The Full Story
The Death of Decius Mus by Simon de Vos (1641).
Decius
Gaius Messius Quintus Decius was born around 201 to a wealthy family in Pannonia, in modern-day Serbia. He would marry Herennia Cupressenia Etruscilla, and they would have two sons, Herennius and Hestilianus. Decius would later on lead an excellent political career, becoming a member in the Roman Senate and a consul. He further distinguished himself as an able leader when he served as governor of Germania Inferior and, later, Hispania.
Rise to Power
In 248, Philip the Arab tried to resign as emperor because of the continued rebellion and foreign invasions on the Danube. He was not able to carry out his plans, however, as Decius, who was then serving as the prefect of Rome, persuaded him to stay in power. The following year, Philip sent Decius to the Danube to crush the rebelling legions and drive out the invading Goths. Decius successfully accomplished his errand. The legions, who were captivated by Decius’ able leadership, informed him that they were tired of Philip’s reign. Consequently, they proclaimed Decius as their emperor. Decius, having no such plans, quickly objected. Soon, Philip had heard of the proclamation, but Decius assured him he had no plans to take the throne. Philip, regardless, amassed his troops and prepared to crush what he perceived to be another rebellion. Decius sent more diplomatic messages to Philip but the emperor refused to listen. Decius now had no choice but to prepare for battle. The two forces eventually met in Macedonia, resulting in Philip’s death and his army’s defeat.
Reign
The Senate welcomed Decius as the new emperor. Decius then adopted the name Trajanus to express his intentions of imitating the great emperor’s leadership. The new emperor quickly began construction projects that included the repair of the Colosseum, which was then 170 years old and damaged by lightning strikes. Decius also started the building of a public bath complex, which later came to be known as the Baths of Decius. These baths opened to the public in 252, after Decius’ death, and were in use until the 16th century.
In 250, Decius tried to reinvigorate the people’s religious values by issuing an edict requiring everybody to offer sacrifices to the gods. Certificates were given to those who obeyed the edict, while those who refused risked execution. Though the edict was not targeted against any religious group, Christians viewed sacrifices as idolatry, and refused to comply. Pope Fabian was thrown into prison and died there, followed by the execution of many Christians.
In the same year, the Goths, led by their king, Cniva, invaded the Danube. The governor of Thrace, Titus Julius Priscus, would make matters worse by banding together with the Goths and proclaiming himself emperor. Not long after, he was slain by his allies. Following this, a Roman senator named Julius Valens Licinianus rebelled against Decius. The Senate supported him, but his rebellion was easily squashed by Publius Licinius Valerianus, who was in charge of the armies in the Rhine.
King Cniva and the Goths continued with their offensive into the city of Nicopolis, but Decius fended them off. However, the Goths swung back, overpowered Decius’ troops, and invaded Philippopolis before returning to their homeland.
Death
This painting, created in the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1577 – 1640), was inspired by the history and folklore of the ancient Roman Republic. The scene is set in 340 BCE, when the consuls Publius Decius Mus and Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus led the forces of Rome in a war against the Latin League. According to legend, omens for the campaign were mixed. Interpreters of heavenly signs predicted that Rome could win the war, but that the life of one of Rome’s consuls would be the price of victory. Accepting these omen readings, the consuls allegedly committed their lives to the hands of Fate, and decided to fight with wild abandon during the upcoming battle.
When the Romans and the Latin League met in a pitched battle during the campaign of 340 BCE, both Publius Decius Mus and Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus were present on the battlefield. During the battle, Publius Decius Mus’ wing began to struggle, but this only made the consul fight with more boldness and disregard for his own safety. In fact, Decius decided to fully embrace the role of a human sacrifice. He allegedly slipped away from the frontline and found a nearby priest to conduct an impromptu ceremony to devote himself to the gods. This ritual, performed as the battle raged, allegedly required that Decius dress in a purple toga, stand on a spear, and recite a long speech about offering himself to the gods on behalf of Rome. With that, the preparations were done and the sacrifice could reach its conclusion. Publius Decius Mus, however, would not end his life like a sacrificial animal. Instead, he met his end, weapon in hand, by charging into battle, where he fought to the death against the Latins. His heroic end was described by the historian, Livy (c. 59 BCE-17 CE), who wrote:
“Then he girded up his toga in the Gabine manner, leaped fully armed on to his horse, and rode into the midst of the enemy—a sight to admire for both armies, almost superhuman in its nobility, as if sent from heaven to expiate the anger of the gods and deflect disaster from his own people to the Latins. Thus the terror and panic in every form which Decius brought with him first threw the line of standards into confusion and then penetrated deep into the entire Latin army…he finally fell beneath a rain of missiles…the consul Manlius heard of his colleague’s end, and paid to so memorable a death the well-merited tribute of tears as well as praise, as justice and piety demanded” (Livy, History of Rome, 8.9-10).
