S P Q R S C E N A R I O

Pydna, 168 B.0 . — Legion vs. PhalanxBY DAN FOURNIE

The Final Showdown

The Battle of Pydna was the last in a series of major encounters

between the two most highly developed tactical systems of the

classical world: the Macedonian phalanx and the Roman legion.

The phalanx had achieved victory at Asculum and Heraclea, while

the legion had triumphed at Beneventum, Cynoscephalae and

Magnesia. Supporters of the Macedonian system could discount

the three defeats. At Beneventum and Cynoscephalae, the phalanx

had been committed on terrain that favored the legion. And the

troops at Beneventum and Magnesia weren't "real Macedonians"

at all (merely Epirotes and Seleucid Syrians). Many felt that, given

suitable terrain, a truly Macedonian phalanx remained superior to

the legion in a set piece battle. At Pydna, this theory was to be put

to the test.

Historical Background Causes

of the Third Macedonian War

The roots of the 3rd Macedonian War(172-167 BC) can be traced back to theconclusion of the 2nd Macedonian War(200-196 BC). After King Philip V hadbeen decisively defeated by the ConsulFlaminius at Cynoscephalae, theMacedonians had been forced to accepta peace treaty that imposed severerestrictions on the kingdom. Macedonianactivity in Greece and Thessaly wasstrictly forbidden, and limits were placedon Macedonian military and navalactivity.

Philip decided to bide his time, and evensupported Rome against the Seleucids inthe Syrian War (192-188 BC). Philip,acting in Rome's behalf, seized a numberof cities near the Hellespont and in actionagainst Aetolia. After the war, Romancommissions humiliated Philip by forcinghim to turn over some of his conquests toPergamon. Philip began secretly prepar-ing for war. But he was distracted by theinternecine fighting of his two sons,Perseus, the eldest, and the pro-RomanDemetrius. Perseus eventually had hisbrother Demetrius assassinated (181 BC),and then Philip his father died in 179 BC.

Perseus took over the throne from hisfather, as well as the plan for war withRome.

As it became clear that a great war was inthe offing, both sides strove to shore uptheir allied support. Although Perseuswas a fairly disreputable character, hebecame very popular as the last greathope to prevent Roman domination ofthe world. With the fall of Carthage andSeleucid Syria, only Macedon could hopeto face Rome as a great power. None ofRome's Greek allies rallied to her support,as had been the case in the earlier war.Only King Masinissa of Numidia andKing Eumenes of Pergamon joined theRoman alliance. While Perseus wasstrongly favored by the many smallkingdoms and republics of the Hellenisticworld, few were foolish enough to joinhis military alliance, for fear of Rome.Only King Cotys of the OdrysaeThracians and King Gentius of Illyriaactually joined Macedon.

Opposing ArmiesMacedon had enjoyed a quarter centuryof relative peace and fielded one of thelargest armies in its history. A full 21,000manned the phalanx, and there were also

5,000 crack peltasts (equivalent tohypaspists) and 3,000 cavalry. Auxiliaries,including Thracians, Paeonians,Agrianians and mercenaries added anadditional 13,000 foot and 1,000 horse.This army was blooded in recurringskirmishes with Thracian and otherbarbarians, but not attrited through anyheavy fighting.

The Roman army, as usual, consisted oftwo Roman legions supported by alliedItalian forces. For this campaign thelegions were reinforced to a strength of6,000 men each, with an equal force ofallies — a total of 24,000 legionnaires. Thecavalry included only 600 Roman and 600Italian horse, as Rome was learning to relyon more capable auxiliary horsemen.These auxiliary forces included some10,000 foot, mainly Numidians andPergamenes. The mounted auxiliariestotalled about 2,000: Numidian lightcavalry, Celtic troopers and a unit ofPergamene heavy cavalry. Masinissa hadprovided a force of African war elephantsas well. The auxiliaries were commandedby Misagenes, Masinissa's son, andAttalus, Eumenes' brother.

Initial Campaigns and thePrelude to the Battle

Rome got off to a poor start in this waras Perseus and his marshals were able tooutfight the consuls Publius Licinius (171BC), Aulus Hostilius Macinus (170 BC)and Quintus Marcius Philippus (169 BC)in a series of skirmishes. The Romanarmy showed signs of indiscipline and alack of thorough training.

