Legion against the phalanx. The decisive battles of the Roman-Macedonian wars. Part 1-I: The Battle of Kinoskefalah
Battle of Kinoskefalah takes in the military stories special place. Partly because it was the first large-scale field battle of the Roman legions and the Macedonian phalanx, partly because the fate of the Macedonian power was decided in it.
Traditionally it is believed that the phalanx and legions first encountered on the battlefield at Kinoskefalah. and it was this battle that showed the complete superiority of the Roman tactics over the Macedonian. This is not quite true. Previously, the phalanx and the Romans had already encountered in battle, but these were local clashes or battles on rough terrain, the purpose of which was not to defeat the enemy. It was impossible to speak about the superiority of any one side. The battle itself at Kinoskefalah also showed no superiority of legion weapons and a tactical concept over the phalanx. Rather, we can talk about the unsuccessful battle management by the Macedonian king and competent actions of the Roman commander.
The commander of the Roman army, Titus Quinctions, Flaminin was a man highly ambitious and greedy for glory. In the Hannibal War, he served under the command of Marcellus and at a very young age was the vicar of Taren. A year ago, Tit, with difficulty, contrary to all customs and in violation of the procedure for occupying posts (he was not even 30 years old with the age of qualification in 43), achieved the election of consul and was sent to Macedonia. The year of the war passed without decisive results. The term of office expired in January, and Flaminin was ready to make peace rather than Tit Quinces rather than hand over the command and glory of victory to a new consul. The Senate allowed the young aristocrat to continue the war, but sent to help two legates who commanded the army before. Therefore, the Roman commander sought to impose a decisive battle on the Macedonian army.
Roman military art at that time was on the rise. After the victory over Hannibal, it was believed that the Roman army was stronger than any other, and Roman military art was the best. The warlords had extensive experience in the war against the regular army, there were many experienced fighters in the army, and Flaminin was able to strengthen the 3000 army of veterans Scipio when he took office. The forces of the Romans in the battle of Kinoskefalah are known to us: it was the consular army strengthened by the Greek contingents, which included the 2 of the legion and the cohorts of allies assigned to them.
The Legion, which was led alternately by 6 elected military tribunes in the national assembly, consisted of three lines: 10 gastropus maniples, 10 principle maniples (120 people in each) and 10 triarii maniples (60 people) to which 1200 velites and 10 cavalry rides (300 riders). The legionary’s armament was lightened by Greek standards: instead of a linen cotfib shell or a bronze thorax, Roman soldiers wore a combat belt and a small Italian breastplate-pectoral on shoulder straps. On the head they wore a Monteforte type helmet, lighter in comparison with Greek samples. Since this was a very unreliable protection in close combat, a large (120 × 75 cm) oval scutum shield was used to cover the body. Offensive weapon included a heavy dart-pilum and a sword. During the Hannibal war, the Mediterranean piercing Hoplit sword was replaced by the Celto-Iberian "Spanish Gladius" - a powerful 65-70 long-slitting sword of cm, whose blows left wide bleeding wounds. Velit wore a round leather shield-parma, darts and a sword. The Roman cavalry from the battle of Cannes has not changed - it was all the same riding infantry, ready to grapple with the enemy, to fight on foot, but unable to equestrian battle.
The legions assigned to the legion (3000 heavy infantry, 1200 light infantry and 900 riders) had the same organization and armament as the Romans, and were reduced to ali Alu (“wing”), which in combat stood on the outer flank of the legion, forming a combat wing order At the head of the ally of the Union stood three Roman prefects.
In total, 6000 heavy infantry, 2400 light infantry and 1200 riders entered the army wing, and the army as a whole had 12000 heavy infantry, about 5000 light infantry, 2400 riders. The place of the consul was either in the center of the attacking wing (between the legion and the scarlet), or between the inner flanks of the legions. The commander of the legion of the stands went in the center of the legion next to the legion badge, the rest of the stands controlled the lines of battle formation. The teams gave the signals tube.
Additionally, the Aetolian allies — the 6000 infantry and the 400 horsemen — entered the Flaminin army. The Aetolian infantry was ill-equipped for a regular battle: the warrior’s weapons were light shield, sword, and sling or darts. The Aetolian cavalry also did not know how to fight in the ranks and was strong in an all-out battle. Finally, at the disposal of the Romans were captured Carthaginian war elephants - a powerful fighting force, which the Romans did not know how to use.
The king of Macedonia, Philip V, was, unlike Flaminin, an experienced and wise life politician who fought half his life with his freedom-loving neighbors - Greeks and Illyrians, not only for the sake of multiplying the kingdom, but to maintain political balance in the Balkans. Victory in battle meant for him an increase in his authority in the Balkans and a victory in the campaign, and defeat meant a threat to independence and a humiliating peace to the joy of [8] Greek cities. For him, this was already the second war with Rome, and the king, using the example of Carthage, knew what are the conditions of peace with Rome: extradition fleet, a sharp reduction in troops, the rejection of an independent foreign policy.
The basis of the Macedonian army was a phalanx. The phalangite warrior was armed with a 6-meter lance sarissa with a heavy inflow and a narrow dagger tip designed to pierce linen armor. An additional weapon was a Greek xyphos sword with a narrow bay-blade with a length of up to 60-65 cm and a massive handle. It was a weapon for combat in the cramped phalanx, it was convenient for them to apply short piercing and ripping blows to the enemy’s unprotected face and thighs. In combat, an aspis shield with a diameter of about 70 cm was hung on the forearm and neck strap, and the warrior was holding a sarissa at the ready. The armor consisted of a Thracian-type helmet with an elongated ovoid head, a visor and developed cheek pads, which were well protected from slashing and stabbing blows to the face. The first ranks of the phalanx wore a Greek bronze thorax with a scalloped pterugon skirt and leggings, in the depths of the phalanx the warriors were limited to linen kotfib, wide combat belt and ikfirattovymi boots - high laced shoes with open fingers.
