Bust of Severus Alexander from Ryakia (Museum of Dion) |
6.7: Germanic incursions
[233]  Alexander did not believe that Persian
affairs would remain permanently quiet and peaceful, but he did think
that the barbarian had provided him with a temporary respite from
campaigning. The barbarian army, once disbanded, was not easily
remustered, as it was not organized on a permanent basis. More a mob
than a regular army, the soldiers had only those supplies which each
man brought for himself when he reported for duty. Moreover, the
Persians are reluctant to leave their wives, children, and homeland.
 Now unexpected
messages and dispatches upset Alexander and caused him even greater
anxiety: the governors in Illyria reported that the Germans [the Alamans] had crossed
the Rhine and the Danube rivers, were plundering the Roman empire, and
with a huge force were overrunning the garrison camps on the banks of
these rivers, as well as the cities and villages there. They reported
also that the provinces of Illyricum bordering on and close to Italy
were in danger.
 The governors informed
the emperor that it was absolutely necessary that he and his entire
army come to them. The revelation of these developments terrified
Alexander and aroused great concern among the soldiers from Illyricum,
who seemed to have suffered a double disaster; the men who had
undergone many hardships in the Persian expedition now learned that
their families had been slaughtered by the Germans. They were naturally
enraged at this, and blamed Alexander for their misfortunes because he
had betrayed affairs in the East by his cowardice and carelessness and
was hesitant and dilatory about the situation in the North.
 Alexander and his advisers,
too, feared for the safety of Italy itself. They did not consider the
Persian threat at all similar to the German. The fact is that those who
live in the East, separated from the West by a great continent and a
broad sea, scarcely ever hear of Italy, whereas the provinces of
Illyricum, since they are narrow and very little of their territory is
under Roman control, make the Germans actually neighbors of the
Italians;
the two peoples thus share common borders.
 Although
he loathed the idea, Alexander glumly announced his departure for
Illyria.[1] Necessity compelled him to go, however; and so, leaving behind
a force which he considered strong enough to defend the Roman
frontiers, after he had seen to the forts and the walls of the camps
with greater care and had assigned to each fort its normal complement
of troops, the emperor marched out against the Germans with the rest of
his army.
 Completing the
journey quickly, he encamped on the banks of the Rhine and made
preparations for the German campaign. Alexander spanned the river with
boats lashed together to form a bridge, thinking that this would
provide an easy means of crossing for his soldiers. The Rhine in
Germany and the Danube in Pannonia are the largest of the northern
rivers. In summer their depth and width make them easily navigable, but
in the cold winters they freeze over and appear like a level plain
which can be crossed on
horseback.
 The river
becomes so firm and solid in that season that it supports horses and
men. Then those who want drinking water do not come to the river with
pitchers and bowls; they bring axes and mattocks and, when they have
finished chopping, take up water without using bowls and carry it in
chunks as hard as rock.
 Such is the nature
of these rivers. Alexander had brought with him many Moorish javelin
men and a huge force of archers from the East and from the Osrhoenian
country, together with Parthian deserters and mercenaries who had offered their help;
with these he prepared to battle the Germans. The missile men were
especially troublesome to the Germans: the Moorish hurl their
javelins from a distance and attack and retreat nimbly, while the
archers, far removed from their targets, easily fire their arrows into
the bare heads and huge bodies of the Germans; but when the Germans
attacked at full speed and fought hand to hand, they were often the
equal of the Romans.
 Alexander was thus
occupied with these matters. He thought it wise, however, to send an
embassy to the Germans to discuss the possibilities of a peaceful
settlement. He promised to give them everything they asked and to hand
over a large amount of money. The avaricious Germans are susceptible to
bribes and are always ready to sell peace to the Romans for gold.
Consequently, Alexander undertook to buy a truce rather than risk the
hazards of war.
 The soldiers,
however, were not pleased by his action, for the time was passing
without profit to them, and Alexander was doing nothing courageous or
energetic about the war; on the contrary, when it was essential that he
march out and punish the Germans for their insults, he spent the time
in chariot racing and luxurious living.
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