Then Lucius Aemilius Paullus was electedconsul in 168 BC, and assigned theMacedonian command. Paullus was theson of the consul slain at Cannae, and hadexperience as a Praetor campaigning inCelt-Iberia and as a Consul against theLigurian. When Aemilius Paullusassumed the command, his first task wasto restore strong discipline and to institutea rigorous training regimen.

Once he was satisfied with the state of hisarmy, he advanced directly against

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Perseus. The Macedonian army wasentrenched in a strong position on theElpeus River. Aemilius Paullus sentScipio Nasica with a detachment to turnPerseus' flank, forcing the Macedonians towithdraw to Pydna. Perseus encampedand offered battle on the plain, favorableto his phalanx. Aemilius Paullus declinedthe battle and pitched his camp in nearbyrough terrain.

The Course of the Battle

The two armies then spent a few daysglowering at one another, until a chanceincident brought on the general battle on22 June 168 BC (we know the exact datefrom an eclipse the preceding night). Thetwo armies were camped on oppositesides of a small stream, the Aeson, thatboth used for watering. Aemilius Paullushad five cohorts of allies and 700Ligurians in outposts along the stream,while Perseus had some of his Thraciansand other light infantry facing them.

A Roman pack mule escaped from hisgrooms and ran into the stream. TwoThracians seized the animal at midstreamand began to drag it towards their lines.A small group of Italians chased andcaught the Thracians, slaying one andreturning with the beast to the Romanside. The outpost of 800 Thraciansbecame enraged and charged across thestream. The fighting spread, and Perseusreinforced with more and more of histroops, finally committing his entire army.The outpost Italian cohorts were over-whelmed by the massed phalanx, and theMacedonians drove them further andfurther back.

Aemilius Paullus, realizing that more thanjust a skirmish was developing, rushedhis troops out of camp and into line of

battle. The Consul led the left-winglegion out, while the Proconsul LuciusAlbinus commanded the legion on theright. Scipio Nasica and Attalus tookcommand of the left-wing cavalry andauxiliaries, while Prince Misagenes ledthe right. But the Macedonian phalanxproved unstoppable.

The hurriedly deploying legions werethrown back before the impenetrable wallof sarissas. But even as the phalanxpushed the legions back towards theircamp, it began to break up and losecohesion as the terrain worsened. On theRoman right, Misagenes unleashed hiselephants to break up the Thraciansbefore him. Aemilius Paullus and LuciusAlbinus rallied their hard pressedlegionnaires and began a series of smallcounterattacks into the gaps developingin the phalanx.

The Macedonian line was halted, and thenthe Roman short swords began to do theirdevilish work. Perseus' left collapsed,and then his center. Only on the right didthe agema fight on as the rout becamegeneral. All 2,000 of these eliteMacedonians were cut down where theystood, buying time for Perseus to makegood his escape. Reportedly, 20,000Macedonians were killed and 11,000captured, while the Roman army sufferedimpossibly light losses of only 100 killed.Perseus, with some of his cavalry, es-caped.

AftermathIt was a decisive victory for the Romans.The Macedonian monarchy was abol-ished, and four small republics werecarved out of the ancient kingdom. ButMacedon had been the historic bulwark ofGreece against marauding barbarian

tribes. Unintentionally perhaps, Romenow had the burden of policing theBalkan frontier with her own troops.

Pydna was the final confirmation of thesuperiority of the legion over the phalanx.But it had been a very close run thing.Each legionnaire had faced tenspearpoints, until the phalanx began tobreak up. It was said that none who facedthe Macedonian phalanx that day couldever forget the sight of the inexorable wallof spears bearing down upon them. Laterin life, Aemilius Paullus is said to havesuffered from nightmares in which theMacedonian phalanx drove right over hisarmy. But Rome had won, and becamethe sole superpower of the ancientMediterranean world.

Sources

Unfortunately, Polybius' account of Pydnadid not survive. Livy provides anexcellent, detailed order of battle forMacedon (most likely from Polybius).However, his description of the battle isfragmented, and critical sections aremissing. Plutarch, the biographer, isgenerally useless as a military historian,but he does provide a few details.

CountersPydna can be played with existing SPQRcounters. A few counters from WarElephant (as specified in the scenariochart) are nice to have.

StartThe game begins with the MacedonianPlayer using an elite Initiative Order (5.5),with Perseus as the selected leader, eventhough Perseus is not an elite OC. Hemay use this only in the first game turn.

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