The minimum tactically independent part of the phalanx was a spair - a detachment of soldiers in 256, consisting of 16 who had joined the 16 phalangit series "in the column on 16". Spare commanders (speirer. Tetrarchs, lohagi) stood in the first row. The last line formed the closing-uragi. Behind the ranks there were control-providing hurricanes (in fact, it was he who transmitted the received orders to the phalanx), adjutant-hyperet, messenger-stratocrick, signal-semietophore with a signal flag on the shaft, trumpeter-salpincts. The phalanx system (16000 shields) was formed by a line spare. reduced on a regular basis in the chiliarchy (about 1000 people) and strategies, each of which was given its own hurricanes, signallers, familytophores, etc. The maximum structural unit of the phalanx was a wing that had its own management.
The 2000 peltsts were an elite formation and took the place of the Alexandrov hypaspists in the Macedonian army. These were warriors in lightweight armor, similar to the armor of warriors in the depths of the phalanx. Instead of sariss, they were armed with long spears, and the xyphos was usually replaced with a powerful, convenient mahaira. Peltasts were able to fight both in the phalanx and in the loose ranks. In the armies of the army, the Peltasts rose on the right flank of the phalanx. On the left, the phalanx was covered up to 1500 by Greek army mercenaries who entered the army and were armed similarly to the Macedonian Peltasts.
The elite formations of light infantry were 2000 Thracian mercenaries, armed with mahairas (it was their national weapon), bows, or darts. The protective equipment for them was a crescent-shaped shield. Another unit of the light infantry was the 2000 Illyrian tribe of the Tallas with darts and swords.
The Macedonian cavalry (1000 riders) was considered the best in Europe: they were heavily armed warriors-aristocrats, operating in dense formation. Their armor, on the whole similar to Hoplit's, also included hornbags and a cuff, which (instead of a shield) completely covered the left hand, which held the reins. The right hand also had extra protection. The Boeotian type helmet (bronze headband with kneaded fields) allowed you to look down, acting with a spear or mahaira. Also, less heavily equipped Thessalian riders (1000 people) acted in tight formation.
The place of the king on the battlefield was determined by tradition and the need to control the troops. As a rule, the king led the cavalry on the right wing at the head of the royal ooze, or went on the attack in the ranks of the Peltastes, who stood up to the right of the phalanx and in turn covered themselves to the right of the Macedonian cavalry and Thracians. Traditionally, the entire course of the battle was determined by hitting the right wing, while the left, which usually included the left wing of the phalanx and mercenaries-Pelttias (not Macedonian) attached to it on the left, hired light infantry (Cretans, Illyrians, etc.) and the Thessalian cavalry, remained attention of the king and demanded a separate command.
Both sides in winter 197 year BC preparing for battle on the Thessalian plain. The Romans sought to squeeze the king to the north, in Macedonia, and isolate his garrisons in Greece. Philip, in turn, wanted to keep Thessaly behind him and cover the Tempean passage to Macedonia. In the 50 stages from Fera on the Phthiocian plain, a clash of vanguards occurred, ending in the victory of the Aetolian cavalry. Phillip decided to leave the “glorious beauty of his wives”, overgrown with gardens and blocked by Fthiotida with stone fences and go to Scotus, more comfortable for the phalanx. Flaminin understood his idea and moved in a parallel march along the southern side of the ridge of stony hills. On the first day Philip reached Onhesta, and Flaminin reached Eretria, on the second Philip was located at Melambia, and Flaminin at Fetidius (Farsala). In the evening a heavy thunderstorm began, and in the morning there was a heavy fog.
In the morning, Philip went on a campaign, but because of the fog he decided to return to the camp. For cover from Kinoskefal, behind which there could be an enemy, he sent ephedria — a sentry troop of no more than 1000-2000 people. The bulk of the troops, putting guard posts, remained in the camp. Much of the soldiers were sent to collect fodder for cavalry.
Titus Kvinktsy Flaminin, also not aware of the movement of the enemy, decided to explore the situation on the ridge of hills that separate him from the Macedonians. For this purpose, extraordinarians were singled out - selected 10 rounds of allied cavalry (300 riders) and 1000 light infantrymen.
On the pass, the Romans suddenly saw the Macedonian outpost. The battle between them began with separate skirmishes, in which the velites were overturned and retreated with losses along the northern slope. Flaminin immediately sent to the [9] pass, under the command of 2, the Roman tribunes 500 of the Aetolian horsemen of Eupoleme and Arhedam and the 1000 of the Aetolian infantry. Crumpled Macedonians moved from the ridge to the top of the hills and turned to the king for help.
Philip, who intended to remain all day in the camp, decided to help his soldiers and sent the most mobile and maneuverable part of the army to the pass. The Macedonian cavalry of Leont (1000 horsemen), the Thessalian cavalry of Heraclides (100 horsemen) and mercenaries under the command of Attenagora - 1500 of Greek Peltasts and lightly armed and, possibly, 2000 swells entered the battle. With these forces, the Macedonians overthrew the Roman and Aetolian infantry and drove them down the slope, and the Aetolian cavalry, strong in a loose battle, clashed with the Macedonians and the Thessalians. Lightly armed infantry fled to the foot of the mountain.
