What do you think?
Rate this book
Osprey Campaign #336
Strasbourg AD 357: The victory that saved Gaul
A highly illustrated account of the battle of Strasbourg in AD 357, a decisive victory for the Romans under their Caesar Julian against the Alemanni and their leader Chnodomar.
Civil war in the Western Roman Empire between AD 350--53 had left the frontiers weakly defended, and the major German confederations along the Rhine--the Franks and Alemanni--took advantage of the situation to cross the river, destroy the Roman fortifications along it and occupy parts of Roman Gaul. In 355, the Emperor Constantius appointed his 23-year-old cousin Julian as his Caesar in the provinces of Gaul with command of all troops in the region. Having recaptured the city of Cologne, Julian planned to trap the Alemanni in a pincer movement, but when the larger half of his army was forced into retreat, he was left facing a much larger German force outside the walls of the city of Strasbourg. This new study relates the events of this epic battle as the experience and training of the Roman forces prevailed in the face of overwhelming German numbers.
Civil war in the Western Roman Empire between AD 350--53 had left the frontiers weakly defended, and the major German confederations along the Rhine--the Franks and Alemanni--took advantage of the situation to cross the river, destroy the Roman fortifications along it and occupy parts of Roman Gaul. In 355, the Emperor Constantius appointed his 23-year-old cousin Julian as his Caesar in the provinces of Gaul with command of all troops in the region. Having recaptured the city of Cologne, Julian planned to trap the Alemanni in a pincer movement, but when the larger half of his army was forced into retreat, he was left facing a much larger German force outside the walls of the city of Strasbourg. This new study relates the events of this epic battle as the experience and training of the Roman forces prevailed in the face of overwhelming German numbers.
- GenresHistoryRoman History
96 pages, Paperback
Published May 21, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 27, 2020
A clear, well written account of the Emperor Julian's successful campaigns against the Alemanni confederation and their ill fated invasion of Gaul.
D'Amato sticks well to the format of the Campaign series as he gives an excellent summation, not only of the campaign itsef but also of the highly complex political situation between Julian and Constantius as these ill matched cousins attempt to make the best rulers of the fractured Roman World.
His use of references is copious and is a great aid if you have access to some of the primary sources and his reconstruction is credible this fact, added to some fine artwork and choice o f imagery gives a brief but satisfying insight into one of the bigger battles of the Later Empire.
D'Amato sticks well to the format of the Campaign series as he gives an excellent summation, not only of the campaign itsef but also of the highly complex political situation between Julian and Constantius as these ill matched cousins attempt to make the best rulers of the fractured Roman World.
His use of references is copious and is a great aid if you have access to some of the primary sources and his reconstruction is credible this fact, added to some fine artwork and choice o f imagery gives a brief but satisfying insight into one of the bigger battles of the Later Empire.
April 29, 2023
Julian the Apostate is known for his disastrous defeat by the Sassanids in 363. d'Amato and Frediani go back six years to show Julian's very successful campaign in Gaul.
This is a typical Osprey Campaign book with its conventional format, length, and topics. With two exceptions, all the photographs are in color, and Florent Vincent's illustrations are good (there are three two-page spreads), better than many from Osprey, but not the best. There also a few older small illustrations showing sample figures with equipment by Igor Dzis. The bibliography goes two pages, the section on the battlefield today is merely one paragraph, but there are several good photos of it in the book.
The authors go into the political background that kept Julian out of the spotlight before he finally ends up in command in Gaul. This also has implications for his relationship with the court of Constantius, and Barbatio, who was effectively a co-commander. This is followed up with events after the main campaign being discussed, and fills out the situation well.
d'Amato and Frediani point to Julian's background in the classics as explaining his successes here. Roman practice of the time had become very conservative, endeavoring to take as few chances as possible, and manage the various crises that had come up. Julian, his head full of Julius Caesar's Commentaries, went for a much more bold approach, looking for decisive battles after which he could dictate terms.
They don't go into the reasons why Roman practice had evolved this way. But Julian's approach certainly worked here. The battle at Argentoratum (Strasbourg) led to the surrender of the main Germanic commander, and Julian got time to arrange a series of buffer states on the other side of the Rhine, instead of settling people inside of Gaul. Northeastern Gaul especially had taken enough damage that this may never have been a stable arrangement, but we (and Julian) never got a chance to find out, as he and most of his Roman army got transferred to the east because of the latest disaster from the Sassanids, and the frontier collapsed again without them.
Short of some of the imponderables, Julian certainly made it work for a few years, and Osprey has another very good book in their Campaign line discussing the central action.
This is a typical Osprey Campaign book with its conventional format, length, and topics. With two exceptions, all the photographs are in color, and Florent Vincent's illustrations are good (there are three two-page spreads), better than many from Osprey, but not the best. There also a few older small illustrations showing sample figures with equipment by Igor Dzis. The bibliography goes two pages, the section on the battlefield today is merely one paragraph, but there are several good photos of it in the book.
The authors go into the political background that kept Julian out of the spotlight before he finally ends up in command in Gaul. This also has implications for his relationship with the court of Constantius, and Barbatio, who was effectively a co-commander. This is followed up with events after the main campaign being discussed, and fills out the situation well.
d'Amato and Frediani point to Julian's background in the classics as explaining his successes here. Roman practice of the time had become very conservative, endeavoring to take as few chances as possible, and manage the various crises that had come up. Julian, his head full of Julius Caesar's Commentaries, went for a much more bold approach, looking for decisive battles after which he could dictate terms.
They don't go into the reasons why Roman practice had evolved this way. But Julian's approach certainly worked here. The battle at Argentoratum (Strasbourg) led to the surrender of the main Germanic commander, and Julian got time to arrange a series of buffer states on the other side of the Rhine, instead of settling people inside of Gaul. Northeastern Gaul especially had taken enough damage that this may never have been a stable arrangement, but we (and Julian) never got a chance to find out, as he and most of his Roman army got transferred to the east because of the latest disaster from the Sassanids, and the frontier collapsed again without them.
Short of some of the imponderables, Julian certainly made it work for a few years, and Osprey has another very good book in their Campaign line discussing the central action.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews