Kingdom (753–509 BC)
Knowledge of Roman history stands apart from other civilizations in the ancient world. Its chronicles, military and otherwise, document the city's very foundation to its eventual demise. Although some histories have been lost, such asTarquinius Priscus (Ruled 616–579 BC)
Servius Tullius (Ruled 578–535 BC)
Early in his reign,Tarquinius Superbus (Ruled 535–509 BC)
Early in his reignRepublic
Early (509–275 BC)
Early Italian campaigns (509–396 BC)
The first non-apocryphal Roman wars were wars of both expansion and defence, aimed at protecting Rome itself from neighbouring cities and nations and establishing its territory in the region. Florus writes that at this time "their neighbours, on every side, were continually harassing them, as they had no land of their own ... and as they were situated, as it were, at the junction of the roads to Latium and Etruria, and, at whatever gate they went out, were sure to meet a foe." In the semi-legendary period of the early republic, sources record Rome was twice attacked by Etruscan armies. About 509 BC war with Veii and Tarquinii was said to have been instigated by the recently overthrown king Tarquinius Superbus.Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 32 Again in 508 BC Tarquin persuaded the king ofCeltic invasion of Italia (390–387 BC)
By 390 BC, several Gallic tribes had begun invading Italy from the north as their culture expanded throughout Europe. Most of this was unknown to the Romans at this time, who still had purely local security concerns, but the Romans were alerted when a particularly warlike tribe,Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman History'', Book 1, ch. 13 the Senones, invaded the Etruscan province of Siena from the north and attacked the town ofExpansion into Italia (343–282 BC)
After swiftly recovering from the sack of Rome, the Romans immediately resumed their expansion within Italy. Despite their successes, their mastery of the whole of Italy was by no means assured. The Samnites were a people just as martial and as richFlorus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 1, ch. 16 as the Romans and had the objective of their own to secure more lands in the fertile Italian plains on which Rome itself lay. ThePyrrhic War (280–275 BC)
By the beginning of the 3rd century, Rome had established itself in 282 BC as a major power on the Italian Peninsula, but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers in theMiddle (274–148 BC)
Rome first began to make war outside the Italian peninsula during the Punic wars againstPunic Wars (264–146 BC)
The First Punic War began in 264 BC when settlements on Sicily began to appeal to the two powers between which they lay – Rome and Carthage – in order to solve internal conflicts. The willingness of both Rome and Carthage to become embroiled on the soil of a third party may indicate a willingness to test each other's power without wishing to enter a full war of annihilation; certainly there was considerable disagreement within Rome about whether to prosecute the war at all. The war saw land battles in Sicily early on, such as the Battle of Agrigentum, but the theatre shifted to naval battles around Sicily and Africa. For the Romans, naval warfare was a relatively unexplored concept. Before the First Punic War in 264 BC there was no Roman navy to speak of, as all previous Roman wars had been fought on land in Italy. The new war in Sicily againstConquest of the Iberian peninsula (219–18 BC)
Rome's conflict with the Ancient Carthage, Carthaginians in the Punic Wars led them into expansion in the Iberian peninsula of modern-day Spain and Portugal.Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 2, ch. 17 The Punic empire of the Carthaginian Barcids, Barcid family consisted of territories in Iberia, many of which Rome gained control of during the Punic Wars. Italy remained the main theatre of war for much of the Second Punic War, but the Romans also aimed to destroy the Barcid Empire in Iberia and prevent major Punic allies from linking up with forces in Italy. Over the years, Rome had expanded along the southern Iberian coast until in 211 BC it captured the city of Saguntum. Following two major military expeditions to Iberia, the Romans finally crushed Carthaginian control of the peninsula in 206 BC, at the Battle of Ilipa, and the peninsula became a Roman province known as Hispania. From 206 BC onwards the only opposition to Roman control of the peninsula came from within the native Celtiberians, Celtiberian tribes themselves, whose disunity prevented their security from Roman expansion. Following two small-scale rebellions in 197 BC,Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 122 in 195–194 BC war broke out between the Romans and the Lusitani people in the Lusitanian War, in modern-day Portugal. By 179 BC, the Romans had mostly succeeded in pacifying the region and bringing it under their control. About 154 BC, a major revolt was re-ignited in Numantia, which is known as the First Numantine War, and a long war of resistance was fought between the advancing forces of the Roman Republic and the Lusitani tribes of Hispania. The praetor Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC), Servius Sulpicius Galba and the proconsul Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul 151 BC), Lucius Licinius Lucullus arrived in 151 BC and began the process of subduing the local population.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 54 In 150 BC, Galba betrayed the Lusitani leaders he had invited to peace talks and had them killed, ingloriously ending the first phase of the war. The Lusitani revolted again in 146 BC under a new leader called Viriathus, invading Turdetania (southern Iberia) in a guerrilla war. The Lusitanians were initially successful, defeating a Roman army at the Battle of Tribola and going on to Carpetani, sack nearby Carpetania,Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 57 and then besting a second Roman army at the Battle of Mount Venus (146 BC), First Battle of Mount Venus in 146 BC, again going on to Sack of Segobriga, sack another nearby city. In 144 BC, the general Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus campaigned successfully against the Lusitani, but failed in his attempts to arrest Viriathus. In 144 BC, Viriathus formed a league against Rome with several Celtiberian tribes and persuaded them to rise against Rome too, in the Second Numantine War.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 58 Viriathus' new coalition bested Roman armies at the Battle of Mount Venus (144 BC), Second Battle of Mount Venus in 144 BC and again at the failed Siege of Erisone. In 139 BC, Viriathus was finally killed in his sleep by three of his companions who had been promised gifts by Rome. In 136 and 135 BC, more attempts were made to gain complete control of the region of Numantia, but they failed. In 134 BC, the Consul Scipio Aemilianus finally succeeded in suppressing the rebellion following the successful Siege of Numantia. Since the Roman invasion of the Iberian peninsula had begun in the south in the territories around the Mediterranean controlled by the Barcids, the last region of the peninsula to be subdued lay in the far north. The Cantabrian Wars or Astur-Cantabrian Wars, from 29 BC to 19 BC, occurred during the Roman conquest of these northern provinces of Cantabria and Asturias. Iberia was fully occupied by 25 BC and the last revolt put down by 19 BCLuttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 8Macedon, the Greek poleis, and Illyria (215–148 BC)
