Cniva ( mid-3rd century AD) was a Gothic king who invaded the Roman Empire. He successfully captured the city of Philippopolis (

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

in Bulgaria) in 250 and killed Emperor

Decius Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius ( 201June 251), known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius (), was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops a ...

and his son

Herennius Etruscus Quintus Herennius Etruscus Messius Decius (died c. June 251), known simply as Herennius Etruscus, was briefly Roman emperor in 251, ruling jointly under his father Decius. His father was proclaimed emperor by his troops in September 249 while ...

at the

Battle of Abritus The Battle of Abritus also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii occurred near Abritus (modern Razgrad) in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian t ...

as he was attempting to leave the Empire in 251. This was the first time a Roman Emperor had been killed in combat against foreigners. He was allowed by the new Emperor

Trebonianus Gallus Gaius Vibius Trebonianus Gallus ( 206 – August 253) was Roman emperor from June 251 to August 253, in a joint rule with his son Volusianus. Early life Gallus was born in Italy, in a respected senatorial family with Etruscan ancestry, cer ...

to leave with his spoils and was paid

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

to stay out of the empire.

Invasion of Moesia

Cniva began the invasion of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

when he crossed the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. He sent detachments throughout the Roman province of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''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 Triballi ...

with forces of Goths and

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

. His considerable forces demanded the attention of the emperor

. The first column of Cniva's army, a detachment of about 20,000 likely led by the chieftains Argaith and Gunteric, besieged Marcianopolis, apparently without success. They probably then headed south to besiege Philippopolis (now

in Bulgaria). Cniva's main column under the King himself crossed the Danube at Oescus then headed eastwards to Novae, where he was repelled by the provincial governor (and future emperor)

.''The Cambridge Ancient History'', vol XII, 38 The invaders then headed south to plunder Nicopolis ad Istrum where Decius defeated them but not decisively. After these initial setbacks, the Goths moved southwards through the Haemus mountain and Decius pursued them (likely through the Shipka Pass) to save Philippopolis.Wolfram 1988, p.46 This time Decius' army was taken by surprise while resting at Beroe/Augusta Traiana. The Romans were heavily defeated in the ensuing

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

. Decius was forced to withdraw his army to the north at Oescus, leaving Cniva ample time to ravage Moesia and finally capture Philippopolis in the summer of 251, in part with the help of its commander, a certain Titus Julius Priscus who had proclaimed himself Emperor. It seems that Priscus, after receiving the news of the defeat at Beroe, thought that the Goths would spare him and the city. He was wrong and was probably killed when the city fell.Southern 2001, p.222. Bird 1994, p.129 Then the invaders began returning to their homeland, laden with booty and captives, among them many of senatorial rank. The sack of Philippopolis invigorated Decius, who intercepted several parties of Germans, and repaired and strengthened his

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

s along the Danube, intending to oppose Cniva’s forces.

Battle of Abritus

Probably in July or August of 251, the Roman army engaged the "Scythians" under Cniva near Abritus. The strengths of the belligerent forces are unknown, but we know that Cniva divided his forces into three units, with one of these parts concealed behind a swamp.Potter 2004, p.246 It seems that Cniva was a skilled tactician and that he was very familiar with the surrounding terrain.Wolfram 1988, p.45

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

and Aurelius Victor claim that

was killed by an arrow during a skirmish before the outset of the battle and that his father addressed his soldiers as if the loss of his son did not matter. He allegedly said, "Let no one mourn. The death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic". However, other sources state that Herennius died with his father.Potter 2004, p.247

Terms of peace

After the battle, the new emperor,

, let Cniva leave with his spoils, and aided the Goths' departure. He even promised to pay a tribute to Cniva in order to keep him from invading the empire again.

Death

In 271, the Emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

conclusively defeated the Goths and killed their king Cannabaudes in battle. Based on the similarity of the names, that king might coincide with Cniva.Southern 2001, p.116, 225

References

Sources

* Aurelius Victor, ''De Caesaribus'', par. 29.4-5 in ''Liber de Caesaribus of Sextus Aurelius Victor'', critical edition by H. W. Bird, Liverpool University Press, 1994, * Bowman A. K., Garnsey P., Cameron A. (ed.). ''The Cambridge Ancient History - vol XII The Crisis of Empire'', Cambridge University Press, 2005. *Edward Gibbon, ''History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''
Chapter 10
* Potter, David S. ''The Roman Empire at Bay AD 180–395'', Routledge, 2004. * Southern, Pat. ''The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine'', Routledge, 2001. * Wolfram, Herwig
''History of the Goths''
(transl. by Thomas J. Dunlap), University of California Press, 1988, {{ISBN, 0-520-06983-8 Crisis of the Third Century Gothic kings Gothic warriors 3rd-century monarchs in Europe History of Plovdiv 3rd-century Gothic people