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The 'Marcomannic Wars' (called by the Romans 'bellum Germanicum'^[1] or 'expeditio Germanica') were a series of wars lasting over dozen years from about AD 166 until 180. These pitted the Roman Empire against the Marcomanni, Quadi and other Germanic peoples along both sides of the upper and middle Danube. The struggle against the Germanic invasions occupied the entire latter reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work ''Meditations'', whose fist book bears the note "Among the Quadi at the Granua".^[2]

Contents

Background

First Marcomannic War

First invasions

First Roman expedition in Pannonia (168)

Roman expedition against the Iazyges and the great Germanic invasion of 170

The Roman counter-offensive and defeat of the Marcomanni

Second Marcomannic War

Aftermath

In popular culture

References

Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources

External links

Background

During the years succeeding the rule of Antoninus Pius, the Roman Empire began to be attacked upon all sides. A war with Parthia lasted from 161 to 166, and although it ended successfully, its unforeseen consequences for the Empire were great. The returning troops brought with them a plague (the so-called Antonine Plague), which would eventually kill an estimated 20 million people, severely weakening the Empire. At the same time, in Central Europe, the first movements of the Great Migrations were occurring, as the Goths moved westwards, putting pressure on the Germanic tribes of the area. As a result, Germanic tribes and other nomadic people launched raids along Rome's northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube.

First Marcomannic War

First invasions

In 162, a first invasion of the Chatti and the Chauci in the province of Germania Superior was repulsed. In late 166 or early 167, a force of 6,000 Langobardi, Ubii and Lacringi invaded Pannonia. This invasion was defeated by local forces (vexillations of the ''Legio I Adiutrix'' and the ''Ala I Ulpia Contariorum'') with relative ease, but they marked the beginning of what was to come. In their aftermath, the military governor of Pannonia, Marcus Iallius Bassus, initiated negotiations with 11 tribes.^[3] In these negotiations, the Marcomannic king Ballomar, a Roman client, acted as a mediator. In the event, a truce was agreed upon and the tribes withdrew from Roman territory, but no permanent agreement was reached. In the same year, Vandals and the Sarmatian Iazyges invaded Dacia, and succeeded in killing its governor, Calpurnius Proculus. To counter them, ''Legio V Macedonica'', a veteran of the Parthian campaign, was moved to Moesia.

First Roman expedition in Pannonia (168)

During that time, as the plague was ravaging the Empire, Marcus Aurelius was unable to do more, and the punitive expedition he was planning to lead in person was postponed until 168. In the spring of that year, Marcus Aurelius, together with Lucius Verus set forth from Rome, and established their headquarters at Aquileia. The two emperors supervised a reorganization of the defences of Italy and the Illyricum, raised two new legions, ''Legio II Italica'' and ''Legio III Italica'', and crossed the Alps into Pannonia. The Marcomanni and the Victuali Vandals had crossed the Danube into the province, but, at least according to the ''Historia Augusta'', the approach of the imperial army to Carnuntum was apparently sufficient to persuade them to withdraw and offer assurances of good conduct. The two emperors returned to Aquileia for the winter, but on the way, in January 169, Lucius Verus died.^[4] Marcus returned to Rome to oversee his brother's funeral.

Roman expedition against the Iazyges and the great Germanic invasion of 170

In the autumn of 169, Marcus set out from Rome, together with his son-in-law Claudius Pompeianus, who would become his closest aide during the war. The Romans had gathered their forces and intended to subdue the independent tribes (especially the Iazyges), who lived between the Danube and the Roman province of Dacia. However, while the Roman army was entangled in this campaign, making little headway, several tribes used the opportunity to cross the frontier and raid Roman territory.
To the east, the Costoboci crossed the Danube, ravaged Thrace and descended the Balkans, reaching Eleusis, near Athens, where they destroyed the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries. At the same time, Didius Iulianus, the commander of the Rhine frontier, repelled another invasion of the Chatti and the Hermunduri, while the Chauci raided the shoreline of Gallia Belgica.
The most important and dangerous invasion however, was that of the Marcomanni in the west. Their leader, Ballomar, had formed a coalition of Germanic tribes. They crossed the Danube and achived a smashing victory over 20,000 Romans near Carnuntum. Ballomar then led the larger part of his host southwards towards Italy, while the remainder ravaged Noricum. The Marcomanni razed Opitergium (Oderzo) and besieged Aquileia. This was the first time hostile forces had entered Italy since 101 BC, when Gaius Marius defeated the Cimbri and Teutones. The army of praetorian prefect Furius Victorinus tried to relieve the city, but was defeated and its general slain.

