Slovakia in the Roman era
Slovakia was partly occupied by Roman legions for a short period of time. Marcomannia was a proposed province of the Roman Empire that Emperor Marcus Aurelius planned to establish in this territory. It was inhabited by the Germanic tribes of Marcomanni and Quadi, and lay in the western part of the modern state of Slovakia and the eastern part of what is now the Czech Republic.
Part of the area was occupied by the Romans under Marcus Aurelius between 174 AD and 180 AD. His successors abandoned the project, but the people of the area became steadily Romanized during the next two centuries. The Roman influence was disrupted with the invasions of Attila starting around 434 AD and as Slavic people later began to move into the area.
Characteristics
After the creation of the fortified limes on the Danube river, the Roman Empire tried to expand in central Europe, mainly during the emperor Marcus Aurelius's rule in the second century.It was an initiative that resulted in an ephemeral conquest of the Germanic tribes living in present-day western Slovakia, the Quadi and the Marcomanni, during the so-called Marcomannic Wars.
Under Augustus, the Romans and their armies initially occupied only a thin strip of the right bank of the Danube and a very small part of south-western Slovakia. Tiberius wanted to conquer all Germania up to the Elbe river and in 6 AD dispatched a military expedition from the fort of Carnuntum to Mušov and beyond, but was forced to stop the conquest because of a revolt in Pannonia.
Only in 174 AD did the emperor Marcus Aurelius penetrate deeper into the river valleys of the Váh, Nitra and Hron, where there are some Roman marching camps like Laugaricio. On the banks of the Hron he wrote his philosophical work Meditations. The small Roman forts of Zavod and Suchohrad on the Morava river show an intention of penetrating toward northern Bohemia-Moravia and the Oder river.
The latest archaeological discoveries which have located new Roman enclosures in the surroundings of Brno led to the conclusion that the advance of Roman troops from Carnuntum could have run further to the north-east, into the region of the Polish-Slovak border. Indeed, recent archaeological excavations and aerial surveying have shown further locations in northeast Moravia: three temporary Roman camps situated in the foreland of the so-called Moravian Gate have been partly corroborated, the former two clearly by digging.
Marcus Aurelius wanted to create a new Roman province called Marcomannia in those conquered territories, but his death put an end to the project. His successors abandoned these territories, but – with the exception of Valentinian I – maintained a relatively friendly relationship with the barbarians living there.
Indeed, the Romanization of the barbarian population continued into the late Roman period. Many Roman buildings appeared on the territory of south-western Slovakia in the relatively peaceful period of the 3rd and 4th centuries. These were probably residences of the pro-Roman Quadian aristocracy.
Romans in the late fourth century were able to bring Christianity into the area: the Germanic population of the Marcomanni converted when Fritigil, their queen, met a Christian traveller from the Roman Empire shortly before 397 AD. He talked to her of Ambrose, the formidable bishop of Milan. Impressed by what she heard, the queen converted to Christianity. In the Roman ruins of Devín Castle, the first Christian church located north of the Danube has been identified, probably built in the early fifth century.
A few years later Attila devastated the area and started the mass migrations that destroyed the Western Roman Empire. Meanwhile, the area was beginning to be occupied by Slavic tribes.
Indeed, the first written source suggesting that Slavic tribes established themselves in what is now Slovakia is connected to the migration of the Germanic Heruli from the Middle Danube region towards Scandinavia in 512. In that year, according to Procopius, they first passed "through the land of the Slavs", most probably along the river Morava. A cluster of archaeological sites in the valleys of the rivers Morava, Váh and Hron also suggests that at the latest the earliest Slavic settlements appeared in the territory around 500 AD. They are characterized by vessels similar to those of the "Mogiła" group of southern Poland and having analogies in the "Korchak" pottery of Ukraine.
In those same years the Roman presence disappeared from the area of Danubian limes, but there is a remote possibility that Romans and those early Slovak tribes interacted commercially.
Background
The reign of Augustus began a long period known as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace. Despite continuous wars on the frontiers, and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession, the Mediterranean world remained at peace for more than two centuries. Augustus enlarged the empire dramatically, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Raetia, expanded possessions in Africa, and completed the conquest of Hispania.By the end of his reign, the armies of Augustus had conquered the Alpine regions of Raetia and Noricum, Illyricum and Pannonia.
