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Battle of Brescia (312)

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Battle of Brescia
Part ofCivil wars of the Tetrarchy

Roman Empire (311)
DateSummer of 312
Location
Brescia,in the north ofItaly.
Result Constantinian victory
Belligerents
Constantinian forces Maxentian forces
Commanders and leaders
Constantine the Great Ruricius Pompeianus
Strength
Unknown Unknown
Casus belli:Avenge the death ofMaxentius' father.

TheBattle of Brescia(Latin:Brixia) was a confrontation that took place during the summer of 312, between theRoman emperorsConstantine the GreatandMaxentiusin the town ofBrescia,in northernItaly.Maxentiusdeclared war onConstantineon the grounds that he wanted to avenge the death of his fatherMaximian(r. 285–308, 310), who had committed suicide after being defeated by him.Constantinewould respond with a massive invasion of Italy.

The Battle of Brescia took place after theBattle of Augusta Taurinorum(modernTurin), and preceded thepenultimate battlebetween the two emperors, which was fought nearVerona.

Background

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Head of theColossus of Constantine,left. On the right, bust ofMaxentius.

TheRoman Empirewas divided into two parts since 293, each ruled by anAugustus(major emperor) and aCaesar(minor emperor). This form of government was calledtetrarchy.In 306, the Augustus of the WestConstantius Chlorus(r. 293–306) died at Eboracum (present-dayYork,England),[1]and his soldiers —cantoned in this region ofBritain— then proclaimed his sonConstantineas his successor. However, the Augustus of the East,Galerius(r. 293–311), elevatedFlavius Severus(r. 305–307) to the position of Augustus, since according to the prerogatives of the tetrarchic system, in force at the time, and being the western Caesar, he should be the one to succeed the dead Augustus. After some negotiations,GaleriusrelegatedConstantineto the position of Caesar, which he eventually accepted and allowedFlavius Severusto assume the position of Augustus of the western half of the empire.[2]

Maxentius(r. 306–312), son ofMaximian(r. 285–305, 310), the Augustus predecessor ofConstantius Chlorus,envious ofConstantine's position, declared himself emperor of Italy with the title ofPrincepsin October 306, then summoned his father, now retired, to rule together.Galerius,upon learning of these events, entrusted the AugustusFlavius Severuswith the task of crushing the conspiracy. In 307, commanding a large army,Flavius Severusmanaged to besiege Rome, but was defeated and subsequently executed.[2]In the summer of 307, the AugustusGaleriusdecided to invade Italy in order to avenge the death ofFlavius Severus,however, his army was not large enough to besiege all the fortifications of Rome, which is why he had to withdraw.[2][3]In 308, during the celebration of the Conference of Carnunus, convened byGalerius,the officerLicinius(r. 308–324) was appointed Augustus of the West and, therefore, was to overthrow the usurper, but he preferred not to participate in the affair.[4]That same year, sometime before the conference,Maximianhad tried to depose his son, the plan failed and he had to flee to the court ofConstantineinGaul.[3][5]

In 310,Maximianalso attempted to deposeConstantine,but was defeated and forced to commit suicide.[6][7][8][9][10]The following year,Maxentius,seeking revenge for the death of his father, declared war onConstantine,who responded by invading northern Italy at the head of forty thousand soldiers.[11][12]Zosimosclaimed that the invading army consisted of ninety thousandlegionariesand eight thousandequitesofGermanicandCelticorigin, in addition to part of the army stationed in Britain.[13]The Constantinian army moved inland after theSiege of Segusium(modernSusa,in Italy)[14]and confronted troops ofMaxentiusencamped in the vicinity of Augusta Taurinorum (modernTurin).[15][16][17]Constantinedefeated them and continued on to Mediolanum (modernMilan), where they opened the gates to him. He remained in the city until mid-summer, then continued his march.[18][19]

Battle

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At that time,Maxentiushad appointedRuricius Pompeianusasprefect of the praetoriumand set up his headquarters inVerona.Aware ofConstantine's proximity,Ruriciussent a contingent ofheavy cavalry—the size of which is unknown— to the west, in order to block the invading army.Constantine,realizing that his path was obstructed, ordered his own cavalry to move forward and charge the enemy. The battle would have lasted only a short time, with the Constantinian cavalry easily defeating their opponents, who, once disbanded, were forced to retreat back toVerona.[19]

Consequences

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With this new victory, the way to the base of operations ofMaxentius' army was open.Constantinetook the opportunity to move quickly towardsVerona,where he would engage in anew battleagainst a large enemy contingent led byRuricius Pompeianus.This would be the penultimate victory in his successful campaign in Italy.[12][20]From here,Constantinewould march on to Rome to faceMaxentiusdirectly at theBattle of the Milvian Bridge.The victory of the former led to the end of the tetrarchy.[21][22][23]

References

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  1. ^DiMaio (1996c)
  2. ^abcDiMaio (1996b)
  3. ^abDiMaio (1997a)
  4. ^DiMaio (1997c)
  5. ^DiMaio (1997b)
  6. ^Pohlsander (2004,p. 17)
  7. ^Barnes (1981,pp. 34–35)
  8. ^Elliott (1996,p. 43)
  9. ^Lenski (2006,pp. 65–66)
  10. ^Odahl (2010,p. 93)
  11. ^Anonymous (3rd-4th centuries). (9) 5.1-3
  12. ^abMacMullen (1969,p. 71)
  13. ^Ridley (2017,II.15.1)
  14. ^Odahl (2010,p. 101)
  15. ^Barnes (1981,p. 41)
  16. ^Jones (1978,p. 70)
  17. ^Odahl (2010,pp. 101–102)
  18. ^Barnes (1981,pp. 41–42)
  19. ^abOdahl (2010,p. 103)
  20. ^Odahl (2010,pp. 103–104)
  21. ^Jones (1978,p. 71)
  22. ^Barnes (1981,p. 42)
  23. ^Curran (2000,p. 67)

Bibliography

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