Greatest Military Moments of the Roman Empire

[Viggen]

There are many great moments of the powerful Legions, many capable and good commander. I would like to hear which battles are in your opinion the best of the best. As there is not a single one that would stand out (or so I believe), feel free to discuss and argue which are the best moments for the Roman Army.

 

Although most will choose earlier time periods, I personally feel that in 269 AD one of the greatest victories of the Roman Military happend. The of Battle of Naissus.

 

The Battle of Naissus took place in September of 269 between the armies of the Goths and forces of the Roman Empire, led by either Gallenius or Claudius II as emperor and the future Emperor Aurelian as cavalry commander.

 

The battle came about as a result of a massive invasion of the Goths into Roman territory in late 268 and in the early months of 269. The Goths pushed across the Danube River and made their way into the wealthy Roman province of Pannonia, where they looted and sacked several cities. It was thought by many that their next stop was going to be Rome itself.

 

Gallenius checked the Goths by winning an impressive victory in the spring, probably in April, but the Romans were weakened by decades of internal strife and rebellions, and were unable to expel the Goths from their territory. The Goths continued their depredations throughout the summer, until Gallenius led a second expedition against them as the fall began.

 

There is some dispute about who commanded the Roman army in the ensuing battle, as Gallenius died at about the same time and Claudius, known to history as Claudius Gothicus, later was given credit for the victory by the Roman Senate. Gallenius was almost certainly alive and present at the battle, so credit for the victory as emperor is his, but it appears that Claudius and especially Aurelian did most of the fighting.

 

In a bitterly contested, no-quarter showdown near Naissus (the modern Nis, Yugoslavia), it was Aurelian who decided the battle in the Romans' favor when his cavalry routed the vaunted Goth heavy cavalry and then stormed the Gothic laager. In the ensuing chaos, between 30,000 and 50,000 Goths were killed or wounded, and thousands more taken prisoner. Many of the prisoners later chose to join the Roman army and served in the later, victorious campaigns of both Claudius and Aurelian.

 

More importantly, the devastating defeat, coupled with the earlier defeat in April of the same year, broke the power of the Goths. Some remained on Roman soil until 271, when Aurelian drove the last of them back across the Danube, but they were no longer a danger to Rome or any other vital Roman area. In fact, a century would pass before the Goths would again seriously threaten the empire.

[Primus Pilus]

Well I've been thinking about this and I've come up with a small list. I'll try to give limited details of each explaining why I think its important without going on and on. I've not included any Roman vs. Roman battles despite any major significant results, such as Actium, Octavian vs. Antonius (a minor battle with a major impact) or Milvian Bridge, Constantine vs. Maxentius. They are in no particular order save for my own particular leading candidate which I've saved for last. Also note that most ancient battles seem to have ended in routs. Many "results" of the battles in terms are casualties can certainly be glorified by the ancient writers to show Rome's dominance.

 

I. 168 BC: The Battle of Pydna, Macedonia. This is the supposed classic Roman legion vs. Greek phalanx battle. 38,000 Romans vs. 44,000 Greeks. The end result was 25,000 Macedonian casualties, the end of the Macedonian Kingdom and establishment of Roman rule on the Greek peninsula for the next 6 centuries. The battle is described in detail by Polybius, but the Greek loss seems to be more of a failure in leadership by Perseus than a supremacy of Legion over Phalanx.

 

II. 190 BC: The Battle of Magnesia, Asia Minor. Romans vs. the Seleucids under Antiochus. The Roman army consisted of some 33,000 men including 3,000 cavalry arrayed against nearly 70,000 seleucids. The battle was a complete rout with some 55,000 Seleucid casualties and only 349 reported Roman casualties. The result was the establishment of the Roman ally the Pergamums the dominate force in Asia Minor.

 

III. 102 - 101 BC, Aquae Sextiae and Vercellae. Gaius Marius & Catulus vs. the Teutones and Cimbri. The Teutones and Cimbri threatening Italia and perhaps Rome were annhilated in the 2 successive battles. Over 100,000 Teutones and at least 65,000 Cimbri were lost with minimal Roman casualties. The result was the safety of Rome and Italia and the reduction of the German threat for 2 centuries. Perhaps more importantly, it cemeted Marius legion reforms allowing landless professional soldiers and began to set the stage for the imperatorial system and the downfall of the Republic. However, these victories followed 3 major Roman defeats to these tribes, tarnishing the victories in my mind.

 

IV. 52 BC Alesia: Caesar over Vercingetorix and the Gallic Celt tribes. The impressive thing here is the Roman construction of fortications surrounding the town of Alesia more than the actual battle itself. Caesar established a two walled fortification keeping the besieged Celts in and the relief army out. A marvel of ancient technology. The end result of the siege was the surrender of the Gallic forces and the establishment of Rome as the ruler of Gaul for several centuries.

 

Of course there are more, such as Trajans victories in Dacia and Germanicus recovering of the lost eagles at Idavisto, Viggens previously mentioned battle of Naissus, Agricola over the Caledonians at Mons Graupius, the defeat of the Bouddicean rebellion in Britian, etc., but my most significant battle is:

 

V. 202 BC, the battle of Zama. Scipio Africanus vs. Hannibal. After a series of victories over Carthaginian forces in Spain, Scipio met with Hannibal in North Africa.

