Marcomannic Wars
The struggle against the Germans and Sarmatians occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations.[c] Secure for many years following his ascension to power, the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius never left Italy; neither did he embark on substantial conquests, all the while allowing his provincial legates to command his legions entirely.[4] The resulting war between Parthia and Rome lasted from 161 to 166 AD (under the joint rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus) and, although it ended successfully, its unforeseen consequences for the Empire were great.[6] At the same time, in Central Europe during the second-century AD, the first movements of the Great Migrations were occurring, as the Goths began moving south-east from their ancestral lands at the mouth of River Vistula (see Wielbark culture), putting pressure on the Germanic tribes from the north and east.[9] Up until these subsequent wars, the Marcomanni and Quadi generally enjoyed amicable relations and access to the Empire's wares—archaeological evidence of Roman household goods and practices illustrate such contact.[11] By the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 161 AD, the pressures along the Roman frontier had reached a critical point as the Germanic tribes along its borders at the Rhine and Danube came to the conclusion that their survival meant breaking into Rome's territories.Since the Romans were already fighting the Parthians at this time, the diplomatic measures (bellum suspensum) in ending this conflict were considered a success, but it remains unclear which tribes had even participated in the original incursions.The Marcomanni and the Victuali 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.[19] To raise money for the campaign, Marcus was forced to auctioned off property that belonged to the imperial household, a move that was "the only way" to generate revenue instead of increasing taxes on an already burdened populace, so quips historian Michael Kulikowski.Several authors, like Marcus Aurelius' biographer Frank McLynn, accepting the date of defeat near Carnuntum as 170, place the great Germanic invasion itself three years earlier.They maintain it happened in 167 because by the year 170 the Germans would have been checked by the Praetentura Italiae et Alpium—the fortifications which were erected in 168–169 to block a breakthrough of the Alps to Northern Italy—whereas all sources confirm it to be a military walkover.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.The Quadi were chased deeper into Greater Germania westwards, where the praetorian prefect Publius Tarrutenius Paternus later achieved another decisive victory against them, but on 17 March 180, Marcus Aurelius died at Vindobona (modern Vienna).This was not a new occurrence, but this time the numbers of settlers required the creation of two new frontier provinces on the left shore of the Danube, Sarmatia and Marcomannia, including today's Czech Republic and Slovakia.[j] The Germanic tribes were temporarily checked, but the Marcomannic Wars were only the prelude of the invasions that would eventually disassemble and end the Western Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Roman–Germanic Warsrelief sceneColumn of Marcus AureliusDanubeStatus quo ante bellumHungarian PlainMoraviaSlovakiaBavariaRoman EmpireMarcomanniIazygesNaristiChattiChauciLangobardiHermunduriCotiniVandalsAstingiLacringiVictohaliRoxolaniBastarnaeCostobociMarcus AureliusLucius VerusTiberius ClaudiusCommodusPraetorian prefectsTitus FuriusMarcus RufusMarcus MacriniusPublius PaternuslegatiPublius Helvius PertinaxMarcus Claudius FrontoMarcus Didius JulianusGaius Pescennius NigerDecimus Clodius AlbinusM. Valerius MaximianusGaius Vettius SabinianusTitus Vitrasius PollioBallomarAriogaesusBanadaspusZanticusFull list of participating military unitscohortsWarfare between Romans and Germanic peoplesCimbrian WarNoreiaBurdigalaArausioAquae SextiaeVercellaeGallic WarsVosgesClades LollianaRoman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)ArbaloLupia RiverTeutoburg ForestPontes LongiIdistavisoAngrivarian Wallparticipating Roman unitsCarnuntumHarzhornNicopolis ad IstrumPhilippopolisAbritusThessalonicaThermopylaeNaissusMediolanumLake BenacusPlacentiaLingonesVindonissaDurocortorumArgentoratumSoliciniumCampi CanniniNoviodunumGothic War (376–382)MarcianopleAd SalicesDibaltumAdrianopleAdrianople SiegeConstantinoplePollentiaVeronaFlorenceFaesulaeRome (410)Massilia1st Arelate2nd ArelateNarbonneToulouseChâlons3rd ArelateOrleansDéols4th ArelateNervasos MountainsTarracoHippo RegiusCarthageRome (455)AgrigentumCorsicaGariglianoCartagenaCape BonGroans of the BritonsAnglo-Saxon settlement of BritainTreason of the Long KnivesWippedesfleotMercredesburneMons BadonicusDyrhamWoden's BurgVandalic War