle of Aquae Sextiae (Aix-en-Provence) took place in 102 BC. After a string of Roman defeats, the Romans under Gaius Marius finally defeated the Teutones and Ambrones as they attempted to advance through the Alps into Italy. Some of the surviving captives are reported to have been among the rebelling gladiators in the Third Servile War. Local lore associates the name of the mountain, Mont St. Victoire, with the Roman victory at the battle of Aquae Sextiae, but Frédéric Mistral and other scholars have debunked this theory.

The Ambrones were an ancient tribe mentioned by Roman authors. They are believed by some to have been a Germanic tribe from Jutland; the Romans were not clear about their exact origin.

The Battle of Noreia, in 113 BC, was the opening battle of the Cimbrian War fought between the Roman Republic and the migrating Proto-Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and the Teutons (Teutones). It ended in defeat, and near disaster, for the Romans.

The Cimbrian or Cimbric War was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic and Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini, who migrated from the Jutland peninsula into Roman-controlled territory, and clashed with Rome and her allies. The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened.

Manius Aquillius was a Roman politician and general during the late Roman Republic. He was a member of the ancient Roman gens Aquillia, probably a son of Manius Aquillius, consul in 129 BC. Aquillius served as Consul of Rome with Gaius Marius in 101 BC. Before his consulship, during the Cimbrian War, he had served as a legate under Marius in Gaul. He played a pivotal role during the Battle of Aquae Sextiae where he surprised the Teutones by attacking them from behind. As consul he crushed a slave revolt in Sicily. At the start of the First Mithridatic War he was defeated and captured by Mithridates VI of Pontus who had him executed by pouring molten gold down his throat.

Lucius Julius Caesar was a Roman statesman and general of the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC. He was involved in the downfall of the plebeian tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus in 100 BC. He was consul of the Roman Republic in 90 BC during the Social War. During the war he commanded several Roman legions against the Italian Allies. He was awarded a Triumph for his victories on the Samnites at Acerrae.

Lucius Cassius Longinus was consul of the Roman Republic in 107 BC. His colleague was Gaius Marius, then serving the first of his seven consulships.

Quintus Poppaedius Silo was a leader of the Italian tribe of the Marsi and one of the leaders of the Italian rebels during the Social War against Rome. Poppaedius was called the 'heart and soul' of the rebellion. He was a friend of Marcus Livius Drusus the Younger.

Quintus Servilius Caepio was a Roman patrician, statesman and soldier. He was the son of Quintus Servilius Caepio who was consul in 106 BCE and who lost his army during the Battle of Arausio. He was elected praetor some time in the last 90s BC and fought for Rome during the Social War. He was killed in the second year of the war while fighting the Marsi by Quintus Poppaedius Silo.

Sulla's civil war was fought between the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla and his opponents, the Cinna-Marius faction, in the years 83–82 BC. The war ended with a decisive battle just outside Rome itself. After the war the victorious Sulla made himself dictator of the Roman Republic.

The Battle of Burdigala took place during the Cimbrian War in 107 BC. The battle was fought between a combined Germanic-Celtic army including the Helvetian Tigurini under the command of Divico, and the forces of the Roman Republic under the command of Lucius Cassius Longinus, Lucius Caesoninus, and Gaius Popillius Laenas. Longinus and Caesoninus were killed in the action and the battle resulted in a victory for the combined tribes.

The First Battle of Clusium took place in June of 82 BC during the Roman Republic's Second Civil War. The battle pitted the Optimates under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla against the Populares commanded by Gnaeus Papirius Carbo. The battle was indecisive.

References

↑ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 40; Theodore Mommsen, A History of Rome, IV.
↑ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 60.
↑ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, pp 60-61.
1 2 3 Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 61.
↑ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 64.
↑ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, pp 64-65; Theodor Mommsen, History of Rome, Book IV "The Revolution", pp 71–72.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 40; Theodore Mommsen, A History of Rome, IV.

[2] Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 60.

[3] Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, pp 60-61.

[LTS61-4] 1 2 3 Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 61.

[5] Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, p. 64.

[6] Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, pp 64-65; Theodor Mommsen, History of Rome, Book IV "The Revolution", pp 71–72.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]