The Roman counter-offensive and defeat of the Marcomanni

This disaster forced Marcus to re-evaluate his priorities. Forces from the various frontiers were dispatched against Ballomar. They came under the command of Claudius Pompeianus, with the future emperor Pertinax as one of his lieutenants. A new military command, the ''praetentura Italiae et Alpium'' was established to safeguard the roads into Italy, and the Danubian fleet was strengthened. Aquileia was relieved, and by the end of 171, the invaders had been evicted from Roman territory. Intense diplomatic activity followed, as the Romans tried to win over various barbarian tribes in preparation for a crossing of the Danube. A peace treaty was signed with the Quadi and the Iazyges, while the tribes of the Hasdingi Vandals and the Lacringi became Roman allies.
In 172, the Romans crossed the Danube into Marcomannic territory. Although few details are known, the Romans achieved success, subjugating the Marcomanni and their allies, the Varistae or Naristi and the Cotini. This fact is evident from the adoption of the title "''Germanicus''" by Marcus Aurelius, and the minting of coins with the inscription "''Germania capta''" ("subjugated Germania"). In 173, the Romans campaigned against the Quadi, who had broken their treaty and assisted their kin, and defeated and subdued them. In the next year, the Romans marched against the Iazyges, whereupon the Quadi deposed their pro-Roman king, Furtius, and installed his rival, Ariogaesus, in his place. Marcus Aurelius refused to recognize him, and turning back, deposed and exiled him to Alexandria.^[5] Thus, by late 174, the subjugation of the Marcomanni and their allies was complete. In typical Roman fashion, they were forced to surrender hostages and provide auxiliary contingents for the Roman army, while garrisons wre installed throughout their territory.
After this, the Romans focused their attention on the Iazyges living in the plain of the river Tisza (''expeditio sarmatica''). After a few victories, in 175, a treaty was signed. According to its terms, the Iazyges delivered 100,000 Roman prisoners and, in addition, provided 8,000 auxiliary cavalrymen, most of whom (5,500) were sent to Britain.^[6][7] Upon this, Marcus assumed the victory title "''Sarmaticus''".
Marcus Aurelius may have intended to campaign against the remaining tribes, and together with his recent conquests establish two new Roman provinces, ''Marcomannia'' and ''Sarmatia'', but whatever his plans, they were cut short by the rebellion of Avidius Cassius in the East.^[8]

Second Marcomannic War

Marcus marched eastwards with his army, accompanied by auxiliary detachments of Marcomanni, Quadi and Naristi under the ''procurator'' Valerius Maximianus. After the successful suppression of Cassius' revolt, the emperor returned to Rome for the first time in nearly 8 years. On 23 December 176, together with his son Commodus, he celebrated a joint triumph for his German victories ("''de Germanis''" and "''de Sarmatis''"). In commemoration of this, the Aurelian Column was erected, in imitation of Trajan's Column.
The respite was to be brief. In 177, the Quadi rebelled, followed soon by their neighbours, and Marcus once again headed north, to begin his second Germanic campaign (''secunda expeditio germanica''). He arrived at Carnuntum in August 178, and set out to quell the rebellion in a repeat of his first campaign, moving first against the Marcomanni, and in 179 against the Quadi. The praetorian prefect Tarutenius Paternus achieved a decisive victory against the Quadi, but on 17 March 180, the emperor died at Vindobona (modern Vienna).
His successor Commodus had little interest in pursuing the war. Against the advice of his senior generals, after negotiating a peace treaty with the Marcomanni and the Quadi, he left for Rome in early autumn 180, where he celebrated a triumph on October 22. Nevertheless, operations continued against the Iazyges, the Buri and the so-called "free Dacians" living between the Danube and [{Roman Dacia]]. Not much is known about this war, except that the Roman generals included Valerius Maximianus, Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. At any rate, the victories they achieved were deemed sufficient for Commodus to claim the title "''Germanicus Maximus''" in mid-182.

Aftermath

The war had exposed the weakness of Rome's northern frontier, and henceforth, half of the Roman legions (16 out of 33) would be stationed along the Danube and the Rhine. For the Germanic tribes, although for the moment checked, the Marcomannic wars were only the prelude of the great invasions that would eventually shatter the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries.

In popular culture

Two films, the 1964 ''The Fall of the Roman Empire'', and the 2000 ''Gladiator'' start with a fictional account of a final battle of the Marcomannic Wars.
In addition, in the 2004 film ''King Arthur'', Arthur and his companions are portrayed as descendants of the Iazyges deported as Roman auxiliaries to Britain.

References

1. ''Historia Augusta'', Marcus Aurelius, 12, note 92
2. ''Meditations'', Book 1, at the Internet Classics Archive
3. Cassius Dio, LXXII, p.12
4. ''Historia Augusta'', Lucius Verus, 9.7-11
5. Cassius Dio, LXXII, pp.26-28
6. Cassius Dio, LXXII, p.37
7. A branch of the Sarmatians, the Iazyges were much prized as heavy, or "cataphract", cavalry
8. ''Historia Augusta'', Marcus Aurelius, 24.5

Sources

Primary sources

★ The ''Historia Augusta'', Lives of Marcus Aurelius ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html 1&[★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html 2, ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html Lucius Verus and ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html Commodus (Loeb Classical Library edition).

★ Cassius Dio, ''Historia romana'', Books ★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html LXXII&★ class=wikiexternal target=_blank>.html LXXIII

★ Herodian, ''History of the Roman Empire since the Death of Marcus Aurelius'', Book I, Ch. 1-6

★ The column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, which depicts the campaign

Secondary sources

External links

★ Marco Aurelio y la frontera del Danubio

★ Marcus Aurelius and Barbarian Immigration in the Second Century Roman Empire

★ The Marcomannic Wars