Battle of Naissus The Battle of Naissus took place in September of 268 between the armies of the Goths and forces of the Roman Empire, led by Gallienus as emperor and the future Emperor Aurelian as cavalry commander. Background The battle of Naissus came about as a result of a massive invasion of the Goths into Roman territory in late 267 and in the early months of 268. 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. Gallienus 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 autumn began. There is some dispute about who commanded the Roman army in the ensuing battle, as Gallienus died at about the same time and Claudius, known to history as Claudius II 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. The battle Gallienus led a comitatus, a highly-mobile army composed mainly by cavalry units; the comitatus was probably compsed by the Praetorians and vexillationes from the legions: II Parthica I Minervia XXX Ulpia Victrix VIII Augusta XXII Primigenia I, II and III Italica X, XIII and XIV Gemina Legio I Adiutrix and II Audiutrix IV Flavia Felix VII and XI Claudia V Macedonica In the beginning, the Dalmatian Roman cavalry defeated a thousand Gothic horsemen. The Goths, which had the advantage of the numbers, pushed back the Romans; the Roman army, however, did not break, and counterattacked, with the help of a manouver of the Aurelian cavalry, which routed the vaunted Goth heavy cavalry and took the Goths' back by surprise; the Goths were obliged to return to their forified camp, but again the Roman cavalry 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. Gallienus, however, could not destroy the Goths, because he was obliged to return Italy (maybe forced by the Aureolus revolt); the Goths broke the Roman siege, and succeeded leaving the Roman empire, but at the cost of many casualities. Aftermath 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. FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Naissus