Second Battle of Bedriacum

Overview

The Second Battle of Bedriacum, also known as the Second Battle of Cremona, was a decisive engagement fought on 24–25 October AD 69 during the Year of the Four Emperors. Two armies of Roman legions, one supporting the emperor Vitellius and the other supporting his Flavian rival Vespasian, clashed near the village of Bedriacum, about 35 km from Cremona in what is now Lombardy. The actual fighting took place between Bedriacum and Cremona, and the battle is therefore sometimes also called the Second Battle of Cremona.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Second Battle of Bedriacum, fought in late October 69 near the village of Bedriacum in what is now Lombardy, was a decisive engagement in the Year of the Four Emperors. Two Roman legionary armies met between Bedriacum and Cremona, roughly 35 km from the latter city — one force supporting the reigning emperor Vitellius, the other fighting for the Flavian claimant Vespasian under the field command of Marcus Antonius Primus. The engagement produced sharply asymmetric casualties: Vespasian's forces suffered approximately 15,000 killed against an estimated 38,000 on the Vitellian side. That disparity indicates a Flavian victory substantial enough to break Vitellian military power in northern Italy, accelerating the collapse of Vitellius's reign and advancing Vespasian's eventual consolidation of imperial authority that concluded the civil war of 68–69.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)