Text by Ilias Anagnostakis.

Cover photo: The Battle of Cynoscephalae, Thessaly, Greece, 197 BC by the exceptional Masimo Todaro.

After weeks of maneuvers, and wishing to involve the Romans in a decisive battle, Macedonian King Philip V led 25,500 men (16,000 phalanx soldiers, 2,000 sarissophoroi “peltasts,” 2,000 Thracians, 3,500 southern Greeks and Illyrians as light infantry, along with 2,000 Macedonians and Thessalian cavalry) to the foothills of “Cynoscephalae,” a series of hills in eastern Thessaly, near Scotussa, constantly searching for the Roman army (26,400 men – 16,000 Romans and Italian allies, 2,000 Cretans, Athamanians, and Apolloniatans as light infantry, 6,000 Aetolian light infantry, 1,400 Roman and Italian cavalry, 1,000 Aetolian cavalry) under the supreme Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who was also actively seeking the Macedonian army. Needless to say, both armies advanced along the hills, unaware of each other’s presence, as the elevations concealed their movements.

On the night of June 7/8, 197 BCE, a fierce storm erupted, followed by dense fog and a dark dawn. Around 6:00 AM, under thick darkness, Philip sent 800 light infantry and 50 cavalry to occupy the hilltops for better visibility, while many of his men scattered in the surrounding farmlands to find and collect supplies. The Roman commander also made a similar move, sending 1,000 Italians and Athamanians as light infantry, along with 600 Roman and Italian cavalry, toward the hills. Around 6:30 AM, still under dense fog, the two large groups of light infantry unexpectedly found themselves face to face, remaining motionless.

After the surprise of the initial moment, they immediately began exchanging missile fire, notifying their respective camps of the opponent’s arrival. After twenty minutes of battle, the Roman light infantry started to give ground and requested reinforcements from the astonished Flamininus, who promptly responded by sending reinforcements consisting of 2,000 Roman light infantry and 500 Aetolian cavalry under Archidamus and Eupolemus. With the arrival of Roman reinforcements, the Macedonians were under intense pressure. They regrouped at the hilltops and desperately sent messages to Philip for immediate reinforcements. The day was breaking, although the fog still lingered.

King Philip reacted swiftly, sending his remaining cavalry, 1,400 Macedonians and Thessalians, and 2,700 southern Greeks and Illyrians as light infantry under Athenagoras. Around 7:00 AM, as the fog began to dissipate, the Macedonian reinforcements had swiftly climbed the hills. Upon joining the hard-pressed allies, they descended together upon the advancing Romans, driving them back down the slopes. The retreat of the Roman forces would have turned into a massacre if not for the intervention of 500 Aetolian cavalry, somehow holding back the Macedonians.

Philip did not initially intend to engage in battle that day, given the challenging terrain that would not allow the phalanx to perform at its best. However, buoyed by the successive reports of victory from the clashes on the hills and pressured by his fervent phalangites (including several 15-year-olds, added to boost their numbers) seeking confrontation “at any cost,” he decided that the day belonged to him. Amid shouts and war cries, he chose to lead his army out of the camp.

At 7:30 AM, personally leading 10,000 sarissophoroi (8,000 phalangites and 2,000 peltasts), King Philip moved rapidly uphill towards the hills, leaving clear instructions for Nicanor, nicknamed “Elephant,” to gather the remaining 8,000 phalangites (many of whom had scattered in search of food) and follow him “quickly.” Simultaneously, Flamininus had deployed his entire army outside the camp, personally leading 8,000 Roman infantry and 5,000 Aetolian light infantry towards the Macedonian light infantry descending the hills. After a fierce clash, where Greek infantry spears created significant gaps in the Roman ranks while Roman gladii “harvested,” the Macedonian light infantry began retreating back up the slopes.

At that moment, around 7:45 AM, Philip arrived with the phalanx at the hilltops. After making space to receive the retreating light infantry, he ordered his 10,000 men to line up in a depth of 16 shields (phalanx formation), lower their sarissas, and “fall upon the Romans,” as the opponents had already approached within 100 meters. Despite the uneven terrain, the phalanx maintained its cohesion, exploiting the momentum provided by the downhill slope, and began advancing “dense and unstoppable,” sweeping like a steamroller over the opposing legion, which, having been shaken, started to retreat harshly, pressed to the extreme.

Flamininus, realizing that if he did not act immediately, his left flank would be annihilated, ordered his second legion and the remaining light infantry (10,000 men in total) along with the 16 elephants to advance quickly towards the hills and strike the 8,000 Macedonian phalangites led by Nicanor, who had just reached the ridgeline.

“The ‘Elephant’ Nicanor, however, had delayed, and many of his men not only had not managed to take a battle formation but were still on the move(!). As a result, they not only couldn’t put up organized resistance, but after a fierce clash, they began to retreat 800 meters below. The unsuspecting Philip was advancing relentlessly, with the phalanx ‘trampling’ the retreating Romans, now in a desperate situation.

At that moment, an anonymous Roman centurion partially halted the pursuit of Nicanor’s 8,000 phalangites. After hastily gathering 15 maniples, approximately 2,000 legionaries, he detached them and almost running, covered the 800 meters separating him from the Macedonian right wing, launching a fierce attack from behind(!) into the phalanx. After a brief and bloody clash, and with the phalanx simultaneously pressed from the rear, sides, and front (as the hitherto pressured Romans had regained confidence and counterattacked), it began to retreat, with a shaken Philip trying to save whatever could be saved.

The peculiar thing is that Philip’s phalanx, despite the pressure, retreated without serious losses. However, the Macedonians suffered terrible losses on the left wing, which hadn’t even managed to form up and received the fierce attack of raging legionaries and elephants. Many unfortunate phalangites raised their sarissas as a sign of surrender. The Aetolians, who knew about this, were at another point of the battle, and the Roman legionaries, unaware of the significance of this movement, infiltrated their ranks and slaughtered most of them.

The losses of the Macedonians were heavy: 8,000 dead and 5,000 prisoners, while the Romans had 700 dead and many wounded. Philip had managed to save half of his army, but it was obvious that the Greek defeat was severe. Unfortunately, this battle was just the beginning and the ‘footing’ that the Romans wanted to penetrate the vast Greek world, which, although still powerful as a whole, was politically fragmented to an unacceptable extent.

Much was said then about what determined the outcome of the battle: the ten minutes it still took the ‘Elephant’ Nicanor to deploy his 8,000 phalangites and start descending like a steamroller down the hills; the timely intervention of the Aetolian cavalry in favor of the Romans; the clever move of the anonymous Roman centurion, or simply luck? It’s something we will never know..

Sources

Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The life of Titus Flamininus.

Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 33.7-8.