We have previously discussed the Crisis of the 3rd Century, that period of antiquity also known as the Anarchy of the 3rd Century because, for fifty years—from the assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 AD until the rise of Diocletian in 284—the Roman Empire was plunged into a destructive process that brought it to the brink of collapse. It was in this context that an invasion of the Alemanni took place, crossing the Limes Germanicus and devastating everything in their path through Gaul, reaching as far as Ravenna itself. The leader of that incursion was named Chrocus, and there is very little information about him.

There are two main sources of information about this episode. The first, the Epitome de Caesaribus (Epitome on the Caesars), is a work from the late 4th century that, as its title indicates, recounts the reigns of Roman emperors from Augustus to Theodosius. Scholars consider it anonymous, possibly by a pagan author, although it is traditionally attributed to Sextus Aurelius Victor, a historian and politician (Julian appointed him prefect of Pannonia Secunda, and he is believed to have reached the consulship in 369, alongside the son of Valentinian I), who also wrote a History of Rome.

In turn, the Epitome de Caesaribus draws from sources such as the Historia imperatorum Romanorum Enmannica and the Annales of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus (another figure who alternated between culture and politics, serving as praefectus praetorio under Valentinian II and the usurper Eugenius), both of which are now lost and are believed to have served as a basis for other historians such as Flavius Eutropius, Rufius Festus, and Jerome of Stridon. In any case, the Epitome is a very brief work, and thus, the information it provides is scarce. In the case at hand, it merely mentions Chrocus in passing:

When Constantius Chlorus died, all those present applauded, but especially Chrocus, king of the Alemanni, who, with Constantius’s support, took command.

Chrocus Gaul Temples
Germania in Roman times. Credit: Andrew Lancaster / Wikimedia Commons

But, as mentioned, there are two primary historiographical sources. The other is the Historia Francorum (History of the Franks), also known as the Decem Libri Historiarum because it consists of ten volumes. In reality, it is a history of the world narrated from a Christian perspective, focusing on the Merovingians, as its author was the Gallo-Roman bishop Gregory of Tours, a native of Clermont, where he was born in the 6th century into a senatorial-class family. For his work, he relied on the Historia of Sulpicius Alexander and the Historiae of Renatus Profuturus Frigeridus, both now lost.

Gregory explains, in the first book of the Historia Francorum (which extends up to the death of Martin of Tours in 397 AD), how an Alemannic chieftain named Chrocus crossed the Limes Germanicus and plundered Gaul. He describes him as famous in his time, and indeed, several legends circulate about him; in some, he is identified as a king of the Alemanni or the Vandals; in others—like the aforementioned Epitome de Caesaribus—he is said to have attended the death of Emperor Constantius Chlorus in York (Britain) in 306 and supported the proclamation of his son Constantine I alongside other leaders such as Latinus, Agilo, and Scudilo.

It is difficult to separate fact from fiction, especially in this case, given both the scarcity of reliable information and the fact that Chrocus (or Croc, Chroco, Kroko, or Crosco; in Latin, Chrocus) must have been a common name among the Alemanni. Moreover, some of the accounts told cannot correspond to the same individual, as they are set in dates as distant from each other as 268 (the year of the Germanic incursion), 306 (the year of Chlorus’s death), 403 (when a Chrocus is still mentioned in historical events), or 406 (a Vandal leader captured and executed in Arles). There are even references to a later Chrocus, from the 6th century.

Chrocus Gaul Temples
Settlement areas and battles of the Alemanni between the 3rd and 6th centuries. The black line represents the Limes Germanicus. Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

This last figure appears in the Chronicle of Fredegar, a Frankish work written in the 7th century by a Burgundian author whom antiquarian and philologist Claude Fauchet identified in 1579 as Fredegar in his Recueil des antiquitez gauloises et françoises. The chronicle begins with the creation of the world and ends in the year 642, though it references later events. It should be noted that it draws from sources such as the anonymous Liber Generationis (which itself is based on Hippolytus of Rome), the Chronicle of Eusebius, the Chronicle of Hydatius, and the aforementioned Historia Francorum, but historians do not give it much historical credibility.

