The battle of Lugdunum, also called the battle of Lyon, was fought on 19 February 197 at Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France), between the armies of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and of the Roman usurper Clodius Albinus. February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Roman Emperor Septimius Severus sacks Ctesiphon and captures an enormous number of its inhabitants as slaves. ... Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern: Lyon) was an important Roman city in Gaul. ... City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... Roman Emperor is the title historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Emperor Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, (April 11, 146 - February 4, 211) was Roman emperor from April 9, 193 to 211. ... Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the so-called crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule. ... Decimus Clodius Albinus (c. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Roman Emperor Septimius Severus sacks Ctesiphon and captures an enormous number of its inhabitants as slaves. ... Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (modern: Lyon) was an important Roman city in Gaul. ... City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ... Roman Emperor is the title historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ... Emperor Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, (April 11, 146 - February 4, 211) was Roman emperor from April 9, 193 to 211. ... Usurpers were a common feature of the late Roman Empire, especially from the so-called crisis of the third century onwards, when political instability became the rule. ... Decimus Clodius Albinus (c. ...

This battle is said to be the largest, most hard fought and bloodest of all clashes between Roman forces. According to historian Dio Cassius up to 150,000 men on each side were involved. But this is most likely an exageration since this would have meant nearly three-quarters of the entire Roman Army at the time were engaged. But the total number engaged clearly exceeded 100,000 and could well have come close to the 150,000 figure Dio gives, except for both sides combined, not each side separately. Dio Cassius Cocceianus (155–after 229), known in English as Dio Cassius or Cassius Dio, was a noted Roman historian and public servant. ...

Background

After the death of Emperor Pertinax (193), a struggle started for the succession to the purple. The Emperor in Rome, Didius Julianus, had to face a pretender, the commander of the Pannonian legions Septimius Severus. Before moving to Rome, Severus made an alliance with the powerful commander of the Britannia legions, Clodius Albinus, recognizing him Caesar. After eliminating Didius (193), Pescennius Niger (194), and after a campaign in the East (195), Severus tried to legitimize his power, connecting himself with Marcus Aurelius, and raising his own son to the rank of Caesar. This last act broke Severus' alliance with Albinus, who was declared public enemy by the Senate. Pertinax (Archaeological museum, Antakya) Publius Helvius Pertinax (August 1, 126 - March 28, 193) was proclaimed Roman Emperor the morning following the assassination of Commodus on December 31, AD 192. ... Events June 1 – Roman Emperor Didius Julianus is assassinated in his palace. ... Chromaticity diagram. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Didius Julianus Marcus Severus Didius Julianus (133–193) was emperor of the Roman Empire from 28 March until 1 June 193. ... Position of the Roman province of Pannonia Pannonia is an ancient country bounded north and east by the Danube, conterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. ... Emperor Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus, (April 11, 146 - February 4, 211) was Roman emperor from April 9, 193 to 211. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain is the term applied to that part of Britain lying within the Roman Empire (which never extended to the whole island). ... Decimus Clodius Albinus (c. ... Caesar (p. ... Pescennius Niger as emperor. ... Marcus Aurelius alabaster bust. ... The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was a deliberative body which was important in the government of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. ...

In 196, after being hailed as emperor by his troops, Clodius Albinus took 40,000 men in three legions from Britannia to Gaul. After gathering up additional forces, he set up headquarters at Lugdunum. He was joined there by Lucius Novius Rufus, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and by the Legio VII Gemina under his command. But Severus had the powerful Danubian and German legions on his side. To try and minimize this advantage and possibly win their support, Albinus struck first against the German forces under Virius Lupus. He defeated them but not decisively enough to change their allegiance to Severus. Albinus then considered invading Italy, but Severus had prepared for this by reinforcing the garrisons of the Alpine passes. Not wishing to risk the losses or delay this would cause, Albinus was deterred. Events First year of Jianan era of the Chinese Han Dynasty Clodius Albinus, rival for Roman Emperor, leaves the province of Britain with all of the islands troops, and makes Gaul his headquarters. ... Britannia, the British national personification. ... Map of Gaul circa 58 BC Gaul (from Latin Gallia, c. ... Roman Imperial province of Hispania Tarraconensis, 120 AD Hispania Tarraconensis was a Roman province in what is known today as modern Spain. ... Virius Lupus was a Roman soldier and politician of the late second and early third century AD. He served as a legate of one of the German provinces and supported Septimus Severus during the civil war that followed the murder of Pertinax. ...

In the winter of 196-197, Severus gathered his forces along the Danube and marched into Gaul, where, much to his surprise, he found Albinus' forces were about the same strength as his own. The two armies first clashed at Tinurtium (Tournus), where Severus had the better day but was unable to obtain the decisive victory he needed.

The Battle

Albinus' army fell back to Lugdunum, Severus followed, and on February 19, 197 the massive and ultimately decisive battle finally commenced. The exact details are as vague as the exact numbers involved. But we do know both sides were roughly evenly matched and it was therefore a bloody and drawn out affair lasting over two days (it was rare for battles of this time to last longer than a few hours). The tide shifted many times during its course, with the outcome hanging in the balance. But it seems Severus had the edge in cavalry which swung the battle in his favor for the final time. Exhausted and bloodied, Albinus' army was crushed. February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Roman Emperor Septimius Severus sacks Ctesiphon and captures an enormous number of its inhabitants as slaves. ... Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ...

Aftermath

Albinus' exact fate is unclear. He fled into Lugdunum where he either, in the Roman tradition, "ran upon his sword" after finding all escape routes cut, or he was finished off by an assassin's blade. Severus had his body stripped and beheaded. He rode over the headless corpse with his horse in front of his victorious troops. The head he sent back to Rome as a warning along with the heads of Albinus' family. Also as a result of this battle, Roman forces in Britannia were severely weakened, which would lead to incursions, uprisings and a withdrawl of Rome from the Antonine wall south to Hadrian's wall. It was while quelling one of these uprisings, Severus himself would die near present day York on 4 February 211, Only weeks short of the 14th anniversary of his victory at Lugdunum. The Antonine Wall, looking east, from Barr Hill between Twechar and Croy The Antonine Wall is a stone and turf fortification, built by the Romans across what is now lowland Scotland. ... Pieces of Hadrians Wall remain near Greenhead and along the route, though large sections have been dismantled over the years to use the stones for various nearby construction projects. ... York is a city in northern England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This article is about the year 211. ...

External links

• Roman Emperors DIR account for Severus life