German and Sarmatian campaigns of Constantine | |||||||||
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Part of the Roman–Germanic Wars | |||||||||
Emperor Constantine I | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Roman Empire | Germanics Sarmatians | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Rausimodus | |||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
Numerous legions | Many people, amounting to some hundreds of thousands of armed |
The German and Sarmatian campaigns of Constantine were fought by the Roman Emperor Constantine I against the neighbouring Germanic peoples, including the Franks, Alemanni and Goths, as well as the Sarmatian Iazyges, along the whole Roman northern defensive system to protect the empire's borders, between 306 and 336.
After becoming controller of the western provinces along the Rhine limes (in 306) following the death of his father Constantius Chlorus (Augustus of the west) in 306, Constantine initially concentrated his forces on defending this area of the frontier against the Franks and Alemanni, making Augusta Treverorum his first capital for this purpose. Having defeated the usurper Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312, [2] all Italia passed under Constantine's control and he thus became the sole Augustus of the West.
In February 313, Constantine (who had spent the winter in Rome) formed an alliance with the Emperor of the East, Licinius, reinforced by Licinius' marriage to Constantine's sister, Flavia Julia Constantia. [3] However, this alliance survived for only a few years, before the two Augusti came into conflict in 316. Constantine defeated Licinius, who was forced to cede Illyricum to Constantine, [4] but not Thrace. [4] Constantine advanced ever further east with his territorial acquisitions, now having to defend the important strategic region of the limes sarmaticus (from 317).
In the following years, Constantine mostly occupied himself in the central section of the Danubian Limes, mostly fighting against the Sarmatians in Pannonia, [5] residing at Sirmium almost continuously until 324 (when he moved against Licinius once more), making it his capital [6] along with Serdica. [7] At this time Constantine also demonstrated a very active military bent, travelling along the whole of the limites of his newly acquired territory. From 320 he appointed his eldest son, Crispus, Praetorian prefect, with military command of Gaul.
When he learnt that an army of Goths [8] had crossed the Danube to raid Roman territory in Moesia Inferior and Thrace, which belonged to Emperor Licinius, [9] he left his general headquarters in Thessalonica [10] and marched against them (323). The fact that he had trespassed into a part of the empire which was not under his control unleashed the final phase of the Civil wars of the Tetrarchy, which ended with the complete defeat of Licinius and the consecration of Constantine as the sole Roman Emperor. [11]
The final period of Constantine's reign, until his death (337), saw the Christian Emperor consolidate the entire defensive system on the Rhine and Danube, obtaining important military successes and reasserting control over a large part of the territory that the Romans had abandoned under Gallienus and Aurelian: the Agri Decumates from the Alemanni, the area south of the Tisza from the Sarmatians, as well as Oltenia and Wallachia from the Goths.
With the death of Emperor Numerian in November 284 (who had been entrusted with Eastern Roman empire by his father Carus) and the refusal of the eastern troops to recognise Carus' eldest son Carinus as his successor, a proven general of Illyrian origins, Diocletian, was raised to the purple. At the end of the civil war which followed, Diocletian was victorious and in 285 he named Maximian as his deputy (or Caesar) and then a few months later elevated him to the rank of Augustus (1 April 286), thereby forming a diarchy, in which two emperors divided the government of the empire on geographic lines. This also entailed the division of responsibility for the defence of the northern frontier from Germanic and Sarmatian incursions. [12] [13]
Given the increasing difficulty of containing the internal revolts and those along the borders, a further territorial division was executed in 293 to facilitate military operations: Diocletian named Galerius as his Caesar in the east, while Maximian chose Constantius Chlorus in the west. [14]
However, this tetrarchy fell into crisis only a year after the abdication of the two Augusti in 305, beginning a new Civil War (306–324), permitting new breaches along the Roman external border, with populations attempting to settle within Roman territory.
