357 жылғы шайқас: Аламанн мен римдік әскерлердің күштері мен тактикасы

Battle fought in AD 357
the 357 battle

Another possible indicator of Chnodomar's numbers is size of forces considered necessary by the Roman government to deal with the Alamanni threat in Gaul: 40,000 (Julian's 15,000 plus Barbatio's 25,000). Assuming that the Roman military planners would have sought a 2 to 1 superiority to guarantee success, that would imply an Alamannic strength in Alsace of about 20,000. On the basis of these indicators, the midpoint between the recent estimate and Ammianus' figure, 25,000, would seem plausible. Mention should also be made of 19th century German historian Hans Delbrück's claim that it was the Alamanni who were heavily outnumbered at Strasbourg, having only 6,000 – 10,000 men. But this view finds no support in the available evidence:
6,000 Alamanni were counted dead in the field, a figure likely to be accurate, given the Roman custom of counting enemy dead after a battle. In addition, a substantial number drowned trying to escape across the Rhine (about 2,000, if Libanius' figure of 8,000 Alamanni dead is accurate). Thus, if Delbrück's estimate is correct, virtually every Alamannus was killed, which appears unlikely: all the Alamanni kings (and by extension their retinues) save Chnodomar succeeded in escaping. Ammianus' narrative makes clear that Chnodomar ordered an unusually strong levy. Hence the presence at Strasbourg of all eight contemporary Alamanni kings and of the non Alamanni allies. Chnodomar was highly unlikely to have risked a pitched battle against the Romans with an inferior force. Indeed, against a commander he knew to be capable, he would most likely have required a substantial numerical advantage. In this case, the Romans were outnumbered by around 1.5 to 1 rather than the 3 to 1 that Ammianus implies. Chnodomar's men were of much less even quality than Julian's. His best warriors were the professional retinues of the regales (royal class, called ring givers by the Germans), organized in warbands. They were well equipped with armour and swords, as behove their masters' status. The majority of his men, however, were temporary levies, lightly equipped and often inexperienced, like most contemporary Germanic forces relying on light equipment and speed. On the Alamanni side, there is little evidence of formation manoeuvres. The professional retainers of the regales may have had some capacity for this, especially as Germanic armies were by now very familiar with the Roman way of war. Ammianus' account mentions a globus (mass) of the best warriors coming together in the thick of the battle and breaking through the Roman line. In addition, several would likely have served in the Roman army in the past. But the majority of Chnodomar's men consisted of temporary levies, whose equipment and experience would have been limited. According to Ammianus, they had to rely on a concentrated frontal charge to try to break through by weight of numbers, and proved no match for the Romans in the final phase of the battle, a prolonged struggle of attrition at close quarters. The size of Chnodomar's cavalry is unknown, but was probably a small proportion of the total, as the Alamanni's heavily forested land was not suited to large scale cavalry operations. Most of the Alamanni horsemen were noblemen and their retainers, as only they could afford to keep a warhorse. Chnodomar's cavalry is unlikely to have exceeded 1,750 horse in total, assuming that the cavalry element was similar to the 7% cavalry element in the early Roman citizen legion, as the latter was also recruited exclusively from the wealthiest classes. Ammianus is silent about archers on the Alamanni side. The Germans almost certainly did not have mounted archers, as this was an arm that evolved in the East and in any case, their longbows are unsuitable for use on horseback. As for the infantry, the archery capability of the Rhine Germans has traditionally been seen as negligible, due to the 6th century writer Agathias's comment that the Franks did not know how to use bows. But this is contradicted by the archaeological record and by Ammianus himself in other parts of his account. Yew longbows had been used in Northern Europe for centuries; it is believed that they became widespread in Germania libera in the 4th century.

