65 *JULIAN (31/32; r.360-363) (Gaul→all)
Julian’s Alamanni War (356-357) [2/3]
In 356 Constantius made his cousin 29Flavius Claudius Julianus caesar of Gaul, which was being besieged by Germanic tribes crossing the Rhine in large numbers. Moving eastwards from Durocortorum (=Reims, northeast France), he had two of his legions wiped out in a barbarian attack. Julian and his army pursued several Germanic war bands and outside Brocomagus (=Brumath, northeast France) one of them met him in open battle and the Romans were victorious. While wintering in Senonae (Sens? centre-north France) he was besieged by the Alamanni but lacking advanced siegecraft, they withdrew after a month.
In August 357 Julian with thirteen thousand troops stood in an area beyond the marshy ground on the left bank of the Rhine at Argentoratum (=Strasbourg, northeast France) confronting thirty thousand Alamanni warriors. Against expectations, the Alamanni cavalry defeated that of the Romans but the Alamanni infantry failed to break through the Roman line. Eventually, the Alamanni began to flag and suddenly they were in flight with the Romans in pursuit. Large numbers attempted to swim across the river but many drowned, hit by Roman missiles or weighed down by their armour. In all some six thousand of the Alamanni had fallen.
Later, Julian dispatched his magister equitum Severus to Oppidum Ubiorum (Cologne, western Germany) where the Franks were causing havoc deep into Gaul. The Franks were driven back to two forts on the Maas (=Meuse) River, where they surrendered after a fifty-four-day siege (winter 357/8).
In 358-9 Constantius waged a successful campaign against the Sarmatians, Quadi and Suebi, after which he learned that Shapur II had invaded northern Mesopotamia and captured Amida (Diyarbakır, southeast Turkey). In 360, though Constantius travelled extensively in Cappadocia, northern Mesopotamia and Syria, his presence in the East did not prevent the Mesopotamian cities of Singara (northern Iraq) and Bezabde (Central Kurdistan) from falling into enemy hands.
Julian’s Civil War (360-361), [10/12]In early 360, Constantius sent orders to Julian to move a considerable portion of his army eastwards to assist in the Persian war. To Julian this must have seemed an attempt to undermine his position for in February 360 his troops proclaimed him augustus. In 361 the Persian front was quiet because Shapur having sustained heavy losses the previous year had ceased hostilities. This gave Constantius the opportunity to turn his attention to Julian, who by then had advanced into Italy and Pannonia. In the autumn Constantine left Antioch to march on Europe but he fell ill and died in Cilicia.
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