Battle of Adrianople (324)

Battle of Adrianople

Constantine I crowned as a victorious general. 4th century cameo

Date	July 3, 324
Location	near Adrianople (modern Edirne, Turkey)
Result	Constantinian victory

Belligerents

forces of Constantine
(Western Empire)

forces of Licinius
(Eastern Empire)

Commanders and leaders

Constantine I

Licinius

Strength

130,000

165,000

Casualties and losses

Unknown

34,000 dead

The Battle of Adrianople was fought on July 3, 324 during a Roman civil war, the second to be waged between the two emperors Constantine I and Licinius; Licinius suffered a heavy defeat.

Constantine had, in a previous war (in 316), defeated Licinius at the Battle of Cibalae and conquered from him all the Balkan Peninsula, with the exception of Thrace. A peace had been arranged but the relationship between the two emperors remained uneasy. By 324 Constantine was ready to renew the conflict and when his army, in pursuit of a raiding Visigothic, or possibly Sarmatian, force, crossed into Licinius' territory an opportune casus belli was created. The reaction of Licinius to this incursion was overtly hostile and this induced Constantine to go on to the offensive. Constantine invaded Thrace in force; his army was smaller than that of Licinius, but it contained many battle-hardened veterans and, as he had control of the Illyrian region, the finest quality of new recruits.

Licinius encamped his army at Adrianople (Hadrianopolis), the major city of inland Thrace. Constantine advanced eastward from Thessalonica until he came to the Hebrus River, on which Adrianople stands, and set up his own camp. Licinius arranged his battle line, of 200 stades in length, in a strong position between a height overlooking the town and the confluence of the Hebrus with a tributary. The two armies remained in position for a number of days before battle was joined, as both sides were reluctant to chance the crossing of the river against a well-prepared and battle-arrayed enemy.

Eventually, Constantine used a ruse to get his troops across the Hebrus. Having noticed a suitable crossing point where the river narrowed and was overlooked by a wooded hillside, he ordered material and ropes to be conspicuously assembled at another place on the river, well away from his chosen crossing, to give the impression that he intended to build a bridge to cross there. On the wooded hillside he secretly assembled 5,000 foot archers and a force of cavalry. He then led his cavalry over the river crossing at the narrows and fell on the enemy unexpectedly. The surprise attack was a complete success and the remainder of his army then crossed at the same point. What followed, in the words of the historian Zosimus, was "a great massacre": Licinius' army lost about 34,000 dead.

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