Rome's preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V of Macedon, Philip V of the kingdom of Macedon in northern Greece to attempt to extend his power westward. Philip sent ambassadors to Hannibal's camp in Italy, to negotiate an alliance as common enemies of Rome.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 47Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 115 However, Rome discovered the agreement when Philip's emissaries, along with emissaries from Hannibal, were captured by a Roman fleet. Desiring to prevent Philip from aiding Carthage in Italy and elsewhere, Rome sought out land allies in Greece to fight a proxy war against Macedon on its behalf and found partners in the Aetolian League of Greek city-states, the Illyrians to the north of Macedon and the kingdom of PergamonGrant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 116 and the city-state of Rhodes, which lay across the Aegean from Macedon.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 48 The First Macedonian War saw the Romans involved directly in only limited land operations. When the Aetolians sued for peace with Philip, Rome's small expeditionary force, with no more allies in Greece, was ready to make peace. Rome had achieved its objective of pre-occupying Philip and preventing him from aiding Hannibal. A treaty was drawn up between Rome and Macedon at Phoenice in 205 BC which promised Rome a small indemnity, formally ending the First Macedonian War. Macedon began to encroach on territory claimed by several other Greek city states in 200 BC and these pleaded for help from their newfound ally Rome.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 49 Rome gave Philip an ultimatum that he must submit Macedonia to being essentially a Roman province. Philip, unsurprisingly, refused and, after initial internal reluctance for further hostilities, Rome declared war against Philip in the Second Macedonian War. In the Battle of the Aous (198 BC), Battle of the Aous Roman forces under Titus Quinctius Flamininus defeated the Macedonians,Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 73 and in a second larger battle under the same opposing commanders in 197 BC, in the Battle of Cynoscephalae, Flamininus again beat the Macedonians decisively.Lane Fox, ''The Classical World'', p. 325 Macedonia was forced to sign the Treaty of Tempea, in which it lost all claim to territory in Greece and Asia, and had to pay a war indemnity to Rome.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome''. p. 51 Between the second and third Macedonian wars Rome faced further conflict in the region due to a tapestry of shifting rivalries, alliances and leagues all seeking to gain greater influence. After the Macedonians had been defeated in the Second Macedonian War in 197 BC, the Greek city-state of Sparta stepped into the partial power vacuum in Greece. Fearing the Spartans would take increasing control of the region, the Romans drew on help from allies to prosecute the Roman-Spartan War, defeating a Spartan army at the Battle of Gythium in 195 BC. They also fought their former allies the Aetolian League in the Aetolian War, against the Istrians in the Istrian War, against the Illyrians in the Illyrian War, and against Achaea, Achaia in the Achaean War. Rome now turned its attentions to Antiochus III the Great, Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire to the east. After campaigns as far abroad as Bactria, India, Persia and Judea, Antiochus moved to Asia Minor and Thrace to secure several coastal towns, a move that brought him into conflict with Roman interests. A Roman force under Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC), Manius Acilius Glabrio defeated Antiochus at the Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC), Battle of Thermopylae and forced him to evacuate Greece:Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 119 the Romans then pursued the Seleucids beyond Greece, beating them again in naval battles at the Battle of the Eurymedon (190 BC), Battle of the Eurymedon and Battle of Myonessus, and finally in a decisive engagement of the Battle of Magnesia. In 179 BC Philip diedGrant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 120 and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus of Macedon, took his throne and showed a renewed interest in Greece.Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 75 He also allied himself with the warlike Bastarnae, and both this and his actions in Greece possibly violated the treaty signed with the Romans by his father or, if not, certainly was not "behaving as [Rome considered] a subordinate ally should". Rome declared war on Macedonia again, starting the Third Macedonian War. Perseus initially had greater military success against the Romans than his father, winning the Battle of Callicinus against a Roman consular army. However, as with all such ventures in this period, Rome responded by simply sending another army. The second consular army duly defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC and the Macedonians, lacking the reserve of the Romans and with King Perseus captured, duly capitulated, ending the Third Macedonian War. The Fourth Macedonian War, fought from 150 BC to 148 BC, was the final war between Rome and Macedon and began when Andriscus usurped the Macedonian throne. The Romans raised a consular army under Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, Quintus Caecilius Metellus, who swiftly defeated Andriscus at the Battle of Pydna (148 BC), Second battle of Pydna. Under Lucius Mummius Achaicus, Lucius Mummius, Ancient Corinth, Corinth was destroyed following a siege in 146 BC, leading to the surrender and thus conquest of the Achaean League (see Battle of Corinth (146 BC), Battle of Corinth).Late (147–30 BC)
Jugurthine War (112–105 BC)
Rome had, in the earlier Punic Wars, gained large tracts of territory in Africa, which they consolidated in the following centuries. Much of that land had been granted to the kingdom of Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating to modern Algeria, in return for its past military assistance. The Jugurthine War of 111–104 BC was fought between Rome and Jugurtha of Numidia and constituted the final Roman pacification of Northern Africa,Santosuosso, ''Storming the Heavens'', p. 29 after which Rome largely ceased expansion on the continent after reaching natural barriers of desert and mountain. In response to Jugurtha's usurpation of the Numidian throne, a loyal ally of Rome since the Punic Wars, Rome intervened. Jugurtha impudently bribed the Romans into accepting his usurpation and was granted half the kingdom. Following further aggression and further bribery attempts, the Romans sent an army to depose him. The Romans were defeated at the Battle of Suthul but fared better at the Battle of the Muthul and finally defeated Jugurtha at the Battle of Thala, the Battle of Mulucha, and the Battle of Cirta (104 BC). Jugurtha was finally captured not in battle but by treachery,Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 153 ending the war.Resurgence of the Celtic threat (121 BC)
