The Alemanni, Juthungi and Marcomanni invaded the empire in force, before even the Vandals had finished withdrawing. Once more northern Italy had to endure a force of barbarians descending upon it from the Alps... Aurelian rushed back to... Placentia. But the legions were no match for the barbarians this time and Aurelian suffered a severe defeat (AD 271)... If Aurelian had suffered a setback, he was still far from beaten. The barbarians now made one crucial mistake. In order to cover more ground - and so reap more plunder - they split up their huge army into several smaller forces....