During the 4th century CE the Roman Empire
was in a deep crisis. Both politically and militarily the empire
was unstable and had gone through a tumultuous period of Barbarian invasions and disastrous
civil wars... The tumultuous years after the death of Constantine
the Great saw his sons Constans and Constantius II emerge as emperors of the Western and Eastern
Roman Empire. But, after years of political turmoil Constantius
II remained the sole surviving son of the Great Emperor, when his brother Constans was
overthrown by the commander of an elite unit of his legions, Flavius Magnentius. Constantius reacted almost immediately. After concluding a truce with the Persians
he consolidated his forces and marched against the usurper and his brother’s murderer. He eventually faced Magnentius in Pannonia,
in the disastrous Battle of Mursa that saw massive casualties for both sides but proved
to be a Pyrrhic victory for Constantius. After a second and final battle in southern
France, the Battle of Mons Seleucus, Magnentius was finally crushed and Constantius remained
the sole and undisputed ruler of the Empire. The disastrous civil war that lasted for 3
years stripped the empire of thousands of irreplaceable legionaries and left many regions
virtually undefended. It was during this period that various Germanic
tribes took advantage of the defensive gaps and began a series of attacks and raids along
the Rhine frontier. It should be noted that there are some passing
references in our sources which indicate that some Germanic tribes may had been invited
by Constantius in order to hinder Magnentius during their civil war, but this fact cannot
be determined with certainty. Nevertheless, large Germanic bands were now
roaming freely across Gaul. The victorious Constantius appointed Silvanus
a Frankish born general as magister militum of Gaul with 13000 troops under his command,
and with the main portion of the army Constantius marched against the Alemanni and succeeded
in driving them out of the region of Raetia, before binding them with a treaty of alliance. But while he was successful in restoring the
situation throughout the ravaged Gallic countryside, Silvanus too became embroiled in court intrigue,
declaring himself Emperor in 355. However, his rebellion against Constantius
didn’t last long, as Silvanus was murdered by his own men only 28 days later. His death created another leadership vacuum
and it wasn’t long before Germanic raiding bands renewed their attacks on Gaul. With the frontier in tatters the barbarians,
driven by a ferocious leader named Chnodomar, were able to raid a large number of cities,
enslave 20.000 Roman citizens and capture nearly all frontier fortresses along the Rhine. With the situation critical, the overly suspicious,
borderline-paranoid Constantius needed a right hand man that he could trust, so his attention
turned to his immediate family members. His choices were limited, however, due to
the diligence with which he systematically exterminated those close to him. But by a stroke of fortune, the only surviving
relative of Constantius was a young man by the name of Julian. He would become known to history as Julian
the Philosopher, or as his enemies called him “Julian the Apostate”. At 23 years of age, Julian was stationed in
Athens and had a reputation for being a bookworm, and up until that point he spent most of his
life studying philosophy and history. By immersing himself into the classics he
gradually moved away from Christianity and had secretly adopted the religion and outlook
of his classical heroes of Greco-Roman antiquity. It was this complex and unique young man that
accompanied Constantius to Mediolanum. The Emperor appointed him as his “Caesar”,
thinking that without any experience in military affairs Julian would be easy to control, and
dispatched him to winter in southern Gaul. This was to be the beginning of one of the
most brilliant campaigns in history. Julian spend the winter of 355-356 in Vienna
preparing himself for the upcoming campaign, studying the military exploits of famous historical
personalities and taking notes. His first task was to link up his army with
that of the other high ranking official in Gaul, Marcelus who had succeeded Silvanus
after his downfall, and who was wintering with his own army in Remi. This movement involved a march through a territory
that was swarming with huge Germanic raiding bands, some of them more numerous than Julian’s
contingent. Moving rapidly Julian was able to drive off
a large band of barbarians who were besieging the city of Augustodunum. When he finally reached Reims he consulted
with his officers and decided, despite the advice of his generals, to follow a decisive
