Editing Battle of Abritus (section)

==Battle==

In either June,<ref>Potter 2004, p.243. ''Gallus saw to the deification of Decius on June 24, 251''</ref> July,<ref>Herwig Wolfram, ''Die Goten und ihre Geschichte'', C. H. Beck Verlag, München, 2001, p.33. {{ISBN|3-406-44779-1}}</ref> or August<ref>Southern 2001, p.308. She conjectures August as the date of Herennius Etruscus proclamation to the rank of Augustus, then the battle could not take place before that point</ref> of 251, the Roman army engaged the forces under Cniva near Abritus. The strengths of the belligerent forces are unknown, but we know that Cniva divided his forces into three units, with one of these parts concealed behind a swamp.<ref name = Potter2/> It seems that Cniva was a skilled tactician and that he was very familiar with the surrounding terrain.<ref name=Wolfram1>Wolfram 1988, p.45</ref> Jordanes and Aurelius Victor claim that<ref>Jordanes, par.103. Aurelius Victor, par.29</ref> Herennius Etruscus was killed by an arrow during a skirmish before the battle but his father addressed his soldiers as if the loss of his son did not matter. He allegedly said, "Let no one mourn. The death of one soldier is not a great loss to the Republic". However, other sources state that Herennius died with his father.<ref name=Potter3>Potter 2004, p.247</ref>

[[File:TraDec 15V.jpg|right|thumb|Coin of Trajan Decius, Roman Emperor defeated and killed in the battle]]

Decius' forces initially defeated their opponents in the front line, but made the fatal mistake of pursuing their fleeing enemy into the swamp, where they were ambushed and completely routed under a barrage of Gothic missiles. The immense slaughter that ensued marked one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of the Roman Empire.<ref name=Potter2>Potter 2004, p.246</ref> Decius died in the midst of the chaos and slaughter, buried under the mud. The bodies of Decius and Herennius were never found.

The Goths captured Decius' treasury of tons of gold coins and many weapons which have since been discovered in many locations across Gothic territories.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.academia.edu/13213004|title=The Battle of Abrittus, the Imperial Treasury and Aurei in Barbaricum, Numismatic Chronicle 173, 2013, p. 151}}</ref>

[[Joannes Zonaras|Zonaras]]<ref>Zonaras, 12.20, a free translation of the following Greek text: "καὶ αὐτός τε σὺν τῷ υἱῷ καὶ πλῆθος τῶν ̔Ρωμαίων ἐνεπεπτώκει τῷ τέλματι, καὶ πάντες ἐκεῖσε ἀπώλοντο, ὡς μηδὲ τὰ σώματα αὐτῶν εὑρεθῆναι, καταχωσθέντα τῇ ἰλύϊ τοῦ τέλματος"</ref> vividly narrates how: 
<blockquote>He and his son and a large number of Romans fell into the marshland; all of them perished there, none of their bodies to be found, as they were covered by the mud.</blockquote>

A 6th-century Byzantine scholar, [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], also described the total massacre of Decius' troops and the fall of the pagan emperor: "Proceeding therefore incautiously in an unknown place, he and his army became entangled in the mire, and under that disadvantage were so assailed by the missiles of the Barbarians, that not one of them escaped with life. Thus ended the life of the excellent emperor Decius."

[[Lactantius]], a 4th-century [[early Christian]] and advisor to Roman Emperor [[Constantine the Great]], described the emperor's demise as following:<ref>Lactantius, chapter 4</ref>
<blockquote>He was suddenly surrounded by the barbarians, and slain, together with great part of his army; nor could he be honoured with the rites of sepulture, but, stripped and naked, he lay to be devoured by wild beasts and birds, a fit end for the enemy of [[God]].</blockquote>

D. S. Potter rejects the story of Zosimus<ref>Zosimus, 1.25</ref> about Treboniannus Gallus who supposedly conspired with the enemies of Romans for delivering Decius' army into the Gothic trap since it seems impossible that, afterwards, the shattered Roman legions proclaimed emperor a traitor who was responsible for the loss of so many soldiers from their ranks. Another strong point against Gallus' treason is the fact that he adopted [[Hostilian]], the younger son of Decius, after returning to Rome.<ref name=Potter3>Potter 2004, p.247</ref><ref name=Southern2>Southern 2001, p.308</ref>