 

Hannibal formed up his forces with Numidian light cavalry on the left wing and other cavalry on the right. He placed 80 elephants in front of his lines. Behind the elephant screen, he formed up his infantry in three lines. First, there were Mago

[Viggen]

Thanks PP, anyone else? What is the greatest moment in your opnion?

[Favonius Cornelius]

While a single great battle is always a crowd pleaser, I like to remember the slow and steady resolution of the Roman war machine that in many ways won so much more than these single spectacular battles. Mostly sieges, slow and steady in very many cases wins the race, especially when facing an enemy who is passionate or undisciplined.

 

Jugurthine War The Roman Republic was constantly plagued with incompetent generals being fielded due to their family history. After two years of little accomplished by Quintus Caecilius Metellus 'Numidicus,' Gaius Marius took over the situation with the realization that chasing the fast Numidians across the desert on their terms was not the solution. Despite their mobility, the Numidians still had to yet rely on distinct points of supply across the Numidian grasslands and desert to support their many horses. The key to Marius' victory was by painstakingly controlling each and establishing forts in key areas such that a network of control was realized across the wide and unwieldy area. Eventually the Numidians were cornered and forced to terms.

 

Siege of Numantia The consolidation of Iberia was a slow and painful process that lasted centuries for the Romans, particularly because of the rough and easily defensible terrain. One of the epicenters of Celtiberian resistance was the mountain stronghold of Numantia. In rebellions past, a number of Roman commanders conveniently bypassed the idea of besieging the stronghold, widely believed to be impenetrable, or at worst failed miserably in assaulting it. Scipio Africanus the Younger realized that pacifying the area clearly required its capitulation, but rather than storming the walls for a quick and glorious victory, completely sealed off the area with a fantastic siege network. It was eventually razed. http://spainforvisitors.com/sections/celtiberianwars.htm

 

Masada Judea had always been a problem throughout Rome's control of the area. Religious differences, zealotry and the rough landscape made it difficult to pacify, with perhaps hundreds of thousands of Greeks, Jews and Romans dieing in the process. Masada was the ideal stronghold to resist the Romans in: it had an isolated water storage which was virtually bottomless, copious room for food supply, fortified and situated on top of a totally unassailable plateau, far from outside supplies or wood for siege materials. Flavius Silva the governor of Syria at the time was yet not deterred by the odds and out of the very rock that made the land built a ramp right up to the walls which still exists today. The scope of such a feat perhaps was not seen since Alexander's siege of Tyre.

[Tobias]

The Battle of Chalons: I may have difficulty justifying this choice.The victory which the Roman general, Aetius, with his Gothic allies, had then gained over the Huns, was the last victory of Imperial Rome.The Christian Visigoths of King Theodoric fought and triumphed at Ch

[Flavius Scipio]

i believe the most pivotal battle would be the battle of Munda in the civil war between Caesar and the sons of Pompey, i mean this battle pretty much spelled the end of the republic and just imagine what could have happened if the pompeain forces had won. the whole of europe might have turned out differently as rome would still be a republic. Caesar himself told friends that he had fought many times for victory but Munda was the first time he fought for his life. this battle showed Caesar as a great improvisor on the battlefield as classic roman tactics would not work against other romans and it ended up in a bloody melee until caesars 10th turned the left of the pompeain forces and the retreat after that truned the battle into a rout with as many as 30,000 dying

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

Don't forget the naval battles. The battle of Ecnomus :

In 256, the Romans sent a fleet of no less than 330 ships from Sicily to Africa, where the army aboard was supposed to strike at the Carthaginian homeland. Before crossing the Mediterranean, it encountered a Carthaginian navy of 350 ships, not far from modern Licata, at Ecnomus, an early third-century city founded by refugees from Gela, The site has been identified at Poggio di Sant' Angelo.

The fight at Ecnomus was to be one of the greatest battles in history, because on both sides, more than 140,000 men were present. The Romans won the battle, and could continue to Africa, where they were eventually defeated.

I mean 140,000 men fought this naval battle, what a tremendous number.I can't seem to remember the name of the Roman admiral.

 

Also, name some other famous admirals

 

[EDIT PP: Posting excerpts from other sites is perfectly acceptable, but please, always, always add a link to the source Livius.org

[Hamilcar Barca]

The consuls commanding the fleet at Ecnous were Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso.

 

Glad to see that Naissus got some star attention here, it was a well overdue payback for the disaster that was Abbritus in 251AD.

 

Also worthy of mention.

 

Lake Regillus in 496BC. Sure, the details given by Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus are dubious, but it was no doubt a decisive Roman victory which ensured the survival of the Republic at its most vunerable time.

 

Also worthy of mention is Sentinum in 295BC. Of all the actions fought in the Samnite wars, the highest stakes were rested upon this one. Rome was pitted against the combined might of all its Italian enemies and a defeat would have resulted in the capital been wide open to a attack.

 

Agrigentum in 262BC. This essentially ensured the Roman domination of Sicily very early on in the First Punic War. Had the Carthaginians won, the war would have likely been protracted with even greater long term stalemate.

 

Or how about Julian II's victory at Strasbourg n 257AD? Outnumbered 35,000 to 13,000, the Romans lost only 247 men for 6,000 enemy dead and many more captured including their commander, Chnodomar. Fought not on the same epic size of many other great Roman victories, it was none-the-less an impressive triumph.

[Primus Pilus]

Also, name some other famous admirals

 

I immediately think of Agrippa and Sextus Pompey.