Siege of Aracillum

Last updated
Siege of Aracillum
Part of the Cantabrian Wars
Cantabria prerromana.svg
A map of the contemporary Cantabrian territory.
Date25 BC
Location
Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Roman Empire Cantabri
Commanders and leaders
Gaius Antistius Vetus
Augustus
Unknown
Strength
5 legions 15,000-25,000 warriors

The siege of Aracillum was a siege of the Cantabrian Wars that occurred in 25 BC. The battle took place between the forces of the Roman Empire, which consisted of five Roman legions commanded by Gaius Antistius Vetus and the forces of the Cantabri people, who had fortified the hill fort at Aracillum. The battle resulted in a Roman victory. [1]

Aracillum was subjected to a fierce siege by the Romans, who would eventually take the settlement. The Roman commander, Gaius Antistius Vetus had taken charge of Caesar's legions when Augustus had fallen ill on the campaign (though Caesar did conduct a majority of the battles in this campaign himself).

The hill fort was able to withstand the Roman forces for some time, but the fort was eventually surrounded by three Roman camps. The Romans constructed more than 20 kilometers of walls, battlements and trenches ( circumvallatio ) to trap the defenders inside the fort and to prevent any aid or reinforcements from gaining entrance. In the face of starving to death, many of the Cantabri warriors opted instead to commit suicide rather than dying of starvation or being taken prisoner and being turned into slaves.

Traditionally identified as Aradillos  [ es ] (Campoo de Enmedio), there has never been any concrete discovery of the actual location of the battle.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallic Wars</span> 58–50 BC, Rome vs. Gallic tribes

The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul. Gallic, Germanic, and Brittonic tribes fought to defend their homelands against an aggressive Roman campaign. The Wars culminated in the decisive Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, in which a complete Roman victory resulted in the expansion of the Roman Republic over the whole of Gaul. Though the collective Gallic armies were as strong as the Roman forces, the Gallic tribes' internal divisions eased victory for Caesar. Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix's attempt to unite the Gauls under a single banner came too late. Caesar portrayed the invasion as being a preemptive and defensive action, but historians agree that he fought the wars primarily to boost his political career and to pay off his debts. Still, Gaul was of significant military importance to the Romans. Native tribes in the region, both Gallic and Germanic, had attacked Rome several times. Conquering Gaul allowed Rome to secure the natural border of the river Rhine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)</span> Siege battle, part of Caesars civil war

The Battle of Dyrrachium took place from April to late July 48 BC near the city of Dyrrachium, modern day Durrës in what is now Albania. It was fought between Gaius Julius Caesar and an army led by Gnaeus Pompey during Caesar's civil war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Munda</span> Final battle of Caesars Civil War in present-day southern Spain, 45 BC

The Battle of Munda, in southern Hispania Ulterior, was the final battle of Caesar's civil war against the leaders of the Optimates. With the military victory at Munda and the deaths of Titus Labienus and Gnaeus Pompeius, Caesar was politically able to return in triumph to Rome, and then govern as the elected Roman dictator. Subsequently, the assassination of Julius Caesar began the Republican decline that led to the Roman Empire, initiated with the reign of the emperor Augustus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantabri</span>

The Cantabri or Ancient Cantabrians, were a pre-Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first millennium BC. These peoples and their territories were incorporated into the Roman Province of Hispania Tarraconensis in 19 BC, following the Cantabrian Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantabrian Wars</span> Final stage of the Roman conquest of Hispania

The Cantabrian Wars, sometimes also referred to as the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars, were the final stage of the two-century long Roman conquest of Hispania, in what today are the provinces of Cantabria, Asturias and León in northwestern Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mutina</span> Battle in 43 BC between Senatorial and Triumvir forces

The Battle of Mutina took place on 21 April 43 BC between the forces loyal to the Senate under consuls Gaius Vibius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, supported by the forces of Caesar Octavian, and the forces of Mark Antony which were besieging the troops of Decimus Brutus. The latter, one of Caesar's assassins, held the city of Mutina in Cisalpine Gaul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesar's civil war</span> War in the Roman Republic (49 to 45 BC)

