some direct effects of the contagion stand out. when imperial forces moved east under the command of emperor verus after the forces of vologases iv of parthia attacked armenia, the romans' defense of the eastern territories was hampered when large numbers of troops succumbed to the disease. according to the 5th-century spanish writer paulus orosius, many towns and villages in the italian peninsula and the european provinces lost all their inhabitants. as the disease swept north to the rhine, it also infected germanic and gallic peoples outside the empire's borders. for a number of years, those northern groups had pressed south in search of more lands to sustain their growing populations. with their ranks thinned by the epidemic, roman armies were now unable to push the tribes back. from 167 to his death, marcus aurelius personally commanded legions near the danube, trying, with only partial success, to control the advance of germanic peoples across the river. a major offensive against the marcomanni was postponed until 169 because of a shortage of imperial troops.