Arriving messengers said to Philip that the enemy is running, unable to resist, and the case simply cannot be missed - this is his day and his happiness. Philip, dissatisfied with the uncertainty of the situation and the inopportune nature of the battle and the randomness of its place, gathered the troops that remained with him. He himself led the right wing of the army to the ridge: the right wing of the phalanx (8000 phalangites), 2000 Peltasts, and 2000 Thracians. On the ridge of the hills, the king rebuilt the troops from the marching order, deploying to the left of the pass and occupying the height dominating over the pass.
Also dissatisfied with the inevitability and suddenness of the battle, Titus built an army: on the flanks there were detachments of cavalry and ally aly, in the center there are Roman legions. Lined up in front, 3800 velites lined up for cover. Flaminin turned to the army and explained that the enemies are already Macedonians, whose greatness rests not on power, but on glory alone. He led the left wing of the troops — the right 2 legion, the left of 2 allied ala, all light infantry in front, the Aetolians, probably on the flank of the legion led to the aid of the broken Aetolians. The right wing, in front of which, instead of velites, stood a line of elephants, remained in place.
Flaminin brought the troops to the battlefield, saw the retreating Aetolians and immediately, without diverting the lightly armed over the line of maniples. attacked the enemy. The Romans approached the Macedonians beating light infantry and the Aetolian cavalry, Velita threw pilum and began to cut with swords. The numerical superiority was again among the Romans. Now, 3500-5500 infantry and 2000 riders fought around 8000 infantry and 700 riders. The ranks of the Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry, which were mixed up in the pursuit, and lightly armed did not withstand the blow and rolled back up to the defense of Philip.
The king took the retreating crowd to the right flank, without wasting time on the separation of cavalry from the infantry. Then he doubled the depth of the phalanx and Peltastes and closed their ranks to the right, making room for deployment of the left flank rising to the crest. The right wing of the phalanx was lined up in 32 ranks by 128 people. Philip stood at the head of the Peltasts, the Thracians stood on the right flank, the retreating lightly-armed infantry and cavalry deployed to the right. On the left, the right wing of the phalanx was not covered by either the left wing of the phalanx (it rose next to the marching line), or the Pelttases. The Macedonian army was ready for battle - 10000 in the ranks, until 7000 in the loose ranks, 2000 riders.
Hellenistic type of helmet, III cent. BC. Bronze. Louvre Museum №1365. Paris, France
Titus Kvinktsy Flaminin missed the lightly armed infantry between the rows of maniples, rebuilt the heavy infantry in a chess order and led them to the attack - 6000 in the ranks, to 8000 in loose ranks, to 700 riders. Philip commanded to lower the sarissas, and the phalanx bristled with dagger-like sariss heads. The culmination of the battle.
Greek sword types: 1. Xiphos, 2. Kopis. 1 - IV c. BC. Veria, Greece; 2 - IV c. BC. National Archaeological Museum. Athens, Greece
The Romans, accustomed to overturning the barbaric phalanx with hail of pilums, stumbled upon an impenetrable wall. 10 sarissas were sent to each legionary’s chest, which inflicted deep bleeding wounds, and the Romans fell onto the stony ground wet from the rain, unable to even cause damage to the Macedonians. And the phalanx went forward in even steps, the Macedonians stabbed forward with sarissas, and only a sudden resistance to a sent forward spear meant for the warrior of the fifth or sixth rank that he had fallen into the enemy. Having met with resistance, the 2 Legion and the allies with the Aetolians began to roll back. The Aetolians still tried to cut with a phalanx, but the demoralized Romans simply ran.
The battle was essentially lost by the Romans. King Philip was advancing quickly. On the right flank, at the right wing of the Macedonians, which were tearing forward, were ordered Peltasts, lightly armed and mercenaries under the command of Athenagoras. In the same place, the best cavalry in the Balkans, Heraklides and Leonte, were put in order. Nikanor Elefas led to the crest of the hills, went down and consistently turned the left wing of the phalanx into the battle line.
If at this moment Philip could bring the cavalry into battle, the retreat of the left wing of the Romans would turn into a beating, and it would be very difficult for them to avoid defeat. The Romans were supposed to have riders still not around 1800, but the quality of the Italians was not comparable to the Macedonian or Thessalian ones: it was the same infantry rides as at Cannes. In order to preserve the battle formations of the right wing, the Romans would have had to let past the remnants of the 2 Legion, pursued by the Macedonian cavalry, and meet the blow of the rebuilt phalangite front. who, under the leadership of the king, had just routed the enemy and to whom a fresh left wing of the phalanx was attached.
There was still some hope of hitting war elephants, but the Romans knew well that this branch of service was powerless against disciplined and well-armed heavy infantry. Moreover, the only known way for the Romans to use elephants was to attack them in front of their own infantry, and a close phalanx with sariss attacks (as happened in the Battle of Hydasp) would have turned the animals back to the Roman system, turning it into a crowd of panicked people. However, Philip continued to pursue, not paying attention to the unprotected left flank of his wing and the deployment of the second part of the phalanx.
Flaminin did not wait for the defeat, but turned [10] horse and drove to the right wing, which alone could save the situation. And at this moment the consul paid attention to the construction of the Macedonian army: the left wing in the marching order, with separate spiers, rolled over the ridge of hills and began to descend from the pass to turn into battle order to the left of the pursuing king. The cover of the cavalry and Peltasts was absent - they all went on the right flank of the successfully advancing right wing of Philip.
