Earle Ancient Warfare

ANCIENT WARFARE
From the Iliad to the Battle of Cynoscephalae:

1184 to 197 B.C.
By Guy Earle, M.A.
2011
meis parentibus
ii
Acknowledgement
To begin with, I’d like to thank Dr. Kelly Tipps, my Roman history professor at USF, and Dr. John
Noonan, who introduced me to Latin and ancient Greek. These two men instilled in me a love of the
ancient world and its languages that continues to resonate each and every day.
This course was initially supported by Dr. Kevin McCarthy, Robinson High School’s former
principal who died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2003. Since then, the RHS administration has
continued to support this academic venture, and it is with great thanks that I mention them now.
Without their belief in the Classics Program, none of this would be possible.
It goes without saying that if it were not for my family and friends, this book would never have
happened. We are the culmination of our life’s experiences, and if it were not for the love and affection
that my parents gave me, I would not have found the interest to pursue history and attain my degrees.
It is to my mother and father, Ann and Ralph Earle, that I dedicate this book, to whatever end it might
be, as a small gesture from me of all the encouragement that they have so lovingly given me throughout
the years.
For months I have sat at a computer, typing away page after page while my patient wife, Kelly,
has looked on. She has, since my undergraduate days, been my proof reader, stopping me when my
work has needed both clarity and clarification. I may know it, but she knows how I should say it.
Also, I’d like to thank David Dugay at Docusource Printing and Copying for helping turn my
lectures and notes into something akin to a book. Docusource has worked with Robinson’s Latin Honor
Society in the past, and I’m happy to continue the spirit of cooperation with this work.
Lastly, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all my 2011-12 classes, with a special emphasis
to the Ancient Warfare class, which has kindly “volunteered” to be the first to proof these chapters in
class. It is in no small part that this book has reached completion, and it is their encouragement and
support that has kept my passion strong for this subject.
iii
Introduction
Seven years ago this class began under the broad course title “History of Greece and Rome,” but
quickly certain topics within that curriculum began to take on a life of their own. Driven by student
interest, and support from Robinson High School’s administration, the Ancient Warfare course was
created in 2005 as a semester-long history elective. As the curriculum developed, a greater arc to the
overall story became apparent, with a defined beginning and end to the subject matter. I believe, like
the Roman historian Livy, that to tell the tale of a people or civilization is more than a mere collection of
facts laid bare for analysis and debate; it is part myth, part history, with a defined theme that illustrates
the greatness or deprivation of those who have come before us.
I do not state impartiality in this work, which despite the best efforts of the best historians, is
never fully achieved by anyone. My opinions are up front and clearly defined, and with the use of
original sources I leave it up to the reader to make their own interpretations and judgments. Whenever
possible I have tried to put the reader in direct contact with the primary sources. Again, like Livy or the
Greek historian Polybius, I do not hide behind the guise of impartiality. I make no case to hide my
disdain for the social eugenic practices of the Spartans, the betrayals that plagued the Greek city-states,
or the arrogance and pride that brought about so much suffering in Roman history. But I do try to paint
a picture that, above all the suffering that man has done to itself, humanity is something worth saving
and preserving. If you finish this work and feel a connection or understanding to the people I write
about, then my goal has been achieved.
This book is the culmination of many years of curriculum development, with each chapter being
one of the major lessons I cover throughout this semester-long course. In effect, this book is my Ancient
Warfare class, and it is also myself, written in a style that I hope readers will find both comfortable and
familiar. It is meant to stand on its own, but is primarily to be used as a text and resource for all those
taking the class.
iv
Illustrations
CHAPTER I
Map of the Eastern Mediterranean (University of Texas) 2
Map of the Cyclades Islands (Wikipedia) 3
Photo of Knossos, Crete (by author) 4
Map of Thera’s tsunami (New York Times) 4
Satellite photo of Santorini (National Geographic) 5
Photo of Santorini and the caldera (by author) 5
Map of Minoan and Mycenaean expansion (Stanford Archaeology) 6
Illustration of the Trojan Horse (public domain) 7
Homeric warriors on Greek pottery (photo by author/Tampa Museum of Art) 8
Homeric chariot on Greek pottery (photo by author/Tampa Museum of Art) 10
Illustration of Troy, levels I-IX (utexas.edu) 11
Map of ancient Troy and coastline (from lecture-origin unknown) 12
Photo of Henrich Schliemann (Wikipedia) 12
Photo of Sophie Schliemann (Wikipedia) 12
Photo of the walls of Troy (University of Texas) 13
Map of empires and societies in 1400 B.C. (Rand McNally) 14
Photo of Ares prepared for battle (Museo Archeologico Etrusco) 17
Lithograph of Apollo and Artemis from Greek pottery (Frankfurtammain) 17
Achilles killing Penthesilia on Greek pottery (British Museum) 18
CHAPTER II
Map of Greek colonies (University of Texas) 21
Map of Greece (Utah State University) 22
Photo of the Temple of Apollo, Delphi (by author) 23
Map of the pre-Persian Empire (Wikipedia) 27
Map of the Persian Empire in 490 BC (Wikipedia) 28
Map of the Darius’ first invasion attempt (public domain) 29
nd
Map of Darius’ 2 expedition (public domain) 30
Geographical map of Euboea (Wikipedia) 31
Close-up map of Eretria and Marathon (public domain) 31
Map of the Battle of Marathon (Wikipedia) 33
Photo of the burial mound at Marathon (panoramio.com) 34
Map of the First and Second Persian War (Ancient History Encyclopedia) 37
Bust of Themistocles (Wikipedia) 38
Detail of Persian Immortals (Wikipedia) 38
Image of trireme (Wikipedia) 39
Map of Thermopylae and Salamis movements (Wikipedia) 41
v
CHAPTER III
Image of Pericles (Wikipedia) 45
Photo of the Parthenon on the Acropolis, Athens (by author) 46
Photo of Piraeus from the Acropolis (by author) 46
Map of Athens’ Long Walls (Wikipedia) 47
Map of Greece at the start of the Peloponnesian War (Wikimedia Commons) 48
Map of the Peloponnesus (Wikimedia) 48
Map of Athenian attack on Syracuse, Sicily (Wikipedia) 49
Image of Alcibiades (Wikipedia) 50
Map of the Ten Thousand’s March (Ancient History Encyclopedia) 52
Map of the Battle of Leuctra (Wikipedia) 54
Map of Theban hegemony in Greece (Wikipedia) 56
CHAPTER IV
Photo of single column of the Temple of Artemis (livius.org) 58
Image of Herostratus (public domain) 59
Photo of the Theatre of Ephesus (by author) 60
Image of Olympias (livius.org) 60
Map of Greece (Wikipedia) 61
Image of Philip II (livius.org) 62
syntagma formation (Wikimedia) 63
Alexander and Buchephalus (Wikimedia) 65
Bust of Aristotle (Wikimedia) 66
Map showing the location of Chaeronea (Historyshots) 67
Lion of Chaeronea (militaryphotos.net) 68
Photo of the Theatre of Aegae (livius.org) 70
Bust of Demosthenes of Athens (public domain) 71
Philip II’s burial larnax (Wikimedia) 71
CHAPTER V
Map of Greece (Wikimedia) 72
Painting of Alexander meeting Diogenes (1818 Nicolas Andre Monsiau) 73
Timoclea pushing the Thracian captain down a well (1659 Elisabetta Sirani) 74
Battle map of the Granicus River, 334 BC (Wikimedia Commons) 77
Map of Alexander’s route in Ionia (petersommer.com) 79
Map of Miletus and the Meander River (Wikipedia) 80
Modified map showing the detail of Miletus (miami.edu and author) 81
Photo of Miletus to the northeast (by author) 82
Photo of Miletus to the southwest (by author) 82
Photo of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma (by author) 83
Photo of the Myndus Gate at Halicarnassus (livius.org) 84
Map of preliminary movements to Issus (Wikipedia) 86
Battle map of Issus (Wikipedia) 87
vi
Alexander mosaic from Pompeii (University of Texas) 89
Map of the siege of Tyre (historyshots.llc) 90
Detailed map of the siege of Tyre (Wikipedia) 91
Satellite map of Tyre (Google Earth) 91
Map to Siwa, Egypt (Wikimedia) 92
Coin of Alexander as Ammon (public domain) 93
CHAPTER VI
Map of Persian Empire, detailing location of Gaugamela (historyshots.llc) 94
Battlefield image of Gaugamela (Discovery Channel) 96
Battlefield map of Gaugamela (Wikipedia) 97
Battlefield movements at Gaugamela (Wikipedia) 98
Photo of the Ishtar Gate (Wikipedia) 99
Map Babylon and Susa (livius.org) 100
Photo of the ruins of Persepolis (cais-soas.com) 101
Photo of Darius III’s tomb (cais-soas.com) 102
Map of Alexander’s march (Britannica.com) 103
Battlefield map of Hydaspes (Wikipedia) 106
Map of the Gederosian Deserst (Andaman.org) 108
Map of the Hellenistic world (Wikipedia) 111
CHAPTER VII
Map of Aeneas’ journey to Italy (public domain) 113
Map of Italy with Rome, Alba Longa and Lavinium (Wikipedia and author) 114
Photo of Capitoline She-Wolf (by author) 116
Map of the Seven Hills of Rome (MusesRealm.net) 118
Map of Eturia (Wikicommons) 119
Image of Roman fasces (mitchellteachers.org) 119
Photo of Lucius Junius Brutus in the Capitoline Museum (by author) 121
The Bruti family tree (Wikipedia) 122
Map of Eturia with Clusium and Rome (Wikicommons) 122
CHAPTER VIII
Map of Roman expansion (University of Texas) 126
th
Mediterranean Region 6 century BC (Wikipedia) 127
Map of Italy, Sicily and Sardinia (the-romans.co.uk) 128
Bust of Pyrrhus of Epirus (Wikipedia) 129
Early Roman armor (from lecture-origin unknown) 129
Breakdown of the Roman legion (from lecture-origin unknown) 131
Small map of Italy (Wikipedia) 132
Lithograph of the Battle of Asculum (Wikipedia) 134
Map of Pyrrhus’ invasion (Wikipedia) 135
Satellite image of Sicily (Google Earth) 136
Map of Pyrrhus’ invasion, showing Epirus (Wikipedia) 137
Photo of the harbor at Messina, Sicily (by author) 138
vii
CHAPTER IX
Map of the Western Mediterranean in 264 BC (Ancient History Encyclopedia) 140
Map of Southern Italy and Sicily (Google Earth) 141
Illustration of ancient Carthage (Arizona.edu) 143
Drawing of a Roman Quinquereme (historum.com) 144
Map of Messina and Rhegium (Google Earth) 145
Map of Sicily (livius.org) 147
Map of Sicily and the Battle of Ecnomus (jksonrad.com) 151
Detail of a Roman corvus (livius.org) 151
Map of the Aegates Islands (Wikipedia) 157
Detail of the Battle of Drepana (Wikipedia) 157
Satellite image of Drepana (Google Earth) 157
Image of chickens (from lecture-origin unknown) 158
Coin of Hamilcar Barca (thelatinlibrary.com) 159
Photo of Mt. Eyrx (livius.org) 160
Map of northern Italy and troop movements (by author) 163
Illustration of early Celtic armor (from lecture-origin unknown) 166
CHAPTER X
Map of Roman and Carthaginian territory in 218 BC (Wikipedia) 169
Bust of Hannibal Barca (Wikipedia) 171
Timeline graphic from 228-218 BC (author) 172
Map of Hannibal’s March (Wikimedia) 174
Illustration of Hannibal’s elephants crossing the Rhone (public domain) 176
Map showing the Trebbia River (Wikipedia) 179
Battlefield map of Trebbia (Wikipedia) 181
Battlefield map of Trasimene, vertical (from lecture-origin unknown) 184
Battlefield map of Trasimene, horizontal (Wikispaces) 186
Ariel photo of Lake Trasimene (by author) 186
Map of Italy and major engagements of the Second Punic War (Wikipedia) 189
Battlefield map of Cannae (from lecture-origin unknown) 191
Photo of Cannae (public domain) 193
CHAPTER XI
Coin of Marcus Claudius Marcellus (coinarchives.com) 196

Illustration of an Archimedian crane (drexel.edu) 197
Map of New Carthage (Google Earth) 202
Map of Italy and battle locations (Wikipedia) 204
Map showing Croton and Carthage’s positions (from lecture-origin unknown) 208
Battlefield map of Zama (Wikipedia) 212
viii
CHAPTER XII
Map of the Mediterranean powers in 218 BC (Wikipedia) 215

Coin of Philip V of Macedon (Wikipedia) 216
Photo of Cynoscephalae (livius.org) 217
Battlefield map of Cynoscephalae (Wikipedia) 221
Third Edition
ix
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………… iii

INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………………. iv
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ……………………………………………………………………………………… v-ix
CONTENTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. x-xiii
TIMELINE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………... xiv
CHAPTERS
I MINOANS AND THE TROJAN WAR ………………………………………………………… 2
1 The Bronze Age ………………………………………………………………………………… 2

2 The Warriors of the Iliad …………………………………………………………………… 7
3 The Iliad and Chariot Warfare ………………………………………………………….. 9
4 Homer and Vergil ……………………………………………………………………………… 10
5 Heinrich Schliemann …………………………………………………………………………. 11
6 The Trojan War ………………………………………………………………………………… 13
7 Role of the gods in the Iliad ……………………………………………………………… 17
8 After the Iliad ……………………………………………………………………………………. 18
II PERSIAN THREAT ………………………………………………………………………………….. 20
1 The Dark Ages …………………………………………………………………………………… 20

2 Geography of Greece ……………………………………………………………………….. 21
3 The Oracle of Delphi ………………………………………………………………………… 22
4 A New Sparta ………………………………………………………………………………….. 24
5 Threat from the East ……………………………………………………………………….. 26
6 Ionian Revolt ……………………………………………………………………………………. 28
7 First Attempt ……………………………………………………………………………………. 29
8 The First Persian War ……………………………………………………………………….. 30
9 The Battle of Marathon ……………………………………………………………………. 32
10 The Second Persian War …………………………………………………………………. 35
11 The Army of Xerxes ………………………………………………………………………… 36
12 Thermopylae and Salamis ………………………………………………………………. 38
13 Battle of Plataea ……………………………………………………………………………… 42
14 Aftermath ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 43
x
III QUARRELSOME GREEKS …………………………………………………………………………. 44
1 The Delian League ……………………………………………………………………………. 44

2 Athen’s Golden Age …………………………………………………………………………. 45
3 The Peloponnesian War …………………………………………………………………… 47
4 Defeat of Athens ………………………………………………………………………………. 51
5 March of the Ten Thousand …………………………………………………………….. 51
6 More Greek Troubles ……………………………………………………………………….. 52
7 Battle of Leuctra ………………………………………………………………………………. 53
IV PHILIP II AND ALEXANDER III …………………………………………………………………. 58
1 Artemis’ Absence ………………………………………………………………………………. 58

2 Achilles’ Fate …………………………………………………………………………………….. 60
3 Philip II …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 62
4 Consolidation of Power ……………………………………………………………………. 64
5 Buchephalus …………………………………………………………………………………….. 64
6 Education …………………………………………………………………………………………. 66
7 The Battle of Chaeronea ………………………………………………………………….. 67
8 Family Trouble …………………………………………………………………………………. 69
9 Philip’s Assassination ……………………………………………………………………….. 70
V ALEXANDER’S MARCH: GRANICUS TO SIWA …………………………………………. 72
1 Captain-General of Greece ………………………………………………………………… 72

2 Alexander’s Generals ………………………………………………………………………… 75
3 Trojan Pilgrimage ……………………………………………………………………………… 75
4 Memnon of Rhodes and the Battle of the Granicus River …………………. 76
5 Ionian Freedom ………………………………………………………………………………… 79
6 The Oracle of Didyma ………………………………………………………………………. 83
7 Fall of Halicarnassus …………………………………………………………………………. 84
8 The Gordium Knot ……………………………………………………………………………. 86
9 The Battle of Issus ……………………………………………………………………………. 87
10 On to Eygpt ……………………………………………………………………………………. 92
VI ALEXANDER’S MARCH: GAUGAMELA TO DEATH …………………………………… 94
1 Battle of Gaugamela ………………………………………………………………………… 94

2 Babylon, Susa and Persepolis …………………………………………………………… 99
3 We’re Not Going Home? ………………………………………………………………….. 103
4 The Branchidae and Bessus ……………………………………………………………… 104
5 Death of Cleitus ……………………………………………………………………………….. 104
6 Marriage to Roxane ………………………………………………………………………….. 105
7 Homeward Bound …………………………………………………………………………….. 106
8 The Gedrosian Desert ……………………………………………………………………….. 108
xi
9 Inconsolable Grief ……………………………………………………………………………. 109
10 Death in Babylon ……………………………………………………………………………. 110
11 The Aftermath ………………………………………………………………………………… 111
VII RISE OF ROME ………………………………………………………………………………………. 112
1 Trojan Refugee …………………………………………………………………………………. 112

2 Romulus and Remus …………………………………………………………………………. 115
3 Roman Regal Period …………………………………………………………………………. 118
4 Revolution ………………………………………………………………………………………… 120
5 Gallic Sack of Rome ………………………………………………………………………….. 122
VIII PYRRHUS OF EPIRUS AND DEFENSIVE IMPERIALISM ……………………………… 126
1 Enter Pyrrhus, Stage Right ………………………………………………………………… 126

2 The Roman army of the Middle Republic ………………………………………….. 129
3 First Engagement: Heraclea ……………………………………………………………….. 132
4 The Battle of Asculum ………………………………………………………………………. 133
5 On to Sicily ………………………………………………………………………………………… 135
6 The Battle of Beneventum ………………………………………………………………… 137
IX FIRST PUNIC WAR AND THE BATTLE OF TELAMON ……………………………….. 140
1 Tension in the Strait ………………………………………………………………………….. 140

2 Carthage’s Origin ………………………………………………………………………………. 141
3 Harbors and Walls …………………………………………………………………………….. 143
4 The Quinquereme …………………………………………………………………………….. 144
5 Messina and Rhegium ………………………………………………………………………. 145
6 Battle of Agrigentum ………………………………………………………………………… 146
7 Polybius ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 148
8 Mercenaries and Shipwrecks ……………………………………………………………. 149
9 Battle of Ecnomus ……………………………………………………………………………. 150
10 Regulus’ Folly …………………………………………………………………………………. 152
11 The War Drags On ………………………………………………………………………….. 154
12 Sacred Chickens ……………………………………………………………………………… 156
13 Hamilcar Barca ……………………………………………………………………………….. 159
14 Battle of the Aegates Islands ………………………………………………………….. 160
15 The Cost of War ……………………………………………………………………………… 161
16 Gallic Troubles Again ……………………………………………………………………… 162
17 Battle of Telamon ………………………………………………………………………….. 164
xii
X THE SECOND PUNIC WAR: INVASION TO CANNAE ………………………………… 168
1 Swear to Ba’al ………………………………………………………………………………….. 168

2 The Siege of Saguntum …………………………………………………………………….. 172
3 You Decide, Fabius …………………………………………………………………………… 173
4 Hannibal’s March …………………………………………………………………………….. 175
5 Skirmish at the Ticinnus River ………………………………………………………….. 178
6 Battle of the River Trebbia ……………………………………………………………….. 179
7 Disaster at Lake Trasimene ………………………………………………………………. 183
8 Roman Panic ……………………………………………………………………………………. 187
9 The Battle of Cannae ……………………………………………………………………….. 189
XI THE SECOND PUNIC WAR: SCIPIO RISING ……………………………………………… 194
1 A Schoolboy’s Debate ………………………………………………………………………. 194

2 The Sword of Rome ………………………………………………………………………….. 196
3 Archimedes ……………………………………………………………………………………… 197
4 Disaster in Spain ………………………………………………………………………………. 199
5 Scipio Rising …………………………………………………………………………………….. 200
6 Don’t Lose Your Head ………………………………………………………………………. 203
7 Scipio’s Bold Plan ……………………………………………………………………………… 206
8 Prelude to Battle ………………………………………………………………………………. 207
9 The Battle of Zama …………………………………………………………………………… 211
XII BATTLE OF CYNOSCEPHALAE ………………………………………………………………… 214
1 Revenge …………………………………………………………………………………………… 214

2 Titus Quinctius Flaminius …………………………………………………………………. 216
3 A Clash of Armies …………………………………………………………………………….. 218
EPILOGUE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 224
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 228
xiii
Greek and Roman Timelines
All dates are B.C.
Roman
Greek
1450 Eruption of Thera
1250 Collapse of Minoan civilization
1184 Fall of Troy
1100 Collapse of Mycenaean power
800 End of Greek Dark Age 753 Romulus founds Rome on the Palatine Hill
776 First Olympic Games Regal Period
540 Ionia conquered by Persia 509 The last king is expelled from Rome;
beginning of the Roman Republic
508 Athens becomes a democracy
490 First Persian War Early Republic
480 Second Persian War

