Abritus (251 AD)

After repeated incursions into Moesia and Dacia by the Goths under Cniva, the Roman Emperor Gaius Messius Quintus Decius (often called “Trajan Decius”) moved to confront the barbarian invaders. Accompanied by his son Herennius Etruscus and his general Trebonianus Gallus, …

251

416

After repeated incursions into Moesia and Dacia by the Goths under Cniva, the Roman Emperor Gaius Messius Quintus Decius (often called “Trajan Decius”) moved to confront the barbarian invaders. Accompanied by his son Herennius Etruscus and his general Trebonianus Gallus, Decius led a major military expedition into the lower Danube, where he forced Cniva with his main army to abandon the siege of Nicopolis. Decius and the Romans pursued Cniva through difficult terrain and after a series of forced marches caught Cniva near Abritus. The Battle of Abrittus is also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii.Cniva had divided his forces prior to the battle, and even though the Romans easily defeated the enemy front line, when they pursued the retreating enemy into the swamps, Cniva’s concealed forces attacked. Cniva’s tactical maneuver proved to be very successful and the Romans were surprised and slaughtered. Decius’ son Herennius was killed early in the battle, but the emperor proclaimed that “the death of one soldier is not a great loss to the republic” and continued fighting. Decius himself was slain soon thereafter, gaining the distinction of being the first Roman emperor killed in battle against a foreign enemy. After the battle, Trebonianus Gallus was acclaimed the new emperor. With his army shattered, Gallus was forced to allow Cniva to leave with his spoils and promised to pay tribute in order to keep the Goths from invading the empire again.

Abrittus, Bulgaria

The Battle of Abritus, also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii, occurred near Abritus in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian tribesmen under the Gothic king Cniva. The Roman army of three legions was soundly defeated, and Roman emperors Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus were both killed in battle. They became the first Roman emperors to be killed by a foreign enemy. It was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Empire against Germanics, rated by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus as on par with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE, the Marcomannic invasion of Roman Italy in 170, and the Battle of Adrianople in 378.

Wikipedia: Battle of Abritus

Goth

Roman

Roman Gothic Wars