Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of Idistaviso

Battle of Idistaviso was a battle fought in AD 16 at Idistaviso, in what is now Germany. It was part of the Germanic Wars. The recorded result: Roman victory.

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La battaglia di Idistaviso del 16 d.C. (giustificativo mancare)
La battaglia di Idistaviso del 16 d.C. (giustificativo mancare). Cristiano64, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
FoughtAD 16
WhereIdistaviso, Germany52.190N, 9.021E
OutcomeRoman victory
BelligerentsRoman EmpireagainstGermanic tribes
Casualties and lossesUnknownandUnknown
Part ofGermanic Wars

Where it sits in the Germanic Wars

Clades Lolliana, 16 BCBattle of the Teutoburg Forest, AD 9Battle of Idistaviso, AD 16Battle of the Angrivarian Wall, AD 16Battle of Baduhenna Wood, AD 28Siege of Thessalonica, AD 254Battle of Nestos, AD 268Battle of Lake Constance, AD 355Siege of Autun, AD 356Battle of Vicus Helena, AD 440Battle of Corsica, AD 456Battle of Agrigentum, AD 456Battle of Garigliano, AD 457Battle of Toulouse, AD 458Battle of Bergamo, AD 464Battle of Angers, AD 464Battle of Bolia, AD 469Battle of Pavia, AD 476Battle of Ravenna, AD 47616 BCAD 476Battle of Idistaviso, AD 16
19 placed engagements of the Germanic Wars in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

DateAD 16 (year precision)
PlaceIdistaviso, Germany
52.190N, 9.021E
KindBattle, ancient
Strength8 legions; 26 cohorts; 8 alae; Praetorian Guard; Additional allied Germanic contingents; Total: at least 60,000 menUnknown
Casualties and lossesUnknownUnknown
Commanders
  • Germanicus
  • Flavus, brother of Arminius
  • Chariovalda
  • Arminius
  • Inguiomer
Battle of IdistavisoBattle of IdistavisoBattle of VlothoSiege of MindenBattle of OldendorfBattle of MindenBattle of GohfeldBattle of VlothoBattle of MindenBremenDüsseldorfHanoverMünsterGroningenGöttingenEssenKassel100 km52.190N, 9.021E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Idistaviso
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Idistaviso today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-09-06. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 53 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 333 m, 333 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 45% cropland, 25% grassland, 18% tree cover.

cropland: 45%grassland: 25%tree cover: 18%water: 7%built-up: 5%cropland 45%grassland 25%tree cover 18%water 7%built-up 5%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 64 mnorth to south, 10.0 km50 to 262 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Battle of Idistaviso is one of 57 engagements of the 1st century in the atlas and one of 538 in present-day Germany.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q630644, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Idistaviso, revision 1382492074, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.