Battle of Solicinium

After the death of Julian in Persia in 363, the Alemans, forgetting the treaty of truce which the emperor had extorted from them after his four successful campaigns beyond the Rhine (in 357, 358, 359, and 360),[1] renewed their incursions into Gaul, alleging as the pretext for war the contempt of Valentinian I's ministers in failing to supply them the accustomed tribute. In the year 366 they crossed the Rhine, and after amply compensating for the remission by the plunder which they secured, retired beyond the river. The next year, when they repeated their expedition, they found the Romans prepared, for Valentinian had crossed the Alps to secure the threatened province. However, in two successive battles, they defeated his generals, signalizing their victory by the capture of several standards. The enraged emperor, after restoring by a severe sentence the discipline of the legions, entrusted the command to Jovinus, an able officer who soon proved his qualification for the appointment by the total discomfiture of the invaders. After defeating two separate detachments of the Alemani along the Moselle, he met the united forces of the nation at Chalons-Sur-Marne and amended the disgrace of the previous defeat by routing the enemy, who suffered losses of up to 10,000, as opposed to no more than 1,200 of the Romans. The remnant was driven over the Rhine, and Jovinus, after retiring to Paris for the winter, received the honours of the consulship for the next year as the reward of his success.[2]

The celebrations for Jovinus' victory were soon interrupted by the intelligence of new disasters. Rando, a barbarian chieftain, in early 368 fell unexpectedly on the town of Moguntiacum (modern Mainz) on the Rhine, and put the defenceless inhabitants to the sword, before retiring over the river. Valentinian, furious, now determined to anticipate their future depredations by a campaign into their own territory beyond the Rhine. Count Sebastian was deputed to encircle the enemy from the south, by way of Rhaetia, while the emperor himself advanced with the entire forces of the west from Gaul. Finding their arms inadequate for the defence of their fields and villages, the Alemans retreated into the mountains, erecting their camp on an unidentified hill referred to as "Solicinium", in the area of Württemberg.

It is reported that the emperor, while on a personal reconnaissance of the enemy position on the lower reaches of the mountain, was nearly captured by an advanced party of the enemy who had been placed in ambuscade, losing his helmet and standard-bearer while retreating.

• Gibbon, Edward, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, (The Modern Library, 1932), chaps. XIX., XXII., XXV.