390 Rome sacked by the Gauls
404 End of the Peloponnesian War
371 Battle of Leuctra

Middle Republic
336 Alexander becomes king of Macedon
331 Battle of Gaugamela

275 Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated in Italy
323 Death of Alexander the Great
241 End of the First Punic War; Rome gains
Sicily
218 Hannibal crosses the Alps; Second Punic
War
202 Battle of Zama; Rome wins the Second
Punic War
197 Battle of Cynoscephalae
xiv
Chapter I
Minoans and the Trojan War
1. The Bronze Age
The ancient world was a very empty place. With a population of roughly 27 million,
equal to that of both Florida and Georgia in 2011, the world of the Bronze Age (3,200 to 600 BC)
saw most of humanity living near or within cities, and in the shadow of their protective walls.
Two thousand years before the birth of Christ and the rise of the Roman Empire, the Egyptians
looked upon pyramids that were already centuries old, while in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq)
cities continued to flourish along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as they had for millennia. The
advent of writing and agriculture
were milestones of the Bronze Age,
and brought tremendous prosperity
to some cities, enabling them to
subjugate their neighbors. The
knowledge of how to blend copper
and tin to make bronze allowed man
to create not only more advanced
agricultural tools than they had in
the past, but also even deadlier
weapons.
On the eastern side of the
Mediterranean Sea, on the southern
edge of the Aegean Sea, is the large
island of Crete. During the Bronze
Age it was home to a people who
2
were later named after the fabled King Minos—the Minoans.
The Minoans ruled over Crete and its surrounding waters from approximately 2700 to
1450 BC, and were advanced in many ways, including art and architecture. They had such
novelties as indoor plumbing and sewers two thousand years before the Romans would ever
carve their first aqueduct or enjoy their sumptuous bath houses.
Crete is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean behind Corsica, Cyprus, Sardina
and the largest island, Sicily, which straddles the waterway between the toe of Italy and North
Africa. Just north of Crete are a group of about 220 islands, still known today as the Cyclades,
which progressively fell under Minoan influence by 1600 BC.
The Cyclades Islands are in red.
The island of Crete measures 160 miles long and 38 wide, and is fairly mountainous with
a few good harbors. Since Minoan times Crete has produced two staples of ancient agriculture:
grapes and olives. From such a geographic position, the Minoans commanded a flourishing sea
trading network between Greece, Asia Minor, and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean all
the way south to Egypt. The Minoans, echoing Britain so many centuries later, relied on their
fleet for protection from foreign invaders. Their civilization, however, seems to have met its
demise not by man, but by nature.
3
Ruins of the Minoan palace of Knossos, Crete.
Around 1450 BC the volcanic island of Thera1, located just 70 miles north of Crete,
exploded with one of the most powerful eruptions in mankind’s history. The Minoan inhabitants
of Thera did not know that the island was a volcano, which blew up with the force of 50,000
Hiroshima bombs. It expelled a column of ash and debris 23 miles up into the sky, which has
been found as far away as China. After the
initial explosion, the Aegean Sea rushed into
the abyss created by the cataclysmic eruption.
Now a second explosion, fueled by the millions
of metric tons of water coming in contact with
the exposed molten bedrock of the seabed,
caused a gigantic tsunami to explode outward
to the northeast and southwest of the island.
While some Greek cities saw a mild tidal surge,
other towns, such as those along the western Expansion of tsunami waves.
coast of Asia Minor2, saw waves that were hundreds of feet tall. The effect was devastating to
the Minoan navy and a catastrophic blow to their society.
1
Thera is now called Santorini, and is a popular island with tourists visiting Greece.
2
The western coast of Asia Minor was called Ionia, and is now part of modern day Turkey.
4
Thera’s geography was perfect as a naval base,
as it had an almost rectangular harbor in the center of
the island; measuring 8 miles by 4 miles. The island
was—sadly—the Minoan’s most important naval base.
The structure of the island has led some to believe that,
given the advanced nature of Minoan culture, the
geography of the island, and the climactic event of the
eruption, that Thera was the origin of the Atlantis myth.3 Nearby Minoan coastal towns, and the
Minoan navy, were all but destroyed in one crushing blow of nature. Knossos, the capital of the
Minoans, was higher up in the hills of central Crete than some of the port cities. As such, it
remained safe from the deadly tsunami when it rushed across the southern Aegean from Thera.
However, many coastal of Crete were destroyed, along with other islands of the Cyclades.
Minoan civilization continued to limp along for two centuries after the tragic eruption,
but its ultimate fate was sealed that one horrific day. As the Minoans fell from power, the
Mycenaean Greeks4 encroached and invaded the weakened Minoan society, eventually
destroying the remains of their once proud civilization by 1200 BC.
A view of Thera (Santorini) today, with the caldera of the volcano (center).
3
Plato recounted the myth that an advanced society fell into the sea in the course of one day and night.
4
Mycenae was the Achaean’s most powerful city-state, for which their culture was named.
5
Questions and Reflection
1. What is the name of the sea between Greece and Ionia?
2. What are the two main islands of the Minoans discussed, and what was their importance?
3. What are the years that comprise the Bronze Age?
Reflection Essay
1. How do you believe Crete’s geographical position impacted their ability to trade with other
peoples?
6
The Trojan Horse is dragged into the city.
2. The Warriors of the Iliad
There is hardly anyone that has not heard of the Trojan War or the poet Homer and his
works, the Iliad and the Odyssey. His epic poems were based around a real war, and the people
who fought against Troy—the Mycenaeans.
As the Minoan civilization was waning in the 13th and 12th centuries BC, the Mycenaean
Greeks were rising to greatness. The Mycenaean Greek world was that of the Bronze Age;
bronze being a mixture of both copper and tin. More durable than stone and able to hold an
edge, Bronze Age weapons would remain the metal of choice until the Iron Age. However,
bronze weapons were still in use for centuries after the introduction of iron. This was because
iron was initially expensive and was more difficult to produce, due to its higher smelting point
than copper and tin.
The weapons of a Mycenaean soldier were his shield, called a hoplon, which had a single
handle in the middle5 and perhaps straps, so it could be thrown on a warrior’s back. He also
used bronze body armor, usually of single plate and fastened along the shoulders and side. In
5
The addition of a second handle, near the rim of the shield, is called an Argive shield, and was developed
th
in the 7 century BC in the city of Argos.
7
addition, he would have greaves to protect the shins of his legs, and a bronze helmet with a tall,
horse hair crest that would bob back and forth in order to inspire terror. A spear, made of ash
wood and roughly 6-8’ long, would be his primary weapon. A sword would be used in case he
lost or broke his spear.6 It was customary during the Bronze Age that these weapons were
provided by the user, not by the city-state to which he had his allegiance. Thus, many weapons
ended up being passed down from father to son over generations. This custom had two
important results. First, there was very little deviation of military equipment over many
centuries. Second, it was normal for the victor to strip his fallen opponent of his armor as a
mark of personal glory. There are multiple instances in the Iliad when warriors fight over the
corpse of a fallen soldier, with the
sole purpose of robbing the dead
man of his prized armor.
As for a warrior’s hoplon, it
was circular in shape, a massive
three feet in diameter, covered in
bronze or hides, and weighed
upwards of 30 pounds. It was
curved in a parabola shape, which
eased the burden of carrying it and
afforded superior protection due
to its immense size. The hoplon
was painted with many diverse
images, usually meant to inspire
terror, such as a Gorgon or some
Homeric warriors on Greek Pottery
other mythological creature.7
This was the equipment that the Mycenaean soldier, called an Achaean by Homer, wore
when he went into battle. However, they were not technically Greek. The later Greeks of
Classical Age were a blending of the Mycenaeans and a people who eventually would conquer
them, the Dorians. In effect, the warriors of the Iliad could be considered proto-Greek.
6
Oddly enough, it is very common in the Iliad to see heroes using rocks to smash the bones of their
opponent with such violence that death is immediate and shocking.
7
Medusa was one of three Gorgons, depicted with bulging eyes, and a swollen tongue in a grotesque
gesture of death.
8
The time of the Iliad is known as the Heroic Age, where soldiers fought for their king,
and for the glory victorious battle.8 Sometimes two opposing armies would have the best
warrior of each side fight in single, man-to-man combat, with the result deciding the outcome of
the battle. It was the habit of warriors of the Heroic Age to excel in bravery and glory, not
necessarily for the glory of their city-state, but for themselves, their king, and the gods.
Also, the language of the Iliad is heavy on metaphors of nature in order to add
descriptive narrative, since warriors in the ancient world were farmers before they took up
arms. Using descriptive elements, such as stalks of wheat in a field, was a way to represent the
vastness of an approaching army. Before DVD’s and Blu-Ray, this was a way for an ancient
audience to visualize the spectacle of battle. In fact, the Iliad was not even written down during
the time of the war, but was actually memorized and sung in verse—all 15,000 lines of it. Nearly
500 years after the war, Homer wrote the account that we have today. It is believed, due to the
graphic account of the battle wounds, that the original author was likely some kind of battlefield
medic.

4. What is the composition of bronze?
5. What is the name of a Greek shield?
6. In the Heroic Age, to whom did a warrior owe his allegiance?
7. What is the Homeric word for the Greeks?
Reflection Essay
2. How would reciting the war in verse form actually be a better way to preserve it than a written
account?
3. The Iliad and Chariot Warfare
While the 2004 movie Troy may be a decent reflection of the Iliad, it shows very little of
a weapon of war often described by Homer: the chariot. The Achaean9 chariots typically had
three or four horses, a driver, and a warrior, who would dismount for battle. These were not
the typical Hollywood movie chariot, which are usually bulky and of heavy construction, but
were light for both speed during combat and running over enemies during battle.
8
The warriors of this age typically have superhuman abilities, and claim divine ancestry.
9
From this point on, when referencing the Iliad, the Mycenaean Greeks will be called Achaeans, following
Homeric terminology.
9
A Homeric chariot and warrior
4. Homer and Vergil
As it was mentioned before, Homer was responsible for putting the epic poem of the
Iliad into a written account at some point in the 9th to 7th centuries BC.10 The Iliad starts near the
end of the Trojan War, during a period when the mighty Greek warrior, Achilles, has decided to
no longer fight due to a quarrel with the Achaean leader, High King Agamemnon. Fuming,
Achilles is content to stand by and watch the war from the sidelines (Books I-XVI). It’s only when
Achilles’ beloved friend, Patroclus, is killed in battle that his rage explodes in fury upon the
Trojans and he re-enters the war effort (Books XVII-XXIV). The Iliad, however, does not end with
the sack of Troy, but with the burial of Hector, the eldest Trojan prince and chief defender of
the city. Other details of the war are told by Odysseus in flashbacks within Homer’s other work,
the Odyssey, as the hero makes his 10-year journey home.
Roughly 1,200 years later, the story of Troy’s fall was continued by the Roman author,
Publius Vergilius Maro, whom we call Vergil. His epic poem, called the Aeneid, was a Roman
attempt to combine elements of both the Iliad and the Odyssey into one work, and fill in gaps of
10
Following Herodotus’ dating method, we can assume that Homer wrote the Iliad in 840 BC. At that time,
the Greek world was finally leaving their Dark Age after the Dorian invasion, and emerging into the
Classical Age. The Mycenaean dominance of Greece and the Aegean ended within a century after the fall
of Troy.
10
the Trojan War left by Homer. It was written to explain the origin of the Roman people, who
were—after all—Trojan refugees who fled the city after the sack by the Achaeans. In fact, the
Roman word for Troy was Ilium, from which the Iliad gets its name.
5. Heinrich Schliemann
It was generally assumed that the story of the Trojan War was a work of ancient fiction,
until the archaeological site of Troy itself was found in 1871 by Heinrich Schliemann. A wealthy
German businessman and amateur archaeologist, Schliemann used geographical descriptions in
the Iliad to locate a hill in Turkey called Hisarlik and begin excavations. Brutal by modern
archaeological standards, the excavation of Troy yielded multiple layers of the city’s
construction through nine different time periods.
11
Previous page: Troy VI (Homer’s Troy) is highlighted
and expanded, showing the acropolis and high walls.
Recent archaeological evidence suggests a surrounding
city in the open plain surrounding the acropolis, which
is consistent with the account in the Iliad.
Right: The plain continues to the shore beyond where
the Achaean Greeks made their camp. In the
intervening centuries the bay has silted up to its
present coastline.
Schliemann could read the Iliad

in the original Greek, and was
concerned with finding the riches of
Troy as well as uncovering the city’s
history. Spotting the glint of gold one
afternoon, Schliemann dismissed his
workers and found a jewelry hoard
buried in a section of the wall. Taking
the jewels, he dressed his wife, Sophie,
in them and called her his Helen.
Archaeological excavations still
continue on the site to this day, as well
as it being a tourist destination for the
modern country of Turkey.
12
The walls of Troy VI.

8. What was the role of the chariot in Homeric warfare?
9. Why did Vergil write the Aeneid?
10. How many levels of Troy exist?
11. What year was Troy first excavated?
Reflection Essay
3. If Heinrich Schliemann was alive today, how would his excavation of Troy be different than in
1871?
6. The Trojan War
As populations grew with the creation of cities in the 3rd millennium BC, and early
societies became more agrarian, warfare emerged in its more recognizable form. The increased
wealth and population, in connection with trade with other cities, prompted the rise of city-
states. These were cities that had their own armies, government and religion. While some
ancient city-states might have had similar cultures, they were fiercely independent, especially
13
those found in Greece. To be a citizen of an ancient city-state usually came with the citizenship
requirement that you had to own land, and therefore had something worth defending if an
enemy approached. Cities constructed walls around the edges of their settlements for
protection, first out of earth and wood, and then with stone. Soldiers came at their king’s
command with shield, spear and helmet, to defend a city-state’s population against aggressors,
and later, to expand the power of these early city-states. Farmers had settlements near cities,
where they sought refuge in time of attack. To live without allegiance to a city-state, was to
invite danger and isolation. The ancient world was a very empty place by modern standards,
and it was only the power of a city-state that could offer complete protection.
Regions of power in 1400 B.C.
As you can see from the map above, dated roughly 200 years before the Trojan War
(and 100 years after the eruption of Thera) , Egypt controlled the eastern coast of the
Mediterranean, up through modern day Israel and Lebanon, while powerful kingdoms existed in
both Mesopotamia and central Turkey. The Mycenaeans were on the verge of taking over the
Minoans, while in the northeast corner of the Aegean Sea, on the northern coast of Ionia, was
the powerful city-state of Troy.
14
At the beginning of the Iliad we already find the Achaeans at war with the Trojans and
their allies. The story begins in medias res (‘into the middle of things’) in the tenth year of the
ten-year war. In fact, the whole story of the Iliad lasts but a couple weeks and is nothing more
than a momentary window into the course of the conflict. High King Agamemnon, king of the
powerful Achaean city-state of Mycenae, led the Greek alliance against Troy. According to
Homer, he brought 1,000 ships filled with 50,000 soldiers in order to avenge the abduction of his
brother’s wife, Helen. King Menalaus of Sparta, Agamemnon’s brother, wanted his wife back.
With goddess Aphrodite’s influence, she had run off with Prince Paris of Troy. The back-story of
Paris, Helen and her abduction is not told in the Iliad, because it was a story already familiar to
the audience of the Heroic Age. The Iliad does, however, focus on the key moment when
Achilles’ wrath explodes and the Trojans lose their key defender of the city, Hector. Again, the
Iliad is a brief, but important glimpse into the Trojan War. It is not, however, a history of the
war from start to finish. Here is a breakdown of the 24 books of the Iliad:
Book I: Explanation of Achilles’ wrath.

