Battle of Burdigala

Battle of Burdigala
	Part of the Teuton territory
Date	107 BC
Location	Near Burdigala (Bordeaux, France)
Result	Germanic—Celtic victory
Belligerents
Roman Republic	A combined Germanic-Celtic army including: Cimbri; Teutones; Volcae Tectosages; Tigurini; several other tribes;
Commanders and leaders
Lucius Cassius Longinus †; Lucius Calpurnius Piso †; Gaius Popillius Laenas	Divico
Strength
40,000	unknown but severely outnumbering the Romans
Casualties and losses
10,000	Relatively low

The Battle of Burdigala (the Roman name for Bordeaux) took place during the Cimbrian War in 107 BC. The battle was fought between a combined Germanic-Celtic army including the Helvetian Tigurini under the command of Divico, and the forces of the Roman Republic under the command of Lucius Cassius Longinus, Lucius Caesoninus, and Gaius Popillius Laenas. Longinus and Caesoninus were killed in the action and the battle resulted in a victory for the combined tribes.

Context

In 113 BC, the Germanic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons invaded Roman territory, defeating an army under the command of Gnaeus Papirius Carbo in Noricum at the Battle of Noreia. The Germanic tribes demanded to be given the right to settle in Roman territory. When denied, the Germanic force marched all the way to Gallia Narbonensis where they defeated another Roman army under the command of Marcus Junius Silanus at an unknown location. It was thereafter that the Germans forged an alliance with the Tigurini tribe and Rome prepared for an invasion of the lower peninsula that did not come.

Prelude

In 107 BC, the Roman Senate launched another campaign under Lucius Cassius Longinus, Lucius Caesoninus, and Gaius Popillius Laenas (son of Publius Popillius Laenas), to defend one of their allied tribes. At first, all went well for Rome. Just outside Tolosa, the combatants met and, despite the huge numbers of Germans and their allies, Longinus defeated them and they retreated in disorder, leaving behind a large number of baggage wagons. Flushed with his success, Longinus followed them, but was reluctant to leave behind the captured baggage train, which slowed his army down significantly.^[1]

The battle

By the time he reached Burdigala, it was heavily fortified and the barbarians had been reinforced. Longinus made a camp on a defensible hilltop near Burdigala and decided to attack the

under the yoke".^[1]