Battle of Strasbourg

Battle of Strasbourg
Part of the Roman-Alamanni conflict
Date AD 357 Location Near Strasbourg (modern Alsace, France) 48°34′25.7″N 7°45′07.8″E / 48.573806°N 7.752167°E / 48.573806; 7.752167 Result Western Roman victory
Belligerents
Western Roman Empire	Alamanni
Commanders and leaders
Julian (Caesar) Severus (master of cavalry)	Chnodomar  (high king) Serapio (2nd-in-command)
Strength
13,000[1]–15,000[2] men • 3,000 cavalry[3]	15,000[4]–35,000 men[5]
Casualties and losses
243 killed[6]	8,000 dead[7] • 6,000 in battlefield[6] • 2,000 drowned crossing the River Rhine[6]
class=notpageimage| Location of the battle within modern France

The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the Western Roman army under the Caesar (deputy emperor) Julian and the Alamanni tribal confederation led by the joint paramount King Chnodomar. The battle took place near Strasbourg (Alsace, France), called Argentoratum in Ammianus Marcellinus' account, Argentorate in the Tabula Peutingeriana (Section 2).

Although possibly outnumbered, the Roman army won a decisive victory after a hard-fought struggle with the Alamanni. With negligible casualties of their own, the Romans drove the Alamanni beyond the river, inflicting heavy losses. The Roman force, the imperial escort army of Julian, was small but of high quality. The battle was won by the skill of the Roman infantry, with the Roman cavalry initially performing poorly.

The battle was the climax of Julian's campaigns in 355–57 to evict barbarian marauders from Gaul and to restore the Roman defensive line of fortifications along the Rhine, which had been largely destroyed during the Roman civil war of 350–53. In the years following his victory at Strasbourg, Julian was able to repair and garrison the Rhine forts and impose tributary status on the Germanic tribes beyond the border.