Book II: Achaeans assemble for battle.
Book III: Paris and Menalaus single combat.
Book IV: Breaking of battle true.
Book V: Diomedes and the gods fight.
Book VI: Hector with his wife and son.
Book VII: Hector vs. Ajax; burial of the dead.
Book VIII: Zeus’ command; Trojans at the camp.
Book IX: Achilles rejects the offer to return.
Book X: Achaeans sneak into the Trojan camp.
Book XI: Achaeans attack falters.
Book XII: The Trojans counter-attack hard.
Book XIII: Poseidon helps the Achaeans; Hector
assaults the gates of the Achaean camp.
Book XIV: Hera seduces Zeus; counter-attack.
Book XV: Zeus is angry; Achaean ships burn.
Book XVI: Death of Sarpedon and Patroclus.
Book XVII: Battle over Patroclus’ body.
15
Book XVIII: Achilles’ despair.
Book XIX: Achilles decides to rejoin.
Book XX: Gods fight with men. Achilles’ slaughter
and battle with Aeneas.
Book XXI: Achilles fights; gods fight gods.
Book XXII: Death of Hector by Achilles
Book XXIII: Funeral for Patroclus
Book XXIV: Reconciliation of Achilles and Priam;
burial of Hector.
It might seem strange that the story of the Iliad doesn’t end with the proverbial Death
Star blowing up in the final moment, but instead it is a hero’s choice and realization. Achilles
was told by his mother, Thetis, that he had to choose between nostos (νόστος ‘homecoming’) and
kleos ((κλέος ‘glory’). Achilles chose glory over being able to come home in his desire for eternal
fame. In Book XXIV the true importance of nostos and kleos is realized by Achilles. He is
confronted with this epiphany when aged King Priam of Troy sneaks into the Achaean camp,
specifically into Achilles’ tent, and begs to have Hector’s body returned.11 King Priam asked for
his own son’s nostos and burial, and this realization brings both Priam and Achilles to tears. It is
under Achilles’ personal promise of protection from all his fellow Achaeans that he allows Priam
to take his son back to Troy for a proper burial. Funeral games and a peace accord were
pledged for thirteen days for Hector’s funeral. It is in this mutual pause of the war that Achilles
buries his beloved comrade, Patroclus. The last line of the Iliad is a poignant one, “And this was
the way they buried Hector, the Tamer of Horses.” In essence, the story of the Iliad, the most
well known epic poem of warfare in the history of the world, is about the importance of family
over one’s personal glory.
11
Previously, in Book XXII Achilles killed Hector and dragged his body back to the Achaean camp behind
his chariot.
16
7. Role of the gods in the Iliad
The role of the gods and how they were seen to the ancient Greeks is worth mentioning,
especially in context to the Iliad. When we see the Greek gods and goddesses in movies or any
other visual form, they are usually portrayed in some manner to differentiate them from
mortals. They are shown in a larger scale, glowing in a golden hue, or always surrounded by
clouds—think of Sir Lawrence Olivier as Zeus in the original Clash of the Titans. This is done so a
modern audience can recognize that they are, in fact, gods. However, none of these visual
qualities were employed by the ancients. Gods and goddesses were the same size as mortals,
looked like them, and acted like them; the only distinction was their weapons or armor. In fact,
gods often changed their shape to deceive mortals into thinking they were dealing with a
comrade, and not with a deity who was secretly seeking their demise.
As strange as it may sound, the ancients just knew that the person they were looking at
was actually an immortal. However, even that realization might not turn them aside in their
mortal fury, as seen by Diomedes in Book V and Patroclus in Book XVI. Gods and goddesses may
have been immortal, but they could still be wounded.
Ares prepared for battle.
Apollo and Artemis
17
Below is a list of gods and goddesses from the Iliad, and the side that they supported
during the war:
Trojan
 Zeus
 Apollo
 Ares
 Artemis
 Leto
 Aphrodite
Achaean
 Hera
 Athena
 Poseidon
 Hephaestus12
8. After the Iliad
After the death of Hector, the war continued on.

Other allies came to Troy’s aide, including the fierce
Amazonian women, led by Queen Penthesilia. The great
queen was killed by Achilles in combat, with one thrust of
his spear. But the moment he removed her helmet he fell
deeply in love with her. A fellow Achaean, Thersites,
mocked the dead queen, which enraged Achilles to fury,
and he slew his comrade on the spot.
Achilles killing Queen Penthesilia
Allied warriors also arrived from Aethiopia, led by
their king, Memnon, in order to help Troy, but ultimately he too fell before Achilles. However,
Thetis’ prophecy came true, and Prince Paris (with the help of Apollo), killed the great Achaean
warrior by shooting him through his only vulnerable spot—his heel.13 Ultimately it was not by
12
Hephaestus, at the behest of Thetis, makes Achilles a new set of armor. The god himself plays no direct
combat role in the Iliad.
13
Achilles was dipped in the River Styx, making him immortal, except for where she held him, his heel.
This can be explained by the femoral artery, which runs through the heel and can cause a bleed-out if cut.
18
force of arms that Troy lost, but by the cleverness of Odysseus. Seeking victory through
deception, he devised the trick of the hollow wooden horse. Offered as a gift to Poseidon
before their supposed journey home, the Achaeans left the Trojan Horse on the shore and
secretly sailed their ships to a nearby island, and waited. That night, while the citizens of this
proud city were in a drunken slumber from their victory celebration, a host of Achaean warriors
came out of the horse, slew the guards and opened the gates.14 The rest of the Achaeans, now
waiting outside the gates, poured into the city and pillaged it with brutal ferocity. Troy burned,
and all of her citizens were either slaughtered or sold into slavery. Only a few shiploads escaped
to find a new home, while the majority died in its fiery destruction.

12. Why would Troy’s geographical position help it become a wealthy city?
13. Where is the irony in the Achaean victory?
14. Which god or goddess is the most physically involved in the war, on each side ?
15. What was the significance for the ancients if your body did not have a proper burial?
Reflection Essay
4. If you were given the choice like Achilles, would you choose nostos or kleos, and why?
14
A section of the wall, which had held off the Achaeans for 10 years, was pulled down to bring in the
Trojan Horse. The gate to the city was too small, so this was the Trojan solution. It is not without
coincidence that in a form of foreshadowing, friends go through gates while enemies go over the wall.
19
Chapter II
Persian Threat
1. The Dark Ages
Less than a century after the fall of Troy, Mycenaean civilization collapsed from invasion,
as well as the Hittite civilization in Asia Minor (see map on page 13).15 The palaces of the Bronze
Age were abandoned, no new stone structures were built, and knowledge of writing (called
Linear B by historians) fell into disuse. The catalyst for this “Dark Age” is attributed by ancient
historians to an invasion of Greece by a people called the Dorians, whose origin is thought to
have been from Asia Minor or the mountainous northern regions of Greece. Homer mentions
them in his Odyssey as living on Crete, but the Dorians also came to inhabit the Peloponnesus,
Ionia, Sicily and Southern Italy. It is also thought that a son of Herakles, named Hyllus, led some
Dorians down into the Peloponnesus to claim back ancestral lands, conquering the cities of
Mycenae, Sparta and Argos. The Dark Age is recounted by later Greek authors as history as
much as myth, but suffice it to say that Mycenaean civilization fell and was overlaid with the
Dorian in the 11th to 9th centuries BC.
For over two thousand years bronze was the metal of choice for weapons, but by 900 BC
knowledge of iron had spread from its origin near the Caucasus Mountains on the eastern edge
of Asia Minor westward into Greek territories. During the Dark Age, iron weapons were being
created that could hold an edge better than bronze. However, it took a millennia of bronze
metallurgy to be able to figure out how to work the iron into suitable weapons, since the
smelting process of iron required higher temperatures than traditional bronze kilns could
manage. With the incorporation of carbon (charcoal) to iron, a harder blade could be made—in
effect, steel was produced. The movie image of taking a hot blade and dipping it into water is
actually a process called “quenching and tempering”. Quenching the blade in water hardens the
iron-steel, but it makes the blade brittle. However, the hammering the sword removes the
15
Egypt was also attacked during this period by a mysterious “Sea People” whose origin is still unknown.
The same Sea People played a role in the collapse of the Hittite and Mycenaean civilization as well.
20
brittleness. Over time, this process produces are harder blade that can hold an edge longer
than bronze. Combine this new process for metal working with the ease of finding iron, plus a
possible tin shortage, and iron weapons eventually replaced bronze as the prominent choice
during the Dark Ages.
During this time, an increased population in Greece prompted Greek settlements to
emerge or expand across the Aegean Sea to the Ionian coast of Asia Minor, over to Sicily,
southern Italy and even to southern France and the east coast of Spain. The city of Cumae, on
the west coast of Italy near the Bay of Naples, was the first Greek colony on the Italian mainland
in the 8th century BC, while colonies such as Massilia in southern France (‘Marseille’) were so
viable that they still exist today.
2. Geography of Greece
It was during this expansion and resurgence of Greek culture that the city-states of
Athens, Sparta, Argos and Corinth became prominent. Understanding the importance of each
city-state is relevant to understanding Greek geography during the ancient world. The most
21
southern portion of Greece is called the Peloponnesus (also called the Peloponnese), and is
connected to the mainland by a thin strip of land called an isthmus. Straddling that isthmus was
city-state of Corinth, while south in the Peloponnesus was Sparta, the ruins of Mycenae, Argos,
and Olympia, the home of the Olympic Games. Across the Aegean Sea were Greek colonies on
the western shore of Asia Minor, known as Ionia. To the north of mainland Greece was the
more rugged and mountainous regions of Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace.
3. The Oracle of Delphi
The city of Delphi was the site of a sacred oracle to the god Apollo on the slopes of Mt.
Parnassus, which lies just north of the Gulf of Corinth. Legend said that the god Apollo had slain
a monster called the Python there early in the history of the world. As a result, a temple was
22
constructed on the site where the Pythons’ body fell into a fissure in the Earth. Within the
temple, seated on a tripod, was a priestess called the Pythia. While chewing on bay leaves, she
would breathe in the vapors that rose from the fissure inside the inner sanctuary and go into a
trance, where she would become possessed by Apollo. Modern archeology and seismic data has
shown that there is the convergence of three major fault lines that meet under the temple,
whose gasses can indeed bring on a hypnotic state. Anyone could go to the Temple of Apollo
and ask the Pythia for advice, but at a cost, of course. The Pythia, hidden in shadow and
surrounded by the hissing of snakes, would utter her answer in a language only the priests could
interpret. It was transcribed by the priests, and was usually in the form of a riddle. While this
may seem like a giant scam, the Delphic Oracle was right more often than it was wrong. As it
was a sacred location, it did not fear attack from other Greek city-states, and became very
wealthy. Travelers from all over the Greek world, and beyond, came to Delphi to seek advice,
whether it was about a farmer’s harvest to a king asking guidance about waging war on a
neighboring kingdom.
The Temple of Apollo at Delphi
23
As a result, the priests at Delphi had one of the best networks for gathering information
in the ancient world. It is much easier to make a reliable prophecy when there is a plentiful
source of information. It also doesn’t hurt if the prophecy is in the form of a riddle. If it was
misinterpreted, then it was the fault of the person, not Apollo or the Pythia.
Beginning in 586 BC, Delphi celebrated the Pythian Games every four years in honor of
Apollo, as Olympia celebrated theirs to Zeus starting in 776 BC. The combination of the Pythian
Games, the Oracle and the pilgrims and all the wealth that they brought, made Delphi and the
prophecies exceedingly influential to the ancient Greeks. One of the most significant prophecies
was given to a man named Lycurgus, who would transform the city-state of Sparta.
4. A New Sparta
Sometime around 7th century BC, a Spartan man named Lycurgus visited the Oracle of
Delphi and was told that whatever state followed his laws would become the most famous in
the world. Returning to Sparta, he implemented radical changes to all levels of Spartan society.
Before Lycurgus, Sparta was much like any other emerging Greek city-state, with an artistic
culture that was contemporary for its time. Lycurgus’ reorganization of Spartan life would re-
engineer Spartan life entirely, and greatly affect those living nearby in the Peloponnesus.
Spartan citizen-males would have a life dedicated for warfare, while it was the job of a Spartan
wife to provide sons for the state. All of society would be dedicated to making Sparta the
supreme military power in Greece, at a cost that would be considered appalling by modern
American standards. Starting at birth, a child would be examined for any defects by an official
from a council of Spartan elders called the gerousia. If any defects were found, the child was
exposed on a mountainside to die, meaning that the child was left out in the open to their fate.
This was done because only the toughest and most perfect would become part of the new
Spartan military machine. There is a word for this selective breeding of humans—eugenics.
Typically, the NAZI party of Germany during World War II has this word associated with them,
but the Spartans practiced selective breeding of their citizens seven centuries before the birth of
Christ—all for the good of the state. It was nationalism on an ancient scale unparalleled until
the 20th century. At age 7, Spartan males worthy of survival would be removed from their family
24
and placed into military barracks. Called the agoge, this military arrangement would be their
way of life until they were at least thirty.
The boys’ early education was one of tremendous toughness and loyalty to the Spartan
state. Everything became secondary to the state, and equality of its citizens was paramount. All
Spartan warriors owned the same amount of land, used the same arms and armor, and lived
only by what was necessary. A Spartan’s house was plain and utilitarian by design, with very
little beyond the basic furniture. This is the origin of looking at a barren room today and calling
it “Spartan”. For boys in the agoge, punishment and adherence to the rules was wielded by
slightly older boys, who were both merciless and ruthless. During this grueling education, it was
not uncommon for a Spartan youth to die. At about age 12, each Spartan youth was given a
simple, red cloak. This would be their only clothing with which they were to live through the
year, including the mountainous cold of the Peloponnesian winter. They were also fed a blood
and pork soup, and only in a volume that kept them from starving. If they wanted more food,
they were expected to steal it. If they got caught, they were punished. The message was clear:
the Spartan system promoted cunning and strength through deprivation. If you were caught,
you were not in trouble because of the moral implication of stealing, it was because you weren’t
good enough to get away with the theft.
Also at around age 12, Spartan youths entered a relationship with an older warrior, from
whom he would be educated throughout the rest of his training. The term was called pederasty,
and Herodotus states that the Spartans, above all others, would sometimes take this
relationship beyond the Platonic level to a physical one. At age 18 some of the Spartan males
would take part in the Crypteia, which acted as a sort of Secret Police for the Spartan state,
where Spartan males could indiscriminately kill any person enslaved by Sparta if they deemed
them a threat to the state. The local population around Sparta, especially from the nearby city-
state of Messenia, were conquered, enslaved and kept under a constant state of fear and
oppression by the Spartans. In fact it was the first order of business every year to declare war
on them. They were called the helots, and served the Spartan state, doing those jobs that kept
the Spartan military machine humming. In all parts of the ancient world, soldiers were farmers
when not at war. Here, the helots served that purpose, so the army could train all year and not
be troubled with the toil of cultivating the land.
The Spartans maintained an army of 10,000 men called the homoioi, who had survived
the agoge and entered the Spartan military at about age 20. However, they would not gain the
25
ability to marry and become a full citizen until they were 30. Sparta was a gerontocratic society,
where power to rule was held by the elders. Sparta had a group of 30 members called the
gerousia, who ruled as a council of elders, since almost all had to be over 60 years of age. From
this body were elected two kings, who served as the generals on campaign and acted as the
chief priests of the state, maintaining communication with the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Even
the speech of the Spartans was a reflection of their lifestyle. It was called “Laconic Speech”
since Laconia was the region around Sparta, while the city of Sparta itself was typically referred
to as Lacedaemonia by ancient authors like Herodotus. In their foundation mythology,
Lacedaemon was a son of Zeus, whose wife was named Sparta. The city he founded was in her
name, although the people thereafter called themselves after their founding king. In fact, the
upside down “V” that is seen on Spartan shields is the Greek letter “L” (‘Λ’) and represented the
first letter of the word Lacedaemoniae. If they had called themselves Spartans, then they’d
have painted the Greek version of a big letter “S” on their shields. As it happened, they didn’t.

