By AD 172 Marcus Aurelius had defeated the Germanic Marcomanni tribe, an attempt to consolidate the northern borders of the Roman empire. The Sarmatians however had shown themselves to be a continual nuisance to these plans. The Iazyges Sarmatian tribe led by Tarbus had broken earlier promises of peace and supported a provincial revolt leading to the death of Claudius Fronto, a Roman commander in AD 169. The following year, the Roxolani Sarmatians with Dacian allies had raided deep into Greece before being defeated. The Iazyges became even more of a danger when the Germanic Quadi tribe deposed their pro-Roman king and allied to the Sarmatians under their new king Ariogaesus.
This new tribal alliance of Sarmatian Iazyges and Quadi raided over the Danube into Roman Pannonia in AD 173. Fortunately, the onset of an early winter forced the raiders to retire back towards the Danube
