The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC between a Spartan and Persian army led by consul Manius Acilius Glabrio and a Seleucid force led by King Antiochus III the Great. The Romans were victorious, and as a result, Antiochus was forced to flee Greece. Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC - 190s BC - 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC Years: 196 BC 195 BC 194 BC 193 BC 192 BC - 191 BC - 190 BC 189 BC... Thermopylae - thurMAH-puh-ly, thuhr-MOP-uh-lee (Ancient & Katharevousa Greek Θερμοπύλαι, Demotic Θερμοπύλες) is a mountain pass in Greece. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Greats dominion. ... Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus (2nd century BC) was Roman general and statesman. ... Silver coin of Antiochus III. The reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Silver coin of Antiochus III. The reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... The Battle of the Eurymedon was fought in 190 BC between Roman forces and a Seleucid fleet. ... The Battle of Myonessus was fought in 190 BC between a Macedonian fleet and a Roman fleet. ... Combatants Roman Republic Seleucid Empire Commanders Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus Scipio Africanus Eumenes II of Pergamum Antiochus III the Great Strength 50. ... Events King Xerxes I of Persia sets out to conquer Greece. ... Manius Acilius Glabrio was a Roman consul, general, and member of a plebeian family. ... The Seleucid Empire was one of several political states founded after the death of Alexander the Great, whose generals squabbled over the division of Alexanders empire. ... Silver coin of Antiochus III. The reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ...

Appian account^[1]: Appian (c. ...

Antiochus marched against the Thessalians and came to Cynoscephalae, where the Macedonians had been defeated by the Romans, and finding the remains of the dead still unburied, gave them a magnificent funeral. Thus he curried favor with the Macedonians and accused Philip before them of leaving unburied those who had fallen in his service.

Until now Philip had been wavering and in doubt which side he should espouse, but when he heard of this he joined the Romans at once. He invited Baebius, their nearest general, to a rendezvous and gave pledges anew of faithful alliance against Antiochus. Baebius praised him for this, and felt emboldened to send Appius Claudius straightway with 2000 foot through Macedon into Thessaly.

When Appius arrived at Tempe and from that point saw Antiochus besieging Larissa, he kindled a large number of fires to conceal the smallness of his force. Antiochus thought that Baebius and Philip had arrived, and became panic-stricken, abandoned the siege on a pretext of bad weather, and retreated to Chalcis.

There he fell in love with a pretty girl, and, although he was above fifty years of age and was supporting the burden of so great a war, he celebrated his nuptials with her, gave a public festival, and allowed his army to spend the whole winter (191 BC) in idleness and luxury. When spring came he made a descent upon Acarnania, where he perceived that idleness had unfitted his army for every kind of duty. Then he repented of his marriage and his public festival. Nevertheless he reduced a part of Acarnania and was besieging the rest of its strongholds when he learned that the Romans were making a passage of the Adriatic. Then at once he returned to Chalcis.

[§17] The Romans crossed hastily from Brundusium to Apollonia with the forces that were then ready, being 2000 horse, 20,000 foot, and a few elephants, under the command of Manius Acilius Glabrio. They marched to Thessaly and relieved the besieged cities. They expelled the enemy's garrisons from the towns of the Athamanes and made a prisoner of that Philip of Megalopolis who was still expecting the throne of Macedon. They also captured about 3,000 of the soldiers of Antiochus.

While Manius was doing these things, Philip made a descent upon Athamania and brought the whole of it under subjection, king Amynander fleeing to Ambracia.

When Antiochus learned these facts, he was terrified by the rush of events and by the suddenness of the change of fortune, and he now perceived the wisdom of Hannibal's advice. He sent messenger after messenger to Asia to hasten the coming of Polyxenidas. Then from all sides he drew in what forces he had. These amounted to 10,000 foot and 500 horse of his own, besides some allies, with which he occupied Thermopylae in order to put this difficult pass between himself and the enemy while waiting for the arrival of his army from Asia.

The passage at Thermopylae is long and narrow, flanked on the one side by a rough and inhospitable sea and on the other by a deep and impassable morass. It is overhung by two mountain peaks, one called Tichius and the other Callidromus. The place also contains some hot springs, whence comes the name Thermopylae, "hot gates".

[§18] There Antiochus built a double wall on which he placed engines. He sent Aetolian troops to occupy the summits of the mountains to prevent anybody from coming around secretly by way of the hill called Atropos, as Xerxes had come upon the Spartans under Leonidas, the mountain paths at that time being unguarded. One thousand Aetolians occupied each mountain. The remainder encamped by themselves near the city of Heraclea.

When Manius saw the enemy's preparations he gave the signal for battle on the morrow and ordered two of his tribunes, Marcus Cato and Lucius Valerius, to select such forces as they pleased and to go around the mountains by night and drive the Aetolians from the heights as best they could. Lucius was repulsed from Mount Tichius by the Aetolians, who at that place fought well, but Cato, who moved against Mount Callidromus, fell upon the enemy while they were still asleep, about the last watch. Nevertheless there was a stiff fight here, as he was obliged to climb over high rocks and precipices in the face of an opposing enemy.