Memories of the Battle of the Allia, sack of Rome by Celtic tribes from Gaul in 390/387 BC, had been made into a legendary account that was taught to each generation of Roman youth, were still prominent despite their historical distance. In 121 BC, Rome came into contact with the Celtic tribes of the Allobroges and the Arverni, both of which they defeated with apparent ease in the First Battle of Avignon (121 BC), First Battle of Avignon near the Rhone river and the Second Battle of Avignon (121 BC), Second Battle of Avignon, the same year.New Germanic threat (113–101 BC)
The Cimbrian War (113–101 BC) was a far more serious affair than the earlier clashes of 121 BC. The Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes of the ''Cimbri''Appian, ''History of Rome'', §6 and the ''Teutons'' or ''Teutones'' migrated from northern Europe into Rome's northern territories,Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 75 where they clashed with Rome and her allies.Santosuosso, ''Storming the Heavens'', p. 6 The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia (Roman province), Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened, and caused great fear in Rome. The opening action of the Cimbrian War, the Battle of Noreia in 112 BC, ended in defeat and near disaster for the Romans. In 105 BC the Romans were defeated at the Battle of Arausio and was the costliest Rome had suffered since the Battle of Cannae. After the Cimbri inadvertently granted the Romans a reprieve by diverting to plunder Iberia,Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 3, ch. 3 Rome was given the opportunity to carefully prepare for and successfully meet the Cimbri and Teutons in the Battle of Aquae Sextiae (102 BC) and the Battle of Vercellae (101 BC) where both tribes were virtually annihilated, ending the threat.Internal unrest (135–71 BC)
The extensive campaigning abroad by Rome, and the rewarding of soldiers with plunder from those campaigns, led to the trend of soldiers becoming increasingly loyal to their commanders rather than to the state, and a willingness to follow their generals in battle against the state. Rome was plagued by several slave uprisings during this period, in part because in the past century vast tracts of land had been given to veterans who farmed by use of slaves and who came to greatly outnumber their Roman masters. In the last century BC, at least twelve Roman Republican civil wars, civil wars and rebellions occurred. This pattern did not break until Octavian (later ''Caesar Augustus'') ended it by becoming a successful challenger to the Senate's authority, and was made ''princeps'' (emperor). Between 135 BC and 71 BC there were three Roman Servile Wars, Servile Wars against the Roman state; the Third Servile War, third, and most serious, may have involved the revolution of 120,000 to 150,000 slaves. Additionally, in 91 BC the Social War (91–88 BC), Social War broke out between Rome and its former allies in Italy, collectively known as the ''Socii'', over the grievance that they shared the risk of Rome's military campaigns, but not its rewards.Cantor, ''Antiquity'', p. 167 Despite defeats such as the Battle of Fucine Lake, Roman troops defeated the Italian militias in decisive engagements, notably the Battle of Asculum (89 BC), Battle of Asculum. Although they lost militarily, the ''Socii'' achieved their objectives with the legal proclamations of the ''Lex Julia'' and ''Lex Plautia Papiria'', which granted citizenship to more than 500,000 Italians. The internal unrest reached its most serious stage in the two civil wars or marches upon Rome by the consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla at the beginning of 82 BC. In the Battle of the Colline Gate (82 BC), Battle of the Colline Gate at the very door of the city of Rome, a Roman army under Sulla bested an army of the Roman senate and its Samnite allies. Whatever the merits of his grievances against those in power of the state, his actions marked a watershed of the willingness of Roman troops to wage war against one another that was to pave the way for the wars of the triumvirate, the overthrowing of the Senate as the ''de facto'' head of the Roman state, and the eventual Roman usurper, endemic usurpation of power by contenders for the emperor-ship in the later Empire.Conflicts with Mithridates (89–63 BC)
Mithridates the Great was the ruler of Kingdom of Pontus, Pontus,Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 3, ch. 5 a large kingdom in Asia Minor, from 120 to 63 BC. He is remembered as one of Rome's most formidable and successful enemies who engaged three of the most prominent generals of the late Roman Republic: Sulla, Lucullus, and Pompey the Great. In a pattern familiar from the Punic Wars, the Romans came into conflict with him after the two states' spheres of influence began to overlap. Mithridates antagonised Rome by seeking to expand his kingdom, and Rome for her part seemed equally keen for war and the spoils and prestige that it might bring. After conquering western Anatolia (modern Turkey) in 88 BC, Roman sources claim that Mithridates ordered the killing of the majority of the 80,000 Romans living there. In the subsequent First Mithridatic War, the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla forced Mithridates out of Greece proper after the Battle of Chaeronea (86 BC), Battle of Chaeronea and later Battle of Orchomenus but then had to return to Italy to answer the internal threat posed by his rival Marius; consequently, Mithridates VI was defeated but not destroyed. A peace was made between Rome and Pontus, but this proved only a temporary lull. The Second Mithridatic War began when Rome tried to annex Bithynia as a province. In the Third Mithridatic War, first Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul 74 BC), Lucius Licinius Lucullus and then Pompey the Great were sent against Mithridates.Lane Fox, ''The Classical World'', p. 363 Mithridates was finally defeated by Pompey in the night-time Battle of the Lycus.Plutarch, ''Lives'', Pompey After defeating Mithridates, Pompey Pompey's campaign in Iberia and Albania, invaded Caucacus, subjugated the Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity), Kingdom of Iberia and established Roman control over Colchis.Campaign against the Cilician pirates (67 BC)
The Mediterranean had at this time fallen into the hands of pirates, largely from Cilicia. Rome had destroyed many of the states that had previously policed the Mediterranean with fleets, but had failed to step into the gap created. The pirates had seized the opportunity of a relative power vacuum and had not only strangled shipping lanes but had plundered many cities on the coasts of Greece and Asia,Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 3, ch. 6 and had even made descents upon Italy itself. After the Roman admiral Marcus Antonius Creticus (father of the triumvir Marcus Antonius) failed to clear the pirates to the satisfaction of the Roman authorities, Pompey was nominated his successor as commander of a special naval task force to campaign against them. It supposedly took Pompey just forty days to clear the western portion of the western Mediterranean of pirates, and restore communication between Iberia, Africa, and Italy. Plutarch describes how Pompey first swept their craft from the Mediterranean in a series of small actions and through the promise of honouring the surrender of cities and craft. He then followed the main body of the pirates to their strongholds on the coast of Cilicia, and destroyed them there in the naval Battle of Korakesion.Caesar's early campaigns (59–50 BC)
During a term as praetor in Iberia, Pompey's contemporary Julius Caesar of the Roman Julii clan defeated the Calaici and Lusitani in battle.Plutarch, ''Lives'', Caesar Following a consular term, he was then appointed to a five-year term as Proconsular Governor of Transalpine Gaul (current southern France) and Illyria (the coast of Dalmatia). Not content with an idle governorship, Caesar strove to find reason to invade Gaul, which would give him the dramatic military success he sought.Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 187 To this end he stirred up popular nightmares of the first sack of Rome by the Gauls and the more recent spectre of the Cimbri and Teutones. When the Helvetii and Tigurini tribes began to migrate on a route that would take them near (not into)Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 117 the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, Caesar had the barely sufficient excuse he needed for his Gallic Wars, fought between 58 BC and 49 BC. After slaughtering the Helvetii tribe,Florus, ''The Epitome of Roman history'', Book 3, ch.10 Caesar prosecuted a "long, bitter and costly"Cantor, ''Antiquity'', p. 162 campaign against other tribes across the breadth of Gaul, many of whom had fought alongside Rome against their common enemy the Helvetii, and annexed their territory to that of Rome. Plutarch claims that the campaign cost a million Gallic lives. Although "fierce and able" the Gauls were handicapped by internal disunity and fell in a series of battles over the course of a decade. Caesar defeated the ''Helvetii'' in 58 BC at the Battle of the Arar and Battle of Bibracte, the Belgic confederacy known as the ''Belgae'' at the Battle of the Axona, the ''Nervii'' in 57 BC at the Battle of the Sabis, the ''Aquitani'', ''Treviri'', ''Tencteri'', ''Aedui'' and ''Eburones'' in unknown battles, and the ''Veneti'' in 56 BC. In 55 and 54 BC he made Roman conquest of Britain, two expeditions to Britain. In 52 BC, following the Siege of Avaricum and a string of inconclusive battles, Caesar defeated a union of Gauls led by Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia,Santosuosso, ''Storming the Heavens'', p. 62 completing the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul. By 50 BC, the entirety of Gaul lay in Roman hands. Caesar recorded his own accounts of these campaigns in ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'' ("Commentaries on the Gallic War"). Gaul never regained its Celtic identity, never attempted another nationalist rebellion, and remained loyal to Rome until the fall of the Western Empire in 476 AD. However, although Gaul itself was to thereafter remain loyal, cracks were appearing in the political unity of Rome's governing figures – partly over concerns over the loyalty of Caesar's Gallic troops to his person rather than the state – that were soon to drive Rome into a lengthy series of civil wars.Triumvirates, Caesarian ascension, and revolt (53–30 BC)
By 59 BC an unofficial political alliance known as the First Triumvirate was formed between Julius Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to share power and influence. It was always an uncomfortable alliance given that Crassus and Pompey intensely disliked one another. In 53 BC, Crassus launched a Roman invasion of the Parthian Empire. After initial successes,Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 133 he marched his army deep into the desert; but here his army was cut off deep in enemy territory, surrounded and slaughtered at the Battle of Carrhae in "the greatest Roman defeat since Hannibal"Cantor, ''Antiquity'', p. 169 in which Crassus himself perished. The death of Crassus removed some of the balance in the Triumvirate and, consequently, Caesar and Pompey began to move apart. While Caesar was fighting against Vercingetorix in Gaul, Pompey proceeded with a legislative agenda for Rome that revealed that he was at best ambivalent towards Caesar and perhaps now covertly allied with Caesar's political enemies. In 51 BC, some Roman senators demanded that Caesar would not be permitted to stand for Consul unless he turned over control of his armies to the state, and the same demands were made of Pompey by other factions.Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 215 Relinquishing his army would leave Caesar defenceless before his enemies. Caesar chose Civil War over laying down his command and facing trial. The triumvirate was shattered and conflict was inevitable. Pompey initially assured Rome and the senate that he could defeat Caesar in battle should he march on Rome.Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 299Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 216 However, by the spring of 49 BC, when Caesar crossed the Rubicon river with his invading forces and swept down the Italian peninsula towards Rome, Pompey ordered the abandonment of Rome. Caesar's army was still under-strength, with certain units remaining in Gaul, but on the other hand Pompey himself only had a small force at his command, and that with uncertain loyalty having served under Caesar. Tom Holland attributes Pompey's willingness to abandon Rome to waves of panicking refugees as an attempt to stir ancestral fears of invasions from the north. Pompey's forces retreated south towards Brundisium, and then fled to Greece. Caesar first directed his attention to the Pompeian stronghold of Iberia but following campaigning by Caesar in the Siege of Massilia and Battle of Ilerda he decided to attack Pompey in Greece. Pompey initially defeated Caesar at the Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC), Battle of Dyrrachium in 48 BC but failed to follow up on the victory. Pompey was decisively defeated in the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BCGoldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 227 despite outnumbering Caesar's forces two to one. Pompey fled again, this time to Egypt, where he was murdered in an attempt to ingratiate the country with Caesar and avoid a war with Rome. Pompey's death did not see the end of the civil wars since initially Caesar's enemies were manifold and Pompey's supporters continued to fight on after his death. In 46 BC Caesar lost perhaps as much as a third of his army when his former commander Titus Labienus, who had defected to the Pompeians several years earlier, defeated him at the Battle of Ruspina. However, after this low point Caesar came back to defeat the Pompeian army of Metellus Scipio in the Battle of Thapsus, after which the Pompeians retreated yet again to Iberia. Caesar defeated the combined forces of Titus Labienus and Gnaeus Pompey the Younger at the Battle of Munda in Iberia. Labienus was killed in the battle and the Younger Pompey captured and executed. Despite his military success, or probably because of it, fear spread of Caesar, now the primary figure of the Roman state, becoming an autocratic ruler and ending the Roman Republic. This fear drove a group of senators naming themselves Liberatores, The Liberators to assassinate him in 44 BC.Cantor, ''Antiquity'', p. 170 Further civil war followed between those loyal to Caesar and