Marcomannic Wars
| Marcomannic Wars | |||||||||
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| Part of the Roman-Germanic Wars | |||||||||
 Detail of a relief scene on the Column of Marcus Aurelius (in Rome, Italy), depicting a battle of the Marcomannic Wars, late 2nd century AD |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Roman Empire(full list of participating military units) |
Principal belligerents: Marcomanni, Quadi, Iazyges Also involved: Naristi, Chatti, Chauci, Langobardi, Hermunduri, Suebi, Buri, Cotini, Vandals (Astingi, Lacringi, and Victohali), Roxolani, Bastarnae, Costoboci. |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Imperial family: Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor r. 161–180) Lucius Verus (co-emperor r. 161–169, died of plague on campaign) Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus (M. Aurelius' son-in-law) Commodus (M. Aurelius' son & successor) Praetorian prefects: Titus Furius Victorinus (killed in battle) Marcus Bassaeus Rufus Macrinius Vindex (killed in battle) Publius Taruttienus Paternus Field-marshals (legati Augusti): Publius Helvius Pertinax (later emperor) Marcus Claudius Fronto (killed in battle AD 170) Marcus Didius Iulianus (later emperor) Gaius Pescennius Niger (later usurper emperor) Decimus Clodius Albinus (later usurper emperor) Marcus Valerius Maximianus Lucius Gallus Iulianus (procurator) |
Marcomanni: Ballomar Quadi: Areogaesus Iazyges: Banadaspus, Zanticus Naristi: Valao |
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The Marcomannic Wars (Latin: bellum Germanicum et Sarmaticum, "German and Sarmatian War") were a series of wars lasting over a dozen years from about 166 until 180 AD. These wars pitted the Roman Empire against, principally, the Germanic Marcomanni and Quadi and the Sarmatian Iazyges; there were related conflicts with several other barbarian peoples along both sides of the whole length of the Roman Empire's northeastern European border, the river Danube. The struggle against the Germans and Sarmatians occupied the major part of the reign of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it was during his campaigns against them that he started writing his philosophical work Meditations, whose book 1 bears the note "Among the Quadi at the Granua".
During the years succeeding the rule of Antoninus Pius, the Roman Empire began to be attacked on all sides. A war with Parthia lasted from 161 to 166 (under the joint rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus) and, although it ended successfully, its unforeseen consequences for the Empire were great. The returning troops brought with them a plague (the so-called Antonine Plague), which would eventually kill an estimated 5 million people, severely weakening the Empire. At the same time, in Central Europe, the first movements of the Great Migrations were occurring, as the Goths began moving south-east from their ancestral lands at the mouth of River Vistula (see Wielbark culture), putting pressure on the Germanic tribes from the north and east. As a result, Germanic tribes and other nomadic peoples launched raids south and west across Rome's northern border, particularly into Gaul and across the Danube.
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