The First Year of the War (171 BC)

Perseus marched to the land of the Perrhaebi in the northernmost district of Thessaly and seized all the main towns north of the River Peneus, which crosses northern Thessaly: Cyretia, Mylae, Elatia and Gonnus. He encamped at Sycurium, between Mount Ossa and the lower Peneus. It overlooked the plains of Thessaly and was not far from Larissa. Meanwhile, Publius Licinius had marched from Epirus on the west coast of Greece through arduous mountain passes and through Athamania, a kingdom allied with Perseus. He was lucky that they were not were not attacked, otherwise the tired novice recruits would have been defeated. He reached Thessaly and encamped at Tripolis Larisaia, five kilometres north of Larissa (the capital of Thessaly) and further up the River Peneus. He was joined by 4,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry brought by Eumenes II of Pergamon and 1,500 infantry and 600 cavalry.

A contingent of the RomanThe Roman Republic was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period - from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.Roman fleet went through the Gulf of Corinth and conducted operations against the Boeotians. It besieged Haliartus with 10,000 mariners and 2,000 troops under one of the brothers of Eumenes II. Eventually the city fell; 2,500 fighters who had taken refuge in the citadel were sold as slaves and the place was razed to the ground.

Perseus sent a detachment twenty miles southward, to ravage the fields of Pherae, in southern Thessaly. He hoped that this would draw the Romans forward, but they did not respond. Perseus then appeared just over a mile from the Roman camp and at 9 am. He sent forward a reconnaissance unit of 100 cavalry and 100 slingers. The Romans sent out a detachment of some 380 Gallic, Mysian and Cretan light cavalry. Perseus deployed only four cavalry squadrons and four infantry cohorts. There was an engagement which involved only a limited amount of troops on both sides. Livy wrote that as the two forces were equal in numbers and "no fresh troops came up on either side, the engagement ended in a drawn battle." Perseus then went back to his camp at Sycurium. It looks like neither side wanted a large scale battle and that for Perseus this was more like a test. Moreover, his men had marched for twelve miles without water. Perseus returned the next day. He had water carts with him. He lined up before the Roman camp, but the Romans did not give battle. He returned several times at the same spot and at the same hour. He hoped that the Roman cavalry would sally to pursue his troops so that he could attack it with his superior cavalry while it was far from the camp. As this failed he moved his camp five miles from the Roman camp. The next day he lined up for battle at dawn. As this was earlier than the other times, it surprised the Romans. Perseus engaged the Romans by a hill called Callicinus.

Battle of Callinicus

In the left wing there were the Thracians intermixed with cavalry and in the right wing there was the Cretan infantry intermixed with the Macedonian cavalry The wings were flanked by a mix of Macedonian cavalry and allied troops of mixed nationalities. In the centre there was the “sacred” cavalry with slingers and javelin throwers in front of them. Publius Licinius lined up the heavy infantry inside the rampant and the light infantry and the cavalry in front of it. The right wing had light infantry intermixed with the Italian cavalry and the right wing had the light infantry and cavalry of Greeks allies. In the centre there were select cavalrymen with the troops of Eumenes II, 200 Gauls and 300 Cyrtians. The Thessalian cavalry of 400 was a short distance in front of them. Eumenes II, his brother Attalus and their infantry were in the rear, just if front of the rampant. The numbers of the two armies were even.

The battle was started by slingers and javelin throwers. Then the Thracians attacked the Italian cavalry on the right wing, throwing it into confusion. The infantry on both sides cut the lances of the horsemen and stabbed the sides of the horses. Perseus’ centre pushed back the Greeks on the left wing. The Thessalian cavalry, which had been kept in reserve, joined the men of Eumenes II at the rear and their combined ranks provided a safe retreat for the allied cavalry. As the enemy slackened in their pursuit, the Thessalians ventured forward to protect the fugitive foot soldiers. The Macedonian forces, which in the course of the pursuit had become spread out, did not come close to the enemy which was advancing in compact formation. The Macedonian phalanx now came forward without having been ordered to do so by Perseus. The Roman infantry came out of the rampant. On seeing it advancing, Euander, the commander of the Cretans, advised Perseus that continuing the battle was an unnecessary risk. The king decided to withdraw. Although the battle was inconclusive as Perseus did not bring it to a conclusion, it was considered a Macedonian victory because they lost 400 infantry and 20 cavalry, while the Romans lost 2,000 infantry and 200 cavalry. On the advice of Eumenes, Publius Licinius moved his camp to the other bank of the river to get protected by this watercourse. In the Roman camp the Aetolians were blamed for beginning the panic which spread to the Greek troops, who fled following their example. Five Aetolian officers were sent to Rome. The Thessalians were commended for their bravery.

Perseus moved his camp to Mopselus, a hill at the entrance of the Vale of Tempe which commanded the view of the plain of Larissa. Meanwhile, Misagenes (the son of Masinissa, king of Numidia) brought 1,000 Numidian cavalry, the same number of infantry and 22 elephants for the Romans. Perseus was advised to use the victory to secure an honourable peace. This would make him look moderate and if the Romans rejected it, they would look arrogant. Perseus approved. Envoys were sent to the consul. They promised to pay the amount of tribute which would be agreed. The reply was that peace would be granted only if Perseus put himself in the hands of Rome and gave her the right to determine his future and that of Macedon. Perseus hoped to buy the peace by various offers of higher and higher sums of money, but Pulbius Licinius turned them down. He returned to Sycurium, preparing for more war. Meanwhile, the Romans in Boeotia, having taken Haliartus moved to Thebes, which surrendered without fighting. The city was given to the pro-Roman party and the property of the pro- Macedonians was sold.