It was only with Constantine's accession to the throne, becoming sole Augustus of the West after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 and later still defeating Licinius and reuniting the Empire under a single emperor (324) that the northern frontiers were adequately defended once more. It is no coincidence that Constantine is attributed the responsibility for perfecting the military reforms of Diocletian and also for the reconquest or vassalisation of all the territory which Trajan had controlled. [1]
With the death of Constantius Chlorus at Eboracum (York) on 25 July 306, [15] [16] the Tetrarchy entered a crisis: the eldest son of the dead emperor, Constantine was proclaimed Augustus [17] by the Alemanni general Chrocus and the army of Britannia. [18] [19] [20] [21] His election was in accordance with a dynastic principle rather than the meritocratic system of the Tetrarchy created by Diocletian. Only Lactantius maintains that Constantine was named Augustus by his father on his deathbed. [22] Galerius was displeased by this act and offered the son of his deceased colleague the title of Caesar, which Constantine accepted, allowing Flavius Severus to succeed his father Constantius instead. [23] A few months later, Maxentius son of the old Augustus Maximian was acclaimed Emperor by the Praetorian guard with the support of officials like Marcellianus, Marcellus and Lucianus (but not Abellius, vicar of the Praefectus urbi, who was killed), reaffirming the dynastic principle. It was in this period that Constantine began to achieve important military successes against the Alemanni and the Franks, along the stretch of the frontier attributed to him, as is recounted by Eutropius. [24]
Regarding the Roman forces garrisoned along the whole stretch of the northern limites from Britannia to Moesia, it is important to note that at this time there was a very important reform of the Roman army, a new deployment of the Roman legions along the borders and an increase in the size of the Roman army. In fact, we know that, with Diocletian's Tetrarchy reforms, the total number of legions was brought to 55 or 56 in the year 300. [25] Constantine's accession to the throne and the return of a dynastic monarchy brought about the final increase of the number of Roman legions to 62 or 64 around the year 330. [26]
Along the Rhine limes the Franks and Saxons in particular pressed on Gaul and Britannia. The Alemanni also made some incursions in these regions, but the main goal of their attacks at this time was Northern Italy via Pannonia (the western part of the Danubian Limes). The major clashes occurred along the Lower Danube in the Roman provinces of the Balkan region, where the Marcomanni, Quadi, Sarmatians and especially the Goths (divided into the Tervingi and the Greutungi) concentrated their attacks.
Constantine I: Follis [31] | |
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IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureated head looking right with armoured bust; | MARTI PATRI PROPVGNATORI (with Father Mars, the protector), Mars looking to the right and holding a lance and a shield in his hands; T F on the sides and P TR in the exergue. |
25 mm, 6.52 g, minted in 307/308, celebrating the first successes against the Germans in Gaul. |
Constantine I: Follis [41] | |
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IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate head facing right with armoured bust covered in drapery; | MARTI PATRI CONSERVATORI (with Father Mars the conservator), Mars on his feet, turning to the right, holding a lance and a shield in his hands, S A on the sides and P TR underneath. |
26 mm, 6.72 g, minted in 307/308, celebrating the first successes over the Germans in Gaul and the successful defence of the limes.. |
At the end of this new military campaign against the Franks, Constantine built the important "bridgehead" of Divitia (modern Deutz) in German territory opposite Colonia Agrippina (Cologne). [43]
Meanwhile, however, Maximian had rebelled and Constantine had to cut his campaign against the Franks short, marching rapidly to southern Gaul where he captured Maximian and forced him to commit suicide. [24] [47] [48] [49]
Constantine I: aureus [51] | |
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CONSTAN-TINUS PR AVG, laureate head facing right; | GAVDIVM ROMANORUM ("Celebration of the Romans"), Alemannia seated, mourning, below a military trophy; ALEMANNIA in exergue. |
4.63 gr, minted in 312/313 to celebrate the successes against the Alemanni. |
Constantine I: Follis [65] | |
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IMP CONSTAN-TINVS MAX AVG, laureate and helmeted head facing right, with armoured bust; | VICTORIAE LAETAE PRINC PERP ("Joyful victory's eternal prince"), two Victories standing facing each other, holding a shield bearing the inscription VOT/PR on two lines on top of an altar with a *; in exergue P T ("First official of Ticinum") in esergo. |
16 mm, 2.93 gr, minted in 318/319 |
Constantine I: Follis [66] | |
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CONST-ANTINVS AVG, laureate and helmeted head facing right, with an armoured bust;; | VIRTUS EXERCIT ("Virtue is practiced"), labarum inscribed VOT/XX in two lines; two bound prisoners facing away from each other; ST (Second official of Ticinum) in the exergue. |
19 mm, 3.23 gr, minted in 319/320 |
According to some historians, the siege of Campona and later battle near Margum were fought between Constantine and the Sarmatians in this year or in 321, rather than 323 (below). [75] [76]
Constantine I: Follis [77] | |
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CONSTAN-TINVS AG, laureate head facing right; | SARMATIA DEVICTA (Sarmatia vanquished), Victory facing, holds a trophy and a palm, with a prisoner seated at her feet; in the exergue P LON. |
19 mm, 2.68 g, coniato nel 323/324 |
... The Sarmatians first attacked a city which had a constant garrison, where the part of the wall near the ground was built of stone and the upper parts in wood (which could be Campona [6] ). The Sarmatians thought they could easily conquer the city, if they could set the wooden part of the wall on fire, so they lit a fire and shot the people on the walls. But while these people returned fire with darts and arrows, Constantine attacked them from behind, taking them by surprise, killing many and taking numerous prisoners, while the survivors fled..
