Insubre

Wars with Rome

In 223 BC the Romans attacked the Insubres directly, crossing the Po from the territory of the Anares. A first setback drove them back onto the land of their Cenomani allies, from which they resumed the campaign. The Insubres concentrated their forces, withdrew from the temple of a war goddess the golden standards reserved for war, and gave battle on a river, probably the Oglio, then their frontier with the Cenomani. They were defeated. The following year their request for peace was refused by the consuls Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, and they hired a further 30,000 Gaesatae. The Romans opened the campaign of 222 BC with the siege of Acerrae, a stronghold near the confluence of the Adda and the Po. To draw them off, the Insubres and their allies crossed the Po and besieged Clastidium (Casteggio) in Anares territory. In the ensuing battle Marcellus relieved the place, killing the Gaesatic commander Britomartus in single combat and winning the spolia opima. Acerrae and then Mediolanum fell, which forced the Insubres to surrender.