THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY I 107

The Triumph of Marcus Aurelius

7-08. The Triumph of Marcus Aurelius

If we now review the ethnographic situation in ancient Germany about the close of the first century A.D., we find on its western frontier, in the eastern basin of the lower Rhine, the Chamavi, the Bructcri, the Usipii, the Tencteri, the Chattuarii and Tubantes, further in the interior, on both sides of the Weser, the great tribes of the Chatti and Cherusci; further to the north, the Angrivarii; and, on the North Sea coast, the Chauci and Frisians. In the heart of the country three powerful Suebian populations have their seat: on the western bank of the middle Elbe, extending as far south as the Rhaetian frontier, the Hermunduri; north of them, on the western bank of the lower Elbe, the Langobards, and beyond that river, in the basins of the Havel and the Spree, the Semnones, who were held to be the primitive stock of the Suebi. The eastern part of the country was mainly occupied by the Lugii. The tribes too which appear later, in the wars of the Marcomanni (the Victovali, Asdingi, and Lacringi), were doubtless also Vandalic. Northward in the region of the Wartha and Netze, dwelt the Bmgundiones or Burgundi; further north still, on the Pomeranian Baltic coast, the Rugii and Lemovi, next to whom on the western side came, with some other smaller tribes, the Saxons. North of these again, on the Jutish peninsula, lay the Anglii and Varini. Turning back to the Vistula again, we find on its eastern bank the Goths, who, apparently by the beginning of our era, had spread from the shores of its estuary to its upper waters. In the south, the portion of the Hermunduri which had its seat between the Main and the Danube formed the first link in a long chain consisting of Naristi, Marcomanni, Quadi, Buri, and finally, beyond the confinium Germanorum, the numerous branches of the Bastarnae.

It was therefore a vast territory which the Germanic races claimed for their own, and yet, as was soon to appear, it was too narrow for the energies of these young and vigorous nations. On their north foamed the sea, to the east yawned the desert steppes of southern Russia, thus any further expansion could only take a westward or southward direction. But on the one side as on the other lay the unbroken line of the Roman frontier. Any attempt at expansion in either of these directions must inevitably lead to an immediate collision with the Roman Empire.

The storm which lowered upon the Bohemian mountains was soon to burst. Mighty forces were doubtless at work in the interior of Germany which shortly after the accession of Marcus Aurelius stirred up the whole mass of nations from the Bohmer Wald to the Carpathians, and let loose a tempest such as the Roman Empire had never before encountered on its frontiers. In the summer of 167 hosts of barbarians mustered along the line of the Danube, ready to make an inroad into Roman territory. The Praetorian Praefect, Furius Victorinus, was defeated, and slain with most of his troops; and the invading flood poured forward over the unprotected provinces. Not until the two Emperors reached the seat of war (spring 168) was the plundering and ravaging stopped.

The barbarians then withdrew to the further side of the Danube and declared their readiness to enter into negotiations. There, in the winter of 168-9 the plague broke out with fearful violence in the Roman camp, and at once the complexion of events changed for the worse. In the spring, in the absence of the Emperors, who on the outbreak of the epidemic had returned to the capital, the army, weakened and disorganised by disease, suffered another severe defeat, and the Praetorian Praefect, Macrinius Vindex, met his death. Following up their victory, the Teutons assumed the offensive all along the line. A surging mass of peoples — Hermunduri, Naristi, Marcomanni, Quadi, Lacringi, Buri, Victovali, Asdingi and other tribes Germanic and lazygic — swept over the provinces of Rhaetia, Noricum, Pannonia, and Daeid. Some detached bands even pushed their way into North Italy, laid siege to Aquileia, and destroyed Opitergium, further to the west.

But the danger passed as quickly as it had arisen. Effective measures were instantly taken. The flood of invasion was stemmed, and as it receded the Romans, led by the Emperor in person, took the aggressive. All the Teutons and Iazyges who remained on the south bank were forced back across the river. So successful were the Roman arms that by the year 171 the Quadi sued for peace. In the following year the Roman army crossed the Danube, and laid waste the country of the Marcomanni. Thus the two most dangerous adversaries had been subdued and the war seemed over. But by the year 174 the Emperor again found himself obliged to return to Germany. Scarcely had he entered the country of the Quadi, when the army was placed in a highly dangerous position by an enveloping movement of the enemy, and by want of water. Suddenly a torrent of rain descended, and legionaries saw in the "miracle" a proof of the favour of the gods, and were inspired to fight with splendid valour, and gained a complete victory. This broke the resistance of the Quadi, and the Marcomanni also were forced to make peace.

In 176 the Emperor returned to Rome, and there celebrated, along with his son Commodus, a well-deserved triumph. In 177 Marcus rejoined his army with the purpose of completing the work of conquest. Two new provinces, Marcomania and Sarmatia, were to be added to his Empire and were to round off his northern boundary. The war began (apparently before the end of 177) with an attack upon the Quadi, after which the Marcomanni were to be dealt with. In the course of the three-years' war both peoples were so thoroughly exhausted that when the Emperor suddenly died (17 March 180) their military strength was already broken.

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