Then Titus Quinces Flaminin launched an attack that changed the course of the battle. He led the right wing, who was standing apart from the battle, and moved him (60 handles — near 6000, heavily armed) to the left wing of the Macedonians. Ahead of the battle order were elephants.
It was a turning point in the battle. The phalangites, built into the marching order, did not have the opportunity, on a narrow road, to consistently turn the front towards the enemy and began to retreat randomly, without waiting for the impact of the elephants and hail of pilums. Nicanor Elefas either hoped to regain control on the crest of the hills, when the phalanx broke away from the Romans, or gave in to a general panic.
The Romans rushed to pursue. One of the stands held 20 maniples and deployed them to the rear continues to pursue the defeated enemy Philip. Since these maniples were not involved in the pursuit of the runners (Roman discipline could not have recalled them), it should be assumed that they were in the 3 line, and these were 10 manipulations of triarii and 10 principles of allies or triarii of allies - only around 1200- 1800 people
Montefortine type of helmet. Bronze, approx. 200 BC Found in Canizume (Canosa di Puglia, Italy). Baden State Museum. Karlsruhe, Germany
There was no cover on the left flank of Philip - the left wing did not have time to settle down, and the light infantry remained on the right flank. The 20 handles hit the flank of Philip's advancing right wing and stopped his advance. Even in this situation, Philip had a chance to stop the attack of the enemy and maintain control. The fact is that the spiers before the attack doubled the line, and the doubling was done by tapping into the second line of the even rows. In the first rank of the second line were protostat - the commanders of the ranks, who are able to keep equal and carry out the front line evolution. Hemilochitis were also able to do this - half-ranks commanders who stood in the calculation in the 8-th (in this case - in the 24-th) rank. It was possible to withdraw from the battle a few half-spiers of the left flank under the command of the hurricanes, turn them facing the enemy, pulling the front, rebuild the ranks in 8 (for this purpose, the hemilochitis brought back semi-rows into the intervals between the front semi-ranks) and meet the sariss line attack. But for this it was necessary for the king to control the battle, and not to chase running legionnaires.
But there was no cover on the left flank, and the Macedonians were in dire straits. The commanders were either far ahead or in the middle of the ranks, and could not get out. Uragi died in the first moments of the fight. It was very difficult to turn around in deep formation: aspis worn on an elbow and huge sarissas in the near fight were useless and clung to equipment. The linen kotfib worn by the warriors of the back rows, poorly defended the broad gladius legions of the newly adopted armies from the slashing blows. But even now the phalanx was held at the expense of the density of the system and heavy weapons, and stopped phalangites, throwing sarissas that became useless, fought off the xyphos that were attacking the heat and flank of the Roman swordsmen. The left wing of the wing still retained the ability to spontaneously, unorganized rebuilding of the face to the enemy. However, the advance of the phalanx stopped, and the Macedonian cavalry was never withdrawn from the crowd on the right flank for pursuit. When the stands were put in order, the 1 Legion, and the battle from the front resumed, the phalangites fluttered and ran.
Only now the king got out of action with a small group of riders and peltasts, looked around and realized that the battle was lost. The left wing randomly rolled back to the ridge of the hills, and the right was swept from the front and rear and rapidly turned into a crowd of fugitives. Then the king gathered around himself loyal Thracian mercenaries and Meltonian Peltastes and began to quickly retreat to the pass, in order to regain control of at least the left wing. And here there was also a hope to avoid defeat - just to have time to reorganize on the hill and repeat the attack of the sarissas. In case of failure, one could at least orderly leave the camp. But when the king reached the summit, the Romans finally caught up with the retreating left wing, and the demoralized phalangites, seeing elephants and a line of legionaries in front of them, began to raise sarissas as a sign of surrender. Flaminin tried to avoid the beating and accept the surrender, but the soldiers already caught up with the frustrated Macedonian ranks, and the slaughter began. The crowd rushed to the pass, ran down the hillside and swept away the royal squad. Now the rout has become inevitable.
The Romans did not pursue the enemy for long, while they were chasing the Macedonians, their Aetolian allies looted the captured camp. In the evening and at night, the king broke away from the persecution, retreated to the Tempe Valley, gathered the fugitives and with the remaining troops locked the passage to Macedonia. Began peace negotiations.
Flaminin announced 8000 killed and 5000 captive Macedonians - mostly from phalanx. It was announced that the losses of the Romans were 700 people; whether purely Aetolians were included in this is unclear. It was purchased by the Roman cities 1200 of the Romans from the number captured and sold into slavery by Hannibal. In triumph carried the 3730 gold libre, 43270 silver libre, 14500 Macedonian staters. Estimated contribution should have been 1000 talents - 3200 kg of gold and silver.
The Aetolians, inducing Flaminin’s deserved indignation, in every way blasphemed Philip and bragged about the victory over the Macedonians. In response to another offensive poem, the king wrote a couplet:
Here, without a bark, without foliage, a pointed stake rises.
Traveler, look at him! He is waiting for Alkey to himself.
Philip V issued a fleet to the Romans, removed garrisons from Greek cities, and pledged to consult with Rome in the conduct of foreign policy. The army was greatly reduced. Each year, the king recruited recruits from the peasants, conducted training for the military formation and dismissed their homes, while maintaining the appearance of a few troops. After 30 years, his son Perseus had in the 32000 system phalangites and money for 10 years of war.