Roman military equipment was mass produced in state run fabricae ("factories") which brought together advanced forging technology and skilled artisans. Roman weapons were mostly made of steel such as chalybs Noricus which was superior to unhardened iron. In Germania libera, forging technology, capacity and personnel were more limited, although there is evidence that production and standardization of equipment had greatly improved since the time of the Roman Principate. Steel making was also known in Germania libera (spathae and rapier like swords out of flexible steel were in use). But Alamanni production of sophisticated forge products such as metal armour, helmets and swords was on a much smaller scale than the Romans'. Simple weapons such as axes and knives seem often to have been made of unhardened iron. Overall, the 4th century Roman soldier's equipment was superior to his enemy's, though probably not by the same margin as in earlier centuries. For personal protection, most Roman troops wore metal body armour (usually in the form a mail cuirass) and helmets, in addition to shields. In contrast, among the Alamanni, metal armour and helmets were probably owned by members of the social elite only. Most Alamanni foot soldiers had only shields and no metal armour or helmets. For hand weapons, most Roman foot carried a thrusting spear (hasta) and a sword (spatha). Among the Alamanni, spears were the universal weapon; swords were probably less common. Nobles (optimates) and the professional warrior retainers of ringgivers certainly had them. For the lower ranks the position is not certain. Ammianus' report on the battle implies that many in the Alamanni ranks carried swords. Those that did not were armed with a seax (long pointed Germanic knives with some types being shortswords) as well as a spear and/or battle axe. For short range missile (throwing) weapons, a Roman infantryman would probably had either a long throwing spear or two or three short javelins (lanceae) and half a dozen plumbatae (weighted darts) with an effective range of about 30m. Ammianus talks of a variety of missiles being thrown by the Alamanni in the battle: spicula (a kind of long pilum type javelin, also known as an angon), verruta missilia (short throwing spears) and ferratae arundines (probably darts and franciscas: throwing axes). Overall, there appears little difference in the throwing missile capability of the contenders. Ammianus indicates that the Roman infantry ranks were obliged to hold their shields above their heads for much of the time due to the volume of missiles raining down on them. The standard Roman bow was the recurved composite bow, a relatively compact but powerful weapon. Foot archers normally formed the rear rank of the Roman battle line, shooting over the heads of their own infantry, whilst protected by it from the enemy.

The campaigning season was by now well advanced, as Julian had spent a considerable time restoring Saverne. But it was still summer, as the weather was hot and wheat was ripe in the fields. It was therefore probably August. Reconstructing a timetable for the day of the battle is tentative due to ambiguous statements in Ammianus (which may have been caused by manuscript copying errors). It appears that Julian's army set forth at dawn, and apparently arrived within sight of the barbarian entrenchments (vallum) outside Strasbourg at around midday, after a march of 21 Roman miles. (A contradictory statement in Julian's speech implies that the army was still far from its destination and faced a night march to reach it. But this is incompatible with all the other available data and should thus probably be disregarded). The starting point was probably Saverne, since this is the last stated location of Julian's army, and it lay a consistent distance from Strasbourg on the Roman highway. At the end of the march, Julian gave a speech to the assembled army. Its wording could be read as implying that Julian had already had a fortified marching camp built (in accordance with standard Roman military practice), or that he was simply proposing to do so. In any case, it appears that Julian, concerned that his men might be too tired to fight after a 6 hour march in the hot sun, urged that the clash be postponed until the following day. But his officers and men would have none of it and clamoured to be led against the enemy immediately. Julian, who prided himself on acting by consensus, gave way. However, since Ammianus states that the battle and subsequent pursuit ended after sunset, it seems unlikely that the army would have actually engaged at midday straight after the march without a few hours rest and refreshment (and, if a camp was built, a couple of hours spent on that task). It thus seems more likely that battle commenced in the late afternoon. Chnodomar, alerted by his lookouts that the Roman army was at hand, moved his army forward from its base before the ruined walls of Strasbourg to his chosen battlefield nearby. The battlefield was a gently sloping hill a few miles from the Rhine, partly fields with ripe wheat. Libanius claims that on one side was an "elevated water course" (presumably an aqueduct or canal), built over a swamp. But this seems incompatible with Ammianus' statement that the battle took place on higher ground (as water could hardly flow uphill), and may be a garbled detail from another of Julian's battles. One leading theory is that the battle took place near the village of Oberhausbergen 3 km NW of Strasbourg. The western edge of the battle field was defined by the Metz Strasbourg Roman highway, on the far side of which was broken, wooded ground impassable to cavalry. The German left wing was held by Chnodomar and his cavalry. Demonstrating that he was well aware of the threat posed by the Roman heavy cavalry, Chnodomar had devised a stratagem. He interspersed lightly armed infantry among his cavalry. These were easy to conceal in the standing grain. The idea was that in a mêlée, the foot soldiers would bring down the cataphracts by crawling along the ground and stabbing their horses in their underbellies, which were unprotected. The dismounted riders, weighed down by their armour, could then easily be despatched on the ground. The German right wing blocked the highway to Strasbourg, while in the woods beyond the highway were a substantial