— Zosimus, New History, 2.21.1–2.
Constantine [...] crossed over the Ister and attacked him [i.e. Rausimodus] as he fled towards a thickly wooded hill. He killed many barbarians, including Rausimodus himself, and afterwards he captured many more. Taking this multitude, which instantly raised its hands in surrender, he returned with them to his general quarters. After posting them in the cities [especially at Bononia [81] ] he returned to Thessalonica.
— Zosimus, New History, 2.21.3 & 22.1.
In this new phase, Constantine, now sole monarch of the Roman empire, not only managed to consolidate the entire defensive system along the Rhine and Danube, but also obtained important military successes and regained "control" over a good part of the territories which had been abandoned by Gallienus and Aurelian. This included the Agri decumates from the Alemanni, the plain south of the Tisza (Banat) from the Sarmatians and Oltenia & Wallachia from the Goths. These gains seem to be demonstrated by the coinage of the period and by new defensive constructions (Devil's Dykes and Brazda lui Novac). [87] [88] [89] [85] Additionally, in this period, Constantine brought about a new series of reforms, completing those began some forty years earlier by Diocletian. [90] This process was accomplished gradually over the last thirteen years of his reign (324–337, the year of his death).
Crispus: Follis [91] | |
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FL IVL CRISPVS IVN NOB CAES, laureate head facing right; | ALEMANNIA DEVICTA ("Alemannia conquered"), facing Victory holding a trophy and a palm, with a prisoner seated at her feat; in the exergue is written SIRM). |
20 mma, 3.15 g, minted in 324/325 |
Constantine II: Follis [93] | |
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CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB CAES, laureate head facing right, with armoured bust; | ALEMANNIA DEVICTA ("Alemannia conquered"), facing Victory, holding a trophy and a palm, with a prisoner seated at her feat; in the exergue is written SIRM). |
3.40 g, minted in 324/325 |
The equilibrium along the lower course of the Danube, after all the campaigns of Constantine and his sons, remained almost unchanged until around 375. The focus of the Emperor turned to the east, where a series of preparations were made for an imminent military campaign against the Sassanids, which was never carried out by Constantine on account of his death in May 337. For twenty five years, the Roman armies of Constantius II and then Julian, fought against the Sassanid armies with varying success (337–363). However the Lower Danube and Eastern borders remained, for almost thirty years, practically unchanged.
The Bastarnae, sometimes called the Peuci or Peucini, were an ancient people who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited areas north of the Roman frontier on the Lower Danube. The Bastarnae lived in the region between the Carpathian Mountains and the river Dnieper, to the north and east of ancient Dacia. The Peucini were a subtribe who occupied the region north of the Danube Delta. Their name was sometimes used for the Bastarnae as a whole.
Constantine II was Roman emperor from 337 to 340. The son of the emperor Constantine I, he was proclaimed caesar by his father shortly after his birth. He was associated with military victories over the Sarmatians, Alamanni and Goths during his career, for which he was granted a number of victory titles. He held the consulship four times – in 320, 321, 324, and 329.
Constantine I, also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Christianity in Rome, decriminalizing Christian practice and ceasing Christian persecution in a period referred to as the Constantinian shift. This initiated the cessation of the established ancient Roman religion. Constantine is also the originator of the religiopolitical ideology known as Constantinianism, which epitomizes the unity of church and state, as opposed to separation of church and state. He founded the city of Constantinople and made it the capital of the Empire, which remained so for over a millennium.
