Battle of Burdigala

Significance

The Battle of Burdigala was a Roman defeat during the Cimbrian War, resulting in the deaths of both Roman commanders Lucius Cassius Longinus and Lucius Calpurnius Caesoninus. With a recorded force of 40,000 Romans engaged and 10,000 casualties sustained, the battle represents one of the more costly engagements of the broader conflict against the migrating Celtic-Germanic confederacy. The opposing force included the Helvetian Tigurini under Divico, marking the involvement of that tribe as a significant combatant alongside the Cimbric coalition. The loss of two commanders in a single engagement reflects the severity of the defeat and would have disrupted Roman operational capacity in the theater. The battle belongs to a sequence of Roman reverses during the Cimbrian War before Rome reorganized its forces under later commanders.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)