The Battle of Solicinium was fought in 368 between a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

army and the Alemanni. The Roman force was led by Emperor

Valentinian I Valentinian I ( la, Valentinianus; 32117 November 375), sometimes called Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor, he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces. Val ...

, and they managed to repel the Alemanni but suffered heavy losses during the battle.

Background

After the death of Julian in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 363, the

Alemans The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pre ...

, forgetting the treaty of truce which the emperor had extorted from them after his four successful campaigns beyond the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

(in 357, 358, 359, and 360), renewed their incursions into

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

, alleging as the pretext for war the contempt of

's ministers in failing to supply them the accustomed tribute. In the year 366 they crossed the Rhine, and after amply compensating for the remission by the plunder which they secured, retired beyond the river. The next year, when they repeated their expedition, they found the Romans prepared, for Valentinian had crossed 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, Swi ...

to secure the threatened province. However, in two successive battles, they defeated his generals, signalizing their victory by the capture of several standards. The enraged emperor, after restoring by a severe sentence the discipline of the legions, entrusted the command to

Jovinus :''Jovinus is a Roman cognomen, most often used for a 5th-century Roman usurper emperor. This article is about the Roman usurper. For the saint, see Saint Jovinus. For the Frankish duke, see Jovinus of Provence.'' For the 4th century Roman genera ...

, an able officer who soon proved the his qualification for the appointment by the total discomfiture of the invaders. After defeating two separate detachments of the Alemani along the Moselle, he met the united forces of the nation at Chalons-Sur-Marne and amended the disgrace of the previous defeat by routing the enemy, who suffered losses of up to 10,000, as opposed to no more than 1,200 of the Romans. The remnant was driven over the Rhine, and Jovinus, after retiring to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

for the winter, received the honours of the

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

for the next year as the reward of his success.

Campaign of 368

The celebrations for Jovinus' victory were soon interrupted by the intelligence of new disasters.

Rando Rando may refer to: *a Germanic short name, from names beginning with the element ''rand'' "shield" * Rando (king) (4th century), king of the Alemanni * Rando Ayamine (born 1974), manga artist * Rando (''YuYu Hakusho''), a fictional character fro ...

, a barbarian chieftain, in early 368 fell unexpectedly on the town of Moguntiacum (modern

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

) on the Rhine, and put the defenceless inhabitants to the sword, before retiring over the river. Valentinian, furious, now determined to anticipate their future depredations by a campaign into their own territory beyond the Rhine. Count Sebastian was deputed to encircle the enemy from the south, by way of Rhaetia, while the emperor himself advanced with the entire forces of the west from Gaul. Finding their arms inadequate for the defence of their fields and villages, the Alemans retreated into the mountains, erecting their camp on an unidentified hill referred to as "Solicinium", in the area of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...

. It is reported that the emperor, while on a personal reconnaissance of the enemy position on the lower reaches of the mountain, was nearly captured by an advanced party of the enemy who had been placed in ambuscade, losing his helmet and standard-bearer while retreating.

The battle

There is little known about the actual battle. It appears that Valentinian carried their defenses by a general assault, charging up the slope, and the barbarians, when they were ejected from the summit, were driven down the opposite side of the hill into the clutches of Sebastian, who had been placed in their rear to anticipate the retreat. The result was the total defeat of the Alemans.Gibbon, p. 870

Location of the battle

The actual location of the battle is not known and remains subject to historical speculation and disagreement. No archaeological evidence has been found so far and many of the hills in the region could be the actual site of the battle. The locations under consideration are Sulz am Neckar,

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, Schwetzingen, Rottenburg (Sülchen),

Glauberg The Glauberg is a Celtic oppidum in Hesse, Germany consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds, "a princely seat of the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods." Archaeological discoveries in the 1990s place the site among ...

or the Spitzberg near

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

. All these sites are located in southwestern Germany, but spread over an area of roughly 200 km in diameter. The most recent research shows that the battle probably took place in the northern part of what is today

Hechingen Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border. Geography The town lies at the foot of t ...

, and the lost city of "Solicinium" was located where the Roman museum of

is located today.

References

Sources

* Gibbon, Edward, ''The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire'', (The Modern Library, 1932), chaps. XIX., XXII., XXV. {{Coord missing, Germany 368 Solicinium Solicinium 367 Solicinium 367 360s in the Roman Empire 4th century in Germany Germania Superior