The Battle of Acerrae was fought during the Social War between

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

forces under Lucius Julius Caesar, not to be confused with the

triumvir A triumvirate ( la, triumvirātus) or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs ( la, triumviri). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are ...

, and rebel forces under

Gaius Papius Mutilus Gaius Papius Mutilus was a Samnite noble who is best known for being the leader of the southern rebels who fought against the army of Rome in the Social War of 91-88 BC (also known as the Italic War); was member of the clan Variani/Varriano.Horn ...

. Caesar, having recently lost almost his entire force in a spectacular defeat near Aesernia, had a force consisting of Gallic, Mauritanian, and

Numidian Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

forces. When Papius brought forward Oxynta, a son of the former king of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

Jugurtha Jugurtha or Jugurthen (Libyco-Berber ''Yugurten'' or '' Yugarten'', c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adh ...

, many of Caesar’s Numidian troops switched sides, Caesar having to send the rest away to prevent further desertion. When Papius attacked Caesar’s fortified camp Caesar charged out through another gate with his cavalry, falling on the exposed rebel force, killing 6,000 men, a large portion of the enemy force. This was the first Roman victory of the Social War but was probably

pyrrhic A pyrrhic (; el, πυρρίχιος ''pyrrichios'', from πυρρίχη ''pyrrichē'') is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach. Poetic use in English Tennyson us ...

in nature, as a number of Italian communities in the region joined the rebels around this time and Caesar lost his Numidian troops. This forced Caesar to withdraw and even cede territory to Papius soon after the battle.

References

{{reflist Acerrae Acerrae