Alpine hiking in August

The Romans reached the alpine foothills at the end of the 3rd century. BC e., as a result of the conquest of Cisalpine Gaul . The development of the Alpine region was initially carried out economically, as the Roman businessmen sought to seize the gold deposits in the lands of Salassa and Norique. The Romans were also interested in the safety of trade routes through alpine passes, and after the conquest of Narbonne Gaul , and in ensuring military communications. All this led to conflicts with the highlanders, to which was added the ancient enmity between the Alpine tribes and the population of the Padan plain. During a series of military campaigns in the II century. BC e. the Romans somewhat strengthened their control over the foothills, but most hill tribes remained independent after the conquest of Gaul by Caesar.

Until the 20th century, it was believed that the alpine campaigns of Augustus were undertaken for defensive purposes in order to protect northern Italy and the roads to Gaul from attacks by robbers. Then R. Syme pointed out that this point of view reflects the propaganda concept of Augustus himself ^[1] , who claimed that the Alpine peoples were conquered “in fairness” ^[2] . Since the Romans formally respected the “right of peoples” ( ius gentium ) and claimed that they refrained from “unjust” (that is, unprovoked by the enemy) wars, they always tried to present themselves as a defending side to justify aggression. Echoes of August’s propaganda are seen by historians in the messages of Strabo and Dion Cassius , telling about the extreme cruelty of the Reth and Vindelic tribes, who not only robbed and killed merchants crossing the Alps, but during raids on Italian settlements, exterminated men and boys, and even babies in the womb mothers, determining their gender through fortune telling ^{[3] [4]} .

Similar fictional details about the mountaineers' cruel disposition are reported by Flor :

“What was the wildness of the alpine tribes, it is easy to show on the example of their women. For lack of throwing tools, they smashed the heads of their babies on the ground and threw them in the face of the soldiers. ”

- Flor . II, 22.

Campaigns of the 30s BC e.

The first campaign against the Salasses, who lived in the Grays and Pennine Alps , was undertaken in 35 BC. e. during the Illyrian war 35–33 BC e. Legat Octavian Guy Antistius Vet with an unexpected attack and with the help of cunning captured narrow mountain passages and blocked this tribe for two years. Lacking salt, the Salasses obeyed and took Roman garrisons.

When Vet left, they immediately drove out the garrisons and again took the passes. The troops sent against them could not do anything, then Octavian, in view of the approaching war with Anthony , agreed to recognize their independence. According to Appian , the Salasses were suspicious of his proposal, made large reserves of salt, and continued raids on Roman possessions. Messala Corwin was sent against them, who, through repeated blockade, achieved surrender. ^[5] .

Salass Destruction

Finally, the Salasses were conquered in 25 BC. e. Dion Cassius writes that they rebelled against the Romans. Augustus directed against them the legate of Aulus Terence Varron Murena . Unable to resist the large Roman army, the Salasses surrendered when Varron promised that he would limit himself to collecting indemnities. Under the pretext of collecting money, he sent out detachments of soldiers everywhere, which captured 8 thousand people who could carry weapons. These captives were sold into slavery on the condition that they could only be released after 20 years ^[6] . Strabo clarifies that in addition to these 8 thousand, another 36 thousand people were captured, who were all sold as military booty in Eporedia ( Ivrea ). Thus the entire Salassian people were destroyed; in the Aosta Valley, 3,000 Praetorians sent by Augustus founded the city of Augusta Pretoria ( Aosta ) on the site of the Warron’s camp, and “currently the whole neighboring country lives in peace up to the highest passages leading through the mountains” ^[7] .

Presumably, the foothills of the Eastern Alps and the borderlands of Norik and Pannonia were put under Roman control during the Illyrian war as a result of the campaigns of Messala Corvin. Dion Cassius writes that Messala, in addition to the Salasses, conquered some other tribes that "rebelled against the Romans" ^[8] . On the basis of one mention by Strabo and in the elegy of Tibull ^[9], it is assumed that Messala Corvin was in 34-33 BC. e. acted against the Carns , Rets and Tauris of Norik ^[10] .

In 16 BC. e. the tribes of Vennius (eastern Alps) and Kamunnii (apparently lived between the lakes of Como and Garda ) rebelled against the Romans at the same time as the Pannons and Dalmatians . Tauris of Norik, having united with the Pannonians, attacked Istria . Proconsul Illyric Publius Cilius Nerve defeated them, and then invaded Norik and the eastern Alps ^[11] .

The Rhetian War

In 15 BC. e. the Romans launched a decisive offensive on the area of ​​Reth and Vindelics, located between the lands of the Helvetus and the battles at the upper Rhine , the upper Danube and the alpine foothills in the region of Verona and Lake Como (modern central and eastern Switzerland , the south of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria , Vorarlberg and ) Augustus, watching the course of hostilities from Gaul, sent his stepsons Druze and Tiberius to the Alps. It is believed that one of the goals of this campaign was to give young warlords gain experience before larger operations in Germany . The legions apparently arrived from Spain, where they gained extensive experience in the mountains during the Cantabrian Wars ^[12] .

