Battle of Strasbourg

Part of the Roman-Alamanni conflict

Coin showing (obverse) head of Julian (issued as emperor, 361-3) with diadem and (reverse) soldier bearing standard holding kneeling captive by the hair and legend VIRTUS EXERCITUS ROMANORUM ("Valour of the Roman army"). Gold solidus. Sirmium mint

Date	357
Location	Near Strasbourg (modern Alsace, France)
Result	Roman victory

Belligerents

Western Roman Empire

Alamanni

Commanders and leaders

Julian (Caesar)
Severus (magister equitum)

Chnodomar (high king)
Serapio (2nd-in-command)

Strength

13,000 - 15,000
including about 3,000 cavalry

15,000 - 35,000 warriors
(midpoint: 25,000)

Casualties and losses

243 killed

8,000 dead:
6,000 killed in battlefield
2,000 drowned crossing
the river Rhine

The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in AD 357 between the Western Roman army under the Caesar (deputy emperor) Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount king Chnodomar. The battle took place near Strasbourg (Alsace, France), called Argentoratum in Ammianus Marcellinus' account, Argentorate in the Tabula Peutingeriana (Section 2).

Although probably outnumbered by a substantial margin, Julian's army won a complete victory after a hard-fought struggle. With negligible casualties of their own, the Romans drove the Alamanni beyond the river Rhine, inflicting heavy losses. Julian's force, the imperial escort army of Gaul, was small but of high quality. The battle was won by the skill of the Roman infantry, with the cavalry initially performing poorly.

The battle was the climax of Julian's campaigns in 355–57 to evict barbarian marauders from Gaul and to restore the Roman defensive line of fortifications along the Rhine, which had been largely destroyed during the Roman civil war of 350–53. In the years following his victory at Strasbourg, Julian was able to repair and garrison the Rhine forts and impose tributary status on the Germanic tribes beyond the border.

By far the most detailed and reliable source for the battle, and Julian's Gallic campaign (355–60) generally, is the Res Gestae (Histories) of Ammianus Marcellinus, a contemporary historian. Ammianus was a Greek career soldier who joined the army before 350 and served until at least 363. Enlisted as a protector (cadet senior officer), he served as a staff officer under magister equitum Ursicinus and then under Julian himself in the latter's Persian campaign. Although he was not present at Strasbourg, he had experience of the Gallic front as he was involved in the suppression of the revolt of Claudius Silvanus, the magister equitum (commander-in-chief) in Gaul (355). However, his narrative reveals a passionate admiration of Julian and occasionally descends to the level of eulogy. Furthermore, as he was writing some 40 years after the event, it is likely that Ammianus relied heavily, if not exclusively, on Julian's own memoir of the Strasbourg campaign (which we know he published, but has been lost). Thus Ammianus' account probably reflects Julian's own propaganda. In addition, Ammianus' account is of uneven quality, with many gaps and some contradictory elements.

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Wikipedia