Europe 457: Battle of Campi Cannini

Taking advantage of the instability that gripped the Western Roman Empire following the overthrow of the emperor Avitus, a force of Alemanni crossed the Alps into northern Italy in early 457. Alerted to the situation, the general Majorian dispatched one of his officers to intercept and defeat the invaders at Campi Cannini.

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Main Events

457? Revolt of Heran of Balasgan ▲

At some point in the 450s, King Heran of Balasgan—who had supported the Sasanian Persians in their suppression of the Armenian revolt of 450–451—led his kingdom in rebellion against Shah Yazdegerd II (r. 438–457). After routing a Persian army in Albania, Heran proceeded to mount raids into the Persian-aligned kingdoms of Iberia, Armenia, and Albania. In response, Yazdegerd sent an army to crush Balasgan and by 457 had Heran executed. in wikipedia

27 Jan–7 Feb 457 Pan-Roman interregnum ▲

Following their overthrow of the Western Roman emperor Avitus in October 456, Ricimer and Majorian sent envoys to the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian, who possibly appointed his son-in-law Anthemius to be the new Western emperor. However, Marcian died of gangrene in late January 457, leaving the Eastern throne vacant at a time when the matter of the Western succession was still unresolved. This situation lasted for eleven days until the Eastern magister militum Aspar, disregarding Anthemius’ claims to either throne, elevated a man named Leo to the position of Eastern emperor in early February. in wikipedia

457 Fall of Cologne and Trier ▲

Taking advantage of Roman disorder following the overthrow of Avitus in October 456, the Ripuarian Franks crossed the Rhine into Gaul at some point in 457 and captured the cities of Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) and Treverorum Augusta (Trier). in wikipedia

7 Feb 457–18 Jan 474 Reign of Leo I ▲

Following the death of the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian, the magister militum Aspar elevated Leo, a fifty-six-year-old military official, to the imperial throne, assuming that he would be easy to control. Instead, Leo outmaneuvered and eventually eliminated Aspar by aligning himself with the Church and the people—he was the first emperor to be crowned by the Patriarch of Constantinople and to legislate in Koine Greek rather than Latin—and the Isaurians. As senior Augustus, Leo spent much of his seventeen-year reign working to save the faltering Western Empire, but by the time of his death of dysentery in 474 these efforts had all but failed. in wikipedia

457 Aioulf’s revolt ▲

After he had conquered the Suebi in late 456, the Visigothic king Theodoric II appointed Aioulf, one of his retainers, as the new Suebian king. Aioulf remained loyal for just a few months before revolting against his former master in the vicinity of Portus Cale (Porto) in early 457. Perhaps encouraged by this example, many Suebi and apparently also Romans rejected Visigothic authority at about the same time. in wikipedia

457 Maldras’ revolt ▲

Although the Visigoths had conquered the Suebi in late 456, they initially had difficulty maintaining their authority over the large areas of Spain now under their rule. In early 457 bandits pillaged parts of Bracara Augusta (Braga) and shortly afterwards, perhaps in a related move, the Suebi revolted under a new king, Maldras. in wikipedia

Mar 457 Battle of Campi Cannini ▲

In March 457 a force of nine hundred Alemanni crossed the Alps from Raetia into Italy and began ravaging the region around Campi Cannini (fields near Lake Maggiore). When news of this reached Ravenna, the general Majorian dispatched an otherwise unknown officer named Burco with a small body of mixed units to deal with the situation. Burco swiftly intercepted the invaders, killing many of them and dispersing the remainder. in wikipedia