those who supported the actions of the Liberators. Caesar's supporter Mark Antony condemned Caesar's assassins and war broke out between the two factions. Antony was denounced as a public enemy, and Augustus, Octavian was entrusted with the command of the war against him. In the Battle of Forum Gallorum Antony, besieging Caesar's assassin Decimus Brutus in Mutina, defeated the forces of the consul Pansa, who was killed, but Antony was then immediately defeated by the army of the other consul, Hirtius. At the Battle of Mutina Antony was again defeated in battle by Hirtius, who was killed. Although Antony failed to capture Mutina, Decimus Brutus was murdered shortly thereafter. Octavian betrayed his party, and came to terms with Caesarians Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir), Lepidus and on 26 November 43 BC the Second Triumvirate was formed, this time in an official capacity. In 42 BC Triumvirs Mark Antony and Augustus, Octavian fought the indecisive Battle of Philippi with Caesar's assassins Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, Cassius. Although Brutus defeated Octavian, Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide. Brutus also committed suicide shortly afterwards. Civil war flared again when the Second Triumvirate of Octavian, Lepidus and Mark Antony failed just as the first had almost as soon as its opponents had been removed. The ambitious Octavian built a power base and then launched a campaign against Mark Antony. Together with Lucius Antonius, Mark Antony's wife Fulvia raised an army in Italy to fight for Antony's rights against Octavian but she was defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Perugia. Her death led to partial reconciliation between Octavian and Antony who went on to crush the army of Sextus Pompeius, the last focus of opposition to the second triumvirate, in the naval Battle of Naulochus. As before, once opposition to the triumvirate was crushed, it started to tear at itself. The triumvirate expired on the last day of 33 BC and was not renewed in law and in 31 BC, war began again. At the Battle of Actium,Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 7 Augustus, Octavian decisively defeated Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt, Cleopatra in a naval battle near Greece, using fire to destroy the enemy fleet. Octavian went on to become Emperor under the name Augustus and, in the absence of political assassins or usurpers, was able to greatly expand the borders of the Empire.Empire
Early to Middle (30 BC – 180 AD)
Imperial expansion (40 BC – 117 AD)
Secured from internal threats, Rome achieved great territorial gains in both the East and the West. In the West, following humiliating Clades Lolliana, defeats at the hands of the Sugambri, Tencteri and Usipetes tribes in 16 BC,Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 244 Roman armies Early Imperial campaigns in Germania, pushed north and east out of Gaul to subdue much of Germania. The Pannonian revolt in 6 AD forced the Romans to cancel their plan to cement their conquest of Germania. Despite the loss of a large army almost to the man of Publius Quinctilius Varus, Varus' famous defeat at the hands of the Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, Rome recovered and continued its expansion up to and beyond the borders of the known world. Roman armies under Germanicus pursued several more campaigns against the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni, Hermunduri, Chatti, Cherusci,Tacitus, ''The Annals'', Book 1, ch. 60 Bructeri, and Marsi. Overcoming several mutinies in the armies along the Rhine, Germanicus defeated the Germanic tribes of Arminius in a series of battles culminating in the Battle of the Weser River. After Caesar's Caesar's invasions of Britain, preliminary low-scale invasions of Britain, the Romans Roman conquest of Britain, invaded in force in 43 AD,Churchill, ''A History of the English Speaking Peoples'', p. 4 forcing their way inland through several battles against British tribes, including the Battle of the Medway, the Battle of the Thames, the Battle of Caer Caradoc and the Roman conquest of Anglesey, Battle of Mona. Following a general uprising in which the Britons sacked Sack of Camulodunum, Colchester, Sack of Verulamium, St AlbansChurchill, ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples'', p. 7 and Sack of Londinium, London, the Romans suppressed the rebellion in the Battle of Watling Street and went on to push as far north as central Scotland in the Battle of Mons Graupius. Tribes in modern-day Scotland and Northern England repeatedly rebelled against Roman rule and two military bases were established inYear of the Four Emperors (69 AD)
In 69 AD, Otho, Marcus Salvius Otho, governor of Lusitania, had the Emperor Galba murdered and claimed the throne for himself.Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 51Lane Fox, ''The Classical World'', p. 542 However, Vitellius, governor of the province of Germania Inferior, had also claimed the thronePlutarch, ''Lives'', Otho and marched on Rome with his troops. Following an inconclusive battle near Antipolis, Vitellius' troops attacked the city of Placentia in the Assault of Placentia, but were repulsed by the Othonian garrison. Otho left Rome on March 14, and marched north towards Placentia to meet his challenger. In the Battle of Locus Castorum the Othonians had the better of the fighting, and Vitellius' troops retreated to Cremona. The two armies met again on the Via Postunia, in the First Battle of Bedriacum,Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 52 after which the Othonian troops fled back to their camp in Bedriacum, and the next day surrendered to the Vitellian forces. Otho decided to commit suicide rather than fight on. Meanwhile, the forces stationed in the Middle East provinces of Iudaea Province, Judaea and Syria (Roman province), Syria had acclaimed Vespasian as emperor and the Danubian armies of the provinces of Raetia and Moesia also acclaimed Vespasian as emperor. Vespasian's and Vitellius' armies met in the Second Battle of Bedriacum, after which the Vitellian troops were driven back into their camp outside Cremona, which was taken. Vespasian's troops then attacked Cremona itself, which surrendered. Under pretence of siding with Vespasian, Gaius Julius Civilis, Civilis of Batavians, Batavia had taken up arms and induced the inhabitants of his native country to rebel. The rebelling Batavians were immediately joined by several neighbouring German tribes including the Frisii. These forces drove out the Roman garrisons near the Rhine and defeated a Roman army at the Battle of Castra Vetera, after which many Roman troops along the Rhine and in Gaul defected to the Batavian cause. However, disputes soon broke out amongst the different tribes, rendering co-operation impossible; Vespasian, having successfully ended the civil war, called upon Civilis to lay down his arms, and on his refusal his legions met him in force, defeating him in the Battle of Augusta Treverorum.Jewish revolts (66–135 AD)
