Battle of the Tragisama

Location
 25,000• 3,000 cavalry
 2,200 killed 1,000 wounded

The **Battle of the Tragisama** was fought in 1030 AUC along the Tragisama River, between the Roman army of Marcus Ceionius and a barbarian army of Alemanni and Longiones. Marcus Ceionius, commanding the Roman forces, was ambushed and nearly defeated.

## Background

The Crisis of the third century had seen the loss of the region of Agri Decumates, between the Rhine and the Danube rivers, which had significantly weakened the defense along the Rhine. The region was now occupied by a confederation of Alemanni and Longiones, under the joint leadership of the kings Magnericus and Semnon, who occasionally launched raids into Roman territory. In 1030 Aurelian sent Marcus Ceionius to the region to take back the vital region.

By 8 August Ceionius' army had crossed the Rhine and began advancing along the river's north bank. He had learned from some captured Alemanni men that the main barbarian force had gathered near the town of Taroduna, and the Roman army quickly began marching towards it. Taroduna was the former oppidum of Tarodunum, and situated in a valley along the Tragisama River.

## Opposing forces and deployment

### Roman

The Roman army was about 25,000 strong. It consisted of several auxillary regiments and four legions: Legio III Italica under Constantius, Legio XXII Primigenia under Velthurius, Legio VIII Augusta under Proculus, Legio X Gemina under Ceionius' personal command. Diocles was in command of most of the cavalry. The Roman army was arrayed in a standard marching column. In the front of the column Diocles led a vanguard of 2000 cavalry, behind them were the axillary infantry, and behind them were the legions (ordered III Italica, XXII Primigenia, VIII Augusta, and X Gemina). At the end of the column was Ceionius himself, commanding the tenth, along with another thousand cavalry.

### German

The German army was 30,000-45,000 strong. The army was mostly infantry but also possessed about 3,000 cavalry. Most of the Germans were positioned in the woods to the north, but a contingent of 1,500 cavalry were in the south led by Imnachar, the son of Magnericus.

## Prelude

The opening of the Tragisama valley was about half a kilometer wide (before later widening out), it was flanked on either side by steep wooded hills. The Germans waited for the last of the Roman forces to enter past this gap before launching the ambush.

## Battle

The German cavalry in the south under Imnachar began the attack partially early, possibly having lost patience. Diocles, hearing the sound of the thundering hooves of the impending German cavalry, sent word down the line of an ambush, ordered the auxiliaries in the front to assume a square formation, and charged with his cavalry towards the enemy cavalry advancing from the south out of the woods.

Word of the attack only reached some units and in short time the German force suddenly poured forth out of the forest. They quickly crossed the shallow Tragisama and charged the legions, which were scrambling to get into formation. Taken by surprise, Roman officers had to had managed to get the legions into some semblance of order. Only the early warning from Diocles and the experience of the Roman soldiers and officers prevented them from immediately being routed.

On the western end, or left wing, of the Roman line Ceionius and his cavalry came under a brutal assault from German cavalry and infantry, and they would be pinned down in heavy fighting for the rest of the battle. On the eastern end, or right wing, the Roman auxiliaries were nearly collapsing under the assault of the German infantry. Attacked on nearly every side they were on the verge of collapse.

In the south the crack Roman cavalry under Diocles and German cavalry under Imnachar engaged in a swift but brutal melee on horseback. Tiridates, the future king of Armenia, personally engaged Imnachar in combat. For a time the two princes seemed evenly matched as they clashed. Lances broken the two clashed with swords, the Alemannic prince wielding a double-edged longsword, a prestigious possession. Imnachar disarmed the Armenian prince but Tiridates remarkably caught the Alemannic prince's final blow in his shield, and was able to wrestle the sword from his opponent. Thus, Tiridates slew Imnachar with his own sword, the Armenian kept the sword and later named it Krak Aryan, or *Firey Blood*. Soon the superior Roman heavy cavalry routed their German opponents quickly turned and charged the Germans on the right, who had nearly defeated the Roman auxiliaries. The decisive charge into the German rear quickly routed the attackers. The cavalry, under Diocles, then crossed the river, and seized the German camp on the hills. From the high ground of the hill, Diocles could see that the Roman left was in serious trouble. He brought his men down from the hill and back across the river, attacking the Germans from the rear. With this final blow it became clear the battle had swung decisively in the Romans' favor, and the bulk of the German army broke, fleeing back across the river into the hills. The Romans pursued them and killed and captured many more.

## Aftermath

The German survivors fled in two groups. Magnericus fled with some 15,000 to the fortified town of Taroduna. While Semnon fled with around 10,000 men, and most of the remaining German cavalry, into the black forest. Ceionius, pursuing Magnericus, quickly besieged Taroduna. Semnon arrived in the hills north of the town and made camp on the hill overlooking the Roman camp. Fearing a pincer from the two German forces, Ceionius moved quickly and aggressively. Semnon was decisively defeated in the ensuing battle and Magnericus subsequently surrendered.

At night Ceionius sent Diocles with a few hundred cavalry to raid the German camp and draw out Semnon. The attack was sudden and caught the Germans somewhat offguard, Diocles then staged a false retreat, and, hoping to catch and crush the raiding force, Semnon and most of his cavalry pursued them south. They ran straight into an ambush in the woods, Ceionius and the rest of the Roman cavalry massacring the Germans and capturing Semnon.

After this Ceionius and Diocles charged the camp with the rest of their cavalry. Still at night the leaderless and mostly sleeping German camp, heard the sound of the cavalry coming but assumed, falsely, that it was Semnon an his cavalry, presumably returning after beating the Romans. Thus the Romans were able to achieve total surprise, the Germans only becoming aware when the Romans were already upon them. The German camp fell into absolute chaos, and, despite their superior numbers, we’re almost immediately routed. Semnon second son, did, managed to lead a small group of 1000 to flee into the surrounding forest, but the next day they were surrounded by pursuing Roman Cavalry and surrendered to Diocles.

When Magnericus, who was still distraught over his son’s death at the Battle of the Tragisama, heard of Semnon’s defeat, quickly surrendered to the Romans.