Battle of Cynoscephalae : Roman Legion against Macedonian Phalanx

Battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC) was the clash of two effective battle formations. Roman maniple system against the famous Macedonian phalanx formation. Romans won that battle. This battle showed more weaknesses of phalanx formation than previously known. The superiority of Roman maniple system was established after the stunning victory it delivered over phalanx.

Battle of Cynoscephalae

Prelude : During the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC) Philip V of Macedon sided with Carthage and attacked and raided many Roman client states in Mediterranean. Romans couldn't do anything during that time cause they were under a bigger threat from Hannibal. After the war ended Romans turned their attention towards Philip. The Greek city states were already wanted to free from Macedonian influence and asked Rome for help, which the later obliged by sending an army of around 25000 men under Titus Quinctius Flamininus. Greek city states also provided a small army to assist him. Romans with allied forces marched in search of Philip who was in Larissa at that time. Philip heard the news and assembled an army of 27000 men to counter the Romans. Both armies met near Cynoscephalae Hills and the battle started.

Macedonia 

Armies : Romans had nearly 20000 legionaries (Heavy infantry) with 2000 light infantry, 2500 cavalry and 20 war elephants. The allied army consisted of soldiers from Greek city states, mercenary archers from Crete and light infantry from Athamania. Philip had 16000 phalangites, 4000 light infantry and 2000 cavalry. He also had an army of 5000 provided by his allies (Crete, Illyria and Thrace).

Phalanx vs Legions

The Battle : The battle started in the morning under heavy fog between small forces from two sides. Phillip sent a small force to capture the Cynoscephalae Hill. Here Flamininus, unaware of Macedonian presence nearby, sent a small force for scouting. Both forces discovered each other on the hill and a heavy fighting started between them. Hearing the news Flamininus dispatched 2000 infantry and 500 cavalry as reinforcement. They started pushing back the Macedonians from the hill. Now Philip sent another army to counter it. Macedonians started taking the upper hand and pushed back the Romans down to the hill which was stabilized by Greek cavalry sent by Flamininus Now Phillip marched with his phalangites towards Romans. He placed himself alongwith his most experienced 8000 phalangites on right half of his army and placed the rest on left half to attack the roman right. Despite the hilly terrain the right half of phalanx was doing well against the roman left but his left half was struggling against the roman right. The left side was getting difficulties in forming the tight phalanx formation which was the key of success of that formation. So, soon a big gap was formed between Phillip's right half and left half. The Romans were advancing upwords to the hill on Macedonian left half and Macedonians were advancing downwards against the Roman left half. This was the moment when a roman tribune of advancing roman right half saw that gap. He took his 20 legionaries and broke away from right and attacked the Macedonian right half from rear. The phalangites were surprised and completely helpless in that situation and the panic broke out. Soon, 2000 more legionaries joined the fight and phalanx formation totally disrupted. Romans started cutting down the Macedonians and the battle was over. Phillip fled the battlefield and the Macedonian loss was overwhelming. Nearly 8000 were killed and others captured or fled. A quick presence of mind from a lower rank officer just turned the tide of entire battle. Romans won a stunning victory.

The Battle

The Losses : The roman loss was nominal compared to the Macedonians. Only 700 were killed and 2000 were wounded. The loss on Macedonian side was huge. Nearly 8000 were killed and 5000 were captured and rest fled.

Aftermath : The battle showed the superiority of roman maniple system against the Macedonian phalanx. Phalanx formation was a strong and formidable formation but it needed a flat and wide terrain to form the phalanx formation to deliver desired result. It was not flexible as roman maniple system where the army could fight in small groups and could also form a solid line as per the situation. The versatility of that system took upper hand on that formidable phalanx formation. Phalanx was excellent for frontal assault and could beat any army any day if it had the suitable terrain but totally weak on sides and rear. Phillip may have won the battle if the terrain was suitable for his phalanx. After that Phillip sued peace on roman terms. He had to disband his navy and a large portion of his army. He also paid a large sum of indemnity and sent his son to Rome as hostage. This battle hampered the Macedonian influence and prestige greatly and established roman superiority in the region.