The great momentum generated by Publius Decius Mus’ charge lessened somewhat when the general was killed in battle, but Titus Manlius Torquatus was able to swoop in and steer the battle safely to a Roman victory. After the battle was over, the Romans located the body of Decius and gave him a hero’s funeral.
The Battle of Abritus also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii occurred near Abritus (modern Razgrad) in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian tribesmen under the Gothic king Cniva. The Roman army was soundly defeated, and Roman emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus, his son, were both killed in battle. It was one of the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Empire against the Germanic tribes, rated by the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus as on par with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9, the Marcomannic invasion of Roman Italy in 170, and the Battle of Adrianople in 378.
The emperors' deaths led to more political instability at Rome; and the loss of the army allowed repeated barbarian incursions in the region for the next two decades.
The new Roman emperor Trebonianus Gallus was forced to allow the Goths to return home with their loot and prisoners. The barbarians would not be expelled from Roman territory until 271.
Location
The long-debated location of Abritus was thought to be 1 km (0.62 mi) east of the city of Razgrad after excavations by T. Ivanov in 1969 and 1971. However recent work has shown it took place about 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of Abritus, in the valley of the river Beli Lom, to the south of the village of Dryanovets near the site known locally as "Poleto" (the Field).
This is evidenced by the large number of Roman coins and arms including swords, shields, spears, armour, greaves, and even military tentpoles found by archaeologists and local residents on the site which must be the last Roman camp. For example, in 1952 a pottery vessel was found at ‘Poleto’ containing about 30 aurei in mint condition dating from Gordian III to Trajan Decius.
Background
Map of the invasions and the location of the battle
Soon after Decius ascended to the throne in 249, barbarian tribes invaded the Roman provinces of Dacia, Moesia Superior, and Moesia Inferior. Two factors had contributed to growing unrest in the area north of the Danube. First, Decius' predecessor Philip the Arab had refused to continue payments, initiated by Emperor Maximinus Thrax in 238, of annual subsidies to the aggressive tribes of the region. Second and more important, there were continuous movements of new peoples since the time of Emperor Severus Alexander.[8] Decius may also have taken with him troops from the Danube frontier, in order to depose Philip in 249. He probably had with him three legions: legio XIV Gemina from Carnuntum, legio IV Flavia Felix from Singidunum, and legio VII Claudia from Viminacium and/or their vexillationes.
The resultant military vacuum would inevitably attract invaders.
In 250 a tribal coalition under Cniva crossed the Roman Danube frontier, probably advancing in two columns. It is unlikely that these consisted only of Goths, so the name "Scythians", by which the Greek sources referred to them (a geographical definition) seems more appropriate. It is quite possible that other people of Germanic and Sarmatian origin (like Bastarnae, Taifals, and Hasdingian Vandals), perhaps Roman deserters as well, had joined the invaders. However, the name of the king is indeed Gothic and probably genuine. Meanwhile, the Carpi invaded Dacia, eastern Moesia Superior, and western Moesia Inferior.
The first column of Cniva's army, a detachment of about 20,000 or so likely led by the chieftains Argaith and Gunteric, besieged Marcianopolis, without success it seems. Then they probably headed south to besiege Philippopolis (now Plovdiv in Bulgaria). Ceniva's main column of 70,000 under the King himself crossed the Danube at Oescus then headed eastwards to Novae,here he was repelled by the provincial governor (and future emperor) Trebonianus Gallus. Then the invaders headed south to plunder Nicopolis ad Istrum where Decius defeated them but not decisively.
