This time Decius ' army was taken by surprise while resting at Beroe / Augusta Traiana.

Therefore, it is Decius ' bad conduct which was responsible for the disastrous turn of the events.

Several such raids followed in subsequent decades, in particular the Battle of Abrittus in 251, led by Cniva, in which the Roman Emperor Decius was killed.

At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decius without colleague ( or, less frequently, year 1282 Ab urbe condita ).

In 251, when Decius revived the censorship with legislative and executive powers so extensive that it practically embraced the civil authority of the emperor, Valerian was chosen censor by the Senate, though he declined to accept the post.

Under Decius he was nominated governor of the Rhine provinces of Noricum and Raetia and retained the confidence of his predecessor, Trebonianus Gallus, who asked him for reinforcements to quell the rebellion of Aemilianus in 253.

He was martyred during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Decius and was one of the first to die on 20 January 250.

However, soon afterwards Decius was forced to leave the area to fight the invading Goths and while he was away the elections for pope were held.

Also addressed in the synod was that Christians who stopped practising during Emperor Decius ’ s persecution could receive communion only after doing penance.

In June 251, Decius was killed in battle with the Goths ; immediately following this Trebonianus Gallus became Emperor.

Unlike some of his immediate imperial predecessors such as Philip the Arab or Maximinus who did not have extensive administrative experience before assuming the throne, Decius was a distinguished senator who had served as consul in 232, had been governor of Moesia and Germania Inferior soon afterwards, served as governor of Hispania Tarraconensis between 235 – 238, and was urban prefect of Rome during the early reign of Emperor Philip the Arab ( Marcus Iulius Phillipus ).

By the end of 248 or 249, Decius was sent to quell the revolt of Pacatianus and his troops in Moesia and Pannonia ; the soldiers were enraged because of the peace treaty signed between Philip and the Sassanids.

Decius still protested his loyalty to Philip, but the latter advanced against him and was killed near Verona, Italy.

Decius ' political program was focused on the restoration of the strength of the State, both military opposing the external threats, and restoring the public piety with a program of renovation of the State religion.

During his reign, he proceeded with several building projects in Rome, " including the Thermae Deciane or Baths of Decius on the Aventine ", which was completed in 252 and survived through to the 16th century ; Decius also acted to repair the Colosseum, which had been damaged by lightning strikes.

While the Decius himself may have intended the edict as a way to reaffirm his conservative vision of the Pax Romana and to reassure Rome's citizens that the empire was still secure, it nevertheless sparked a " terrible crisis of authority as various Christian bishops and their flocks reacted to it in different ways.

The barbarian incursions into the Empire were becoming more and more daring and frequent whereas the Empire was facing a serious economic crisis in Decius ' time.

The governor of Thrace, Titus Julius Priscus, declared himself Emperor under Gothic protection in opposition to Decius but Priscus's challenge was rendered moot when he was killed soon afterwards.

Jordanes records that Decius ' son Herennius Etruscus was killed by an arrow early in the battle, and to cheer his men Decius exclaimed, " Let no one mourn ; the death of one soldier is not a great loss to the republic.

Once arrived, the troops forced Decius to assume the imperial dignity himself instead.

Decius and his troops pursued Cniva through the difficult terrain, but soon, after many forced marches, Cniva turned his troops on Decius, who thought he was further away from the Goths.

In the meantime, Decius had returned with his re-organized army, accompanied by his son Herennius Etruscus and the general Trebonianus Gallus, intending to defeat the invaders and recover the booty.

* The Roman-Samnite army under consuls Decius Mus and Titus Manlius Torquatus attack and defeat the Latins and Campanians near Mount Vesuvius in the Battle of Vesuvius.

In the meantime, Decius had returned with his re-organized army, accompanied by his son Herennius Etruscus and the general Trebonianus Gallus, intending to defeat the invaders and recover the booty.

" Nevertheless, Decius ' army was entangled in the swamp and annihilated in this battle, while he himself was killed on the field of battle.

Although Decius tried to come to terms with Philip, Philip's army met the usurper near modern Verona that summer.

In any case, when the army heard the news, the soldiers proclaimed Gallus emperor, despite Hostilian, Decius ' surviving son, ascending the imperial throne in Rome.

This action of the army, and the fact that Gallus seems to have been on good terms with Decius ' family, makes Dexippus ' allegation improbable.

Decius survived the initial confrontation, only to be slain with the rest of the army before the end of the day.

Herennius and Decius were the first two emperors to be killed by a foreign army in battle.

However one of Cornelius ' military tribunes, Publius Decius Mus led a small detachment to seize a hilltop, distracting the Samnites and allowing the Roman army to escape the trap.

Both the First and the Second Samnite War starts with an invasion of Samnium by a Cornelius, the way in which a Roman army was led into a trap resembles the famous disaster at the Caudine Forks in 321, and there are similarities to the campaigns of Publius Cornelius Arvina in 306 and Publius Decius Mus ( the son of the hero of Saticula ) in 297.

Meanwhile Decius camped at Maleventum where he defeated an Apulian army before he too led his army into Samnium.

The consul Publius Decius Mus was the Roman commander, and his able force, though defeated, broke the back of Pyrrhus ' Hellenistic army, and guaranteed the security of the city itself.

The Roman camp was surprised and Decius fled while his army was defeated.

The Roman army was caught in a swamp when they attempted to attack the Gothic army, and both the emperor Decius and his son Herennius Etruscus were slain in this battle, known as the Battle of Abrittus.

St. Miniato or Minas () was an Armenian prince serving in the Roman army under Emperor Decius.

The Roman attempt to prevent the Samnites marching north to link up with the Gauls was defeated near Camerinium The combined army of 80, 000 men far outnumbered the 40, 000 men in the Roman one, commanded once again by the consuls Fabius Rullianus and Decius Mus and including an elite force of 1, 000 Campanian cavalry.

* I: The King's Gambit ( 70 BC ) — Decius uncovers a plot to subvert Lucullus ' army in the war against Mithridates.

* Publius Decius Mus ( received two grass crowns — one from his own army, and another from the troops which he had rescued when surrounded )

< td valign = top > Proclaimed emperor by the army after the deaths of Decius and Herennius Etruscus.

The battle was fought between the Romans ( led by Manlius Torquatus and Publius Decius Mus ) and the Latin army.