The 310s decade ran from January 1, 310, to December 31, 319.
Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus roughly corresponds to present-day Romania, as well as parts of Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Year 308 (CCCVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and (Galerius) Maximianus. The denomination 308 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.
Flavius Valerius Constantius, also called Constantius I, was a Roman emperor from 305 to 306. He was one of the four original members of the Tetrarchy established by Diocletian, first serving as caesar from 293 to 305 and then ruling as augustus until his death. Constantius was also father of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome. The nickname "Chlorus" was first popularized by Byzantine-era historians and not used during the emperor's lifetime.
Valerius Licinianus Licinius was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. For most of his reign, he was the colleague and rival of Constantine I, with whom he co-authored the Edict of Milan that granted official toleration to Christians in the Roman Empire. He was finally defeated at the Battle of Chrysopolis, and was later executed on the orders of Constantine I.
Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballia'. It included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Albania, northern parts of North Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobruja and small parts of Southern Ukraine.
The Carpi or Carpiani were a tribe that resided in the eastern parts of modern Romania in the historical region of Moldavia from no later than c. AD 140 and until at least AD 318.
This is a chronology of warfare between the Romans and various Germanic peoples. The nature of these wars varied through time between Roman conquest, Germanic uprisings, later Germanic invasions of the Western Roman Empire that started in the late second century BC, and more. The series of conflicts was one factor which led to the ultimate downfall of the Western Roman Empire in particular and ancient Rome in general in 476.
The Battle of Adrianople was fought in Thrace on July 3, 324, during a Roman civil war, the second to be waged between the two emperors Constantine I and Licinius. Licinius was soundly defeated and his army suffered heavy casualties. Constantine built up military momentum, winning further battles on land and sea, eventually leading to the final defeat of Licinius at Chrysopolis.
Pannonia Secunda was one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was formed in 296 AD, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sirmium. Pannonia Secunda comprised parts of present-day Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In historiography, the Late or Later Roman Empire traditionally spans the period from 284 to 641 in the history of the Roman Empire.
Byzantine Empire under the Constantinian and Valentinianic dynasties was the earliest period of the Byzantine history that saw a shift in government from Rome in the West to Constantinople in the East within the Roman Empire under emperor Constantine the Great and his successors. Constantinople, formally named Nova Roma, was founded in the city of Byzantium, which is the origin of the historiographical name for the Eastern Empire, which self-identified simply as the "Roman Empire".
The Limigantes is a name applied to a population that lived by the Tisza river, in Banat, in the 4th century. They are attested by Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus in connection to Sarmatians.
The Gothic War of 248–253 took place between the years 248 and 249, as well as in the year 253. Within this war, a series of battles occurred and plundering was carried out by the Goths and their allies in the eastern territory of the Roman Empire, specifically in the Balkans. With the cessation of the payment of tribute previously made by the Roman emperor Philip the Arab to the tribes beyond the Danube, the Goths and their allies, led by King Ostrogotha and his subcommanders Argedo and Gundericus, moved towards the Roman border and began a series of attacks, including against the fortified city of Marcianopolis in Thracia. After these actions, the Goths withdrew with their spoils of war.
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Roman Aquileia was founded in 181 BC by the Romans, in the territory of the ancient Carni:
In the same year 181 BC the colony of Aquileia was deducted in the territory of the Gauls. 3 000 infantrymen received 50 iugera each, the centurions 100, the horsemen 140. The triumvirs who founded the colony were Publius Scipio Nasica, Gaius Flaminius, and Lucius Manlius Acidinus.
Imperatori Caesari Flavio Constantino Maximo Pio Felici Invicto Augusto pontifici maximo, Germanico maximo III, Sarmatico maximo Britannico maximo, Arabico maximo, Medico maximo, Armenico maximo, Gothico maximo, tribunicia potestate XIIII, imperatori XIII, consuli IIII patri patriae, proconsuli, Flavius Terentianus vir perfectissimus praeses provinciae Mauretaniae Sitifensis numini maiestatique eius semper dicatissimus.— CIL VIII, 8412 (p 1916)
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