course of action and march straight at the source of the problem in order to recapture
the area of what is today Alsace. On his way to Brotomagus, Julian was ambushed
by a large Germanic force. The Germans, using their superior knowledge
of the topography and the dense mist of that day, attacked a couple of Julian’s rear-guard
legions and nearly destroyed them. They were ultimately saved by the timely intervention
of nearby elite regiments that heard the shouts and clanging of steel in the distance. When the army was finally approaching Brotomagus,
Julian was able to drive off yet another large band of raiders. After a brief assessment of the situation
he set out to recover the city of Cologne. While marching along the Rhine he faced little
to no resistance and eventually re-captured the largely destroyed and abandoned city,
unopposed. Shortly afterwards he was able to conclude
a peace treaty with the Franks. It was an agreement of great strategic value
for the Roman effort, as the treaty pacified a large portion of the Rhine frontier and
enabled Julian to focus his efforts and resources against the Alemanni. With Cologne recaptured and the peace treaty
with the Franks secured, Julian departed for winter quarters at Agendicum. However, in order to alleviate the supply
shortages and distribute the burden, Julian dispersed his troops, sending Marcelus with
the largest portion of the army to winter at Dirocortorum. The “Caesar” with his few forces appeared
as an easy target for the marauding Alemanni and that was enough to entice them to besiege
him. For one month the Alemanni surrounded and
besieged Julian. While he had the opportunity to display his
leadership, coordinating the defense and encouraging his troops, the “barbarians” lacked the
necessary expertise to breach the fortified city, and despite their vast numerical superiority
they were eventually forced to retreat. During the siege Marcellus, even though he
had under his command the largest part of the army, failed to come to the aid of Julian. Whether or not his failure to assist the “Caesar”
was due to cowardice or personal animosity against Julian is still unclear. Constantius decided to dismiss him after receiving
a letter from Julian that described Marcellus’ conduct and replaced him with a new general
who was more compatible with Julian, a man called Severus. For the campaigning season of 357, Constantius
had formulated an impressive plan, aiming to crush the Germanic raiders once and for
all. In a gigantic pincer movement Julian would
advance from Agendicum while at the same time Constantius would dispatch a large army of
25.000 troops from Raetia, under the command of general Barbatio. Their objective was to unite near Strasbourg
and trap the Alemanni within the pincer, then cut them to pieces. A complicated and ambitious plan, that was
uniquely large in scale. However, things did not go according to plan,
and in a confirmation of the old saying that “no plan survives first contact with the
enemy”, a large unidentified band of Germanic marauders moved between the two Roman armies
and advanced against Lugdunum, ravaging and looting the area as they went. But after their attempt to quickly capture
Lugdunum failed, the raiders were now trapped and attempted to retreat. Julian immediately dispatched three contingents
of cavalry southwards to deal with the Germans, but in Barbatios’ sector most of the barbarians
managed to escape and reach the Rhine uncontested. It is not entirely clear but apparently Barbatio
hindered Julian’s commanders from cutting off the rest of the retreating Germans, either
because of personal animosity towards Julian or because he was following Constantius’
instructions, who may have wanted to see the “Caesar” humiliated. From Durocortorum Julian pursued the barbarians
vigorously and in their turn the barbarians blocked the Col de Saverne with tree trunks
and withdrew on the islets that dotted the river Rhine. Julian, determined to flush out the Germans from their little islands contemplated his options. Once again Barbatio was quite unwilling to
offer any kind of assistance to the Caesar. With no apparent way to cross the Rhine and
reach the Islands, Julian sent his general Bainobaudes with an elite detachment of lightly
armed auxilia to deal with the Germans. The river was fordable at many points due
to a summer drought, so the legionaries, using their shields as rafts to stay afloat, managed
to reach one of the islands. The Alemanni were caught totally off guard
and all of them were massacred. The Romans repeated the exact same thing on
a few nearby islands and the Germans eventually evacuated them altogether and retreated to
the east bank of the Rhine. Julian now attempted to secure his strategic