force of warriors hidden in ambush on Chnodomar's orders. The rest of the line was probably divided into pagi units under five major kings and ten petty kings. But at the start, archers were sometimes stationed in front of the main line, so that they could disrupt the enemy ranks with their missiles. This was especially likely if the Romans' archer forces were much stronger than Chnodomar's, giving them a competitive advantage in a long range missile exchange. But Ammianus does not state if this happened on this occasion. On the right wing was posted the entire cavalry. Most likely, the light cavalry would have been stationed in front, to harass the enemy before the heavy cavalry launched their shock charge. Julian himself, with his escort of 200 scholares, probably took up position in the gap between the Roman lines, giving him a close, but relatively protected, view of the action. In so doing, Chnodomar forfeited any strategic control of the battle, as, trapped in the centre of the action, he would have no way of knowing what was happening in other sectors. Julian, on the other hand, maintained a detached position throughout (with his escort) and so was able to respond to events all over the field, such as the initial rout of his cavalry. It is unclear exactly where Julian was stationed but it was likely in the gap between the two Roman lines. The Roman main charge would likely have been preceded by harassing attacks by the light cavalry. The mounted archers would execute what the Romans knew as the "Parthian attack": ride up to within range of the enemy, loose a volley of arrows, then hastily retreat, using the arrow distance to escape pursuit. This could be repeated several times, causing significant casualties and, ideally, enticing the enemy into a premature and disorganised charge. However, in this case, the German cavalry would have been prevented from charging as their interspersed infantry support would not have been able to keep up—most likely, they awaited the Roman cavalry at the halt, or moved forward slowly. The Roman heavy cavalry now charged the German horsemen. In the ensuing mêlée, Chnodomar's stratagem paid dividends. The interspersed foot warriors wreaked havoc, bringing down the horses of the cataphracts and then killing their riders on the ground. Unnerved by these tactics, and by the injury of one of their tribuni, the cataphracts panicked and fled the field. In their headlong flight, they crashed into the Roman infantry on the right, which, however, was able to maintain formation because of the skill of the crack auxilia palatina regiments Cornuti and Brachiati posted there. The cataphracts took refuge behind the infantry lines, where it took the personal intervention of Julian himself to rally them. Zosimus claims that one regiment of cataphracts refused to return to the fight and that after the battle, they were obliged by Julian to wear female clothes as punishment. The performance of the rest of the cavalry is not described by Ammianus, but they would have been obliged to retreat with the cataphracts, though it is unclear whether they followed them to behind the infantry lines, or, more likely, halted to cover the Roman right wing. It is clear, however, that the German cavalry was unable to capitalise on their success to outflank the Roman right. Nevertheless, Chnodomar had trumped Julian's best card. Encouraged by their cavalry's success, the foot soldiers in the German front line gave a great roar and ran towards the Roman line, which was formed as a barrier of interlocking shields. In the centre, German foot warriors repeatedly charged the Roman shieldwall, hoping to break through by sheer weight of numbers and brute strength. But the serried ranks of the Roman front, shields massed together “as in a testudo” held them off for a long time, inflicting severe casualties on the Germans who flung themselves recklessly at their bristling spears. Then, a group of German chiefs and their best warriors formed a dense mass (globus), and, let through by the German front ranks, charged the Romans. This was probably a formation, also used by the Romans, known as a "hogshead" (caput porcinum), a wedge protected by armoured warriors on the outside. They succeeded, by desperate efforts, in punching a hole through the centre of the Roman front line. This was potentially disastrous for the Romans. But despite being cut in two, the Roman front line evidently did not collapse: the experienced frontline regiments managed to hold their separated wings in formation. In the meantime, on the Roman left wing, Severus must have suspected the prepared ambush, and held back from advancing into the woods, according to Ammianus. Libanius contradicts this, claiming that the Romans charged the enemy and flushed them out of their hiding places. Meanwhile, a large number of Germans poured through the breach in the Roman frontline and charged the centre of the Roman rear line. This position was held by the elite Primani legion, with the Batavian cohorts, which stopped the German attack in its tracks and then counterattacked, routing the breakthrough force. The breach in the front line was presumably filled, either by the separated wings of the front line reconnecting, or by the Primani advancing from the rear line (Ammianus does not specify which). The front line, now extended on the left flank by the rear line left wing, (and presumably by Severus' victorious division), began pushing the Germans back, and gradually hemmed them in from the flanks. At this point, the Germans were already exhausted and demoralised by their lack of progress and severe losses. The mass of their army was now trapped in an ever tighter Roman crescent, with the troops on the edges being methodically cut down and the ones in the middle packed tightly together and unable to move. Finally, after more relentless pressure from the Romans, the German line collapsed: as panic spread through their ranks, the Germans broke formation and ran for their lives. Many did not run fast enough: pursued all the way to the Rhine by Roman cavalry and infantry, many were cut down as they ran. Large numbers attempted to swim across the river, but many drowned, hit by Roman missiles or weighed down by their armour. Ammianus reports that 6,000 Germans perished on the battlefield and in the pursuit on land.

