Siege of Thessalonica (254)
Part of the Crisis of the Third Century Gothic War (248-253) and Roman–Germanic Wars
Date 254 AD Location Thessalonica, Macedonia, Roman Empire (present-day Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece) 40°37′59.999″N 22°57′0.000″E / 40.63333306°N 22.95000000°E / 40.63333306; 22.95000000 Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Roman Empire	Goths
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown
Strength
Garrison Militia	Unknown
class=notpageimage| Location within the Thessaloniki urban area Show map of the Thessaloniki urban area Siege of Thessalonica (254) (Greece) Show map of Greece

The siege of Thessalonica in 254^[1][2] was a successful defense of the city of Thessalonica by local Roman militia during an invasion of the Balkans by the Goths.^[3]

In 254 the Goths invaded and plundered Thrace and Macedonia.^[1][4][5] In 1979, Herwig Wolfram regarded 254 as the date, while Mallan and Davenport in 2015 suggested 262.^[6][1] Goltz and Hartmann estimated 254 as the date.^[2] David Potter in 2016 rejected Mallan and Davenport's estimate and dated it to either 253 or 259.^[4]

The Goths attempted to storm Thessalonica in close order formations and assault columns.^[5] The Thessalonicans rallied to defend the city walls and defeated the attacks.^[5]

The Goths abandoned the siege and moved on to invade Greece south of Thermopylae, seeking to loot the gold and silver wealth of Greek temples.^[5] The siege was recorded by the contemporary historian Dexippus.^[7] A fragment of his work, discovered in Vienna in 2010, specifies the involvement of the citizens in the defense.^[7]

• Goltz, Andreas; Hartmann, Udo (2008). "Valerian und Gallienus". In Johne, Klaus-Peter (ed.). Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser. Krise und Transformation des Römischen Reiches im 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. (235–284) (in German). Berlin: Akademie Verlag. ISBN 978-3-05-004529-0.
• Mallan, Christopher; Davenport, Caillan (November 2015). "Dexippus and the Gothic Invasions: Interpreting the New Vienna Fragment". Journal of Roman Studies. 105: 203–226. doi:10.1017/s0075435815000970. S2CID 163234044.
• Potter, David (2016). "War as Theater, from Tacitus to Dexippus". In Riess, Werner; Fagan, Garrett G. (eds.). The Topography of Violence in the Greco-Roman World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472119820.
• Wolfram, Herwig (1990) [1979]. Geschichte der Goten. Entwurf einer historischen Ethnographie [History of the Goths]. Translated by Dunlap, Thomas J. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520069831.

• Martin, Gunther; Grusková, Jana (2014) "'Dexippus Vindobonensis' (?) Ein neues Handschriftenfragment zum sog. Herulereinfall der Jahre 267/268" (in German)
• "The Vienna Dexippus (?) (second revised version)", uploaded by Jones, Christopher