advantage by setting his legionaries to rebuild the key fortress of Tres-tabernae, which oversaw
and controlled the preferred invasion route of the Alamanni into Gaul. At the same time Barbatio’s force marched
northwards along the river Rhine in order to eventually link up with Julian and accomplish the overall strategic objective of the whole campaign. But it was not to be… Either because of his incompetence or because
of his unwillingness to collaborate and assist Julian, he never made it. While on his way to Tres-Tabernae his vanguard
was ambushed by a large Germanic horde. Barbatio, instead of fighting, retreated in
disarray leaving most of his army’s provisions behind, eventually falling all the way back
to Raetia. Then, without Julian’s permission and in
the middle of the campaigning season, Barbatio sent his legions across the Alps into winter
quarters in Italy… essentially abandoning the campaign and Julian in the midst of the
operations. As Barbatio incredibly wasn’t punished for
his actions, it is hard to believe that he wasn’t acting on Constantinus’ orders. Whatever the case, with his forces out of
the picture, Julian was left with only around 13.000 troops to face the Germanic hordes. Chnodomar, after being informed about the
strength of Julian’s army, understood that this was an exceptional opportunity to get
rid of the Roman forces in Gaul for good. He ordered a mass mobilization of all of his
vassal kings, gathering their bands near Argentoratum. A huge Germanic army of about 25.000 to 35.000
men spent three days crossing the Rhine, eventually gathering near modern day Strasbourg. Chnodomar was so confident of his victory
that he even sent an ultimatum to Julian, demanding from him to immediately evacuate
the area. Julian was now faced with a critical judgment
call. He could either retreat to the fortifications
of Tres Tabernae and face the horde from a well defended position, or he could march
against the enemy and face them in a decisive pitched battle, in which the Romans traditionally had the upper hand, but they were now massively outnumbered. With his legionaries clamoring for a fight
and his officers advising in favor of a drastic course of action since the Germans were for
once united into a single army something that offered the prospect of a decisive victory,
the young Caesar needed no further persuasion. The exploits of his classical heroes must’ve
been vivid in his mind. Like Julius Caesar before him, he would face
his enemies proactively. At dawn Julian marched his army towards Argentoratum. He finally came in sight of the Germanic army
at around midday. The Caesar ordered a general halt, gathered
his officers and assessed the situation. His initial order was for his army to encamp
and face the enemy the next day when they are properly rested, but his men and his officers
objected fiercely against this, exhorting Julian to immediately engage the enemy while
their morale was high. Julian decided to advance... Around the same time Chnodomar was alerted
by his lookouts and marched his army towards his chosen field of battle just a few miles
away from his base near Argentoratum. Julian arrayed his army in two lines, this
was a standard formation for the period. His numerical inferiority meant that his infantry
had to be widely spaced apart if he wanted to retain the depth of formation. The legions were placed at the center and
the elite auxilia palatina regiments to his flanks. To his extreme left flank Julian had positioned
Severus with a strong contingent of the army and to his extreme right he had positioned
all of his cavalry, including the elite and heavily armored cataphractarii units. It was here that he placed his best hope of
achieving a quick victory. He positioned himself with his escort of 200
scholares-horsemen in between the two lines just behind the archers. The Germanic army was lined up in a similar
fashion, with the bulk of their infantry at the center of the formation and the entire
cavalry positioned at the left flank opposing their Roman counterpart. Chnodomar understood well the danger that
the roman cavalry posed, so he came up with a cunning stratagem by interspersing lightly
armed foot warriors among his cavalrymen. He also had another trick up his sleeve - his
right flank was covered by dense woods and within those woods Chnodomar’s nephew, a
young man with the greek name “Serapio”, commanded a substantial force of warriors,
preparing an ambush for the Romans. The battle began when a few warriors to the
right side of Chnodomar’s formation couldn’t resist the temptation of attacking Severus. They broke ranks and eagerly charged thus
giving away their position and probably compromising their own meticulously prepared ambush. Julian, with his escort, moved closer in order