After the battle, Julian was acclaimed as Augustus (co emperor) by his troops, but he vehemently refused the title, which could only legally be bestowed by the ruling Augustus, Constantius. Given the latter's murderous attitude against potential contenders, Julian's caution is understandable, although it bought him no credit with Constantius. The immediate aftermath of the battle saw a vigorous "ethnic cleansing" campaign as all Alamanni families who had settled in Alsace on stolen land were rounded up and expelled from imperial territory. The battle was the turning point in Julian's effort to restore the Rhine frontier. Until then, Julian was obliged to campaign largely inside Gaul, with the barbarian bands holding the initiative, playing cat and mouse with his forces and causing enormous economic damage to a vital region of the empire. Now Julian was able to take the war to the enemy, each year invading the lands beyond the Rhine, devastating them and terrorising the tribes into accepting tributary status. At the same time, he was able to make serious progress in repairing Rome's shattered line of forts. In Luttwakian terms, he was able to return to a traditional strategy of "forward defence" after being obliged by circumstances to engage in defence in depth for three years. Still in 357, Julian followed up the battle by an incursion into Alamanni territory beyond the Rhine. After ravaging the lands far and wide, he set about rebuilding a fort in the Agri Decumates (Black Forest) originally built by Trajan in the early 2nd century. He then granted the anxious barbarians a 10 month truce. In 358, Julian first turned his attention to the Frankish tribes, crossing the lower Rhine and forced the Salii and Chamavi tribes to surrender and become tributarii (tribute payers). He then restored three important forts on the lower Meuse river. Finally, he again switched his attention to the Alamanni, crossing the Rhine at Mainz and forcing the submission of the new paramount kings Hortarius and Surmarius. In 359, Julian restored seven forts and town walls in the middle Rhine, including Bonna (Bonn) and Bingium (Bingen), obliging his new tributary Alamanni to provide the supplies and labour needed. He then crossed the Rhine, marched through the territory of the tributaries and devastated the lands of the other kings who had fought at Strasbourg, including Westralp. All were forced to submit and return the thousands of Roman civilians they had abducted and enslaved during the years of easy plunder. By 360, Gaul was sufficiently secure to permit Julian to despatch reinforcements of about 3,000 men under magister armorum Lupicinus to Britain, which had suffered a serious land and sea invasion by the Picts of Caledonia (Scotland) and the Scoti of Hibernia (Ireland). Julian ignored the order, but to prove his good faith and also to keep his near mutinous troops occupied, he crossed the Rhine and attacked the Attuarii tribe of the Frankish confederation. In 361, however, Julian decided to confront Constantius and the two emperors marched against each other to settle the issue. But the empire was spared another civil war by the senior emperor's sudden death in Asia Minor. As sole emperor (361–3), Julian succumbed, as many Roman leaders before him (e. g. Crassus, Trajan, Septimius Severus) to "Alexander the Great syndrome": the desire to emulate the Macedonian general and conquer the Persian empire. He invaded Mesopotamia at the head of an enormous army of 65,000. But the campaign was a disaster: Julian lost his own life and his army was forced to retreat with huge losses. Although most of these would have been from the eastern comitatus and from the emperor's own escort army, the comitatus of Illyricum and Gaul would undoubtedly have been stripped of troops to fill the gaps. The result was that in 366 Gaul was again overrun by Alamanni hordes and Julian's painstaking work of restoration undone. This forced Julian's successor, Valentinian I, to spend years carrying out a virtual replay of Julian's Gallic campaign.