TheBattle of Vicus Helenawas a clash between theFranks,led byChlodio,andRoman soldiers,commanded by generalFlavius Aetius.The battle is attested in a limited number of late Roman and early Medieval sources, having occurred around the year 448, in an unidentified location namedVicus Helena,somewhere in theCivitas Atrebatium,modernArtois.[1]
| Battle of Vicus Helena | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFall of the Roman Empire andRoman–Germanic Wars | |||||||
 The battle took place somewhere inBelgica II | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Western Roman Empire | Franks | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Flavius Aetius Julius Majorian | Chlodio | ||||||
Reconstruction
editContext
editThe Franks werefoederatiof the Romans, but regularly plundered towns and villages within the Roman Empire, and somewhere between 445 and 450, Salian Franks under Chlodio conquered the cities ofTurnacum(modernTournai) andCameracum(Cambrai), which became centres of Frankish power.[2]The capture ofCameracummust have happened after 443, because Gregory mentions theBurgundianshad already settled east of the riverRhône.[3]Next, the Franks expanded towards theriver Somme.[3]Around 448, the city ofNemetocenna(modernArras) was probably sacked by the Franks as well.[1]
Battle
editRoman generalMajorian,who would become the Western Roman emperor in 457, reportedly suppressed a revolt of theBagaudaeinArmoricain 448, and then successfully defendedTuronum(Tours) against a siege.[3]'Shortly thereafter', according to Sidonius, the Franks led by 'Cloio' (Chlodio), who were holding awedding reception,were ambushed by the Romans nearVicus Helena.[3]Aetius directed the operations while Majorian fought with the cavalry.[4]The Romans emerged victorious.[3]
Sources
editMost surviving information about the Battle of Vicus Helena comes from thePanegyricto Majorian,written in praise of Majorian's military exploits in 458 bySidonius Apollinaris:
Cum bella timentes defendit Turonos, aberas. Post tempore parvo pugnastis pariter, Francus qua Cloio patentes Atrebatum terras pervaserat. Hic coeuntes claudebant angusta vias arcuque subactum vicum Helenam flumenque simul sub tramite longo artus suppositis trabibus transmiserat agger. Illic te posito pugnabat ponte sub ipso Maiorianus eques. Fors ripae colle propinquo Barbaricus resonabat hymen, Scythicisque choreis nubebat flavo similars nove nupta marito. Hos ergo, ut perhibent, stravit; crepitabat ad ictus cassis et oppositis hastarum verbera thorax arcebat squamis, donec conversa fugatus hostis terga dedit.[5]
When [Majorian] defended the inhabitants of Tours who feared the war, you [=Aetius] were absent. Shortly thereafter, reunited, you fought the Frank Cloio, who had occupied the plains of theAtrebates.Here, various roads came together narrowed by adefile;next, Vicus Helena could be seen forming an arc, then one could find a river crossed by a bridge made ofwooden planks.You [=Aetius] were there; Majorian the knight fought at the head of the bridge. Here was heard, resounding on the next hill, the songs of a wedding celebrated by the barbarians dancing in the manner of the Scythians; two spouses with blonde hair then united. [Majorian], as is reported, defeated the barbarians. His helmet sounded under the blows, and the spears were pushed back by histhick-meshcuirass,until at last the enemy gave way, disbanded, and fled.[5][3]
— Sidonius Apollinaris,Panegyric to Majorian(Carmen 5, 210–218.)