The first Jewish-Roman War, sometimes called The Great Revolt, was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province against the Roman Empire.Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 294 Judea was already a troubled region with bitter violence among several competing Jewish sects and a long history of rebellion. The Jews' anger turned on Rome following robberies of their temple and Roman insensitivity – Tacitus says disgust and repulsionMatyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 194 – towards their religion. The Jews began to prepare for armed revolt. Early successes by the rebels, including the repulse of the Siege of Jerusalem (66), First Siege of JerusalemGoldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 295 and the Battle of Beth Horon (66), Battle of Beth-Horon, only attracted greater attention from Rome and Emperor Nero appointed general Vespasian to crush the rebellion. Vespasian led his forces in a methodical clearance of the areas in revolt. By the year 68 AD, Jewish resistance in the Galilee had been crushed. A few towns and cities held out for a few years before falling to the Romans, leading to the Siege of Masada in 73 AD and the Siege of Jerusalem (70), Second Siege of Jerusalem. In 115 AD, revolt broke out again in the province, leading to the second Jewish-Roman war known as the Kitos War, and again in 132 AD in what is known as Bar Kokhba's revolt. Both were brutally crushed.Struggle with Parthia (114–217 AD)
By the 2nd century AD the territories of Persia were controlled by the Arsacid dynasty and known as the Parthian Empire. Due in large part to their employment of cataphract, powerful heavy cavalry and mobile horse archers, Parthia was the most formidable enemy of the Roman Empire in the east. As early as 53 BC, the Roman general Crassus had invaded Parthia, but he was killed and his army was defeated at the Battle of Carrhae. In the years following Carrhae, the Romans were divided in civil war and hence unable to campaign against Parthia. Trajan also campaigned against the Parthians from 114 to 117 AD and briefly captured their capital Ctesiphon, putting the puppet ruler Parthamaspates of Parthia, Parthamaspates on the throne. However, rebellions in Babylonia and the Jewish revolts in Judea made it difficult to maintain the captured province and the territories were abandoned. A revitalised Parthian Empire renewed its assault in 161 AD, defeating two Roman armies and invading Armenia and Syria. Emperor Lucius Verus and general Gaius Avidius Cassius were sent in 162 AD to counter the resurgent Parthia. In this war, the Parthian city of Seleucia on the Tigris was destroyed and the palace at the capital Ctesiphon was burned to the ground by Avidius Cassius in 164 AD. The Parthians made peace but were forced to cede western Mesopotamia to the Romans.Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 273 In 197 AD, Emperor Septimius Severus waged a brief and successful war against the Parthian Empire in retaliation for the support given to a rival for the imperial throne Pescennius Niger. The Parthian capital Ctesiphon was sacked by the Roman army, and the northern half of Mesopotamia was restored to Rome. Emperor Caracalla, the son of Severus, marched on Parthia in 217 AD from Edessa to begin a war against them, but he was assassinated while on the march.Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 279 In 224 AD, the Parthian Empire was crushed not by the Romans but by the rebellious Persian vassal king Ardashir I, who revolted, leading to the establishment of Sassanid Empire of Persia, which replaced Parthia as Rome's major rival in the East. Throughout the Parthian wars, tribal groups along the Rhine and Danube took advantage of Rome's preoccupation with the eastern frontier (and the plague that the Romans suffered from after bringing it back from the east) and launched a series of incursions into Roman territories, including the Marcomannic Wars.Late (180–476 AD)
Migration period (163–378 AD)
After Varus' defeat in Germania in the 1st century, Rome had adopted a largely defensive strategy along the border with Germania, constructing a line of defences known as ''Limes (Roman Empire), limes'' along the Rhine. Although the exact historicity is unclear, since the Romans often assigned one name to several distinct tribal groups, or conversely applied several names to a single group at different times, some mix of Germanic peoples, Celts, and tribes of mixed Celto-Germanic ethnicity were settled in the lands of Germania from the 1st century onwards. The Cherusci, Bructeri, Tencteri, Usipi, Marsi, and Chatti of Varus' time had by the 3rd century either evolved into or been displaced by a confederacy or alliance of Germanic tribes collectively known as the Alamanni,Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 128 first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign of Caracalla in 213 AD. In around 166 AD, several Germanic tribes pushed across the Danube, striking as far as Italy itself in the Siege of Aquileia in 166 AD, and the heartland of Greece in the Sack of Eleusis. Although the essential problem of large tribal groups on the frontier remained much the same as the situation Rome faced in earlier centuries, the 3rd century saw a marked increase in the overall threat, although there is disagreement over whether external pressure increased, or Rome's ability to meet it declined. The Carpians, Carpi and Sarmatians whom Rome had held at bay were replaced by the Goths and likewise the Quadi and Marcomanni that Rome had defeated were replaced by the greater confederation of the Alamanni.Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 147 The assembled warbands of the Alamanni frequently crossed the ''limes'', attacking Germania Superior such that they were almost continually engaged in conflicts with the Roman Empire, whilst Goths attacked across the Danube in battles such as the Battle of BeroaJordanes, ''The Origins and Deeds of the Goths'', 103 and Battle of Philippopolis (250), Battle of Philippopolis in 250 AD and the Battle of Abrittus in 251 AD, and both Goths and Heruli ravaged the Aegean and, later, Greece, Thrace and Macedonia. However, their first major assault deep into Roman territory came in 268 AD. In that year the Romans were forced to denude much of their German frontier of troops in response to a massive invasion by another new Germanic tribal confederacy, the Goths, from the east. The pressure of tribal groups pushing into the Empire was the result of a chain of migrations with its roots far to the east: Huns from the Russian steppe attacked the Goths, who in turn attacked the Dacians, Alans and Sarmatians at or within Rome's borders. The Goths first appeared in history as a distinct people in this invasion of 268 AD when they swarmed over the Balkan peninsula and overran the Roman provinces of Pannonia and Illyricum and even threatened Italia itself. The Alamanni seized the opportunity to launch a major invasion of Gaul and northern Italy. However, the Visigoths were defeated in battle that summer near the modern Italian-Slovenian border and then routed in the Battle of NaissusGrant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 285 that September by Gallienus, Claudius II, Claudius and Aurelian, who then turned and defeated the Alemanni at the Battle of Lake Benacus. Claudius' successor Aurelian defeated the Goths twice more in the Battle of Fanum Fortunae and the Battle of Ticinum. The Goths remained a major threat to the Empire but directed their attacks away from Italy itself for several years after their defeat. By 284 AD, Gothic troops were serving on behalf of the Roman military as federated troops.Jordanes, ''The Origins and Deeds of the Goths'', 110 The Alamanni on the other hand resumed their drive towards Italy almost immediately. They defeated Aurelian at the Battle of Placentia (271), Battle of Placentia in 271 AD but were beaten back for a short time after they lost the battles of Battle of Fano, Fano and Battle of Pavia (271), Pavia later that year. They were beaten again in 298 AD at the battles of Battle of Lingones, Lingones and Battle of Vindonissa, Vindonissa but fifty years later they were resurgent again, making incursions in 356 AD at the Battle of Reims (356), Battle of Reims, in 357 AD at the Battle of Strasbourg, in 367 AD at the Battle of Solicinium and in 378 AD at Battle of Argentovaria. In the same year the Goths inflicted a crushing defeat on the Eastern Empire at the Battle of Adrianople, in which the Eastern Emperor Valens was massacred along with tens of thousands of Roman troops. At the same time, Franks raided through the North Sea and the English Channel,Usurpers (193–394 AD)