to oversee the conduct of his left flank. Severus’s troops stood firm and were able to eventually push back the impetuous Germanic warriors. Soon after, the two armies marched against
each other and threw their javelins, engaging in combat all over the front. It was now that Julian’s cavalry charged
against Chnodomar’s riders. The 3000 strong Roman horsemen with their
elite cataphractarii clashed against the 4000 strong Germanic tribal cavalrymen. The lightly armed-infantry that Chnodomar
mixed with his cavalry proved to be decisive. Alemannic warriors infiltrated themselves
underneath the Roman heavily armored units and stabbed their horses. Those riders who fell were easily dispatched
with daggers and knives. Mounting loses and the combined pressure of
the Germanic cavalry caused an unexpected and catastrophic general Roman rout. The survivors turned their horses around and
fled, eventually clashing with and wreaking havoc to their own right wing. The left flank of the Alemanni combined with
the victorious light armed warriors charged the disorganized Roman right wing. The Elite Auxilia palatina managed to slow
down the Germanic onslaught for some time, but gaps were beginning to appear in the line
of the Roman infantry. The situation was eventually stabilized by
the timely intervention from the right flank of Julian’s second reserve infantry. Julian noticed the severe situation that was
developing on his right wing and galloped to its’ aid, eventually managing to halt
the rout of a portion of his cavalry and return it to the fray. Waving his conspicuous standard, a purple
dragon, he exclaimed: "Whither are we fleeing, my most valiant men? Do you know not that flight never leads to
safety, but shows the folly of a useless effort? Let us return to our companions, to be at
least sharers in their coming glory, if it is without consideration that we are abandoning
them as they fight for their country." The victorious Germanic cavalry, turned and
headed towards the other side of the field in an apparent attempt to combine with the
troops of Serapio and create a massive striking force. While the whole battle was hanging in the
balance, the Alemanni warriors made their final and decisive push at the center of the
Roman formation. A group of chieftains and elite warriors combined
and formed a dense triangular mass, furiously charging the Roman shieldwall. The Roman first line buckled and gave way,
separating at the center and creating a gap through which the Alemmani charged against
the second Roman line. The large number of warriors began to poor
in through the gap in the center, something that inadvertently caused them to gradually
get hemmed inside a “crescent” or Roman soldiers. And now the elite Primani legion from the
second line of Julian’s army marched forward and blocked the advance of the victorious
Germans. By forming an impenetrable shield wall the
Romans nullified the Germanic advantage. The barbarians, unable to break through, were
now vulnerable on their flanks. Not long after, the Roman general gave the
order and the second line advanced in unison, attacking the enemy from all sides. Meanwhile on the Roman left wing Severus was
able to drive out and defeat the Germanic warriors that were laying in ambush inside
the woods. That was more than the barbarians could handle and now the tide of battle turned against them. Frustrated by the lack of progress and the
mounting loses, hemmed in on both sides, the Alemanni began to individually abandon the battlefield, which turned into an all-out rout. The victorious Julian would not allow his
enemy to escape unscathed. He chased down the fleeing Alemanni until
they eventually reached the Rhine. Furthermore, he was eventually able to corner
down and capture Chnodomar himself who was surrounded and forced to surrender to a Roman
cavalry detachment. Around 6000 Germanic warriors perished on
the battlefield and probably thousands more drowned while trying to swim across the Rhine. In contrast the Roman casualties were superficial
as they only lost 243 men in total. It was a glorious triumph for Julian and a
unique instance for the Western Roman empire. It would be one of the last major victories
that Rome ever achieved on its western frontier. Flavius Claudius Julianus would continue his
campaign against the Germanic tribes for a few more years, making peace treaties and
restoring order. After a brief dispute with his cousin Constantius,
he would eventually be proclaimed emperor by his soldiers and spark a civil war. Just before the two armies clashed Constantius
would die and declare Julian as his successor. The new emperor will eventually embark on
a campaign against the Persians attempting to emulate his childhood hero, Alexander the Great.