Publication:
Warrior #5, 2001, page 8-11
Traditionally it is believed that the phalanx and legions first encountered on the battlefield at Kinoskefalah. and it was this battle that showed the complete superiority of the Roman tactics over the Macedonian. This is not quite true. Previously, the phalanx and the Romans had already encountered in battle, but these were local clashes or battles on rough terrain, the purpose of which was not to defeat the enemy. It was impossible to speak about the superiority of any one side. The battle itself at Kinoskefalah also showed no superiority of legion weapons and a tactical concept over the phalanx. Rather, we can talk about the unsuccessful battle management by the Macedonian king and competent actions of the Roman commander.
The romans
The commander of the Roman army, Titus Quinctions, Flaminin was a man highly ambitious and greedy for glory. In the Hannibal War, he served under the command of Marcellus and at a very young age was the vicar of Taren. A year ago, Tit, with difficulty, contrary to all customs and in violation of the procedure for occupying posts (he was not even 30 years old with the age of qualification in 43), achieved the election of consul and was sent to Macedonia. The year of the war passed without decisive results. The term of office expired in January, and Flaminin was ready to make peace rather than Tit Quinces rather than hand over the command and glory of victory to a new consul. The Senate allowed the young aristocrat to continue the war, but sent to help two legates who commanded the army before. Therefore, the Roman commander sought to impose a decisive battle on the Macedonian army.
Roman military art at that time was on the rise. After the victory over Hannibal, it was believed that the Roman army was stronger than any other, and Roman military art was the best. The warlords had extensive experience in the war against the regular army, there were many experienced fighters in the army, and Flaminin was able to strengthen the 3000 army of veterans Scipio when he took office. The forces of the Romans in the battle of Kinoskefalah are known to us: it was the consular army strengthened by the Greek contingents, which included the 2 of the legion and the cohorts of allies assigned to them.
The Legion, which was led alternately by 6 elected military tribunes in the national assembly, consisted of three lines: 10 gastropus maniples, 10 principle maniples (120 people in each) and 10 triarii maniples (60 people) to which 1200 velites and 10 cavalry rides (300 riders). The legionary’s armament was lightened by Greek standards: instead of a linen cotfib shell or a bronze thorax, Roman soldiers wore a combat belt and a small Italian breastplate-pectoral on shoulder straps. On the head they wore a Monteforte type helmet, lighter in comparison with Greek samples. Since this was a very unreliable protection in close combat, a large (120 × 75 cm) oval scutum shield was used to cover the body. Offensive weapon included a heavy dart-pilum and a sword. During the Hannibal war, the Mediterranean piercing Hoplit sword was replaced by the Celto-Iberian "Spanish Gladius" - a powerful 65-70 long-slitting sword of cm, whose blows left wide bleeding wounds. Velit wore a round leather shield-parma, darts and a sword. The Roman cavalry from the battle of Cannes has not changed - it was all the same riding infantry, ready to grapple with the enemy, to fight on foot, but unable to equestrian battle.
The legions assigned to the legion (3000 heavy infantry, 1200 light infantry and 900 riders) had the same organization and armament as the Romans, and were reduced to ali Alu (“wing”), which in combat stood on the outer flank of the legion, forming a combat wing order At the head of the ally of the Union stood three Roman prefects.
In total, 6000 heavy infantry, 2400 light infantry and 1200 riders entered the army wing, and the army as a whole had 12000 heavy infantry, about 5000 light infantry, 2400 riders. The place of the consul was either in the center of the attacking wing (between the legion and the scarlet), or between the inner flanks of the legions. The commander of the legion of the stands went in the center of the legion next to the legion badge, the rest of the stands controlled the lines of battle formation. The teams gave the signals tube.
Additionally, the Aetolian allies — the 6000 infantry and the 400 horsemen — entered the Flaminin army. The Aetolian infantry was ill-equipped for a regular battle: the warrior’s weapons were light shield, sword, and sling or darts. The Aetolian cavalry also did not know how to fight in the ranks and was strong in an all-out battle. Finally, at the disposal of the Romans were captured Carthaginian war elephants - a powerful fighting force, which the Romans did not know how to use.
Macedonians
The king of Macedonia, Philip V, was, unlike Flaminin, an experienced and wise life politician who fought half his life with his freedom-loving neighbors - Greeks and Illyrians, not only for the sake of multiplying the kingdom, but to maintain political balance in the Balkans. Victory in battle meant for him an increase in his authority in the Balkans and a victory in the campaign, and defeat meant a threat to independence and a humiliating peace to the joy of [8] Greek cities. For him, this was already the second war with Rome, and the king, using the example of Carthage, knew what are the conditions of peace with Rome: extradition fleet, a sharp reduction in troops, the rejection of an independent foreign policy.
The basis of the Macedonian army was a phalanx. The phalangite warrior was armed with a 6-meter lance sarissa with a heavy inflow and a narrow dagger tip designed to pierce linen armor. An additional weapon was a Greek xyphos sword with a narrow bay-blade with a length of up to 60-65 cm and a massive handle. It was a weapon for combat in the cramped phalanx, it was convenient for them to apply short piercing and ripping blows to the enemy’s unprotected face and thighs. In combat, an aspis shield with a diameter of about 70 cm was hung on the forearm and neck strap, and the warrior was holding a sarissa at the ready. The armor consisted of a Thracian-type helmet with an elongated ovoid head, a visor and developed cheek pads, which were well protected from slashing and stabbing blows to the face. The first ranks of the phalanx wore a Greek bronze thorax with a scalloped pterugon skirt and leggings, in the depths of the phalanx the warriors were limited to linen kotfib, wide combat belt and ikfirattovymi boots - high laced shoes with open fingers.
