Battle of Thermopylae (254)

Battle of Thermopylae (254)
	Part of the Achaea
Result	Roman victory

Belligerents

Roman Empire GothsCommanders and leaders Marianus
Philostratus
Dexippus UnknownStrength Militia UnknownCasualties and losses Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Thermopylae in 254

Achaea, during an invasion of the Balkans by the Goths.^[3]

Background

In 254 the Goths invaded and plundered

Thessalonica with close order formations and assault columns.^[5] The Thessalonians mobilized to defend their city and beat off the attacks.^[5] The Goths abandoned the siege and moved off to invade Greece south of Thermopylae, seeking to loot the gold and silver wealth of Greek temples.^[5]

Prelude

The Greeks learned of the Goths' approach and the Roman proconsul Marianus, the Athenian Philostratus, and the Boeotian Dexippus mobilized a militia to block the pass of Thermopylae.^[5] The militia were armed with bronze or iron-tipped wooden pikes, small spears, axes, and assorted weapons.^[5] They set to work fortifying the pass.^[5]^[1]^[4] Marianus gave a pre-battle speech to them, emphasizing the defense of the pass by previous generations of Greeks and Romans.^[5]

Battle

The Graeco-Roman forces successfully blocked the Goths' way at Thermopylae and the Goths returned home, albeit with considerable loot.^[7]

Aftermath

A fragment of text attributed to the contemporary historian Dexippus, discovered in Vienna in 2010, provides detail on the weapons, leadership, and geography of the engagement.^[8] The fragment cuts off before the battle's outcome.^[5] Dexippus was used as a source by the Byzantine chronicler George Syncellus, who mentioned the blocking of the pass and the Goths' return home with plunder.^[7]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wolfram 1990, p. 48.
^ ^a ^b Goltz & Hartmann 2008, pp. 233–234.
^ Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 221.
^ ^a ^b ^c Potter 2016, p. 253.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 206.
^ Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 215.
^ ^a ^b Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 217.
^ Mallan & Davenport 2015, p. 207.

Bibliography

Goltz, Andreas; Hartmann, Udo (2008). "Valerian und Gallienus". In Johne, Klaus-Peter (ed.). Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser. Krise und Transformation des Römischen Reiches im 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. (235–284) (in German). Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
ISBN 978-3-05-004529-0
.

Mallan, Christopher; Davenport, Caillan (November 2015). "Dexippus and the Gothic Invasions: Interpreting the New Vienna Fragment". Journal of Roman Studies. 105: 203–226.
S2CID 163234044
.

Potter, David (2016). "War as Theater, from Tacitus to Dexippus". In Riess, Werner; Fagan, Garrett G. (eds.). The Topography of Violence in the Greco-Roman World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
ISBN 978-0472119820
.

ISBN 978-0520069831
.