Battle of Brescia (312)

The Battle of Brescia took place after the Battle of Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin), and preceded the penultimate battle between the two emperors, which was fought near Verona.

Background

The Roman Empire was divided into two parts since 293, each ruled by an Augustus (major emperor) and a Caesar (minor emperor). This form of government was called tetrarchy. In 306, the Augustus of the West Constantius Chlorus (r. 293–306) died at Eboracum (present-day York, England), and his soldiers —cantoned in this region of Britain— then proclaimed his son Constantine as his successor. However, the Augustus of the East, Galerius (r. 293–311), elevated Flavius Severus (r. 305–307) to the position of Augustus, since according to the prerogatives of the tetrarchic system, in force at the time, and being the western Caesar, he should be the one to succeed the dead Augustus. After some negotiations, Galerius relegated Constantine to the position of Caesar, which he eventually accepted and allowed Flavius Severus to assume the position of Augustus of the western half of the empire.

Maxentius (r. 306–312), son of Maximian (r. 285–305, 310), the Augustus predecessor of Constantius Chlorus, envious of Constantine's position, declared himself emperor of Italy with the title of Princeps in October 306, then summoned his father, now retired, to rule together. Galerius, upon learning of these events, entrusted the Augustus Flavius Severus with the task of crushing the conspiracy. In 307, commanding a large army, Flavius Severus managed to besiege Rome, but was defeated and subsequently executed. In the summer of 307, the Augustus Galerius decided to invade Italy in order to avenge the death of Flavius Severus, however, his army was not large enough to besiege all the fortifications of Rome, which is why he had to withdraw. In 308, during the celebration of the Conference of Carnunus, convened by Galerius, the officer Licinius (r. 308–324) was appointed Augustus of the West and, therefore, was to overthrow the usurper, but he preferred not to participate in the affair. That same year, sometime before the conference, Maximian had tried to depose his son, the plan failed and he had to flee to the court of Constantine in Gaul.

In 310, Maximian also attempted to depose Constantine, but was defeated and forced to commit suicide. The following year, Maxentius, seeking revenge for the death of his father, declared war on Constantine, who responded by invading northern Italy at the head of forty thousand soldiers. Zosimos claimed that the invading army consisted of ninety thousand legionaries and eight thousand equites of Germanic and Celtic origin, in addition to part of the army stationed in Britain. The Constantinian army moved inland after the Siege of Segusium (modern Susa, in Italy) and confronted troops of Maxentius encamped in the vicinity of Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin). Constantine defeated them and continued on to Mediolanum (modern Milan), where they opened the gates to him. He remained in the city until mid-summer, then continued his march.