Fredegar changes the events to the year 406 and alters Chrocus’s nationality, portraying him as a Vandal leader:

There, with cunning, he crossed a bridge over the Rhine at Mainz, first destroying that city and killing its inhabitants, and then besieging all the cities of Germania. When he reached Metz, as a divine sign, the city wall collapsed during the night, and the city was taken by the Vandals. However, the inhabitants of Trier fled to the city’s amphitheater, which they had fortified, and were saved. After that, Chrocus invaded all of Gaul with the Vandals, Suebi, and Alans, destroying several cities through sieges and others through stratagems. In Gaul, not a single city or fortification was spared. When he besieged Arles, Chrocus was captured by a certain soldier named Marius and chained. As punishment, he was paraded through all the cities he had destroyed, and his impious life was brought to an end. Trasamundus succeeded him as ruler.

Regarding Chrocus, whose birthdate and status as a monarch or mere chieftain remain unknown, one hypothesis suggests that he may have had royal dignity but possibly renounced it in exchange for gaining a generalship in the Roman army, thereby accumulating greater power, as he would have had access to significant military resources. This could explain why he was in Britain, attended Chlorus’s death, and supported Constantine—though only if we consider the Chrocus mentioned in the Epitome de Caesaribus.

Chrocus Gaul Temples
An Alemannic chieftain at the Battle of Tolbiac, in a painting by Ary Scheffer (1836). Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

If we focus on the other one, the previous one, it seems that he must be placed among those warlords who took advantage of the Crisis of the Third Century (border pressure, civil wars, emergence of usurpers, monetary devaluation, economic collapse, delegation of defense to the foederati, peasant rebellions, and the Cyprian plague epidemic) to cross the limes.

He was the leader of the Alamanni, a proto-Germanic people originating from northern Raetia, a region wedged between the Elbe and Main rivers, and of whom no records exist until as late as the year 213 AD, when Cassius mentions them in his Roman History.

They were a confederation of several tribes (Bucinobantes, Quadi, Hermunduri, Juthungi, Lentienses, Semnones, and Teutons; some also add the Suebi) that began to move westward and eventually settled in what is now Switzerland, Vorarlberg (Austria), Alsace (France), and Baden-Württemberg (Germany, whose name derives from them). Under these circumstances, they found an opportunity to roam through Gaul, which had become a semi-independent territory—referred to by modern historiography as the Gallic Empire—as a consequence of Rome’s misfortunes in its eastern campaign.

It was the year 253 when Emperor Valerian, who had placed his son Gallienus in charge of the Western Empire while he attended to the East, personally embarked on an expedition against the Persians, who had conquered Antioch, Armenia, and Syria. To do so, he had to gather forces from all over the empire, which reduced those defending Gaul, forcing him to withdraw troops from the Rhine and the Danube to compensate for the weakening defenses. The barbarians did not miss the opportunity, and the Alamanni advanced as far as the Palatinate and Rhineland, while the Franks did the same, reaching Metz, Reims, and Paris.

Chrocus Gaul Temples
The Mediterranean between the years 260 and 269, although Rome would recover Hispania and Narbonensis in 268. Credit: Pomalee / Rowanwindwhistler / Wikimedia Commons

Gallienus intervened and managed to recover the lost territory, but the breach was already open, and in 259, after Valerian moved to Edessa in Anatolia to continue his campaign—where he regained Antioch and Syria—the Alamanni and Franks rebelled once again. The commander of the Rhine, Saloninus, son of Gallienus, was unable to stop them; in fact, Saloninus was assassinated by Postumus, a Gallic-born Roman general who proclaimed himself emperor of the so-called Gallic Empire, with the support of the Gallic provinces, as well as Hispania, Germania, and Britannia.

Postumus maintained his state until the year 274, but amid the chaos brought by his rise to power, the barbarians ravaged the territory, burned Arelate (Arles), and even reached Tarraco (Tarragona, in Hispania), which they subjected to plundering. The situation was doubly critical, as Valerian had been captured by the Persian monarch Shapur I at the Battle of Edessa. It is uncertain whether the Romans managed to repel the Alamanni, only for them to return later, or if they continued their march toward Italy at that time, spreading panic in Rome—something exacerbated by the advance of the Goths from the east.

At the head of the Germans was Chrocus, whom Gregory of Tours says acted under the influence of his mother. According to the bishop-historian, Chrocus ravaged Gaul, destroyed all its temples, and martyred many Christians, in what appears to be framed as divine vengeance.