An army that was often willing to support its general over its emperor, meant that if commanders could establish sole control of their army, they could usurp the imperial throne from that position. The so-called Crisis of the Third Century describes the turmoil of murder, usurpation and in-fighting that followed the murder of the Emperor Alexander Severus in 235 AD.Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 280 However, Cassius Dio marks the wider imperial decline as beginning in 180 AD with the ascension of Commodus to the throne,Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 226 a judgement with which Edward Gibbon, Gibbon concurred, and Philip Matyszak, Matyszak states that "the rot ... had become established long before" even that. Although the crisis of the 3rd century was not the absolute beginning of Rome's decline, it nevertheless did impose a severe strain on the empire as Romans waged war on one another as they had not done since the last days of the Republic. Within the space of a single century, twenty-seven military officers declared themselves emperors and reigned over parts of the empire for months or days, all but two meeting with a violent end. The time was characterized by a Roman army that was as likely to be attacking itself as it was an outside invader, reaching a low point around 258 AD. Ironically, while it was these usurpations that led to the breakup of the Empire during the crisis, it was the strength of several frontier generals that helped reunify the empire through force of arms. The situation was complex, often with three or more usurpers in existence at once. Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, both rebel generals declared to be emperors by the troops they commanded, clashed for the first time in 193 AD at the Battle of Cyzicus (193), Battle of Cyzicus, in which Niger was defeated. However, it took two further defeats at the Battle of Nicaea later that year and the Battle of Issus (194), Battle of Issus the following year, for Niger to be destroyed. Almost as soon as Niger's usurpation had been ended, Severus was forced to deal with another rival for the throne in the person of Clodius Albinus, who had originally been allied to Severus. Albinus was proclaimed emperor by his troops in Britain and, crossing over to Gaul, defeated Severus' general Virius Lupus in battle, before being in turn defeated and killed in the Battle of Lugdunum by Severus himself. After this turmoil, Severus faced no more internal threats for the rest of his reign,Gibbon, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', p. 129 and the reign of his successor Caracalla passed uninterrupted for a while until he was murdered by Macrinus, who proclaimed himself emperor. Despite Macrinus having his position ratified by the Roman senate, the troops of Elagabalus, Varius Avitus declared him to be emperor instead, and the two met in battle at the Battle of Antioch (218), Battle of Antioch in 218 AD, in which Macrinus was defeated.Gibbon, ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', p. 130 However, Avitus himself, after taking the imperial name Elagabalus, was murdered shortly afterwards and Alexander Severus was proclaimed emperor by both the Praetorian Guard and the senate who, after a short reign, was murdered in turn. His murderers were working on behalf of the army who were unhappy with their lot under his rule and who raised in his place Maximinus Thrax. However, just as he had been raised by the army, Maximinus was also brought down by them and despite winning the Battle of Carthage (238), Battle of Carthage against the senate's newly proclaimed Gordian II, he too was murdered when it appeared to his forces as though he would not be able to best the next senatorial candidate for the throne, Gordian III. Gordian III's fate is not certain, although he may have been murdered by his own successor, Philip the Arab, who ruled for only a few years before the army again raised a general, Decius, by their proclamation to emperor, who then defeated Philip in the Battle of Verona (251), Battle of Verona. Several succeeding generals avoided battling usurpers for the throne by being murdered by their own troops before battle could commence. The lone exception to this rule was Gallienus, emperor from 260 to 268 AD, who confronted a Gallienus usurpers, remarkable array of usurpers, most of whom he defeated in pitched battle. The army was mostly spared further infighting until around 273 AD, when Aurelian defeated the Gallic usurper Tetricus I, Tetricus in the Battle of Chalons (273), Battle of Chalons. The next decade saw an incredible number of usurpers, sometimes three at the same time, all vying for the imperial throne. Most of the battles are not recorded, due primarily to the turmoil of the time, until Diocletian, a usurper himself, defeated Carinus at the Battle of the Margus and became emperor. Some small measure of stability again returned at this point, with the empire split into a Tetrarchy of two greater and two lesser emperors, a system that staved off civil wars for a short time until 312 AD. In that year, relations between the tetrarchy collapsed for good and Constantine I, Licinius, Maxentius and Maximinus II, Maximinus jostled for control of the empire. In the Battle of Turin (312), Battle of Turin Constantine defeated Maxentius, and in the Battle of Tzirallum, Licinius defeated Maximinus II, Maximinus. From 314 AD onwards, Constantine defeated Licinius in the Battle of Cibalae, then the Battle of Mardia, and then again at the Battle of Adrianople (324), Battle of Adrianople, the Battle of the Hellespont and the Battle of Chrysopolis. Constantine then turned upon Maxentius, beating him in the Battle of Verona (312), Battle of Verona and the Battle of Milvian Bridge in the same year. Constantine's son Constantius II inherited his father's rule and later defeated the usurper Magnentius in first the Battle of Mursa Major and then the Battle of Mons Seleucus. Successive emperors Valens and Theodosius I also defeated usurpers in, respectively, the Battle of Thyatira, and the battles of Battle of the Save, the Save and Battle of the Frigidus, the Frigidus.Struggle with the Sassanid Empire (230–363 AD)
