Roman Winter Campaigning

[Robert Vermaat]

Did the Romans often wage war in the winter and did they do it deliberately or only when really forced to? And, considering the potential advantages of winter surprise attacks, what logistical and other difficulties prevented Roman armies from campaigning regularly in the winter?

Not too often, winter campaigns usually mean you have to take all the food for your horses with you (I think it's more or less a rule that the campaigning season starts when the grass starts growing) and of course camping out at night can become risky.

Are there occasions when Roman armies deliberately attacked in the winter time as an element of surprise (like much later the Mongols with their winter attack on Kiev in 1240) ?

Yes, I know of a deliberate winter campaign by the commander Arbogast somewhere in the 5th c. (have to look that up later) against the Germans east of the Rhine. It's mentioned that the season was chosen to prevent the enemy from hiding in the forests.

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