16. What was the name of the people who invaded Greece and destroyed the Mycenaeans?
17. Why were iron weapons better than bronze? State two reasons.
18. Where was Ionia?
19. What god was the Pythia being possessed by at Delphi?
20. Name one of Lycurgus’ changes to Sparta.
Reflection Essay
5. What makes the Spartans a popular and idolized subject, while the NAZIS are not?
5. Threat from the East
The Persian Empire remains to this day one of history’s greatest empires, however, it’s
history is usually mentioned only in context to the Greeks. This is mainly due to the Western
way of thinking, since Europe and America looks to the Greeks as a founding model of
civilization. Ask a modern Iranian, however, and the answer would be very different. The
Persians are a people from the steppes of northern Iran, who rose to power in the 7th and 6th
centuries BC. The Persians royal line rose to great power under the Achaemenid Dynasty,
named after their founder, Achaemenes. Before Cyrus the Great (600-530 BC), the Persians
26
were subjects of the the Medes16, whose power stretched from the kingdom of Lydia in central
Asia Minor to the borders of India. In 549 BC Cyrus led a rebellion and conquered the Median
capital of Ecbatana. The Persian king went on to conquer the kingdom of Lydia, the Babylonians
(Chaldean), and unified the Empire into one of the ancient world’s most expansive powers. His
treatment of those he conquered is even more startling.
Unlike the Assyrians, whose cruel rule of Mesopotamia led to a coalition of allies (Lydia,
Egypt and Babylonia) to destroy them in 612 BC, the Persians under Cyrus showed such respect
to conquered peoples that the Persian Empire was tremendously stable.
As the Greek historian and soldier Xenophon later wrote,
"And those who were subject to Cyrus, he treated with esteem and regard, as if
they were his own children, while his subjects themselves respected Cyrus as
their 'Father' ... What other man but 'Cyrus', after having overturned an empire,
ever died with the title of 'The Father' from the people whom he had brought
under his power? For it is plain fact that this is a name for one that bestows,
rather than for one that takes away!"
16
Herodotus asserts that one origin of the Medes was from Medea, who fled to the Iranian plateau with
her son late in life. The people living in that area, the Aryans, later changed their name to the Medes in
her honor.
27
Cyrus the Great’s policy of respecting other religions, while showing generosity instead
of persecution to conquered peoples, helped the Persian Empire expand rapidly.
However, Cyrus was killed in battle in 530 BC, and a magnificent tomb was built for him
that survives to this day in Iran. His son, King Cambyses II, continued the expansion of
the Empire, conquering the kingdoms of Egypt, Nubia and Cyrenaica by 523 BC.
6. Ionian Revolt
In 540 BC the Persian Empire was continuing to expand, now under the control of King
Darius I. Persian forces conquered the Greek city-states of Ionia, which became part of a
satrapy, a Persian-conquered territory, which was administered in the regional capital of Sardis.
The city-states along the western coast of Asia Minor were not content to remain under Persian
rule, and spurred on by the tyrant of the Ionian city of Miletus, in 499 BC a rebellion broke out in
28
Ionia against Persian rule.17 Supported by the city-states of Athens and Eretria (a great many of
the Ionian city-states were Athenian colonies), the rebels marched on Sardis and burned it to
the ground the following year. The Persian retribution was swift, and a serious of defeats befell
the Ionian rebels, who eventually were subdued when the city of Miletus fell to a Persian siege
in 494 BC. The following year the Persians were occupied re-securing their rule over Ionia.
Darius, however, was determined to exact revenge on Athens for the role she played in the
rebellion. According to Herodotus, he ordered a slave to whisper in his ear every day, “Master,
remember the Athenians,” so his hatred would not be allowed to fade away.
7. First Attempt
In 492 BC, King Darius ordered

his general, Mardonius, to lead an
assault on Greece, with the aim of
punishing Athens and Eretria.
Crossing the Hellespont into Europe
with a large army, Mardonius secured
Thrace and Macedonia as reluctant
client kingdoms of Persia. However,
just off the coast near Mount Athos
the Persian fleet was wrecked in a
storm, causing a halt in the army’s
advance. The fleet followed parallel
to the army as it marched, and provided protection and a means of resupplying the Persian
army. This forced the army to halt and secure their northern conquests. The Persian reliance on
their navy would later turn out to be their proverbial Achilles’ heel.
The following year Darius sent ambassadors down into Greece and the Peloponnesus,
seeking their surrender. Only Athens and Sparta did not capitulate to the Persian demand of
17
The tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, had previously joined the Persians in an expedition against the island
of Naxos in the Aegean. It went badly, and fearing that the Persians would have him replaced, he stoked
the fires of rebellion with his neighboring Ionian city-states.
29
“earth and water”, the token symbols of submission. Athens, in an example of her new
democracy, put the ambassadors on trial and executed them, while the Spartans un-shockingly
just threw them down a well.
8. The First Persian War
In 490 BC, Darius ordered another invasion of Greece, but not by land from the north
this time, but from the sea. Command of the expedition went two men, Datis and Artaphernes.
This would be the world’s first recorded amphibious invasion, and what would be a quick
solution to the Athenian problem, or so Darius thought. Herodotus stated that 600 triremes,
the standard oar and sail warship of the ancient world at this time, carried a Persian army
directly across the Aegean Sea to Athens. The Persians stopped at the island of Rhodes and
assaulted the city of Lindos, but were unsuccessful. They continued on to the island of Samos,
then Naxos, where the inhabitants fled to the hills in fear of Persian retribution, since they
resisted the Persians a decade before. To show as an example of Persian clemency, Datis
30
sacrificed at the Temple of Apollo on the nearby island of Delos.18 The Persian force finally
arrived at the tip of Euboea in early fall.
Euboea at first glance looks like a
peninsula of mainland Greece, but is actually
an island about 90 miles long just off the
coast. On the southern end of the island was
Eretria, which along with Athens were the
two city-states that aided the Ionian Greeks
in their rebellion nearly a decade before. For
a week the Eretrians resisted, but were
eventually betrayed by two of their own
citizens, who opened the city gates and
allowed the Persians inside. They promptly
sacked the city and sold the population into
slavery.
After destroying Eretria, the Persians landed at the
Bay of Marathon on the eastern side of the Attic peninsula.
With the Persian force was Hippias, the last tyrant of Athens,
who had been expelled in 510 BC. With Persian support,
Hippias was attempting to regain the rule of Athens after a
twenty year absence, albeit as a Persian puppet. When the
Persians were landing at Marathon, Hippias famously lost a
tooth in a massive coughing fit. Herodotus wrote:
…he (Hippias) brought the fleet to anchor off Marathon, and marshalled the
bands of the barbarians as they disembarked. As he was thus employed it
chanced that he sneezed and at the same time coughed with more violence than
was his wont. Now, as he was a man advanced in years, and the greater number
of his teeth were loose, it so happened that one of them was driven out with the
force of the cough, and fell down into the sand. Hippias took all the pains he
could to find it; but the tooth was nowhere to be seen: whereupon he fetched a
18
Delos, according to mythology, is where Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis, were born.
31
deep sigh, and said to the bystanders: "After all, the land is not ours; and we
shall never be able to bring it under. All my share in it is the portion of which my
tooth has possession." So Hippias believed that in this way his dream was
fulfilled. 19

21. What modern country did the Persians originate from?
22. What was the Persian city that the Ionian rebels burned?
23. What two cities was Darius’ generals out to punish? Why?
Reflection Essay
6. Why is Cyrus the Great worthy of that title?

7. How is Hippias’ involvement in the invasion a good strategy for the Persians?
9. The Battle of Marathon
As the Persians landed at Marathon, they found that the Athenians, along with 1,000
hoplites from the nearby city-state of Plataea, had blocked the only two passages off the beach.
With marshes on either side of the bay, the Athenians had stopped a Persian advance inland,
but did not dare to attack. Command of the Athenian force went to Miltiades, who had
previously fought alongside the Persian forces in 513 BC when they fought a northern people
called the Scythians, but had fled to Athens after the failure of the Ionian Revolt. The Athenians
sent a message to the Spartans, asking for assistance, since they were the only other city-state
that had denied the Persians when they demanded Greece’s surrender. The famous Athenian
messenger, Pheidippides, ran to Sparta across the rugged Greek countryside to deliver the
request for military aid. Sparta, however, replied that they could not send troops, as they were
celebrating the Carneia, a religious festival which forbade any military action at that time. It
would be another ten days before the Spartans said they could send help. It is likely that the
Spartans, some of whom had pro-Persian sympathy, hoped that the Athenians would lose the
battle. This would result in either the rest of Greece looking to Sparta, or Sparta becoming the
chief city-state in a Persian controlled Greek mainland and Peloponnesus. Astonishingly,
19
Book 6.108
32
Pheidippides brought the message back to Athens, running the 150-mile roundtrip in just two
days.
For five days the Athenians and Plataeans faced off against the Persians, but neither
made the first move. On the sixth day, word was brought to Miltiades that the Persians had
sent part of their force away under the cover of darkness the night before. It was Datis’ plan to
send the cavalry with part of the fleet around the Attic peninsula to Athens, which was
undefended at the time. For the battle, Miltiades had 9000 Athenian hoplites, along with 1,000
Plataean allies. By contrast, the Persians had two to three times their number, even after the
fleet had left for Athens.
Miltiades and the other
commanders faced a dilemma;
if they continued to wait for
the promised Spartan support,
Athens might be lost.
However, in that dilemma was
an opportunity and a need,
since the Athenian forces
needed to get back to Athens
for its defense, plus the Persian
force was now weakened by
their partial withdrawal. The
decision was reached to attack now, and then race back to Athens before the slow-moving
Persian ships rounded Cape Sounion and sailed north along the peninsula to attack the city.
Even with part of the army withdrawn, the Persian forces still greatly outnumbered the
Greeks. As such, Miltiades adopted a bold plan; he thinned the center of his phalanx (a long line
of Greek soldiers with interlocking shields) to just 4 men deep, while the wings still maintained
the customary 8 man depth. This was done to prevent the larger Persian army from wrapping
around the Greeks at the outset of the battle. However, a great majority of the Persian force
were archers and light infantry, while the Greeks wore their heavy hoplite armor and large
shields. As the Greeks marched slowly towards the Persians, they quickened their pace. As the
Persians raised their bows and shot a volley at the oncoming hoplites, they were astonished to
see the Greeks suddenly break into a run. Like the last event at the ancient Olympics, the
33
hoplitodromos, where the competitors ran a footrace in full armor, the Athenians and Plataeans
screamed and charged the Persian line. Tactically this was brilliant, because it gave a
tremendous physical shock to the Athenian attack, not to mention the Persians’ horror of seeing
ten thousand Greeks in gleaming armor quickly bearing down on them. This also meant that the
Persian arrows passed overhead and the Greek hoplites were on top of them before they could
fire another volley. Despite this brilliant strategy, the sheer weight of the Persian numbers
began to push back the Athenian center. On the wings, however, the Greeks fared better and
forced a Persian retreat, with the center now falling back as well. The Persian army now broke
and fled for their remaining ships, sailing away hastily, leaving their dead and dying.
Seven Persian ships were captured while the rest got away, however the battlefield
casualties were certainly endemic of the fight; the Athenians lost 192 men, the Plataeans 11,
while the Persians lost 6,400 including Datis. The Athenians buried their dead under a giant
funeral mound, which still survives to this day. The Persians were left were they fell, so the
Spartans could eventually inspect the Athenian handiwork and their lost glory.
Even though the battle was won, the threat of the Persian fleet and its forces still posed
a threat to Athens. As the Greek army prepared to march back to Athens, despite being tired
from the battle, they sent their messenger on ahead to tell those in Athens not to give up hope.
Again, Pheidippides ran. With all the speed he could, he made the 26 mile sprint back to Athens
and announced ‘We have won!’ ("Νενικήκαμεν") and then died from exhaustion on the spot. In
34
memory of this battle and his epic run, we now celebrate marathons all around the world—all of
them being 26 miles.
When the Persians sailed up to the port of Piraeus near Athens, they found the Greek
army drawn up for battle on the shore. Deciding not to fight, the Persian ships turned and sailed
back towards Persian territory. The Battle of Marathon in September of 490 BC is one of the
most important in all of history. Even though the Persians planned for yet another invasion, it
must be remembered that if the Athenian forces had lost at Marathon, the Persians would have
taken Athens and all the Greek mainland. Sparta would have likely fallen from dissent from
within and would have eventually become a puppet vassal of the Persian Empire. Darius would
have had a secure base to expand his empire into Europe, and have had an uncontested control
over the eastern Mediterranean. So many of the ideas that would later come from Athens,
including democracy, philosophy and art, would never have existed had the Greeks lost. The
western world owes the core of its culture to the Athenian success at Marathon. For the
Persians, however, it was only a temporary setback. They had added Thrace and Macedonia to
their rule, as well as all the islands of the Aegean Sea. Eretria was punished for their part in the
Ionian Revolt, and the next to pay would be Athens.
10. The Second Persian War
Darius began amassing a huge army to take into Greece, but he was delayed when a
rebellion broke out four years later in Egypt. The Persian king did not live to see another
invasion of Greece, and died that same year in 486 BC. The Persian throne now smoothly
transferred to his 36-year-old son, Xerxes. The revolt in Egypt was quickly crushed, and likewise
another that had broken out in Babylon. Unnoticed to all at that time, in the city of
Halicarnassus in southwestern Asia Minor, the Greek historian Herodotus was born, who later
wrote the most complete history of the Persian Wars that survives to this day. It is likely that
Herodotus had first-hand accounts of the war when he composed his history. From 483 to 480
BC, Xerxes prepared to complete his father’s campaign for revenge, and set about making
extensive preparations. A massive army and navy was being assembled, and a bridge was built
across the Hellespont to transport them from Asia Minor into Europe. However, the bridge was
destroyed in a storm, and Xerxes famously had the waters of the Hellespont whipped, and
35
shackles thrown into the water. It was a visual reinforcement that Great King Xerxes, King of
Kings, King of Persia and Media, and the King of Nations, would not be stopped—not even by
nature itself. All would be subject to the power of the Persian Empire. A second bridge was
built, and the Persian army successfully crossed into Thrace.

