The Battle of Ticinum, or Battle of Pavia, was fought in 271 near Ticinum ( Pavia) in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and resulted in the emperor

Aurelian Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited ...

destroying the retreating

Juthungi The Juthungi (Greek: ''Iouthungoi'', Latin: ''Iuthungi'') were a Germanic tribe in the region north of the rivers Danube and Altmühl in what is now the modern German state of Bavaria. The tribe was mentioned by the Roman historians Publius Her ...

army.

Background

In 271, the Juthungi invaded

Roman Italy Roman Italy (called in both the Latin and Italian languages referring to the Italian Peninsula) was the homeland of the ancient Romans and of the Roman empire. According to Roman mythology, Italy was the ancestral home promised by Jupiter to ...

. They defeated Aurelian's army at the Battle of Placentia but, on their way to attack the defenseless city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, they were repulsed by the imperial army at the Battle of Fano. The Juthungi then asked for peace but Aurelian rejected their demand for safe passage. Trying to force their way back to their homelands, they headed north using the

Via Aemilia The ( it, Via Emilia; en, Aemilian Way) was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from ''Ariminum'' (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to ''Placentia'' (Piacenza) on the river ''Padus'' ( Po). It was completed in 187 BC. The ' ...

. Aurelian wanted a decisive victory in order to restore his damaged reputation after the loss at Placentia as well as to recover the

plunder Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

the Juthungi were carrying. Therefore, he went in pursuit of the invaders, waiting for the best moment to attack.

The battle

Aurelian attacked the Juthungi while they were entering the open plains near Ticinum (Pavia). He was able to destroy their entire force, except for a column that escaped through the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. However, this remnant force was later caught by Aurelian in

Raetia Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west ...

and was eliminated.''The Cambridge Ancient History, vol 12, The Crisis of Empire, A.D. 193-337'' (ed. Alan K. Bowman, Peter Garnsey, Averil Cameron), Cambridge University Press, 2005, , p. 223.

Aftermath

For the victory, Aurelian assumed the title of honour ''Germanicus Maximus''. His victories ended the Juthungi invasion, but the Roman citizenry were shocked by the great threat that Rome itself had faced after the loss near Placentia. However, the menace of the Germanic people and a Germanic invasion was still perceived by the Romans as likely. In response, Aurelian resolved to build a new system of walls around Rome that became known as the Aurelian Walls around

. Portions of this wall can still be seen in Rome today.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Pavia (271)

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the ...

Pavia 271 Pavia Pavia 271

Pavia 271

Aurelian