A Complete Rout
Legend has it that Herennius was killed by an arrow before the pitched battle. Although it must have been heartbreaking for Decius, the emperor tried to act like it was irrelevant. According to Aurelius Victor and Jordanes, Decius addressed his troops and said: “Let no one mourn. The death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic.” Some sources claim that Herennius actually died in battle with his father.
In any case, Decius led a foolhardy charge against the Gothic front line. They retreated through the swamp in what was a pre-ordained measure designed to lull the Romans into a false sense of security. Cniva’s plan was a spectacular success as the overconfident Romans believed the battle was a rout and blindly followed the enemy. They soon found themselves in the midst of thick swamp and had no idea what to do next. Soon, their formations disintegrated into chaos as panic ensued. The marshy terrain slowed the Romans to a halt, and now, they were ripe for slaughter.
Cniva launched a devastating attack from three sides and destroyed the vast majority of the Roman army. According to 12th century, Byzantine chronicler, Zonaras, Decius and his son and “a large number of Romans fell into the marshland; all of them perished there, none of their bodies to be found, as they were covered in mud.” Gallus survived the slaughter, was declared emperor on the battlefield, and led the remainder of the army in a retreat. He was criticized for not rescuing survivors and laughably, for not pursuing the Goths. Whatever about helping Roman captives, another attack on the Goths would have been akin to a suicide mission.
Aftermath
Gallus is also accused of cowardice because he negotiated a treaty with the Goths instead of continuing to fight. As well as allowing Cniva and his men to keep the booty they had plundered, Gallus agreed to pay them an annual tribute. In reality, the mess the Romans were in meant Gallus had little choice but to give in to the Gothic demands in the short term. Despite the treaty signed in 251, the barbarian tribes continued to raid Lower Moesia.
Like every other emperor in the Third Century Crisis, Gallus was at the mercy of the military, and they soon began to lose faith in their leader. Once Aemilianus defeated the invaders in 253, he was declared emperor, and he marched on Italy to stake his claim to the throne. After suffering defeat in a battle, Gallus was murdered by his own troops in August 253. The Goths continued to be a problem until Emperor Aurelian defeated them conclusively in 271 in a battle that claimed the life of the Gothic king, Cannobaudes.
Given the fact that Decius was certainly an able commander, it is hard to fathom why he followed the Goths into that swamp when it would have been wiser to remain on flatter terrain. Perhaps he was mindful of the importance of the military on the role of emperor and wanted a decisive victory to solidify his rule. Whatever the reason, it was arguably the worst defeat suffered by Rome since Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, and it was another sign that the Roman Empire was in terminal decline.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Roman Military Disasters: Dark Days & Lost Legions – Paul Chrystal
The Battle of Abritus – Ancient History Encyclopedia
The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine – Patricia Southern