24. What two Greek forces took part at Marathon?
25. Why were the Persians after Athens?
26. Why did the Spartans not immediately send forces to Marathon?
27. What was the name of the Persian king who took over after Darius I?
Reflection Essay
8. During the Second Persian War, the Spartans will send forces to fight Persia even though, once
again, the Carneia was going on. How does this reversal of religious law fit in with what
happened at Marathon a decade earlier?
9. What were Darius’ goals, and what were Xerxes’?
11. The Army of Xerxes
The problem using Greek historians is the frequent lack of an accurate count of the
enemy’s casualties. At the Battle of Marathon, Herodotus recorded such specific numbers of
Athenian and Plataean dead (192 and 11 respectively), while the Persian number was a rough
6,400. This indicates that Persian numbers were always a best guess scenario, and not an
accurate count. For Xerxes’ invasion, modern historians look at the number of ships, possible
food supply and other logistical factors to try and come up with a closer truth behind the army’s
size. Even doing that to Xerxes’ forces, the number is still somewhere between 200-300,000
men, while Herodotus himself listed the total force at over five million men. It is hard to
comprehend such an immense army, even the lowest number, when most people today can
only visualize a full stadium of 60,000 people as some sort of reference. If we use the more
logical, and lower, modern estimate of around 250,000 men, then it can be represented as
approximately four modern stadiums at full capacity. If we go by Herodotus, then the combined
land and sea forces equaled a startling 88 stadiums, making it the largest army the world had
ever seen, or has seen since. While the millions of men who fought in World War I and II are a
36
larger number overall,20 they were not all at one place in one marching army, with one focused
goal. Only Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s Grand Army of the Republic can be compared, which
had almost 600,000 men when he invaded Russia in 1812.
In the above map, you can see Darius’ amphibious invasion in 490 BC, and Xerxes’
invasion ten years later. Having set out from Sardis, his immense army crossed the Hellespont
into Thrace, Macedonia and then passed Mt. Olympus into Thessaly. The Greeks sent a force of
10,000 men to block the mountain pass at the Vale of Tempe, but the king of Macedonia,
Alexander I, warned the Greeks that Xerxes’ forces would be able to go around them. Seeing
the danger, the Greeks retreated and the Persians advance continued further south. Overall
command of the Greek forces went to Themistocles (524-459 BC), an Athenian general and
politician who came from an obscure family background but rose to prominence under the new
Athenian democracy. A proponent of a strong naval force, Themistocles became a leading
magistrate of Athens and prompted the building of a seaport at Piraeus some 9 miles away from
the city. He also served under Miltiades at the Battle of Marathon, and therefore had first hand
20
By comparison, Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June of 1941, utilized
4.5 million soldiers over the entire 1,800 mile Eastern Front.
37
experience fighting the Persians.21 With the money provided by the discovery of a new silver
mine, Themistocles skillfully ordered the building of hundreds of new triremes in preparation for
the oncoming fight with the Persian navy.
12. Thermopylae and Salamis
The king of Sparta, Leonidas, set out with 300 of

the best homoioi to occupy the Pass of Thermopylae,
along with roughly 7,000 other allies, in an attempt to
block the Persian army from being able to proceed south.
In overall command of the Greek forces was
Themistocles, who was currently with the Athenian navy
that had assembled off Cape Artemisium. If the Persian
navy could be stopped there, then they could not land
troops behind the Pass of Thermopylae beyond the
Spartans and other allies. The tactic was the same on
both fronts; the numerically inferior Greeks would block
the narrow gap on land and water, thereby preventing
the Persian forces from being able to utilize
their superior numbers. Bust of Themistocles
In the Pass of Thermopylae, Leonidas
was asked by the Persians to lay down their
arms and surrender, to which the Spartan
king famously replied, “Come and get them”
(“Μολών λαβέ” ). The Spartans occupied the
pass, shields locked, and stared down the
mass of Persians that descended upon them.
On the first day of battle Xerxes sent waves
of Medes against the Spartans, but they
Persian Immortals
21
After Marathon, the Athenians under the command of Miltiades started liberating islands in the Aegean
under Persian control. Miltiades was wounded, and seeing an opportunity his political opponents in
Athens prosecuted him. He was eventually put in prison, where he died of his wound.
38
could not penetrate the shield wall and died by the hundreds. Their shields were made of
wicker, so the Greek heavy weapons could easily penetrate the Persian armor. Watching from a
nearby hill on a golden throne, Xerxes grew impatient at the obstinate Greeks and threw the
Immortals, an immense 10,000 man unit of elite Persian soldiers, into the battle. They too met
the same fate as the previous forces, and the Persians found they could not break through the
Spartan and allied phalanx.
Meanwhile, in the Artemesium Strait, Themistocles and his 271 triremes faced off
against the far more numerous Persian fleet. Not long before the battle, the Persian navy lost
about 400 warships in a storm north of the Artemesium Strait, and now Xerxes ordered
approximately 200 ships around the
island of Euboea, but they too were
wiped out in yet another storm.
Despite this, the Athenian navy still
faced an enemy that outnumbered
them at least 3 to 1. The smaller
Athenian navy surprised the Persian line
with a sudden assault late in the
afternoon, ramming and destroying about 30 ships and then disengaging from the Persian fleet
and returning to safe waters under the cover of nightfall. On the second day of the battle, 53
Athenian ships arrived to reinforce Themistocles’ navy. The Persians, licking their wounds,
declined combat.
Back in the Thermopylae Pass, the second day was more eventful. Again the Persians
flung their forces at the Greeks, and again they were thwarted. Wave after wave was beaten
back, and at the end of the day Xerxes was furious and confused how his army was being
stopped, when word reached him that a local Greek named Ephialtes knew of a secret path
around the pass. Xerxes ordered a force of 20,000 around the mountain to surround the Greek
force. For this traitorous act, the name of Ephialtes lives on as the modern Greek word for
“nightmare.”
At dawn on the third day, the Phocians, who were guarding one of the secret paths—
which shows that the Greeks were aware of the risk—saw the Persians and retreated to a
nearby hill, leaving the path open for the enemy. A messenger from the Phocians informed
Leonidas of what had happened, and a council of war quickly determined the next course of
39
action. The Spartans would stay to guard the Thermopylae Pass, thereby giving time for the
remaining Greeks to retreat. Leonidas undoubtedly reflected on the recent proclamation from
the Oracle of Delphi, which said a Spartan king would die at Thermopylae. Also fighting to the
end with the Spartans were 400 hoplites from Thebes and all 700 from the city of Thespiae. The
entire hoplite army from Thespiae—all of them—would make a stand with the rest at
Thermopylae. With the main Greek force safely away, the remaining hoplites charged from the
pass to slaughter as many Persians as they could. When spears were shattered, swords were
drawn, and when swords and shields were of no further use, they resorted to bare fists. The
remaining hoplites fought like demons. In the midst of the fighting King Leonidas fell from a
fatal arrow, and a battle raged over the king’s corpse. Four times the Persians were beaten
away and the Spartans eventually were able to drag away the body of their fallen king. The
battle over the body of a hero, their king, was a living echo of the Iliad, when the bodies of the
Trojan Sarpedon and Achaean Patroclus were fought over by both sides in the middle of a
battle. Protection of one’s king, even when he was dead, was a sign of tremendous respect and
honor. The remaining hoplites retreated to a nearby hill, while a few of the Thebans chose to
surrender; the remainder stayed with the Spartans. Ending the battle, Xerxes ordered his
archers to rain down arrows until every last hoplite was dead.
While the Greeks lost hundreds, if not thousands of hoplites, the Persians likely lost in
excess of 20,000 men over the three days at Thermopylae. In a rage, Xerxes ordered the body
of Leonidas recovered, his head cut off, and his body crucified. While the Spartan and allied
sacrifice paints a picture of Greek independence, it must not be forgotten that the Spartans
themselves held the helot population as slaves. And Thermopylae was not a Greek victory, but
actually a military defeat, since the Persian army now continued south without further
resistance. Xerxes may have lost 20,000 men, but examine that number in the context of his
whole army; if we assume that he had 250,000 men, then he lost 12.5% of his force. However, if
we use Herodotus’ number, then they account for only 0.4%, which hardly would have slowed
the Persian army.
In the Artemisium Strait, Themistocles wasn’t faring any better. The Athenians had
inflicted serious damage on the Persian navy, but likewise so had the Persians. Themistocles,
having been informed of the disaster at Thermopylae, decided to retreat his forces further
south. Xerxes’ army destroyed the cities of Plataea and Thespiae and marched on Athens, which
by this time had been evacuated. The Athenians realized they couldn’t resist a siege and had to
40
abandon the city, with the inhabitants being evacuated to safety. Xerxes ordered Athens
burned to the ground, including the beloved Temple of Athena that stood high above the city on
the Acropolis. The burning of Sardis and the assassination of the Persian ambassadors was now
avenged. However, seeing Athens burn, Xerxes immediately regretted this very un-Persian
behavior to a conquered people, but it was too late to stop the inferno. The burning of Athens
would not be forgotten.
At the narrow Isthmus of Corinth, the remaining allies built a wall across the only road
down into the Peloponnesus and prepared for a last Greek defense. The remaining ships, which
were initially intended to defend the Peloponnesian coastline from a Persian landing, were
instead used—with Themistocles’ insistence—to trap the Persian navy in the narrow waterway
between the island of Salamis and the coast. In September 480 BC at the Battle of Salamis,
Herodotus claims the Greeks had 378 triremes, while the Persians had 1,207. Whatever the
number, the Persian forces had to destroy the Greek fleet if they had any hopes of landing
troops down in the Peloponnesus. Xerxes believed that the Greek ships were in disarray, but
instead the Persian navy found them ready for battle while they themselves were confined in
the narrow waters off Salamis. The result was a clear Greek victory, with the Persians losing
200-300 ships. Xerxes watched in horror from his golden throne on nearby Mt. Aigaleos as his
fleet was badly mauled by the Greek warships.
41
After the battle, Xerxes abandoned attempts to attack the Peloponnesus, and returned
with most of his army back across the Hellespont. He left his chief general, Mardonius with a
large host of the Persian army to continue the war and subdue Greece the following year.
However, with the extreme losses of the Persian fleet, especially at Salamis, further conquest
into the Peloponnesus was stopped.
13. Battle of Plataea
In 479 BC the following year, Mardonius withdrew the remains of the Persian army, still
numbering anywhere from 120,000 to 300,000 men, to a large open plain near the city of
Plataea. The Greeks assembled an army that was the largest they would ever put on the
battlefield, which according to Herodotus numbered 110,000 men. Sparta brought 5,000
homoioi (the other 5,000 had to stay behind to keep the helots in line), and even armed 35,000
of the helots that they deemed worthy enough to take into battle. The city-states of Athens,
Corinth, Megara, Sicyon, Tegea, Plataea and fourteen others all sent troops. During the battle,
Mardonius was conspicuous on his white horse, urging on the Persian forces when a stone hit
him in the head, killing him. Thereupon, the Persian line buckled and then broke into a full
retreat and rout. Those who retreated to the Persian camp were surrounded and destroyed.
Mardonius and his army were cut to shreds, and never again would a Persian army invade
Greece. The general Artabazus led what was left of Mardonius’ force back to Asia Minor, but
were harassed brutally by hostile tribes in Thrace. On the same day across the Aegean Sea, the
Greeks, led by the Spartan king Leotychides assaulted the Persian navy on the island of Samos.
The roughly 60,000 Persian forces remaining there were annihilated, while the Persian ships that
were left on the beach were burned. The Persian invasion of Greece was over, and now it was
time for the Greek counterattack.
42
28. Who is our chief historian for the Persian Wars?
29. What were the two locations that the Greeks tried to block the Persian forces?
30. How many days was the Battle of Thermopylae?
31. Where were the Greeks planning on making a last stand?
Reflection Essay
10. Why is the Battle of Salamis more significant than Thermopylae?