Caesar's civil war was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), respectively. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the republic on his expected return to Rome on the expiration of his governorship in Gaul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Axona</span> Battle between the Roman army of Gaius Julius Caesar and the Belgae

The Battle of the Axona was fought in 57 BC, between the Roman army of Gaius Julius Caesar and the Belgae. The Belgae, led by King Galba of the Suessiones, attacked, only to be repelled by Caesar. Fearing an ambush, the Romans delayed their pursuit. Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico describes this battle at 2.7 - 2.11.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ilerda</span> 49 BC battle in modern-day Catalonia

The Battle of Ilerda took place in June 49 BC between the forces of Julius Caesar and the Spanish army of Pompey Magnus, led by his legates Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius. Unlike many of the other battles of the civil war, this was more a campaign of manoeuvre than actual fighting. It allowed Caesar to eliminate the threat of Pompey's forces in Hispania and face Pompey himself in Greece at the Battle of Pharsalus.

Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta was an officer in the Gallic army of Gaius Julius Caesar. The little we know of Cotta is found in Book V of Caesar's De Bello Gallico. In 54 BC, when Caesar returned to Gaul from his second expedition to Britain, he found food in short supply. He therefore spread out his eight legions amongst a larger number of Gallic states from which to draw their sustenance during the winter. To the eighth legion, which had recently been raised from across the Po he added another five cohorts, appointing Quintus Titurius Sabinus and Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta as the legati commanding them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambiorix's revolt</span> 54–53 BC, Gallic tribes v. Roman Republic

Ambiorix's revolt was an episode during the Gallic Wars between 54 and 53 BC in which the Eburones tribe, under its leader, Ambiorix, rebelled against the Roman Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wars of Augustus</span> Military campaigns undertaken by the Romans during the rule of emperor Augustus

The wars of Augustus are the military campaigns undertaken by the Roman government during the sole rule of the founder-emperor Augustus. This was a period of 45 years when almost every year saw major campaigning, in some cases on a scale comparable to the Second Punic War, when Roman manpower resources were stretched to the limit. This period also saw expansion through diplomacy and annexation, without the direct use of military force. The result was a major expansion of the empire that Augustus inherited from the Roman Republic, although the attempted conquest of Germania ended in defeat despite the enormous deployment of resources involved. As a result of these campaigns, the Roman Empire assumed the borders it would hold, with a few modifications, for its entire history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antistia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Antistia, sometimes written Antestia on coins, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Sextus Antistius, tribune of the plebs in 422 BC.

This section of the timeline of Hispania concerns Spanish and Portuguese history events from the Carthaginian conquests to before the barbarian invasions.

Gaius Antistius Vetus was a Roman politician and general who was consul suffectus in 30 BC as the colleague of Augustus, succeeding Marcus Licinius Crassus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Vellica</span> A battle of the Cantabrian Wars with the right location unknown.

The Battle of Vellica was a battle of the Cantabrian Wars fought in the year 25 BC by the emperor Augustus and his Roman legions against the Cantabri forces who resided in the area. The most generally accepted location for the battle is the area around Monte Cildá, Olleros de Pisuerga, Palencia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Antistius Vetus (consul 6 BC)</span> Roman senator

Gaius Antistius Vetus was a Roman senator active during the early Roman Empire, and a consul in 6 BC as the colleague of Decimus Laelius Balbus.

The siege of Uxellodunum was one of the last battles of the Gallic Wars. It took place in 51 BC at Uxellodunum. It was the last major military confrontation of the Gallic Wars and marked the pacification of Gaul under Roman rule. The battle resulted in a decisive Roman victory.

The siege of Corduba was an engagement near the end of Caesar's Civil War, in which Julius Caesar had besieged the city of Corduba after Sextus Pompey, Son of Pompey Magnus had fled the city leaving Annio Scapula in charge. Caesar stormed the city and 22,000 people died.

References

  1. "Caio Antístio" (in Spanish). Associación Guerras Cántabras. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2016-04-01.