The general course of the campaign is known from the short outline of Dion Cassius and the two odes of Horace . The first to set off was Druz, advancing from the south upstream of Atesis ( Adige ) and defeating the enemy in the foothills near Trent . Then he invaded the Retician Alps , where he destroyed the fortresses of genavas and logs, after which he passed the Brenner and Reshen passes , and went down to the Inna valley ^[13] . Then Tiberius invaded the region of the Upper Rhine and Lake Constance from the west and the two Roman armies moved in convergent directions, dissecting enemy territory and sending separate detachments to conquer mountain passages and fortresses. The Highlanders offered desperate resistance, but the forces were unequal and the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion ^[14] .

“Having carried out a siege of numerous cities and fortresses, stubbornly fighting in open battle, more likely with dangers than with losses for the Roman army, they [Druz and Tiberius] tamed, spilling blood flows, numerous nations protected by impassable terrain and cruel to the ferocity.”

- Velley Patculus . II, 95.

In the battle on Lake Constance, Tiberius defeated a flotilla of vindelics, after which he launched an offensive in the Rhine Valley, in the area of ​​modern Feldkirch , Dornbirn and Bregenz ^[15] . Tiberius gave the general battle to the Retam on August 1, 15 BC. e., on a day holy for the emperor ^[16] . In August, the troops of Tiberius and Druze were supposed to unite in the lands of the Vindelics, possibly in Damasia , and go to the shores of the upper Danube ^[15] .

To prevent future protests against Rome, Tiberius and Druz deported a significant portion of the population from Recy, "leaving a sufficient number of people to cultivate the land, but not enough to rebel" ^[4] .

Conquest of the Maritime Alps

The assumption of conquest in 14 BC. e. independent Ligur tribes (the so-called “shaggy ligurs”) living in the Maritime Alps are made on the basis of a brief mention of Dion Cassius ^[17] , and inscriptions on the Alpine trophy in Turbia ( La Turbie ) and the Ankir monument . The details of this campaign are completely unknown, since neither the emperor nor his stepsons participated in it ^[18] . The region between the Alpes-Maritimes and the Aosta Valley ( Cottian Alps ) was left under the control of Augustus client Tsar Cottius ^[19] .

The exact date and circumstances of the establishment of Roman power in Norik are unknown, but since 16 BC. e. the Romans went to its eastern border, and the next year to the western, it is obvious that they soon occupied this country. Since nothing is known about the hostilities in Norik , it is assumed that he was included in the empire peacefully. In addition to the presence of gold and other metals, this territory was important for ensuring communication between the troops in Retsii and Illyric , as well as for establishing a border along the entire upper Danube ^[20] .

The scale of operations during the Alpine campaigns refutes the demagogic claims of Augustus about a preventive defensive war. The access to the upper Danube gave the Romans an excellent opportunity to apply a standard tactical technique - striking Germany from the west and south in convergent directions, without fear of uprisings in the rear ^[21] .

Provincial administration was introduced in the Alpine region. The Primorye Alps province was formed on the lands of the ligurs, on the lands of the Salasses - the Pennine Alps , with the center in Augusta Pretoria, on the lands of the Reth and Vindelics - Retsiya . Military roads were paved everywhere to provide more tight control.

According to Strabo,

... at present, some tribes are completely destroyed, others are completely subjugated, so that the mountain passages leading through their areas, formerly rare and impassable, are now numerous and safe [from atrocities] of people and easily passable as much as possible. Augustus Caesar not only destroyed the robbers, but also rebuilt the roads, where and to what extent this turned out to be possible ...

- Strabo . IV, p. 204.

In Rezia, the Roman road ran from Trent through Brenner and modern Tyrol to Augusta Vindelicov . Another road connected Mediolan , Lake Como and Brigantine on Lake Constance .

• Gruen ES The expansion of the empire under Augustus. IV. The Alps // The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 10: The Augustan Empire, 43 BC - AD 69, Second edition. - Cambridge University Press, 1996. - ISBN 978-0521-264-303
• Oberziner, Giovanni. Le guerre di Augusto contro i popoli Alpini. - Roma: Ermanno Loescher, 1900 archive.org
• Parfyonov V.N. Emperor Caesar Augustus. Army. War. Politics. - St. Petersburg: Aletheya, 2001—278 p. - ISBN 5-89329-396-7
• Sviridova I. N. The uprising on the Middle Danube in 34–33. BC e. // From the history of ancient society. Gorky 1979. S. 110—122