The Battle of Verona was fought between the Roman general and usurper

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 emperor

Philip the Arab Philip I (; – September 249), commonly known as Philip the Arab, was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, who had been Praetorian prefect, rose to power. He quickly negotiated peace with the S ...

in 249. Decius was victorious and Philip and his son Philip II were both killed. Decius was subsequently declared Roman emperor.

Prelude

In late 248, Gothic tribes had attacked 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 ...

on the frontier of the Danube River. Their advance was checked by the Roman general Pacatian, whose army subsequently proclaimed him emperor. The legitimate emperor

ordered the supportive and outspoken senator

to put down the rebellion. Before the imperial delegation reached Moesia, Pacatian's troops mutinied and assassinated their commander. Decius arrived, accompanied by 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 ...

, and attempted to restore order to the usurper's army. Opposed to being led by the geographically distant government of Philip, the troops proclaimed Decius emperor instead. Decius and his army then marched to Italy, where Philip, commanding only two reserve legions, met them in battle.

Battle

The two armies met in battle near Verona, Italy, in a bloody and brutal battle. Decius was heavily outnumbered by Philip. 6th century Byzantine writer

Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alch ...

recorded the day:

The supporters of Decius, though they knew that the enemy had greatly the advantage in numbers, still retained their confidence, trusting to the general skill and prudence of Decius in affairs.

Not many details of the battle are known, but Decius is known to have had a better quality of troops than Philip, and Philip's chances of victory were deemed improbable. Philip was slain by Decius, and his army was defeated.

Aftermath

Following his victory, Decius entered Rome and was received and hailed as emperor by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, of which he had formerly been a prominent member.

References

{{Reflist Verona 249 Verona 249

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

Verona 249 Verona 249 Verona 249

Decian dynasty