| Battle of Órbigo (456) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFall of the Roman Empire andRoman–Germanic Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Visigoths Burgundians Western Roman Empire | Suevi | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Theodoric II Gondioc Chilperic | Rechiar | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Órbigo, also known as theBattle of the Urbicus and theBattle of Campus Paramus[2] took place in 456 when theVisigoths ofTheodoric II defeated theSuevi Kingdom and sacked their capitalBraga.[3][4] Although very little is known of the battle the defeat proved a significant blow to the Suevi[5] who would enter a period of decline afterwards and would never fully recover their territory.
The Suevi KingRechiar had been expanding his territory at the expense of the Romans in Hispania, who were unable stop them. The Roman EmperorAvitus requested his allies the Visigoths of Theodoric II and the Burgundians of Gondiloc and Chilperic to attack the Suebi for him.[5] Theodoric agreed andinvaded Spain with his army.
Theodoric's campaign went well. The combined army moved towards Galicia and encountered little opposition along the way. Rechiar had deployed his army on the River Urbicus (Órbigo), close to the cityAstorga. On 5 October 456, Theodoric defeated Rechiar here in a battle on theCampus Paramus, twelve miles from the cityAstorga. Rechiar was injured during the battle, but according to Hydatius he managed to flee to Portuscale (todayPorto) in the heart of his kingdom.[6] There he was eventually defeated and captured.[7] Theodoric then conquered Bracara Augusta (Braga), the capital of the Suebi. According to tradition, things went rough and Theodoric's army looted several cities inGallaecia next to Braga. Some of the Suevens were slaughtered and even holy places were attacked, probably because of the support of local clergy to the Suevens.[8] After this, Theodoric's army controlled the Spanish provincesHispania Baetica,Hispania Tarraconensis and South-Lusitania. The Suebi kingdom collapsed and quickly broke up into rival factions in the following years.[9]
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