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Battle of Strasbourg AI simulator
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Hub AI
Battle of Strasbourg AI simulator
(@Battle of Strasbourg_simulator)
Battle of Strasbourg
The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. The battle took place near Strasbourg, called Argentoratum in Ammianus Marcellinus' account, Argentorate in the Tabula Peutingeriana (section 2).
Although possibly outnumbered, the Roman army won a decisive victory after a hard-fought struggle with the Alamanni. With negligible casualties of their own, the Romans drove the Alamanni beyond the river, inflicting heavy losses. The Roman force, the imperial escort army of Julian, was small but of high quality. The battle was won by the skill of the Roman infantry, with the Roman cavalry initially performing poorly.
The battle was the climax of Julian's campaigns in 355–57 to evict barbarian marauders from Gaul and to restore the Roman defensive line of fortifications along the Rhine, which had been largely destroyed during the Roman civil war of 350–53. In the years following his victory at Strasbourg, Julian was able to repair and garrison the Rhine forts and impose tributary status on the Germanic tribes beyond the border.
By far the most detailed and reliable source for the battle, and Julian's Gallic campaign (355–60) generally, is the Res Gestae (Histories) of Ammianus Marcellinus, a contemporary historian. Ammianus was a Greek career soldier who joined the army before 350 and served until at least 363. Enlisted as a protector (cadet senior officer), he served as a staff officer under magister equitum Ursicinus and then under Julian himself in the latter's Persian campaign. Although he was not present at Strasbourg, he had experience of the Gallic front as he was involved in the suppression of the revolt of Claudius Silvanus, the magister equitum (commander-in-chief) in Gaul (355). However, his narrative reveals a passionate admiration of Julian and occasionally descends to the level of eulogy. Furthermore, as he was writing some 40 years after the event, it is likely that Ammianus relied heavily, if not exclusively, on Julian's own memoir of the Strasbourg campaign (which we know he published, but has been lost). Thus Ammianus' account probably reflects Julian's own propaganda. In addition, Ammianus' account is of uneven quality, with many gaps and some contradictory elements.
The late 5th-century Byzantine chronicler Zosimus's Nova Historia deals with the battle, and Julian's Gallic campaign in a summary fashion and adds little to Ammianus' account. However, Zosimus is useful on two accounts. One is that his account of the revolt of Magnentius (350–3) survives, unlike Ammianus', which was covered in the 13 lost books of his history. The other is that for the reign of Julian we have on the authority of the Patriarch Photius that for this section of his history Zosimus is an epitomator of the account of Eunapius of Sardis, who drew upon the memoirs of Julian's physician Oribasius.
The contemporary rhetorician Libanius delivered Julian's funeral oration in 363, whose text survives. This contains some details about the battle which are missing in Ammianus, which he presumably learnt from members of Julian's entourage. But because his oration was intended as a eulogy, not a historical narrative, his account of Julian's campaign is unreliable, and Ammianus' version is to be preferred where there is a contradiction.
The emperor Julian himself published a memoir of his campaigns on the Rhine, now lost. His Letter to the Athenians, an attempt to justify his rebellion against his cousin and senior emperor Constantius II, contains some details of the Rhine campaigns.
During the 3rd century, the small and fragmented tribes of Germania Libera ("free Germany" i.e. Germany outside the empire) apparently coalesced into large, loose confederations: the Franks (NW Germany), Alamanni (SW Germany) and Burgundians (Central Germany). Although riven by internal feuding, these confederations could mobilise large forces and may have presented a greater threat to the empire than previously thought.
Battle of Strasbourg
The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. The battle took place near Strasbourg, called Argentoratum in Ammianus Marcellinus' account, Argentorate in the Tabula Peutingeriana (section 2).
Although possibly outnumbered, the Roman army won a decisive victory after a hard-fought struggle with the Alamanni. With negligible casualties of their own, the Romans drove the Alamanni beyond the river, inflicting heavy losses. The Roman force, the imperial escort army of Julian, was small but of high quality. The battle was won by the skill of the Roman infantry, with the Roman cavalry initially performing poorly.
The battle was the climax of Julian's campaigns in 355–57 to evict barbarian marauders from Gaul and to restore the Roman defensive line of fortifications along the Rhine, which had been largely destroyed during the Roman civil war of 350–53. In the years following his victory at Strasbourg, Julian was able to repair and garrison the Rhine forts and impose tributary status on the Germanic tribes beyond the border.
By far the most detailed and reliable source for the battle, and Julian's Gallic campaign (355–60) generally, is the Res Gestae (Histories) of Ammianus Marcellinus, a contemporary historian. Ammianus was a Greek career soldier who joined the army before 350 and served until at least 363. Enlisted as a protector (cadet senior officer), he served as a staff officer under magister equitum Ursicinus and then under Julian himself in the latter's Persian campaign. Although he was not present at Strasbourg, he had experience of the Gallic front as he was involved in the suppression of the revolt of Claudius Silvanus, the magister equitum (commander-in-chief) in Gaul (355). However, his narrative reveals a passionate admiration of Julian and occasionally descends to the level of eulogy. Furthermore, as he was writing some 40 years after the event, it is likely that Ammianus relied heavily, if not exclusively, on Julian's own memoir of the Strasbourg campaign (which we know he published, but has been lost). Thus Ammianus' account probably reflects Julian's own propaganda. In addition, Ammianus' account is of uneven quality, with many gaps and some contradictory elements.
The late 5th-century Byzantine chronicler Zosimus's Nova Historia deals with the battle, and Julian's Gallic campaign in a summary fashion and adds little to Ammianus' account. However, Zosimus is useful on two accounts. One is that his account of the revolt of Magnentius (350–3) survives, unlike Ammianus', which was covered in the 13 lost books of his history. The other is that for the reign of Julian we have on the authority of the Patriarch Photius that for this section of his history Zosimus is an epitomator of the account of Eunapius of Sardis, who drew upon the memoirs of Julian's physician Oribasius.
The contemporary rhetorician Libanius delivered Julian's funeral oration in 363, whose text survives. This contains some details about the battle which are missing in Ammianus, which he presumably learnt from members of Julian's entourage. But because his oration was intended as a eulogy, not a historical narrative, his account of Julian's campaign is unreliable, and Ammianus' version is to be preferred where there is a contradiction.
The emperor Julian himself published a memoir of his campaigns on the Rhine, now lost. His Letter to the Athenians, an attempt to justify his rebellion against his cousin and senior emperor Constantius II, contains some details of the Rhine campaigns.
During the 3rd century, the small and fragmented tribes of Germania Libera ("free Germany" i.e. Germany outside the empire) apparently coalesced into large, loose confederations: the Franks (NW Germany), Alamanni (SW Germany) and Burgundians (Central Germany). Although riven by internal feuding, these confederations could mobilise large forces and may have presented a greater threat to the empire than previously thought.