The Battle of the Nervasos Mountains (Spanish: Batalla de los Montes Nervasos) occurred in the year 419 and was fought between a coalition of Suebi, led by King Hermeric together with allied

Roman Imperial The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

forces stationed in the Province of Hispania, against the combined forces of the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...

and

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the A ...

who were led by their King Gunderic. This battle occurred in the context of a contemporary Germanic invasion of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

. The battle took place in what is today the Province of León,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and resulted in a Roman/Suebian Victory.

Context

Between the years 409 and 411, the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...

of the

and the Suebi, similarly like the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

, migrated into the

via the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

Mountains after having already conquered the

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

province of

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

and subjected it to a three-year system of plunder and pillage. Seeing that the forces of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

were unable to effectively respond to new threats due to local uprisings led by

Maximus of Hispania Maximus was a Roman usurper (409 – 411) in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, modern Spain and Portugal). He had been elected by general Gerontius, who might have been his father. Relations between the usurper Constantine III and his general Gero ...

and Gerontius, the Germanic tribes saw an opportunity to invade the peninsula and carve out territory for themselves, starting the period of the Germanic Invasion of Iberia. The invaders divided amongst themselves, the territories of

Hispania Hispania ( la, Hispānia , ; nearly identically pronounced in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and Italian) was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and its provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hisp ...

, taking the whole of Hispania Tarraconensis from the Romans without encountering any significant opposition. The Silingi Vandals gained control over the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Hispania Baetica, the

took over administration of Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis, whilst the Suebi and the

Hasdingi The Hasdingi were one of the Vandal peoples of the Roman era. The Vandals were Germanic peoples, who are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language, and were first reported during the first centuries of the Roman empire in the area which is ...

Vandals took over

Gallaecia Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal, Asturias and León (province), Leon and the lat ...

. The Suebi continued on with the original Roman Conventus iuridicus Lucense, maintaining a capital in ''Lucus Augusti'' ( Lugo), and with the Bracarense with its capital at '' Bracara Augusta'' (

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

). The Hasdingi Vandals likewise maintained the Roman structure dating back from the Augustan and Claudian emperors. Their Roman Conventus Asturicensus maintained its capital at ''Asturica Augusta'', ( Astorga). In 416,

Wallia Wallia or Walha ( Spanish: ''Walia'', Portuguese ''Vália''), ( 385 – 418) was king of the Visigoths from 415 to 418, earning a reputation as a great warrior and prudent ruler. He was elected to the throne after Athaulf and then Sigeric were ...

, King of the

Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, entered the

as a Roman general to fight the invading barbarian tribes. The Germanic tribes were unable to unite against their common enemy and by 418, the Silingi Vandals had been almost completely annihilated and the Alans were dispersed after the fighting death of their king,

Attaces Addac or Attaces (died 418) was king of the western Alans in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, modern Spain and Portugal). In 409, the Alans settled in the provinces of Lusitania and Carthaginiensis: ''Alani Lusitaniam et Carthaginiensem provincias, ...

. The survivors of these groups sheltered themselves with the Hasdingi Vandals (From that moment on, the Vandal kings were known in title as King of the Vandals and the Alans). The King of the Suebi, Hermeric, for his part, was able to sign a treaty with the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Honorius, gaining his tribe the legal status of Foederati (a status also held by the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

), for which the Hispano-Romans were obliged to cede them land. They established a garrison at Braga which began to emerge as a center of power. The disgrace felt by the Hispano-Romans at having to cede their lands to the Suebi would be felt painfully in the future during the conflicts between the natives and the colonizers. The following periods would be marked with failed peace treaties and even the sending of a native embassy to solicit the help of the Gallo-Roman general

Flavius Aetius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Hydatius Hydatius, also spelled Idacius (c. 400 – c. 469) was a late Western Roman writer and clergyman. The bishop of Aquae Flaviae in the Roman province of Gallaecia (almost certainly the modern Chaves, Portugal, in the modern district of Vila Real), ...

that would also end in failure. In his alliance with the Romans, Hermeric was swayed by the expansionist desires of his kingdom and would enter into conflict with his neighboring Vandals, the closest other German tribe occupying Hispania.

The battle

The details of the confrontation between the two tribes are not clear, but it is possible to deduce that it was the Suebi who took the initiative in commencing hostilities seeing as the Nervasos Mountains (named for either the ancient

Narbasi The Narbasi were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the province of Minho (north of modern Portugal) and nearby areas of modern Galicia (Spain). See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre-Roman ...

people or for the Roman General Erbasius), due to their imprecise location, could have been situated in the region of

El Bierzo El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includes m ...

in today's Province of Leon, then the '' conventus iuridicus'' asturicensis, which under the pact of 409-411, belonged to the

under Gunderic. During the invasion of the Vandal lands, Hermeric and his army are surrounded in the Nervasos Mountains by the forces of Gunderic, only being saved from a disastrous defeat by timely Roman intervention. The Roman ''comes Hispaniarum'', Asterius, at the head of a powerful Roman army, lifted the Suebi

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

and obliged the Vandals to retreat. The Roman campaign continued and Asterius obliged the Vandals to retreat south to Bracara Augusta, where he had pre-arranged a pincer movement together with his ''

vicarius ''Vicarius'' is a Latin word, meaning ''substitute'' or ''deputy''. It is the root of the English word "vicar". History Originally, in ancient Rome, this office was equivalent to the later English " vice-" (as in "deputy"), used as part of th ...

'', Maurocellus, who commanded another sizable Roman force. They intercepted the

Vandals and routed them.

Consequences

Having been defeated, king Gunderic guided his tribe in search of new settlement in Hispania Baetica. Between 421 and 422, they routed the imperial army of General

Castinus Flavius Castinus held the position of ''patricius'' in the court of Roman Emperor Honorius at the time of the Emperor's death, and most likely for some time before. He also served as consul for the year 424. Career In 422 he fought an unsucce ...

who was sent to reconquer former Roman lands in that area. The Vandals built a grand fleet which they used to gain naval dominance in the region and were able to conquer a large portion of southeastern Spain, sacking the cities of

Carthago Nova Cartagena () is a Spanish city and a major naval station on the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Iberia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants, being the region's second-largest municipality and the country's sixth-la ...

and

Hispalis Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. ...

amongst others. In 428, Gunderic died. He is succeeded to the throne by his half brother

Genseric Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric ( la, Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477), ruling a kingdom he established, and was one of the key players in the di ...

, who decided that best place for his people to settle would be

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, which was being ravaged by internal disputes which would nullify the Roman resistance. Genseric began preparations to cross the Straits of Gibraltar with over 80,000 people, 15,000 of whom were warriors, however he was attacked from the rear by a large force of Suebi under the command of

Heremigarius Heremigarius (also Hermigarius or Hermegarius) ( fl. 427–428) was a Suevic military leader operating in Lusitania in the early fifth century. He may have been a joint monarch with Hermeric or his successor, but no primary source directly attest ...

who had managed to take Lusitania. This Suebi army was

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...

near Mérida and its leader Hermigario drowned in the Guadiana River while trying to flee. The following year, the Vandals disembarked in

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

, from which in a few years they would control all of Roman

before being conquered by

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terr ...

, a general of

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...

. The Suebi would remain in

until their conquest by the

under Liuvigild in the year 585.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nervasos Mountains, Battle Of 419 410s conflicts Theodosian dynasty Battles involving the Roman Empire Nervasos Mountains Battles involving Germanic peoples Battles involving the Vandals Nervasos Mountains 5th century in Hispania 410s in the Roman Empire Kingdom of the Suebi History of the province of León