The Romans and their armies occupied a narrow strip of the right bank of the Danube and a very small part of south-western Slovakia.
Augustus's successor Tiberius wanted to conquer all Germania up to the Elbe river and in 6 AD started a military expedition from the fort of Carnuntum to Mušov and beyond.
However, he was forced to abandon the conquest because of a revolt in Pannonia.
The expanding Roman Empire established and maintained a series of outposts around and just north of the Danube.
The largest of these were Carnuntum, whose remains are on the main road halfway between Vienna and Bratislava, and Brigetio.
The Romans supported the client kingdom of the Quadi, a Germanic tribe, to maintain peace in the Middle Danube area.
The Marcomanni were another Germanic tribe said by Tacitus to "stand first in strength and renown".
Maroboduus, who ruled in the first quarter of the first century AD, was a powerful ruler with an extensive empire based on modern-day Bohemia that included many smaller tribes. He was fully independent of Rome.
Later the Marcomanni also became clients of the Romans.
The Romans built forts in the province of Pannonia, bordering on Marcomannic territory, in the earlier Flavian period. These included Arrabona and Brigetio in modern Hungary.
They built various military installations in the Middle Danube area at the end of the first century including the fort of Gerulata. This fort, rebuilt several times before the end of the fourth century, is still visible in the village of Rusovce in southern Bratislava.
Marcomannic Wars
Germanic attacks, 166–171
Pannonia was invaded in late 166 or early 167 by a force of 6,000 Langobardi and Ubii. This invasion was quickly defeated by the Roman cavalry and infantry. In the aftermath the military governor of Pannonia, Iallius Bassus, initiated negotiations with 11 tribes. The Marcomannic king Ballomar, a Roman client, acted as the main negotiator for the tribes.In 168 the Marcomanni and Victohali again crossed the Danube into Pannonia, but when a Roman army advanced to Carnuntum they withdrew, promising good conduct.
A much more serious invasion occurred in 169, when Ballomar formed a coalition of Germanic tribes that crossed the Danube and won a decisive victory over a force of 20,000 Roman soldiers near Carnuntum.
Ballomar then led the larger part of his host southwards towards Italy, while the remainder ravaged Noricum.
The Marcomanni razed Opitergium and besieged Aquileia.
The army of praetorian prefect Furius Victorinus tried to relieve the city, but was defeated and its general slain. The Romans reorganized, brought in fresh troops and managed to eventually evict the invaders from Roman territory by the end of 171.
Roman counter-offensives, 172–174
Marcus Aurelius started the invasion of what are now Slovak territories in 172 AD, when the Romans crossed the Danube into Marcomannic territory. Although few details are known, the Romans achieved success, subjugating the Marcomanni and their allies, the Varistae or Naristi and the Cotini.After the 172 campaigning season Marcus and Commodus were both given the title "Germanicus", and coins were minted with the inscription "Germania subacta".
The Marcomanni were subjected to a harsh treaty.
In 173 AD the Romans campaigned against the Quadi, who had broken their treaty and assisted their kin, the Marcomanni.
The Quadi were defeated and subdued.
In 174 AD Marcus Aurelius penetrated deeper into the river valleys of Váh, Nitra and Hron, where there are Roman marching camps like Laugaricio.
On the banks of the Hron he wrote his philosophical work "Meditations".
In the same year, the legions of Marcus Aurelius again marched against the Quadi.
In response, the Quadi deposed their pro-Roman king, Furtius, and installed his rival Ariogaesus in his place.
Marcus Aurelius refused to recognize Ariogaesus, and after his capture exiled him to Alexandria.
By late 174, the subjugation of the Quadi was complete.
Rebellion of Avidius Cassius, 175–176
Marcus Aurelius may have intended to campaign against the remaining tribes of the area that is now western Slovakia and Bohemia, and together with his recent conquests establish two new Roman provinces, Marcomannia and Sarmatia, but whatever his plans, they were cut short by the rebellion of Avidius Cassius in the East.Marcus Aurelius marched eastwards with his army, accompanied by auxiliary detachments of Marcomanni, Quadi, and Naristi under the command of Marcus Valerius Maximianus.
After the successful suppression of Cassius' revolt, the emperor returned to Rome for the first time in nearly 8 years. On 23 December 176 AD, together with his son Commodus, he celebrated a joint triumph for his German victories. In commemoration of this, the Aurelian Column was erected, in imitation of Trajan's Column.