# The Battle of Mons Alma 6 AD

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** BazBattles
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqFzTzlYUe8
- **Источник:** https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/40527

## Транскрипт

### Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00) []

It is a late autumn morning some kilometres to the north of the Roman town of Sirmium. The air carries the faint scent of woodsmoke coming from the enemy camp. Restless Thracian riders chatter of abundant spoils that surely awaits them in the Illyrian tents. Their king Remetalkes rides in the front, dispatching orders and rousing his men. On the far side of the open grassy hill, the Illyrian rebels shout crude insults at the Thracian riders, as they form a solid battle line, bristling with long spears and oblong shields. Remetalkes is keenly aware that the upcoming clash could bring about the end to the Illyrian revolt, which rages in the middle of the Roman Empire. The battle is about to begin. It is the middle of spring of the year 6 AD. The uprising in the province of Illyricum grows larger with each passing week. More and more pockets of rebellion break out throughout the region, as the Illyrian people, furious over excessive conscription, high taxation and general mistreatment, raise arms against their overlords. Hoping to quell the rebellion in its early stages, the Romans hastily gathered an army and engaged the Illyrian rebels near the Drava river. Though they managed to narrowly defeat the enemy, the high casualties forced the Romans to cut their campaign short and retreat. The Illyrians lost the fight, but word of their valiant struggle spread across the land, encouraging more warriors to join the uprising. As the revolt gained momentum, the leading tribal warchief of Dalmatia, going by the name Bato, saw his ranks grow and he felt strong enough to attack the city of Salona, hoping to undermine Roman authority in the region. By the year 6 AD, Salona had developed into a major Roman city and served as the capital of the province of Illyricum. Its fall to enemy hands would seriously damage Roman prestige and their control of the region. The rebel army surrounded the city and over the following days launched a couple assaults to take it by storm. The Roman garrison, thoroughly skilled in siegecraft, put up a well-organized resistance, hindering rebel attempts to scale the walls or breach the gates. Bato’s struggle to take the city was made all the more arduous as his men severely lacked proper siege engines. As if that weren’t enough, he was wounded by a sling stone and forced to withdraw. Upon learning their leader was not there, his warriors were quick to abandon the siege and they dispersed to raid unprotected towns on the Dalmatian coast instead. While Salona was successfully defended, Roman forces suffered defeats elsewhere in the region, raising fears that the rebellion could spiral well out of control to become the very disaster Emperor Augustus had feared. Somewhat reluctantly, the emperor gave in to the vocal demands of the Roman public and entrusted his adopted son and heir Tiberius with supreme command of the army to crush the expanding revolt. Fresh imperial orders, along with alarming news from Illyricum soon reached Tiberius, who was at the time, at the Germanic frontier. His previous experience of campaigning in the rebelling province left him with no illusions about the seriousness of the crisis. The Illyrian tribes were renowned for their warlike nature and unpredictability, and Tiberius understood this all too well. Yet he was still tied down in Germania and he could only dispatch one unit, several cohorts strong, which had just joined him for the campaign across the border. But only days after the Roman vanguard crossed the Alpine passes and descended into Pannonia, they suddenly came under attack from another Bato, the prominent chieftain of the Breuci people, the biggest tribe of Pannonia. It’s unclear how this Bato actually discovered the path of the Roman column, yet his Pannonian warriors skilfully maneuvered to surround the enemy and ambush them. But even with the advantage of surprise, the rebels could not break Romans lines, and were eventually driven off the field. This setback compelled Bato the Pannonian to pause and reconsider his next moves. He certainly concluded that defeating the well-equipped and disciplined Romans was far more demanding than he originally thought and needed better organization and bigger numbers. Thus, he sent messengers to the leader of the uprising in southern Illyricum, Bato the Dalmatian, to discuss an alliance against their common Roman enemy.

### Segment 2 (05:00 - 09:00) [5:00]

Due to his recent failure to take the city of Salona, the second Bato resolved to negotiate with his Pannonian namesake. The two ultimately reached an agreement, deciding to coordinate their efforts against the Romans. This union of the two Batos certainly caught the Empire off guard, given the volatile and independent nature of the Illyrian tribes. While both rebel leaders were negotiating their alliance, a freshly resupplied Roman army set out from the province of Moesia led by provincial governor Aulus Caecina Severus, who had already met Illyrian rebels in battle a few months earlier. Yet this time, Caecina was better prepared to intervene and sent ahead a sizable contingent of allied Thracian cavalry under their King Remetalkes to scout the area and act as a screening force for the Roman infantry. Thracia was still nominally an independent kingdom, but its days of glory had long passed and by the opening years of the 1st century it had effectively become little more than a loyal client-state of the Empire. The Roman army pressed on to meet the gathering Illyrian rebels and soon the Thracian cavalry, riding ahead of the main body came into contact with the Pannonian and Dalmatian warriors, who had positioned themselves wisely on top of a wide, grassy hillside, a good, defensible position. A prudent commander would have sent word back to governor Caecina marching behind and wait for the Roman heavy infantry to catch up, and use the combined force to overwhelm the insurgents. King Remetalkes however, well, let’s just say prudence was not one of his strengths. He gave in to his men, who were increasingly restless and likely fired up by the prospect of rich plunder awaiting them in the Illyrian camp and gave order to prepare to attack the enemy line. Ancient historians often labeled the Thracians as undisciplined savages, and while this surely is an exaggeration, it’s hard to dismiss that there’s a grain of truth to it. King Remetalkes raised his hand, giving the signal to attack. Thracian cavalry rushed out of their position, charging uphill towards the enemy. The Illyrians scrambled to form a battle line, hoping that the higher ground would give them an edge in the upcoming assault. Yet the Thracian horses, bred for speed and famed across the ancient world for their quality, climbed the soft, rolling slope with ease. When the first line of Thracian riders got close to the Illyrian positions, they unleashed a volley of javelins into the enemy ranks, drawing first blood. Yet, rather than closing in for a melee, the riders swiftly wheeled their mounts and retreated to the rear. A second wave of horsemen followed right behind the first, hurling their javelins before turning sharply away. This hit-and-run tactic was exactly what Thracian cavalry excelled at. To this end, Thracian warriors mostly avoided using body armour, choosing to stay light and agile on the battlefield. The Illyrian fighters made repeated attempts to push forward and bring the enemy into hand-to-hand combat. Yet the majority of Thracian riders would allow themselves to only engage in quick skirmishes before swiftly pulling back to safety to avoid taking too much damage. The Illyrian ranks continued to bleed, sustaining increasingly severe casualties with each passing minute. Realizing that they stood almost no chance of pinning down the enemy for a fair fight, the Illyrian warriors made the only sensible choice they could and began a more-or-less orderly retreat from the battlefield. The Thracians secured victory and immediately moved to plunder the abandoned enemy camp. They managed to rout the Illyrian army, but if they had shown more restraint and waited for the arrival of Roman heavy infantry of Aulus Caecina, who reached the battlefield later the same day, the outcome of the battle could have been far more decisive, crippling the Illyrian rebels entirely. Yet before the Roman governor could voice his irritation at the Thracians’ partial victory, a messenger arrived with alarming news. Several bands of Dacians and Sarmatians had crossed the Danube, plundering the province of Moesia. Aulus Caecina had no other choice, but to once again retreat his forces back to the east, leaving Roman Illyricum to the rebels.