Battle of Lugdunum

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle of Lugdunum" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Lugdunum
Part of the Year of the Five Emperors
Clodius Albinus, as Caesar, 193–195 AD. AV Aureus (7.22 gm, 5h). Rome mint. Struck 194 AD.
Date 19 February 197 Location Lugdunum (modern Lyon) 45°46′N 4°51′E / 45.76°N 4.85°E / 45.76; 4.85 Result Severan victory
Belligerents
Roman units from Pannonia, Illyricum, Moesia, and Dacia	Roman units from Britannia and Hispania
Commanders and leaders
Septimius Severus	Clodius Albinus †
Strength
65,000	55,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown but severe	Unknown but severe

The Battle of Lugdunum, also called the Battle of Lyon, was fought on 19 February 197 at Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France), between the armies of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus and of the Roman usurper Clodius Albinus. Severus' victory finally established him as the sole emperor of the Roman Empire following the Year of the Five Emperors and immediate aftermath.

This battle is said to be the largest, most hard-fought, and bloodiest of all clashes between Roman forces.^[1] According to English historian Edward Gibbon, the Roman historian Cassius Dio placed the total number of Roman soldiers engaged for both sides combined at 150,000.^[2] Historian Michael Kulikowski states that Severus led the much larger force with the combined legions of Dacia and the Danubian provinces.^[3] Historian A. J. Graham supports Gibbon's number of 150,000 soldiers in total, rather than the sometimes cited number of 300,000 in total and therefore 150,000 on each side, which he states to be a commonly accepted mistranslation of Cassius Dio's original language.^[4] Graham also analyses the possible forces available to Albinus and states that the numbers on each side could have been roughly equal.^[5]