- For the earlier battle fought here, see Battle of Cynoscephalae
The Battle of Cynoscephalae
was fought in Thessaly
in 197 BC
army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus
the Antigonid dynasty
, led by Philip V
Flamininus, with his allies from the Aetolian League, was stationed at Thebes, and marched out towards Pherae in search of
Philip, who was at Larisa.
Flamininus began his march to Larisa he had under his command about
32,500 to 33,400 soldiers. Besides the usual Roman troops and auxiliary
units that would appear in any Roman army Flamininus's forces also
included soldiers from the allied Aetolian League, light infantry from Athamania, mercenary
archers from Crete, and
elephants and Numidian cavalry from King
Masinissa of Numidia. Philip had about
16,000 heavy infantry in phalanx
formation, 2,000 peltasts, 5,500 light
infantry from Illyria, Thrace, and Crete, and 2,000
cavalry for 25,500 troops overall.
The two armies met near
Pherae, and Philip's troops were defeated in a cavalry skirmish on
the hills outside the city. Both sides then marched toward Scotusa
in search of food, but out of sight of each other because of the
A tactical map of the battle showing
the various phases.
During the march there was a heavy rainstorm, and the morning after
there was a fog over the hills and fields separating both camps.
Despite this, Philip resumed his march, and his troops became
confused and disoriented. Philip then sent a small force to take
the Cynoscephalae hills. Flamininus, still unaware of Philip's
location, sent out some cavalry and light infantry to reconnoiter,
which engaged Philip's troops on the hills. The battle on the hills
grew fierce and Flamininus sent 500 cavalry and 2,000 infantry as
reinforcements, mostly Aetolians, forcing Philip's men to withdraw
further up the hill. Philip now sent more men into the melee, his
Macedonian and Thessalian horse, who drove the Romans down the
hill, until the Aetolian cavalry stabilized the situation. Philip,
though reluctant to send his phalanx into the broken, hilly terrain
eventually ordered an assault with 8,000 men when he heard of the
Roman retreat. Flamininus positioned his troops on the field as
well. He left his right wing in reserve, with his elephants in
front, and personally led the left wing against Philip. Meanwhile
Philip's phalanx had reached the summit, and after joining with
their light troops and cavalry which he placed on his right wing,
Philip had his phalanx charge down the hill into the oncoming
legionaries. As the Roman left was slowly being driven back,
Flamininus took command of his right and ordered an assault
Philip's right wing was now on higher ground than the Roman left,
and was at first successful against them. His left wing and center,
made up of another 8,000 phalangites, however were still
disorganized and in marching formation, so they had not even formed
the phalanx yet, and as Flamininus sent his elephants charging into
them, they routed. After breaking through, one of the Roman
took twenty maniples (a smaller
division of the legion) and attacked the Macedonian right wing from
behind. The Macedonians were unable to reposition themselves as
quickly as the Roman maniples. Now surrounded by both wings of the
Roman legion, they suffered heavy casualties and fled.
After a brief pursuit, Flamininus allowed Philip to escape.
According to Polybius
, 5,000 Macedonians had been killed (although Livy
states that other sources claim 32,000 Macedonians were killed).
Flamininus also took 1,000 prisoners. The Romans lost about 2,000
This Macedonian defeat marks the passing of imperial power from the
successors of Alexander the
to Rome. With the later Battle of Pydna, this defeat is often held to have demonstrated
that the Macedonian phalanx,
formerly the most effective fighting unit in the ancient world, had
been repeatedly proven inferior to the Roman legion.
phalanx, though very powerful head on, was not as flexible as the
Roman manipular formation. Although the peace that followed allowed
Philip to keep his kingdom intact as a buffer state between other
Greek states and Illyria, Flamininus proclaimed that the Greek
states previously under Macedonian domination were now free. Philip
also had to pay 1,000 talents
silver to Rome, disband his navy and most of his army, and send his
son to Rome as a hostage.
- N.G.L. Hammond, "The Campaign and Battle of Cynoscephalae in
197 BC" in Journal of Hellenic Studies 108 (1988)
- Polybius, Histories, Bk XVIII.19-27.