1810 years ago

A small History lesson - going back 1810 years today...

19th February 197 (197 AD) – Septimius Severus defeated usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France).

Severus' victory apparently allowed him to become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire - This battle is said to be the largest, most hard fought and bloodiest of all clashes between Roman forces.

Albinus' army had fallen back to Lugdunum, Severus had followed, and on February 19, 197 a massive and ultimately decisive battle had finally commenced. The exact details are as vague as the exact numbers involved. However, they do know both sides were roughly evenly matched and it was therefore a bloody and drawn out affair lasting over two days (it was apparently rare for battles of this time to last longer than a few hours). The tide had shifted many times during the course of the battle, with the outcome hanging in the balance. It seems that Severus had had the edge in cavalry which swung the battle in his favor for the final time. Exhausted and bloodied, Albinus' army was finally crushed.

Albinus' exact fate is said to be unclear. He'd fled into Lugdunum where he either, in the Roman tradition, "ran upon his sword" after finding all escape routes cut, or he was finished off by an assassin's blade. Severus had Albinus' body stripped and beheaded, afterwhich He rode over the headless corpse with his horse in front of his victorious troops. He had then sent back the head to Rome as a warning along with the heads of Albinus' family.

- that's quite harsh I think... n they used to call their enemies barbarians - bloody hypocrites!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lugdunum

A piece of rather useless information, but I found those names quite amusing - and thought I'd share it with all of you ppl. who have nothing else or better to do...