11. Why do you think the Greek city-states will look more to Athens than Sparta if Persia invades
again?
14. Aftermath
Themistocles was the leading magistrate in Athens initially after the Persian defeat,
pushing for Athens to rise to dominance among all the Greek city-states. However, within the
decade Themistocles would be ostracized from Athens. Ostracism was a practice in Athenian
democracy during the 5th century BC, in order to avoid potential trouble and conflict between
the city’s leading citizens. Athenians voted to ostracize, or send away, a citizen from the city for
a period of ten years. This was done as a pre-emptive measure, especially if one person seemed
to be getting too powerful in Athens. As Themistocles rose in power, the more his political allies
sought his downfall, especially the Spartans. He sought exile in Argos, then in multiple other city
states, eventually seeking exile in Ionia. While in Ephesus, Themistocles eventually ended up
meeting the Persian king at that time, Artaxerxes, who was the successor to Xerxes. Learning
the Persian language, Themistocles impressed the king and was given governorship of a couple
Ionian cities. He lived in the city of Magnesia with his family, which had been smuggled out of
Athens along with a great many of his belongings, and died a natural death nearly twenty years
later at age 65.22
22
The later historian Plutarch says that he took his own life rather than fight against his fellow Greeks.
43
Chapter III
Quarrelsome Greeks
1. The Delian League
The Battle of Plataea secured the safety of Greece from the invading Persian army, but
the Greeks wondered if the future would bring yet another invasion. While the Spartans may
have sacrificed much at Thermopylae, it was under the Athenian leadership of Themistocles that
Greece prevailed. The Battle of Thermopylae was, in the end, a Greek defeat. The Persian army
was delayed, but not stopped at the Thermopylae Pass. However, the Battle of Plataea was the
true game changer, since it forced the Persian army to withdraw from mainland Greece and give
up plans of expanding down into the Peloponnesus.23 Xerxes’ burning of Athens exacted the
Persian revenge for the burning of Sardis during the Ionian Revolt, but any future Persian
dreams of Greek conquest were temporarily abandoned. Xerxes set out completing
architectural works that were begun by his father at cities such as Susa and Persepolis, in the
heart of the Persian Empire. The Greeks were unaware that Xerxes’ gaze was not facing the
west, and they began to plan for yet another invasion.
It was clear after the Persian Wars that the leading city-state in Greece was Athens. The
success at Salamis and the generalship of Themistocles led the Greeks to victory against Xerxes’
forces. Unable to stop the momentum, the Ionian city-states once again revolted from Persian
rule, and the Greeks, led by Athens and Sparta, set about re-taking Aegean islands from Persian
control, as well as all the land north of Greece. The threat of another perceived Persian attack,
however, still loomed near. As a result, Athens in 477 BC formed the Delian League; a
confederation of Greek city-states with a plan to prepare for the next Persian invasion. With
Athens as the leading city-state, other cities looked to their fleet and army to lead the defense
of Greece. It was called the Delian League since all those within the league initially met on the
island of Delos, the sacred birthplace of Apollo in the center of the Aegean Sea. Delos was seen
23
There was also a revolt in Babylon, so Xerxes needed troops to put down the rebellion, plus the Greek
naval victory at Mycale destroyed what remained of the Persian ships.
44
as neutral ground if there was a need for a meeting. All members of the Delian League paid for
this Athenian protection. However, the treasury would not stay on Delos forever. Once the
liberation of all mainland Greece and Ionia had been accomplished, Spartan support and
involvement from the Delian League fell away, since they deemed the goal of the league had
been achieved. The Athenians, however, felt that the Ionian city-states and the islands of the
Aegean needed further protection, and began using the funds and their allied ships as they saw
fit, denying those cities that joined the league any opportunity to leave it. Under force of arms
cities were compelled to remain loyal to Athens.
2. Athens’ Golden Age
With Athens as the cultural and military leader of the Delian League, the money flowed,
while at the same time Persia was facing strife within the Achaemenid Dynasty. Xerxes never
saw another invasion into Greece, as he was assassinated in 465 BC. During the mid-5th century
BC, power fluctuated with the Persian royal family, along with a
rebellion in Egypt, which was loosely under Persian control.

Athens’ supreme power and wealth during this time came to be
known as her “Golden Age.” In 454 BC the leader of Athens,
Pericles, moved the treasury to Athens for its protection under
the pretense of the renewed Persian threat. The treasury was
instead used for Athenian building projects, such as the Parthenon
on the Acropolis. Under Pericles’ direction, this monumental
temple to Athena was built over the ruins of the one destroyed by
Xerxes during the Second Persian War. Also during this Golden
Age the Long Walls of Athens were built, which connected the city
to the port of Piraeus some 6 miles to the south. Now, even if
Athens’ citizens were forced behind her walls, the city’s seaport
could keep Athens supplied indefinitely.24
24
In modern times, the city of Athens has spread over the surrounding countryside all the way down to
the port.
45
The Temple of Athena on the Acropolis
View from the Acropolis to Piraeus
46
3. The Peloponnesian War
This heavy-handed
approach by Athens met
with resistance by Sparta
and the Peloponnesian
League, which saw this
increase of Athenian power
and influence as a threat to
her own interests. Serving as
the basis of Greek unity
against the Persian Wars, the
Delian League naturally
came to be dominated by
Athens. But when Athenian
hegemony became too much
to bear, Sparta and her allies separated. While Athens and her allies officially were the Delian
League, Sparta re-formed the original league she had over the Peloponnese. In 431 BC the
Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta, went to war with the Delian League, which historians now
appropriately call the Athenian Empire. The Spartans wasted no time and marched directly on
Athens, whose citizens left their farms and retreated behind their fortifications, while the Long
Walls to Piraeus kept the city fed. However, a plague struck Athens the following year, killing
1/3 of the city’s population,25 including their leader, Pericles. However, Athens was able to
maintain power over its allies and use the Athenian navy to raid the coast of the Peloponnese.
In 421 BC a peace accord, called the Peace of Nicias, was signed between Athens and Sparta.
The Athenians had managed to capture a couple hundred Spartan hoplites, while the Spartans
had taken the city of Amphipolis, which had been supplying silver to Athens and thereby
financing her war effort. Hostages were exchanged, but despite the peace accord, hostilities
soon broke out again between the two cities.
25
Over 30,000 Athenians died from the plague.
47
The peace was broken when the city of
Argos, on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese,
which had retained its independence from Sparta
and the Peloponnesian League, formed a
coalition with other free Peloponnesian cities
and Athens. In 418 BC the Spartans defeated this
Argive and Athenian force at the Battle of
Matinea. If they had lost, Sparta would have
capitulated to Argos and Athens and would have
likely seen her power permanently broken. All
was on the line, and Sparta had managed a
48
crucial victory. However, the Athenians were still on the attack, and in 415 BC went to the island
of Sicily to subdue Syracuse, an ally of Sparta. The Athenian campaign was mismanaged by
political intrigue and incompetent military leadership, and the attack quickly stalled. The
following year the Spartans managed to send a relief force and took command of Syracuse’s
defense, and in 413 BC they destroyed the entire Athenian expedition in the city’s harbor and
chased down the fleeing survivors on land. Back near Athens, the Spartans were again putting
pressure on the city, restricting the Athenian harvest and dwindling their treasury of war silver.26
With the majority of the Athenian navy and soldiery gone, Sparta helped allied city-
states rebel from Athens’ tyrannical hegemony of the Delian League (Athenian Empire). Now,
most of Ionia rose up against Athens, the city-state that founded many of these colonies, and
went to war against Persia on their behalf over a century before. Shockingly, Persia now
became involved and loaned money and ships to the Spartan cause. However, support against
Athens regained in popularity as many decided that Spartan control was even more flawed than
the Athenian leadership.
26
The Athenians had 1,000 talents in their treasury as a reserve. One talent was a measure of silver or
gold equivalent to one amphora jar full of water, which was roughly 67 pounds. Therefore, they had
approximately 67,000 pounds of silver left for the war effort.
49
From 410 to 406 BC, under the leadership of an Athenian named Alcibiades, Athens used
the last 100 ships at her disposal to break Spartan naval power and undue many of the reverses
she had suffered in the previous years. Alcibiades is one of the most unique figures in Greek
history, and played a major role during the Peloponnesian War. He was a native Athenian who
helped push for the Sicilian Expedition in 415 BC, but fled to Sparta when political enemies in
Athens tried to wrongfully pin the defeat on him. As
a Spartan, his advice helped bring Athens to near
defeat, but had to flee Sparta when his life was
threatened by political enemies within the Spartan
leadership. This time Alcibiades fled to Persia and
served them until political allies in Athens advocated
his return in 411 BC. Despite initial successes, by
406 BC the political climate had again grown
dangerous for Alcibiades following his command
during an Athenian defeat at Notium. Never
returning to Athens, he went into self-exile inside
Persian territory north of Ionia in Asian Minor. In
404 BC the Spartans had tracked Alcibiades down,
set his house on fire and shot him full of arrows as
he ran out, dagger in hand.