After overthrowing the Parthian confederacy,Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 283 the Sassanid Empire that arose from its remains pursued a more aggressive expansionist policy than their predecessorsMatyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 234Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire'', p. 151 and continued to make war against Rome. In 230 AD, the first Sassanid emperor attacked Roman territory first in Armenia and then in Mesopotamia but Roman losses were largely restored by Alexander Severus, Severus within a few years. In 243 AD, Emperor Gordian III's army retook the Roman cities of Hatra, Nisibis and Carrhae from the Sassanids after defeating the Sassanids at the Battle of Resaena but what happened next is unclear: Persian sources claim that Gordian was defeated and killed in the Battle of Misikhe but Roman sources mention this battle only as an insignificant setback and suggest that Gordian died elsewhere.Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 236 Certainly, the Sassanids had not been cowed by the previous battles with Rome and in 253 AD the Sassanids under Shapur I penetrated deeply into Roman territory several times, defeating a Roman force at the Battle of Barbalissos and conquering and plundering Antiochia in 252 AD following the Antioch, Siege of Antiochia. The Romans recovered Antioch by 253 AD,Matyszak, ''The Enemies of Rome'', p. 237 and Emperor Valerian gathered an army and marched eastward to the Sassanid borders. In 260 AD at the Battle of Edessa the Sassanids defeated the Roman army and captured the Roman Emperor Valerian (emperor), Valerian. By the late 3rd century, Roman fortunes on the eastern frontier improved dramatically. During a period of civil upheaval in Persia, emperor Carus led a successful campaign into Persia essentially uncontested, sacking Ctesiphon in 283 AD. During the reign of the Tetrarchy, emperors Diocletian and Galerius brought a decisive conclusion to the war, sacking Ctesiphon in 299 AD and expanding the Roman eastern frontier dramatically with the Peace of Nisibis (299), Treaty of Nisibis. The treaty brought lasting peace between Rome and the Sassanids for almost four decades until the end of Constantine the Great's reign. In 337 AD, Shapur II broke the peace and began a 26-year conflict, attempting with little success to conquer Roman fortresses in the region. After early Sassanid successes including the Siege of Amida (359), Battle of Amida in 359 AD and the Siege of Pirisabora in 363 AD,Goldsworthy, ''In the Name of Rome'', p. 358 Emperor Julian the Apostate, Julian met Shapur in 363 AD in the Battle of Ctesiphon (363), Battle of Ctesiphon outside the walls of the Persian capital. The Romans were victorious but were unable to take the city, and were forced to retreat due to their vulnerable position in the middle of hostile territory. Julian was killed in the Battle of Samarra during the retreat, possibly by one of his own men. There were several future wars, although all brief and small-scale, since both the Romans and the Sassanids were forced to deal with threats from other directions during the 5th century. A war against Bahram V in 420 AD over the persecution of the Christians in Persia led to a brief war that was soon concluded by treaty and in 441 AD a war with Yazdegerd II was again swiftly concluded by treaty after both parties battled threats elsewhere.Collapse of the Western Empire (402–476 AD)
Many theories have been advanced in way of explanation for decline of the Roman Empire, and many dates given for its fall, from the onset of its decline in the 3rd century to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Militarily, however, the Empire finally fell after first being overrun by various non-Roman peoples and then having its heart in Italy seized by Germanic troops in a revolt. The historicity and exact dates are uncertain, and some historians do not consider that the Empire fell at this point. The Empire became gradually less Romanised and increasingly Germanic in nature: although the Empire buckled under Visigothic assault, the overthrow of the last Emperor Romulus Augustus was carried out by federated Germanic troops from within the Roman army rather than by foreign troops. In this sense had Odoacer not renounced the title of Emperor and named himself "King of Italy" instead, the Empire might have continued in name. Its identity, however, was no longer Roman – it was increasingly populated and governed by Germanic peoples long before 476 AD. The Roman people were by the 5th century "bereft of their military ethos" and the Roman army itself a mere supplement to federated troops of Goths, Huns, Franks and others fighting on their behalf. Rome's last gasp began when the Visigoths revolted around 395 AD. Led by Alaric I,Procopius, ''History of the Wars'', Book 3, Pt 1, Ch. 2 they attempted to seize Constantinople, but were rebuffed and instead plundered much of Thrace in northern Greece. In 402 AD they besieged Mediolanum, the capital of Roman Emperor Honorius (emperor), Honorius, defended by Roman Gothic troops. The arrival of the Roman Stilicho and his army forced Alaric to lift his siege and move his army towards Hasta (modern Asti) in western Italy, where Stilicho attacked it at the Battle of Pollentia, capturing Alaric's camp. Stilicho offered to return the prisoners in exchange for the Visigoths returning to Illyricum but upon arriving at Verona, Alaric halted his retreat. Stilicho again attacked at the Battle of Verona (402), Battle of Verona and again defeated Alaric, forcing him to withdraw from Italy. In 405 AD, the Ostrogoths invaded Italy itself, but were defeated. However, in 406 AD an unprecedented number of tribes took advantage of the freezing of the Rhine to cross ''en masse'': Vandals, Suevi, Alans and Burgundians swept across the river and met little resistance in the Sack of Moguntiacum and the Sack of Treviri, completely overrunning Gaul. Despite this grave danger, or perhaps because of it, the Roman army continued to be wracked by usurpation, in one of which Stilicho, Rome's foremost defender of the period, was put to death.Grant, ''The History of Rome'', p. 327 It is in this climate that, despite his earlier setback, Alaric returned again in 410 AD and managed to Sack of Rome (410), sack Rome. The Roman capital had by this time moved to the Italian city of Ravenna, but some historians view 410 AD as an alternative date for the true fall of the Roman Empire. Without possession of Rome or many of its former provinces, and increasingly Germanic in nature, the Roman Empire after 410 AD had little in common with the earlier Empire. By 410 AD, Britain had been mostly denuded of Roman troops, and by 425 AD was no longer part of the Empire, and much of western Europe was beset "by all kinds of calamities and disasters", coming under barbarian kingdoms ruled bySee also
* Military history of ancient Rome * Military history of ItalyCitations
Bibliography
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* (print: ''Penguin Books, 1976, (tr. Jane Mitchell), '') * * * (print: ''Penguin Books, 1987, '') * * (print: ''Book 1 as The Rise of Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998, '') * (print: ''Jacques Amyot and Thomas North (tr.), Plutarch, ''Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans'', Southern Illinois University Press, 1963, '') * Polybius:Secondary and tertiary sources
* John Bagnall Bury: