The Roxolani had no chance.

[**The following takes place during The Roxolani Battle of 69 AD.**] >Roman cavalry scouts located the Roxolani camp; on ice-covered ground, it extended over a wide plain close to frozen marshes. The Roxolani built no defensive camps. Their hundreds of wagons spread across the landscape, with their thousands of horses tethered in groups. The 3rd Gallica camped some distance away, and lit no fires. Rather than wait to be joined by the 8th Augusta, legion commander Aurelius decided to attack at dawn while he had the element of surprise. >Come morning, with mist overlying the silent countryside, the men of the 3rd Gallica silently moved into position. The mist had risen when Roman trumpets sounded ‘Charge’. The Sarmatians, with no sentries, were caught entirely off guard. Desperately they tried to pull on their armour, to saddle their horses, to mount and to fight. Tacitus said of Sarmatian cavalry: ‘When they charge in squadrons, scarcely any infantry line can stand against them.’ But the Roxolani had no chance to mount a charge. Legionaries employed their javelins as lances, and used their shields to knock heavily armoured opponents off their feet, then quickly dispatched them with the sword. The Roxolani were, says Tacitus, virtually defenceless once knocked to the ground, as the weight of their armour made it difficult to rise again. >Those Roxolani able to mount found their horses slipping under them on the icy ground. With Roman troops pressing in, the long Sarmatian lances were useless. Many Roxolani were hauled bodily from the backs of their horses and thrown to the ground. And once brought down, the Sarmatians’ courage vanished. ‘No soldiers could show so little spirit when fighting on foot,’ said Tacitus of them. >A handful of wounded Sarmatians escaped to the marshes, only to freeze to death overnight. Every last member of the Roxolani force was killed – 9,000 men. The 3rd Gallica’s losses were not even worth counting. ____________________________ **Source:** Dando-Collins, Stephen. “Part III: The Battles – The Roxolani Battle.” *Legions of Rome: The Definitive History of Every Imperial Roman Legion*. Thomas Dunne Books, 2012. 321. Print. **Original Source Listed:** Tac., *H*, I, 79. ___________________________ **Further Reading:** [The Roxolani, 1st Century AD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxolani#1st_century_AD)