Battle of Kynoskephalai

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Battle of Kynoskephalai
date Late May / early June 197 BC Chr.
place Balkan Peninsula , Thessaly , west of the city of Pherai
output Victory of the coalition led by the Roman Republic
Parties to the conflict

Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg Roman Republic

Philip V of Macedon.jpgKingdom of Macedonia

Commander

Titus Quinctius Flamininus

Philip V of Macedonia

Troop strength
32,400 men:
22,000 Roman legionnaires
2000 Roman cavalrymen
6000 Aetolian infantrymen
400 Aetolian cavalrymen
1200 Athamanian infantrymen
800 Cretan infantrymen
25,500 men:
16,000 phalangites
2000 peltasts
2000 Thracian infantrymen
2000 Illyrian trallers
1500 mercenaries
2000 cavalrymen
losses

700 dead

8,000 dead
5,000 prisoners

The battle of Kynoskephala took place near the mountain range Kynoskephalai (ancient Greek "dog heads") in Thessaly near the city of Thebes ; it was the decisive battle of the Second Macedonian-Roman War . Late May or early June 197 BC The troops of Philip V of Macedonia and the Roman general Titus Quinctius Flamininus met here . Significant Greek contingents also fought on the side of the 32,000-strong Roman army. The Macedonian phalanx suffered a crushing defeat, which forced Philip to make peace with Rome and its allies. This meant the end of the 338 BC. Existing Macedonian hegemony over Greece . At the Isthmian Games in 196 BC. The Greek poleis were declared free and independent by Flamininus.

The battle of Kynoskephalai thus represents a turning point in Greek history, as the foundation stone for the (initially only indirect) rule of the Romans in the Aegean region was laid here, while at the same time the power of the Diadochian state of Macedonia and the Antigonid monarchy was severely shaken. During the peace negotiations, Flamininus opposed the demands of his Greek allies, especially the Aetolian League , for the annihilation of the Macedonian monarchy, since it fulfills an irreplaceable function for the stability of Hellas by protecting against Illyrian and Thracian invaders . Only three decades later did Rome break up the Antigonid monarchy after all.

swell

  • Polybios , History Book 18, Chapters 18 to 27, a. u. transfer v. H. Drexler, Zurich [u. a.] 2 1978.
  • Titus Livius, Roman History : Latin and German (Book 31/34), edited by HJ Hillen, Munich 2 1986.

literature

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