The Battle of Abritus (modern Razgrad, Bulgaria), also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii, occurred in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior probably in July, 251, between the Roman Empire and a federation of "Scythian" tribesmen under the Goth King Cniva. The Romans were soundly defeated, and Roman Emperors Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus were both killed during battle. They became the first Roman emperors killed in a battle with a fo...
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The Battle of Abritus (modern Razgrad, Bulgaria), also known as the Battle of Forum Terebronii, occurred in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior probably in July, 251, between the Roman Empire and a federation of "Scythian" tribesmen under the Goth King Cniva. The Romans were soundly defeated, and Roman Emperors Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus were both killed during battle. They became the first Roman emperors killed in a battle with a foreign enemy.
The battle typically marks the starting of a period of increased military and political instability in the Roman Empire, although the symptoms of the crisis had already appeared in the preceding decades.
Soon after Decius ascended to the throne in 249, barbarian tribes invaded the Roman provinces of Dacia, Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior. Two factors had contributed in growing unrest in the area north of Danube. First, Decius' predecessor Philip the Arab had refused to continue payments, initiated by Emperor Maximinus Thrax in...
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