Meantime Manius was leading his army against Antiochus' front in straight lines, as this was the only way possible in the narrow pass. The king placed his light-armed troops and peltasts in front of the phalanx, and drew up the phalanx itself in front of the camp, with the archers and slingers on the right hand next to the foot-hills, and the elephants, with the guard that always accompanied them, on the left near the sea.

[§19] Battle being joined, the light-armed troops assailed Manius first, rushing in from all sides. He received their onset bravely, first yielding and then advancing and driving them back. The phalanx opened and let the light-armed men pass through. It then closed and pushed forward, the long pikes set densely together in order of battle, with which the Macedonians from the time of Alexander and Philip have struck terror into enemies who have not dared to encounter the thick array of long pikes presented to them.

At this juncture the Aetolians were seen fleeing from Callidromus with loud cries, and leaping down into the camp of Antiochus. At first neither side knew what had happened, and there was confusion among both in their uncertainty but when Cato made his appearance pursuing the Aetolians with shouts of victory and was already close above the camp of Antiochus, the king's forces, who had been hearing for some time back fearful accounts of the Roman style of fighting, and who knew that they themselves had been enervated by idleness and luxury all winter, took fright.

Not knowing how large Cato's force was, it was magnified to their minds by terror. Fearing for the safety of their camp they fled to it in disorder, with the intention of defending it against the enemy. But the Romans were close at their heels and entered the camp with them. Then there was another flight of the Antiocheans as disorderly as the first. Manius pursued them as far as Scarphia, killing and taking prisoners. Returning thence he plundered the king's camp, and by merely showing himself drove out the Aetolians who had broken into the Roman camp during his absence.

[§20] The Romans lost about 200 in the battle and the pursuit; Antiochus about 10,000, including prisoners. The king himself, at the first sign of defeat, fled precipitately with 500 horse as far as Elateia, and from Elateia to Chalcis, and thence to Ephesus with his bride Euboea, as he called her, with his ships; but not all of them, for the Roman admiral made an attack upon some that were bringing supplies, and sunk them.

When the people of Rome heard of this victory, so swiftly and easily gained, they offered sacrifice, being satisfied with their first trial of the formidable reputation of Antiochus. To Philip, in return for his services as an ally, they sent his son Demetrius, who was still a hostage in their hands.

Silver coin of Antiochus III. The reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... Combatants Roman Republic Macedon Commanders T. Quinctius Flamininus Philip V of Macedon Strength about 33,400 men about 22,500 men Casualties about 700 8,000 killed, 5,000 captured The Battle of Cynoscephalae was fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus... Coin of Philip V. The Greek inscription reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ ([coin] of King Philip). ... Appius Claudius (PW 123) was a decemvir of the Roman Republic ca 451 BC. Despite being of patrician descent, he supported the plebeian wish for a code of laws, and while in office shared power with their representatives. ... Macedons regions and towns Macedon or Macedonia (from Greek ; see also List of traditional Greek place names) was the name of an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region of Thrace to the east. ... Map showing Thessaly periphery in Greece Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... Tempe is a variant spelling for the food Tempeh. ... Larissa (Greek: Λάρισα, Lárisa) is the capital city of the Thessaly periphery of Greece, and capital of the Larissa Prefecture. ... Chalcis or Chalkida, Halkida, Halkis or Chalkis (Greek, Modern: Χαλκίδα, Ancient/Katharevousa: -is), the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, situated on the strait of the Euripus at its narrowest point. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC - 190s BC - 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC Years: 196 BC 195 BC 194 BC 193 BC 192 BC - 191 BC - 190 BC 189 BC... Acarnania was a region of ancient central western Greece that lay along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. ... Categories: Italy-related stubs | Towns in Puglia ... There have been several places called Apollonia: An ancient Greek city in Illyria near to the sea and the river Vjosa, 12 km from Fier, Albania. ... Manius Acilius Glabrio was a Roman consul, general, and member of a plebeian family. ... Athamanes (Αθαμάνες) is a community in the Karditsa Prefecture, Greece. ... Hannibal is one of the most common prenames in Punic and we know several military commanders (strategos) with this prename during the Punic Wars, while their family names or nicknames are often not recorded. ... Combatants Greek-city states Persian Empire Commanders Leonidas I of Sparta † Xerxes I of Persia Strength 300 Spartans 700 Thespians 6,000 other Greek allies 2 200,000–1,700,0001 Casualties 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians; no more than 1,500 Greeks in total 20,000 (Modern estimates) 50... Heraclea was the name of a large number of ancient cities founded by the Greeks. ... Marcus Porcius Cato (Latin: M·PORCIVS·M·F·CATO[1]) (234 BC, Tusculum–149 BC) was a Roman statesman, surnamed the Censor (Censorius), Sapiens, Priscus, or the Elder (Major), to distinguish him from Cato the Younger (his great-grandson). ...

Notes

1. ↑  The Syrian Wars, IV,16-20. English translation from: Appian, The Foreign Wars, Horace White ed., New York, The MacMillian Company, 1899, through livius.org