The minimum tactically independent part of the phalanx was a spair - a detachment of soldiers in 256, consisting of 16 who had joined the 16 phalangit series "in the column on 16". Spare commanders (speirer. Tetrarchs, lohagi) stood in the first row. The last line formed the closing-uragi. Behind the ranks there were control-providing hurricanes (in fact, it was he who transmitted the received orders to the phalanx), adjutant-hyperet, messenger-stratocrick, signal-semietophore with a signal flag on the shaft, trumpeter-salpincts. The phalanx system (16000 shields) was formed by a line spare. reduced on a regular basis in the chiliarchy (about 1000 people) and strategies, each of which was given its own hurricanes, signallers, familytophores, etc. The maximum structural unit of the phalanx was a wing that had its own management.
The 2000 peltsts were an elite formation and took the place of the Alexandrov hypaspists in the Macedonian army. These were warriors in lightweight armor, similar to the armor of warriors in the depths of the phalanx. Instead of sariss, they were armed with long spears, and the xyphos was usually replaced with a powerful, convenient mahaira. Peltasts were able to fight both in the phalanx and in the loose ranks. In the armies of the army, the Peltasts rose on the right flank of the phalanx. On the left, the phalanx was covered up to 1500 by Greek army mercenaries who entered the army and were armed similarly to the Macedonian Peltasts.
The elite formations of light infantry were 2000 Thracian mercenaries, armed with mahairas (it was their national weapon), bows, or darts. The protective equipment for them was a crescent-shaped shield. Another unit of the light infantry was the 2000 Illyrian tribe of the Tallas with darts and swords.
The Macedonian cavalry (1000 riders) was considered the best in Europe: they were heavily armed warriors-aristocrats, operating in dense formation. Their armor, on the whole similar to Hoplit's, also included hornbags and a cuff, which (instead of a shield) completely covered the left hand, which held the reins. The right hand also had extra protection. The Boeotian type helmet (bronze headband with kneaded fields) allowed you to look down, acting with a spear or mahaira. Also, less heavily equipped Thessalian riders (1000 people) acted in tight formation.
The place of the king on the battlefield was determined by tradition and the need to control the troops. As a rule, the king led the cavalry on the right wing at the head of the royal ooze, or went on the attack in the ranks of the Peltastes, who stood up to the right of the phalanx and in turn covered themselves to the right of the Macedonian cavalry and Thracians. Traditionally, the entire course of the battle was determined by hitting the right wing, while the left, which usually included the left wing of the phalanx and mercenaries-Pelttias (not Macedonian) attached to it on the left, hired light infantry (Cretans, Illyrians, etc.) and the Thessalian cavalry, remained attention of the king and demanded a separate command.
March
Both sides in winter 197 year BC preparing for battle on the Thessalian plain. The Romans sought to squeeze the king to the north, in Macedonia, and isolate his garrisons in Greece. Philip, in turn, wanted to keep Thessaly behind him and cover the Tempean passage to Macedonia. In the 50 stages from Fera on the Phthiocian plain, a clash of vanguards occurred, ending in the victory of the Aetolian cavalry. Phillip decided to leave the “glorious beauty of his wives”, overgrown with gardens and blocked by Fthiotida with stone fences and go to Scotus, more comfortable for the phalanx. Flaminin understood his idea and moved in a parallel march along the southern side of the ridge of stony hills. On the first day Philip reached Onhesta, and Flaminin reached Eretria, on the second Philip was located at Melambia, and Flaminin at Fetidius (Farsala). In the evening a heavy thunderstorm began, and in the morning there was a heavy fog.
The plot of the battle
In the morning, Philip went on a campaign, but because of the fog he decided to return to the camp. For cover from Kinoskefal, behind which there could be an enemy, he sent ephedria — a sentry troop of no more than 1000-2000 people. The bulk of the troops, putting guard posts, remained in the camp. Much of the soldiers were sent to collect fodder for cavalry.
Titus Kvinktsy Flaminin, also not aware of the movement of the enemy, decided to explore the situation on the ridge of hills that separate him from the Macedonians. For this purpose, extraordinarians were singled out - selected 10 rounds of allied cavalry (300 riders) and 1000 light infantrymen.
On the pass, the Romans suddenly saw the Macedonian outpost. The battle between them began with separate skirmishes, in which the velites were overturned and retreated with losses along the northern slope. Flaminin immediately sent to the [9] pass, under the command of 2, the Roman tribunes 500 of the Aetolian horsemen of Eupoleme and Arhedam and the 1000 of the Aetolian infantry. Crumpled Macedonians moved from the ridge to the top of the hills and turned to the king for help.
Philip, who intended to remain all day in the camp, decided to help his soldiers and sent the most mobile and maneuverable part of the army to the pass. The Macedonian cavalry of Leont (1000 horsemen), the Thessalian cavalry of Heraclides (100 horsemen) and mercenaries under the command of Attenagora - 1500 of Greek Peltasts and lightly armed and, possibly, 2000 swells entered the battle. With these forces, the Macedonians overthrew the Roman and Aetolian infantry and drove them down the slope, and the Aetolian cavalry, strong in a loose battle, clashed with the Macedonians and the Thessalians. Lightly armed infantry fled to the foot of the mountain.