Valerian and Gallienus received imperial Roman power as the twenty-seventh rulers and undertook a cruel persecution of Christians. At that time, Cornelius brought fame to Rome through his blessed death, and Cyprian to Carthage. During their era, Crocus, the famous king of the Alemanni, also gathered an army and invaded the Gauls. It is said that this Chrocus was very arrogant. And after committing many crimes, he gathered the Alemanni tribe, as we have mentioned, reportedly under the advice of his wicked mother, and invaded all of Gaul, destroying from their very foundations all the temples that had been built in antiquity.

Chrocus Gaul Temples
The Temple of Mercury at Puy de Dôme (partially reconstructed) may be the Vasso Galatae. Credit: Calips / Wikimedia Commons

Specifically, Gregory of Tours describes how he destroyed the Vasso Galatae to its foundations in Augustonemetum (as Clermont was then called), a temple dedicated to the Celtic god of the same name (Vassocaletis), who was assimilated into Mercury by the Romans. Some historians identify it with the sanctuary at Puy de Dôme, while others associate it with an archaeological ruin known today as the Wall of the Saracens. Gregory of Tours states:

And upon reaching Clermont, he set fire to, tore down, and destroyed that sanctuary called Vasso Galatae in the Gallic language. It had been built and reinforced with extraordinary skill. Its wall was double-layered, with an inner structure made of small stones and an outer layer of square blocks. The wall was thirty feet thick. Inside, it was adorned with marble and mosaics. The temple’s flooring was also marble, and its roof was made of lead.

It is unclear whether the Alemanni were truly responsible for this wave of destruction or if it was a consequence of the wars triggered by the proclamation of Postumus. However, this was the belief of the Gallo-Romans of the sixth century, surrounded by ruins that recalled a bygone era of splendor. Blaming the catastrophe on the barbarians seemed easier. The Alemanni entered Italy through the Po Valley, occupied Placentia (Piacenza), and continued toward Fano, sacking everything in their path. Claudius II, who had succeeded Gallienus and repelled the Goths (earning him the cognomen Gothicus), marched against them but was defeated in January 271.

Just when everything seemed to turn dark for Rome, the Alemanni were crushed in the Battle of Lake Benacus, fought in November at the lake of the same name (also called Lake Garda, located between the Alps and the Po Valley). No detailed description of the battle remains, but, according to accounts—greatly exaggerated—about three hundred thousand Germanic warriors (in reality, likely only a few thousand, given that it was a raid) were unable to overcome the thirty thousand Roman legionaries commanded by General Lucius Domitius Aurelianus, who would later become emperor from 270 to 274.

Chrocus Gaul Temples
Germanic invasions between 268 and 271 AD. Credit: Cristiano64 / Wikimedia Commons

The Alemanni suffered heavy losses, many of whom were sacrificed on-site after the battle, and retreated northward while Aurelian earned the title Germanicus Maximus. They returned in 271 and defeated Aurelian at the Battle of Placentia, but he later triumphed over them at the Metauro River, Fano, and Pavia, forcing them to abandon their plans permanently. This episode served as a warning to the Romans, who, by order of the emperor, reinforced their defenses by constructing the Aurelian Walls, the first to enclose the capital since the Servian Walls.

And what became of Chrocus? It is not known with certainty. The most reliable version, according to Gregory of Tours, states that he was captured in 256 in Arles, tortured, and executed “by the sword”, although we have seen that he is mentioned in later years—whether it was the same man or not. According to another version, he survived at least until 306, when he allegedly supported the ascension of Constantine I to the throne.

His successor is believed to have been Mederic, a Hellenized mystic; then came the turn of his brother, Chonodomarius, who aided Constantius II against the usurper Magnentius and, in doing so, once again plundered Gaul alongside his nephew Agenaric until they were defeated by Julian in 357. The Alemanni continued to launch raids in the years 368 and 378. Persistent as ever, in 451, they allied with the Huns and fell with them at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, and in both 457 and 554, they once again suffered setbacks in their invasion attempts.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on January 29, 2025: Croco, el caudillo alamán que destruyó todos los templos de la Galia en el siglo III

SOURCES

Pseudo Aurelio Víctor, Epitome de Caesaribus

Grégoire de Tours, Histoire des Francs

Fergus Millar, El Imperio romano y sus pueblos limítrofes

Adrian Goldsworthy, La caída del Imperio Romano. El ocaso de Occidente

Wikipedia, Chroco

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