rrain
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.