Arriving messengers said to Philip that the enemy is running, unable to resist, and the case simply cannot be missed - this is his day and his happiness. Philip, dissatisfied with the uncertainty of the situation and the inopportune nature of the battle and the randomness of its place, gathered the troops that remained with him. He himself led the right wing of the army to the ridge: the right wing of the phalanx (8000 phalangites), 2000 Peltasts, and 2000 Thracians. On the ridge of the hills, the king rebuilt the troops from the marching order, deploying to the left of the pass and occupying the height dominating over the pass.
Also dissatisfied with the inevitability and suddenness of the battle, Titus built an army: on the flanks there were detachments of cavalry and ally aly, in the center there are Roman legions. Lined up in front, 3800 velites lined up for cover. Flaminin turned to the army and explained that the enemies are already Macedonians, whose greatness rests not on power, but on glory alone. He led the left wing of the troops — the right 2 legion, the left of 2 allied ala, all light infantry in front, the Aetolians, probably on the flank of the legion led to the aid of the broken Aetolians. The right wing, in front of which, instead of velites, stood a line of elephants, remained in place.
Flaminin brought the troops to the battlefield, saw the retreating Aetolians and immediately, without diverting the lightly armed over the line of maniples. attacked the enemy. The Romans approached the Macedonians beating light infantry and the Aetolian cavalry, Velita threw pilum and began to cut with swords. The numerical superiority was again among the Romans. Now, 3500-5500 infantry and 2000 riders fought around 8000 infantry and 700 riders. The ranks of the Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry, which were mixed up in the pursuit, and lightly armed did not withstand the blow and rolled back up to the defense of Philip.
clash
The king took the retreating crowd to the right flank, without wasting time on the separation of cavalry from the infantry. Then he doubled the depth of the phalanx and Peltastes and closed their ranks to the right, making room for deployment of the left flank rising to the crest. The right wing of the phalanx was lined up in 32 ranks by 128 people. Philip stood at the head of the Peltasts, the Thracians stood on the right flank, the retreating lightly-armed infantry and cavalry deployed to the right. On the left, the right wing of the phalanx was not covered by either the left wing of the phalanx (it rose next to the marching line), or the Pelttases. The Macedonian army was ready for battle - 10000 in the ranks, until 7000 in the loose ranks, 2000 riders.
Hellenistic type of helmet, III cent. BC. Bronze. Louvre Museum №1365. Paris, France
Titus Kvinktsy Flaminin missed the lightly armed infantry between the rows of maniples, rebuilt the heavy infantry in a chess order and led them to the attack - 6000 in the ranks, to 8000 in loose ranks, to 700 riders. Philip commanded to lower the sarissas, and the phalanx bristled with dagger-like sariss heads. The culmination of the battle.
Greek sword types: 1. Xiphos, 2. Kopis. 1 - IV c. BC. Veria, Greece; 2 - IV c. BC. National Archaeological Museum. Athens, Greece
The Romans, accustomed to overturning the barbaric phalanx with hail of pilums, stumbled upon an impenetrable wall. 10 sarissas were sent to each legionary’s chest, which inflicted deep bleeding wounds, and the Romans fell onto the stony ground wet from the rain, unable to even cause damage to the Macedonians. And the phalanx went forward in even steps, the Macedonians stabbed forward with sarissas, and only a sudden resistance to a sent forward spear meant for the warrior of the fifth or sixth rank that he had fallen into the enemy. Having met with resistance, the 2 Legion and the allies with the Aetolians began to roll back. The Aetolians still tried to cut with a phalanx, but the demoralized Romans simply ran.
The battle was essentially lost by the Romans. King Philip was advancing quickly. On the right flank, at the right wing of the Macedonians, which were tearing forward, were ordered Peltasts, lightly armed and mercenaries under the command of Athenagoras. In the same place, the best cavalry in the Balkans, Heraklides and Leonte, were put in order. Nikanor Elefas led to the crest of the hills, went down and consistently turned the left wing of the phalanx into the battle line.
If at this moment Philip could bring the cavalry into battle, the retreat of the left wing of the Romans would turn into a beating, and it would be very difficult for them to avoid defeat. The Romans were supposed to have riders still not around 1800, but the quality of the Italians was not comparable to the Macedonian or Thessalian ones: it was the same infantry rides as at Cannes. In order to preserve the battle formations of the right wing, the Romans would have had to let past the remnants of the 2 Legion, pursued by the Macedonian cavalry, and meet the blow of the rebuilt phalangite front. who, under the leadership of the king, had just routed the enemy and to whom a fresh left wing of the phalanx was attached.
There was still some hope of hitting war elephants, but the Romans knew well that this branch of service was powerless against disciplined and well-armed heavy infantry. Moreover, the only known way for the Romans to use elephants was to attack them in front of their own infantry, and a close phalanx with sariss attacks (as happened in the Battle of Hydasp) would have turned the animals back to the Roman system, turning it into a crowd of panicked people. However, Philip continued to pursue, not paying attention to the unprotected left flank of his wing and the deployment of the second part of the phalanx.
Fracture
Flaminin did not wait for the defeat, but turned [10] horse and drove to the right wing, which alone could save the situation. And at this moment the consul paid attention to the construction of the Macedonian army: the left wing in the marching order, with separate spiers, rolled over the ridge of hills and began to descend from the pass to turn into battle order to the left of the pursuing king. The cover of the cavalry and Peltasts was absent - they all went on the right flank of the successfully advancing right wing of Philip.