Perseus thought that the fact that the Romans were harvesting the corn and dumping straw in front of their camp was a good opportunity to torch the camp. However, his night incursion was discovered. Perseus withdrew and there were some skirmishes with pursuing Romans. The Romans moved to Crannon (modern Krannonas, to the south-east of Larissa) to reap more corn. They saw Perseus’ cavalry and infantry of the hills overlooking the camp. As the Romans did not move he went back to Sycurium.

The Romans moved to Phalanna (the Capital of the Perrhaebi of northern Thessaly) for further harvesting. Perseus learnt that they were dispersed and no one was guarding the camp. He hurried with 1,000 cavalry and 2,000 Thracian and Cretan light infantry and caught the Romans by surprise. He captured nearly 1,000 carts and 600 men. Then he attacked a detachment of 800 Romans, which withdrew on a hill and formed a circle with interlocked shields as a protection against javelins. The Macedonians surrounded the hill, but could not make their way up. The Romans suffered the cestrosphendons, a weapon which had just been invented. It was like a dart with feathers round the shaft shot by a sling held by two thongs. The slinger whirled it and it flew off. The Romans were getting tired and Perseus urged them to surrender. Pulbius Licinius was informed and he hurried with a force of light infantry and cavalry, including the Numidians and the elephants, followed by more troops.

Perseus called in the heavy infantry, but it was too late. It arrived in a hurry and was not properly arrayed. Pulbius Licinius attacked and it lost 300 men and 24 of the “sacred” cavalry and its commander. It fled, but got tangled with the captured Romans and their carts in a narrow passage. Unable to get through, the men threw the carts down the hill. The king showed up and, to the soldiers’ dismay, he ordered them to march back. Livy noted that according to some sources the consul returned to his camp, while according to others there was a big battle in which 8,000 of the enemies were killed, including two commanders, and 2,800 were captured and, while Romans lost 4,300 men.

Perseus left a strong garrisoning Gonnus (which was in the Vale of Tempe, at the entrance of Macedon) and then went back to Macedon for the winter. He sent a governor to Phila to try to win over the Magnetes (a tribe to the east of Thessaly) and went to Thessalonica with Cotys IV, the king of the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace and the commander of the Thracians. They heard that Autlebis the chef of a Thracian tribe and a commander of Eumenes II had invaded one of the territories of the latter. Perseus let Cotys go to defend it and gave his cavalry only half of the year’s pay. Pulbius Licinius heard that Perseus had gone, and attacked Gonnus. He wanted to deny the Macedonians a convenient descent into Thessaly. However, he gave up because its citadel was impregnable. He took a number of towns in Perrhaebia, including Malloea and Tripolis, and returned to Larissa.

The consul sent part of the army to various cities to winter, disbanded the forces of the Greek allies except for the Achaeans and sent Misagenes and his Numidians to the nearest cities in Thessaly. Eumenes and Attalus returned to Pergamon. He then went with part of his army south to Achaean Phthiotis where he razed to the ground Pteleum. Antronae surrendered. Livy wrote that then he went to Larissa, that the Macedonian garrison had fled and the inhabitants, who had taken refuge in the citadel, surrendered. However, he never previously mentioned that Larissa had been taken by the Macedonians and this sounds odd. After this Publius Licinius went to Boeotia, where Thebes was in trouble with another Boeotian city, Coronea, and asked for help.

The commander sent to Illyria by the consul attacked two towns. He seized Cerenia and allowed the inhabitants to keep their belonging, showing clemency to encourage the strongly fortified city of Carnuns to go over to him. However, he did not succeed and sacked the previous city. The other consul, Gaius Crassus, did not achieve much in northern Italy and tried unsuccessfully to go to Illyria and then engage in Macedon. The senate was astonished that he left northern Italy exposed to possible attacks unguarded and sent envoys to warn him not to attack anyone without its authorisation.

 

• Outline of the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC)
  

  Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC)

  The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman feelings around Macedonia. View Historic Battle »

  Background: The Romans felt that it was clear that he was making preparations for war and that it would not be long before he would take up arms.

  Preparations for war and diplomatic missions: Two legions were assigned for Macedon and the number of men for each was be 6,000 instead of the usual 5,200. The troops of Italian allies were 16,000 infantry and 800 cavalry.

  First year of the war (171 BC): Meanwhile, Publius Licinius had marched from Epirus on the west coast of Greece through arduous mountain passes and through Athamania, a kingdom allied with Perseus.

  Second year of the war (170 BC): The people of Coronea put themselves under the protection of the Roman senate, which decreed the restoring to freedom of the captives.

  Third year of the war (169 BC): The Macedonian War was assigned to Quintus Marcius and the command of the fleet to the praetor Quintus Marcius Figulus. The troops allocated for Greece were 6,000 Roman infantry, 6,000 Latin infantry, 250 Roman cavalry and 300 allied cavalry there.

  Fourth year of the war (168 BC): They reported that the Romans had advanced towards Macedon, but the travel on the pathless mountains had resulted in more peril than profit. Perseus was still holding his country and the two forces were very close to each other.

  Aftermath: The Romans also used their victory to increase their control over the whole of Greece by supporting the pro-Roman factions around Greece. Their supporters had come to the conference from all over Greece.

  The enslavement of 150,000 Epirots: After the defeat of the Illyrian king, Lucius Anicius, the commander in Illyria, paced garrisons in the Illyrian cities. Then he marched on Epirus with the rest of his army to suppress the rebellion there.

 

HISTORY

 

RESOURCES
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