Siege of Thessalonica (254)

Siege of Thessalonica (254)
	Part of the Crisis of the Third Century ; Gothic War (248-253) ; and Roman–Germanic Wars
Date	254 AD
Location	Thessalonica, Macedonia, Roman Empire (present-day Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece) 40°37′59.999″N22°57′0.000″E / 40.63333306°N 22.95000000°E
Result	Roman victory
Belligerents
Roman Empire	Goths
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown
Strength
Garrison; Militia	Unknown
	class=notpageimage\| Location within the Thessaloniki urban area Siege of Thessalonica (254) (Greece)

Last updated May 29, 2025

The siege of Thessalonica in 254^[1]^[2] was a successful defense of the city of Thessalonica by local Roman militia during an invasion of the Balkans by the Goths.^[3]

Background

In 254 the Goths invaded and plundered Thrace and Macedonia.^[1]^[4]^[5] In 1979, Herwig Wolfram regarded 254 as the date, while Mallan and Davenport in 2015 suggested 262.^[6]^[1] Goltz and Hartmann estimated 254 as the date.^[2] David Potter in 2016 rejected Mallan and Davenport's estimate and dated it to either 253 or 259.^[4]

Siege

The Goths attempted to storm Thessalonica in close order formations and assault columns.^[5] The Thessalonicans rallied to defend the city walls and defeated the attacks.^[5]

Aftermath

The Goths abandoned the siege and moved on to invade Greece south of Thermopylae, seeking to loot the gold and silver wealth of Greek temples.^[5] The siege was recorded by the contemporary historian Dexippus.^[7] A fragment of his work, discovered in Vienna in 2010, specifies the involvement of the citizens in the defense.^[7]

References

1 2 3 Wolfram 1990, p. 48.
1 2 Goltz & Hartmann 2008, pp. 233–234.
↑ Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 221.
1 2 Potter 2016, p. 253.
1 2 3 4 Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 206.
↑ Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 215.
1 2 Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 207.

Bibliography

Goltz, Andreas; Hartmann, Udo (2008). "Valerian und Gallienus". In Johne, Klaus-Peter (ed.). Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser. Krise und Transformation des Römischen Reiches im 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. (235–284) (in German). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. ISBN 978-3-05-004529-0.
Mallan, Christopher; Davenport, Caillan (November 2015). "Dexippus and the Gothic Invasions: Interpreting the New Vienna Fragment" . Journal of Roman Studies. 105: 203–226. doi:10.1017/s0075435815000970. S2CID 163234044.
Potter, David (2016). "War as Theater, from Tacitus to Dexippus". In Riess, Werner; Fagan, Garrett G. (eds.). The Topography of Violence in the Greco-Roman World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472119820.
Wolfram, Herwig (1990) [1979]. Geschichte der Goten. Entwurf einer historischen Ethnographie[History of the Goths]. Translated by Dunlap, Thomas J. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520069831.