Some circumstantial information is provided byGregory of Toursin hisHistory of the Franks(Book 2, Chapter 9).[3]
Location and date
editFor centuries, scholars have not been able to locateVicus Helena,nor been able to determine the precise date of the battle. InThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireVolume VI (1789),Edward Gibbonstated that 'both the name and the place are discovered by modern geographers atLens'.[6]Writing for theMagasin encyclopédiquein 1797, Guilmot claimed to have discovered it as the village ofÉvin,on the road between Tournai and Arras.[7]Alexandre-Joseph-Hidulphe Vincent published an essay in 1840, arguing that neither Lens norHesdin(two popular candidates in his time) was plausible, but thatAllainesnear theMont Saint-Quentinand the town ofPéronnewas the lostVicus Helena.[8]Hubert le Bourdellès (1984) suggestedSaint-Amand Abbey,which used to be known asElnon(e).[9]Tony Jaques (2007) went withHélesmesin the year 431.[10]De Boone (1954) connected Sidonius' reference to a frozenLoireriver to the exceptionally harsh winter of 442–3 mentioned by theAnnalsofMarcellinus Comes,but Lanting & van der Plicht (2010) rejected this, as Marcellinus doesn't mention any harsh winter in Gaul, and focused mostly on the Eastern Roman Empire; instead, the latter two focused on the military career of Majorian (Sidonius called him aiuvenisor 'young man' in 458, while he had left active military service before 454, suggesting a birth around 420), concluding 445–450 to be the most likely period for the battle.[2]Dierkens & Périn (2003) noted that Majorian had defeated the Bagaudae and freed Tours just before the battle of Vicus Helena; they dated the former two events (and therefore Vicus Helena as well) to 448, and endorsed the Hélesmes hypothesis.[3]Alexander O'Hara (2018) suggested 'in around 448' at 'an unidentified site in the Artois', positing that it may be connected to the destruction of Arras around that time as well, although it is unknown whether Arras was sacked by Huns or Franks.[1]
Primary sources
edit- Sidonius Apollinaris,Panegyric to Majorian.Carmen V, 210–218. (458).[2]
- Gregory of Tours,History of the Franks II,Chapter 9.[2]
References
edit- ^abcO'Hara, Alexander (2018).Jonas of Bobbio and the Legacy of Columbanus: Sanctity and Community in the Seventh Century.Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 42.ISBN9780190858025.Retrieved1 September2020.
- ^abcdLanting, J. N.; van der Plicht, J. (2010)."De 14C-chronologie van de Nederlandse Pre- en Protohistorie VI: Romeinse tijd en Merovische periode, deel A: historische bronnen en chronologische thema's".Palaeohistoria 51/52 (2009/2010)(in Dutch). Groningen: Groningen Institute of Archaeology. p. 45–46.ISBN9789077922736.Retrieved1 September2020.
- ^abcdefghDierkens, Alain; Périn, Patrick (2003)."The 5th-century advance of the Franks in Belgica II: history and archaeology".Essays on the Early Franks.Eelde: Barkhuis. p. 170.ISBN9789080739031.Retrieved7 September2020.
- ^Chronica Gallica Anno 452,133 (s.a. 438); Sid. Apol. carm. 5.210-218. Cited in Jones, p. 27. Jan Willem Drijvers,Helena Augusta,BRILL,ISBN90-04-09435-0,p. 12.
- ^abSidonius Apollinaris (with French translation by J. F. Grégoire and F. L. Collombet (1836).Oeuvres de C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius(in French). Lyon/Paris: Rusand. p. 73–74.Retrieved8 September2020.
- ^Edward Gibbon (1906)."Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. 6".Online Library of Liberty.Retrieved8 September2020.
- ^Millin de Grandmaison, Aubin-Louis, ed. (September 1797)."Découverte du Vicus Helena".Magasin Encyclopédique(in French).3(9).Maison de Cluny:162–175.Retrieved7 September2020.
- ^Vincent, Alexandre-Joseph-Hidulphe (1840).Dissertation sur la position géographique du Vicus Helena(in French). Lille: Imprimerie de L. Danel.
- ^le Bourdellès, Hubert (1984)."Le problème linguistique dans l'affaire du Vicus Helena".Revue du Nord(in French).260:351–359.Retrieved1 September2020.
- ^Jaques, Tony (2007).Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN978-0313335389.