Battle of Cibalae
between Constantine I and Licinius
The Battle of Cibalae was fought in 316 between the two Roman emperors Constantine I (r. 306–337) and Licinius (r. 308–324). The site of the battle, near the town of Cibalae (now Vinkovci, Croatia) in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda, was approximately 350 kilometers within the territory of Licinius. Constantine won a resounding victory, despite being outnumbered.
Background
The hostilities were prompted by Constantine's appointment of his brother-in-law, Bassianus, as Caesar. Bassianus was discovered to be intriguing against Constantine, perhaps at the prodding of his own brother Senecio, a close associate of Licinius. When Constantine demanded that Licinius hand over Senecio, Licinius refused. Constantine marched against Licinius, who responded by elevating another associate, Valens. The date of Valens' elevation as emperor probably occurred after the Battle of Cibalae.
The unreliable fasti (chronicles) of Hydatius dates the battle to 8 October 314, but the remaining literary and numismatics evidence point to the battle being fought in 316.
Battle
The opposing armies met on the plain between the rivers Sava and Drava near the town of Cibalae (Vinkovci).
“Battle of Cibalae” enters the record as between Constantine I and Licinius. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Battle, Cibalae and between can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Battle of Cibalae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.