Then Titus Quinces Flaminin launched an attack that changed the course of the battle. He led the right wing, who was standing apart from the battle, and moved him (60 handles — near 6000, heavily armed) to the left wing of the Macedonians. Ahead of the battle order were elephants.
It was a turning point in the battle. The phalangites, built into the marching order, did not have the opportunity, on a narrow road, to consistently turn the front towards the enemy and began to retreat randomly, without waiting for the impact of the elephants and hail of pilums. Nicanor Elefas either hoped to regain control on the crest of the hills, when the phalanx broke away from the Romans, or gave in to a general panic.
The Romans rushed to pursue. One of the stands held 20 maniples and deployed them to the rear continues to pursue the defeated enemy Philip. Since these maniples were not involved in the pursuit of the runners (Roman discipline could not have recalled them), it should be assumed that they were in the 3 line, and these were 10 manipulations of triarii and 10 principles of allies or triarii of allies - only around 1200- 1800 people
Montefortine type of helmet. Bronze, approx. 200 BC Found in Canizume (Canosa di Puglia, Italy). Baden State Museum. Karlsruhe, Germany
There was no cover on the left flank of Philip - the left wing did not have time to settle down, and the light infantry remained on the right flank. The 20 handles hit the flank of Philip's advancing right wing and stopped his advance. Even in this situation, Philip had a chance to stop the attack of the enemy and maintain control. The fact is that the spiers before the attack doubled the line, and the doubling was done by tapping into the second line of the even rows. In the first rank of the second line were protostat - the commanders of the ranks, who are able to keep equal and carry out the front line evolution. Hemilochitis were also able to do this - half-ranks commanders who stood in the calculation in the 8-th (in this case - in the 24-th) rank. It was possible to withdraw from the battle a few half-spiers of the left flank under the command of the hurricanes, turn them facing the enemy, pulling the front, rebuild the ranks in 8 (for this purpose, the hemilochitis brought back semi-rows into the intervals between the front semi-ranks) and meet the sariss line attack. But for this it was necessary for the king to control the battle, and not to chase running legionnaires.
But there was no cover on the left flank, and the Macedonians were in dire straits. The commanders were either far ahead or in the middle of the ranks, and could not get out. Uragi died in the first moments of the fight. It was very difficult to turn around in deep formation: aspis worn on an elbow and huge sarissas in the near fight were useless and clung to equipment. The linen kotfib worn by the warriors of the back rows, poorly defended the broad gladius legions of the newly adopted armies from the slashing blows. But even now the phalanx was held at the expense of the density of the system and heavy weapons, and stopped phalangites, throwing sarissas that became useless, fought off the xyphos that were attacking the heat and flank of the Roman swordsmen. The left wing of the wing still retained the ability to spontaneously, unorganized rebuilding of the face to the enemy. However, the advance of the phalanx stopped, and the Macedonian cavalry was never withdrawn from the crowd on the right flank for pursuit. When the stands were put in order, the 1 Legion, and the battle from the front resumed, the phalangites fluttered and ran.
Retreat
Only now the king got out of action with a small group of riders and peltasts, looked around and realized that the battle was lost. The left wing randomly rolled back to the ridge of the hills, and the right was swept from the front and rear and rapidly turned into a crowd of fugitives. Then the king gathered around himself loyal Thracian mercenaries and Meltonian Peltastes and began to quickly retreat to the pass, in order to regain control of at least the left wing. And here there was also a hope to avoid defeat - just to have time to reorganize on the hill and repeat the attack of the sarissas. In case of failure, one could at least orderly leave the camp. But when the king reached the summit, the Romans finally caught up with the retreating left wing, and the demoralized phalangites, seeing elephants and a line of legionaries in front of them, began to raise sarissas as a sign of surrender. Flaminin tried to avoid the beating and accept the surrender, but the soldiers already caught up with the frustrated Macedonian ranks, and the slaughter began. The crowd rushed to the pass, ran down the hillside and swept away the royal squad. Now the rout has become inevitable.
Сonclusion
The Romans did not pursue the enemy for long, while they were chasing the Macedonians, their Aetolian allies looted the captured camp. In the evening and at night, the king broke away from the persecution, retreated to the Tempe Valley, gathered the fugitives and with the remaining troops locked the passage to Macedonia. Began peace negotiations.
Flaminin announced 8000 killed and 5000 captive Macedonians - mostly from phalanx. It was announced that the losses of the Romans were 700 people; whether purely Aetolians were included in this is unclear. It was purchased by the Roman cities 1200 of the Romans from the number captured and sold into slavery by Hannibal. In triumph carried the 3730 gold libre, 43270 silver libre, 14500 Macedonian staters. Estimated contribution should have been 1000 talents - 3200 kg of gold and silver.
The Aetolians, inducing Flaminin’s deserved indignation, in every way blasphemed Philip and bragged about the victory over the Macedonians. In response to another offensive poem, the king wrote a couplet:
Here, without a bark, without foliage, a pointed stake rises.
Traveler, look at him! He is waiting for Alkey to himself.
Philip V issued a fleet to the Romans, removed garrisons from Greek cities, and pledged to consult with Rome in the conduct of foreign policy. The army was greatly reduced. Each year, the king recruited recruits from the peasants, conducted training for the military formation and dismissed their homes, while maintaining the appearance of a few troops. After 30 years, his son Perseus had in the 32000 system phalangites and money for 10 years of war.
Publication:
Warrior #5, 2001, page 8-11
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