How far did the Romans venture into Eastern Europe?

by Endlessbug

Did the Romans ever campaign in the territories that now encompass Poland, the Baltic States and Russia?

I understand that the Roman frontier generally settled on the Rhine and Danube, but were there any serious attempts to conquer land or subjugate peoples further east?

IronDBZ

Short answer, no. Long answer, depends on what you mean by further east. the Baltic State area would likely have been completely unknown to the Romans, the Baltic Sea or even the northernmost part of the Jutland peninsula would be pushing it. I also doubt there was much to be gained upriver on the Dnieper in regards to trade, and Poland would have been deep and far beyond anything they considered even touched by civilization.

As to further East beyond the Rhine and Danube, yes. During the reign of Augustus until around 10 AD there was a push into Germania, but eventually the province was abandoned due to the battle of Teutoburg Forest where the entirety of the Roman Army stationed in Germania was pretty much slaughtered. There was also a number of wars against the Dacians that eventually led to the conquest of Pannonia north of the Danube but eventually that province was also abandoned (I think by Hadrian, it seems like Hadrian move). There were also a few colonies, outposts, and client states littered across the northern coast of the Black Sea that were all under varying levels of control that were either lost, abandoned or incorporated into Provinces.

The farther away from the Mediterranean the Romans went the harder it was to hold on to anything they took; with no cities to fortify and little to any deeply rooted peoples to tax the underdeveloped lands to the North were completely unprofitable and in the case you listed incredibly remote, hostile and exposed.