Battle of Chaironeia

Part of: Macedonian Wars

Greece 371–362 BC Chr.

date	August 2, 338 BC Chr.
place	at Chaironeia
output	Decisive Macedonian victory

Parties to the conflict
Macedonia	Athens Thebes
Commander
Philip II	Chares
Troop strength
about 30,000 men	about 30,000 men
losses
unknown	approx. 2,000 dead approx. 8,000 prisoners

The battle of Chaeronea in August 338 BC BC sealed the hegemony of Macedonia over Greece with the defeat of the alliance around Athens and Thebes .

prehistory

In 348 BC King Philip II of Macedonia occupied the strategically important city of Olynthos after a year-long siege. For the sea power Athens, the vital supply of grain from the Bosporan Empire seemed increasingly threatened by the Macedonian conquests. When Philip again the Thracian king Kersebleptes in 342 BC. Was at war, Athens re-equipped a fleet to come to the aid of the cities of Perinthos and Byzantion besieged by Philip's troops . Philip therefore had to leave both cities without having achieved anything.

In March 339 BC The Ozolian Lokrians of Amphissa had illegally cultivated land of the sanctuary of Delphi , whereupon the Athenian orator Aeschines , the leader of the Macedonian party, led the council of the Amphictyons to the fourth holy war . Since the first attack by the Lokrians could be repulsed, the Amphictyons voted in October 339 BC. The Macedonian king as the new patron. As in the Third Holy War, Philip II received the necessary pretext to return to central Greece with his troops. Since the Peace of Philocrates , he had also secured the passages on Thermopylae . The Macedonian troops ended the war against Amphissa victoriously, then, with the tolerance of the Phocians, also occupied the city of Elateia on the Kephissus , a key point for the access routes to Boeotia and Attica . This immediate threat caused the city of Thebes, which had hitherto consistently held onto Philip, to ask Athens for assistance.

The convincing speeches of the Athenian orator and politician Demosthenes , who hurried to Thebes, made the city give up its old grudges and ally itself with its former opponent. The Athenian army had already entered Boeotia preventively under Chares and was able to unite with the Theban contingent under Theagenes within a few days. The allied army of both cities was also reinforced by small contingents from Chalkis , Megara , Achaia and Corinth . In August 338 BC In BC, Philip's troops marched on the main road from Phocis to Boeotia to attack the Allied army that had blocked the road at Chaeronea.

course

Battle plan

The Macedonian army, which like the Greek army numbered about 30,000 men, was led by Philip II. His son Alexander appeared for the first time and commanded the mounted troops on the left wing of the army. The alliance of the Greek Poleis was largely due to Demosthenes' efforts (→ Philippika ) and, according to estimates, comprised around 10,000 (albeit inexperienced) Athenian hoplites on the left wing, the allies and mercenaries in the middle of the formation and the Theban troops as the main armed forces of the famous Holy Band (300 elite soldiers), on the outer right wing.

The Athenians and allies had proceeded in a rather disorderly manner at the beginning of the battle, while the Macedonian phalanx had become orderly and only seemingly withdrawn. The Thebans initially held formation while the Athenians moved to the left, opening a gap in the anti-Macedonian force. Now Alexander and his mounted troops from the left Macedonian wing pushed into this gap devastatingly. Then the dreaded Macedonian phalanx advanced again. Some parts of the Greek army withdrew or fled, but the Theban Holy Band held their position and lost about 250 of their 300 men. So the defeat was devastating. The troops of the Athenians and Thebans lost a total of around 2,000 men and around 4,000 hoplites were captured. The Macedonians had relatively few deaths to complain about; it was Alexander's first great victory, but Philip doesn't seem to have honored him for it.

impact

Greece after the death of Philip II.

The defeated Greeks were treated very gently. The defeated Athens was allowed to keep its democratic constitution; only after the defeat in the Lamian War in 322 BC. The Macedonians insisted on the abolition of democracy. However, Thebes received a penal peace that resulted in a Macedonian (oligarchic) occupation. In the autumn of 335 BC It was finally destroyed by Alexander's troops because, after Philip's murder, it believed it could defeat the Macedonians. The good treatment of Athens can probably be explained by the fact that Philip II did not want to destroy Athens because of his panhellenic propaganda and did not want to create a power vacuum. He also needed Athens' naval fleet for his planned Persia campaign.

Individual evidence

^ John Warry: Warfare in the Classical World. An illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors, and Warfare in the ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK 1995, ISBN 0-8061-2794-5 , p. 69.

literature

The battle is dealt with in every relevant account of the time of Philip and Alexander.

Peter Green: Alexander of Macedon. 356-323 BC A historical Biography. Emphasis. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 1991, ISBN 0-520-07165-4 , pp. 68 ff.
Siegfried Lauffer : Alexander the Great (= dtv 4298). 3. Edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-04298-2 , p. 32 f. (with source overview).

[1] John Warry: Warfare in the Classical World. An illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons, Warriors, and Warfare in the ancient Civilizations of Greece and Rome. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK 1995, ISBN 0-8061-2794-5 , p. 69.