After these initial setbacks, the barbarians moved southwards through Hamus mountain and Decius pursued them (likely through the Shipka Pass) to save Philippopolis. This time Decius' army was taken by surprise while resting at Beroe/Augusta Traiana. The Romans were heavily defeated in the ensuing Battle of Beroe. Decius was forced to withdraw his army to the north at Oescus, leaving Cniva ample time to ravage Moesia and finally capture Philippopolis in the summer of 251, in part with the help of its commander, a certain Titus Julius Priscus who had proclaimed himself Emperor. It seems that Priscus, after receiving the news of the defeat at Beroe, thought that the Goths would spare his and the city. He was wrong and was probably killed when the city fell. Then some of Cniva's forces began returning to their homeland, laden with booty and captives, among them many of senatorial rank.
In the meantime, Decius had returned with his re-organized army, consisting of 80,000 men according to Dexippus, accompanied by his son Herennius Etruscus and the general Trebonianus Gallus, intending to defeat the invaders and recover the booty. Decius had lost a force of auxiliary soldiers due to their "wrongdoing", according to Dexippus. Archaeology has revealed the presence of three legions at the battle.
Battle
In either June, July, or August of 251, the Roman army engaged the forces under Cniva near Abritus. The strengths of the belligerent forces are unknown, but we know that Cniva divided his forces into three units, with one of these parts concealed behind a swamp. It seems that Cniva was a skilled tactician and that he was very familiar with the surrounding terrain. Jordanes and Aurelius Victor claim that Herennius Etruscus was killed by an arrow during a skirmish before the battle but his father addressed his soldiers as if the loss of his son did not matter. He allegedly said, "Let no one mourn. The death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic". However, other sources state that Herennius died with his father.
Coin of Trajan Decius, Roman Emperor defeated and killed in the battle
Decius' forces initially defeated their opponents in the front line, but made the fatal mistake of pursuing their fleeing enemy into the swamp, where they were ambushed and completely routed under a barrage of Gothic missiles. The immense slaughter that ensued marked one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of the Roman Empire. Decius died in the midst of the chaos and slaughter, buried under the mud. The bodies of Decius and Herennius were never found.
The Goths captured Decius' treasury of tons of gold coins and many weapons which have since been discovered in many locations across Gothic territories.
Zonaras vividly narrates how:
He 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 by the mud.
A 6th-century Eastern Roman scholar, Zosimus, also described the total massacre of Decius' troops and the fall of the pagan emperor: "Proceeding therefore incautiously in an unknown place, he and his army became entangled in the mire, and under that disadvantage were so assailed by the missiles of the Barbarians, that not one of them escaped with life. Thus ended the life of the excellent emperor Decius."
Lactantius, a 4th-century early Christian and advisor to Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, described the emperor's demise as following:
He was suddenly surrounded by the barbarians, and slain, together with great part of his army; nor could he be honoured with the rites of sepulture, but, stripped and naked, he lay to be devoured by wild beasts and birds, a fit end for the enemy of God.
D. S. Potter rejects the story of Zosimus about Treboniannus Gallus who supposedly conspired with the enemies of Romans for delivering Decius' army into the Gothic trap since it seems impossible that, afterwards, the shattered Roman legions proclaimed emperor a traitor who was responsible for the loss of so many soldiers from their ranks. Another strong point against Gallus' treason is the fact that he adopted Hostilian, the younger son of Decius, after returning to Rome.
Aftermath
Gallus, who became emperor upon Decius' death, negotiated a treaty with the Goths under duress, which allowed them to keep their booty and return to their homes on the other side of the Danube. It is also possible that he agreed to pay an annual tribute in return for the Goths' promise to respect Roman territory.#This humiliating treaty, the contemporary spread of the Plague of Cyprian with its devastating effects, and the chaotic situation in the East with the Sassanian invasions left Gallus with a very bad reputation amongst the later Roman historians. However, D. S. Potter suggests that, before the defeat at Abritus, the situation was not so serious that the available Roman forces would not be able to manage the invasions. Therefore, it is Decius' bad conduct which was responsible for the disastrous turn of the events. In any case, Gallus had no choice but to get rid of the Goths as soon as possible.
In 271, the Emperor Aurelian conclusively defeated the Goths and killed their king Cannabaudes in battle. Based on the similarity of the names, that king might coincide with the King Cniva who defeated Decius in Abritus.