32. What city led the Delian League?
33. Who led Athens during its Golden Age?
34. What did the Long Walls connect?
35. What city in Sicily did the Athenians suffer a major defeat during the Peloponnesian War?
Reflection Essay
12. Compare Persia’s involvement during the Persian Wars compared to the Peloponnesian War.
50
4. Defeat of Athens
In 405 BC Athens suffered a crushing naval defeat at the Battle of Aegospotami in the
Hellespont, where they lost 168 ships and thousands of sailors to a renewed Spartan fleet. In
addition to the military disaster the Athenians now lost control of lands around the Hellespont,
which had up until that time supplied them with grain. This double loss prompted an Athenian
surrender to the Spartans in 404 BC, effectively ending the Peloponnesian War. Athens’ Long
Walls were torn down and a Spartan government, called the Thirty Tyrants, was put in place to
rule Athens as a subject city of Sparta, thereby banishing democracy. The cities of Corinth and
Thebes advocated the burning of Athens and the enslavement of her population, but
surprisingly Sparta rejected that idea. She asserted that Athens had, after all, been a key ally in
the defeat of the Persians so many years before. Greek ruthlessness was appropriate for all
barbaric peoples, and despite all the years of warfare and hostility between the two city-states,
Athens was still Greek. She would not burn a second time, and especially not by Greek hands.
5. March of the Ten Thousand
Three years after Athens’ defeat, a Greek mercenary army was hired by Cyrus the
Younger, brother to the then-current Persian king, Artaxerxes II, with the goal of putting Cyrus
on the throne. The Persian Achaemenid family had been rocked by scandal and suspicion for
decades, and now one brother meant to supplant the other with the help of Greek military
support. The Greek army nearly made it all the way to Babylon, even winning the Battle of
Cunaxa against Artaxerxes’ forces, but at a cost—Cyrus the Younger was killed during the
fighting. Also, the leader of the Greek mercenaries, a Spartan general named Clearchus, and all
other senior officers of the Greek army were killed or captured. Finding themselves deep in
enemy territory and leaderless, this version of “marching Republic” then chose a young officer
named Xenophon as one of its three new commanders, who later wrote a history of their
escape. His account, called the Anabasis (meaning ‘expedition’), survives to this day and tells
the story how the 10,000 Greeks fought their way home through hostile Persian territory.
Heading north, the “March of the Ten Thousand” as it has come to be known, managed to arrive
51
at the shores of the Black Sea and friendly Greek cities. Xenophon, and what was left of his
army, eventually returned home and were recruited into the army of the Spartan general
Thibron. He was given some land near Olympia, settled down into retirement and wrote his
Anabasis.
6. More Greek Troubles
Unable to tolerate Spartan rule, the Thirty Tyrants were expelled from Athens in 403 BC
and democracy was restored. Two years later Xenophon was involved in the March of the Ten
Thousand. It was now time for Sparta’s supremacy of Greece to be challenged. From 395 to
387 BC the Corinthian War involved a new coalition of Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos
against Spartan dominance. Yet again, former Greek adversaries fought against a former Greek
ally, and like during the Peloponnesian War the Persian navy played a role in the conflict—this
time for the Athenian cause. By 390 BC, the Persians changed sides yet again to the Spartan
cause, since the Athenians had several initial successes and were quickly growing too powerful
52
again. Persia now found itself the puppet master, pulling the strings in Greek politics via military
and financial support, and helped to topple those Greek powers that posed a threat to Persian
interests. Having lost the support of the Persian navy and the Persian purse, the four cities of
the coalition were forced to make peace with Sparta, especially since their grain trade routes in
the Hellespont were once again threatened. A Spartan representative traveled deep into the
Persian Empire to the political capital of Susa in order to work out the peace treaty. The Persian
King, Artaxerxes II, officially mediated the peace treaty, called the Peace of Antalcidas. The
treaty stipulated that all of Ionia was now under Persian control, while Sparta was put in charge
to make sure that Greece stayed at peace. It was sadly ironic since Artaxerxes II negotiated this
“King’s Treaty,” and it was a Greek mercenary army that tried to oust him from power fourteen
years before. After over a century of warfare between Greece and Persia, and then between
the Greeks themselves, Persia once again controlled Ionia.
7. Battle of Leuctra
While the Peace of Antalcides granted autonomy to the Greek cities, it banned all
leagues, except that of the Peloponnesian League. It was a bit tongue-in-cheek that once again
Greek independence was asserted, but the issue of the enslavement of the Spartan helots was
overlooked. Sparta was left as the enforcer of a Persian inspired peace, so it is not surprising
that opposition to this quickly grew. Thebes, led by the general Epaminondas, refused to submit
to Sparta, and the two forces met on July 6th, 371 BC at the Battle of Leuctra in northern Greece.
Both sides had roughly 10,000 men, with the Spartan numbers slightly stronger. Epaminondas
was innovative in his battle strategy, and deviated from the normal phalanx formation.
For centuries it was common for a Greek phalanx to line up eight men deep, and
advance at an enemy at a sedate pace. It was only at Marathon, remember, where the phalanx
broke out into a run at the enemy. While the Spartan general, King Cleombrotus, took up the
normal position of honor on the right, with the rest of his soldiers to his left, he faced a new
formation from the Thebans. Epaminondas used an echelon formation, where the units are
arranged diagonally like a staircase (from the French word echelle, meaning ‘ladder’). Under
normal conditions, the Thebans would have placed their strongest units on their right as well,
but Epaminondas used his cavalry to mask the fact that he massed his far left with 50 men deep.
53
By also leaving his weaker units further back, it gave the Thebans more time before they would
come into contact with the Spartans there. It was a gamble that Epaminondas took. If the
Thebans did not win against the Spartan right wing quickly, then they would face defeat when
the rest of their army came into contact with the Spartan line. It was a balance of offensive
shock and time, and it was unprecedented, risky and brilliant.
The Spartan king fell in the fighting, along with about 1,000 men, and the defeat of the
Spartan right wing rippled through the rest of the army and they routed. This was not just
another defeat, but a complete change of tactics in phalanx warfare. That would have been
significant enough, but Epaminondas followed it up with an even more daring strategy. In all
the past conflicts with Athens, Corinth and other city-states, Sparta and her immediate territory
in the Peloponnesus remained safe. Epaminondas was about to change that.
The following year, after securing alliances with many other city-states, Epaminondas
led a large Theban army down into the Peloponnesus, intent on breaking Sparta’s ability to
make war. At the head of a huge army, including former Spartan allies, the Thebans entered the
southern Peloponnesus. The Spartans did not offer battle, and retreated behind the safety of
their walls, and watched in horror as Epaminondas freed the Messenian helots and rebuilt their
ancient city of Messene. The Spartan military machine, and her dedicated core of 10,000
homoioi, depended upon the helots to till the land and give the Spartans the time to prepare for
54
war. Epaminondas understood that by taking the helots out of the Spartan equation, it would
cripple them, since nearly half of the whole helot population came from the region of Messenia.
Having dealt a crushing defeat on Sparta, Epaminondas left for Thebes but returnedl the
following year, when he returned with an army at a request of allied help in the Peloponnesus.
Now, wary of Thebes’ military threat, Epaminondas found the Isthmus of Corinth blocked by not
only the Spartans, but also the Athenians and Corinthians. He launched a dawn attack and
broke through the Spartan defense and joined his Peloponnesian allies. The campaign of 368 BC
was largely ineffective, and the Thebans withdrew home, also having seen that military help
arrived from Syracuse in Sicily. They were not forgetful of the aid that Sparta once gave them
during the Peloponnesian War.
During this time of Theban hegemony over central Greece, many young men from other
city-states came to Thebes as hostages. Sending hostages to a conqueror was a widely
established practice in antiquity. A hostage, in ancient terms, was a person of typically royal
rank who was sent to live with the enemy, and would grow up under their rule and instruction.
The threat always remained that the hostage could be killed if that person or city rebelled, but
often what resulted was the tutoring of the young in the royal households of the conqueror—in
this case Thebes. One of these young boys, Philip II, would grow up in Epaminondas’ own house
under his tutelage, learning the arts of war. He would remain in Thebes for another four years,
and then return to his home in Macedon, eventually becoming king.
In 362 BC the Thebans once again met the forces of Sparta, Athens and their allies, this
time at the Battle of Mantinea. It is not surprising that Athens was siding with Sparta despite
their decades of hostilities, since it was Thebes that had advocated the burning of Athens at the
conclusion of the Peloponnesian War, and not Sparta. Despite their alliance, neither Sparta nor
Athens had Epaminondas in command. Using tactics similar to what he did at Leuctra nine years
before, Epaminondas used deception and decisive battlefield movements to break through the
Spartan line and rout them. Xenophon, who was still alive to witness the battle, wrote how
Epaminondas used his forces as a trireme uses the prow to ram straight through his enemy.27
While the Thebans broke the Spartan line and won the Battle of Mantinea, it was at a cost.
Epaminondas was mortally wounded by a Spartan spear as he led the charge against the Spartan
right wing, and died shortly after the battle.
27
Hellenika 5.2.1-3
55
The death of Epaminondas took the proverbial wind out of the Theban sails, and power
continued to fluctuate between Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and to a lesser extent, Corinth. None of
the Greek city states understood the threat that was growing to their north in the kingdom of
Macedon. Three years after the Battle of Mantinea, in 359 BC, the twenty-three year old former
Theban hostage, Philip II, claimed the throne of Macedonia. Epaminondas’ legacy would live on
more than he ever dreamed.

36. What other title do historians call the Delian League in its later years?
37. What city said Athens was not to be burned at the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War?
38. What was the name of the soldier and historian who lived through the March of the Ten
Thousand?
39. What is the name of the formation that Epaminondas used at Leuctra and Mantinea?
Reflection Essay
13. What are your feelings about the Persian Wars versus the Peloponnesian and later Greek wars?
56
57
Chapter IV
Philip II and Alexander III
1. Artemis’ Absence
Two very famous things happened on the night of July 20th, 356 BC. First, an arsonist,
wishing to have his name live forever, set ablaze one of the seven wonders of the ancient world:
the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. That very same night, as the temple was being consumed in
flames, Alexander the Great was born.
Little remains of the Temple of Artemis today except a
single column, standing guard in the marshy swamp where the
temple once stood. Located on the western coast of Turkey, the
city of Ephesus pre-dates Christianity by over 1,000 years, and
was a powerhouse of Greek culture in Ionia.
The Temple of Artemis was originally built in the 6th
century BC, when that land was controlled by the kingdom of
Lydia, and was older than the shrine of Apollo in the nearby city
of Didyma. The Temple of Artemis was re-built many times over
the course of the next few hundred years, and was in its fourth
reincarnation (called temple D) when Alexander was born in 356
BC. Larger than all the previous versions, it was a staggering 220
feet wide and 425 feet long, supported by 127 columns that stretched like a forest of tall trees,
60ft up into the sky. To put it in more American terms, the temple was 1 ½ football fields long,
2/3 of a field wide. If the columns were laid flat on the ground, they would stretch from the end
zone to mid-field. The Temple of Artemis was not only the largest temple in the world, but it
also exerted significant political and financial influence in Ephesus.
On that fateful night in 356 BC, an arsonist named Herostratus set ablaze the great
temple, wishing to have his name live forever by commiting this act of intentional destruction.
As the Roman historian Valerius Maximus later said:
58
A man was found to plan the burning of the temple of Ephesian Diana (Artemis)
so that through the destruction of this most beautiful building his name might be
spread through the whole world28.
In their hatred, the Ephesians ordered Herostratus put to death, and

anyone who spoke his name would share the same fate as the arsonist.
In the aftermath of the destroyed temple, the Ephesians decided yet
again to rebuild the famous temple, but not entirely for religious reasons. It
must not be overlooked that the temple was both sacred and a money
maker for the Ephesians. Worshippers and admireres came from all over
the Greek world to see this amazing sight, and the business it created for
the local economy was immense. Rebuilding a temple—even a modest
one—was never a quick process, and the Temple of Artemis was still under
reconstruction when Alexander marched through with his Macedonian army twenty-two years
later in 334 BC. He even offered to pay for its rebuilding, with an eye probably towards the
public relations gain of such a gesture. However, they politely refused his offer and continued
on their own, eventually finishing it eleven years later.
For another three hundred and fifty years people came to Ephesus in order to see the
Temple of Artemis. Then, in the first century AD of the Roman Empire, the Apostle Paul stopped
at Ephesus to preach the gospel. The Temple of Artemis supported a bustling local business in
iconography29, which is described in the Biblical chapter titled Ephesians. Paul feared going into
the city because a local silversmith, Demetrius, had stirred up resentment to Paul and his
message. Changing to a different faith meant a cut, if not elimination, of the local merchants’
livelihood, since they relied on selling the iconic images of the Temple of Artemis—those lovely
trinkets all tourists and would-be pilgrims pick up from famous sites. In other words, Demetrius
was an early advocate for “been there, got the t-shirt.” Paul’s companions, Gaius and
Aristarchus, were shoved into the theatre (Paul himself did not dare to enter the city because of
the mob’s anger). Once inside, Paul’s messengers faced the real possibility of being killed by the
28
Valerius Maximus, VIII.14.ext.5
29
Iconography in Ephesus was the business of selling images of the Temple of Artemis.
59
enraged merchants. However, a town-clerk managed to calm the crowd, and eventually
everyone dispersed.
A legend arose the night the temple burned in 356 BC: it was said that the goddess
Artemis, who always watched over her temple’s safety, left her beloved sanctuary and traveled
across the Aegean to Macedonia so she could witness the birth of Alexander. In her absence,
Herostratus found everlasting infamy.
Theatre of Ephesus
2. Achilles’ Fate
As the fire burned through the wooden timbers and brought the
temple roof crashing down, so too did the birth of Alexander begin a fire
that would one day spread across Asia. Alexander was the son of twenty-
year-old Olympias (375-316 BC), a princess from the kingdom of Epirus, and
Philip II (382-326 BC), the twenty-six year old king of Macedonia. The
young Alexander spent his childhood hearing the stories of Homer’s Iliad,
and the tales of the gods on Mount Olympus. To him they were real.
60
61
Alexander grew up knowing in his heart that the fate of a man lies not within himself or
his own deeds, but with the will of the gods. Olympias constantly told him of his ancestry, and
that he was a descendant of Achilles and Herakles. She herself could claim her bloodline back to
Andromache, wife of Hector, who was taken back to Greece after Troy’s fall by Achilles’ son,
Neoptolemeus. Alexander intended to surpass in glory these heroes of history and mythology,
but he would also unknowingly share Achilles’ fate. Once he left Greece for his famous march
into Persia, he would never see her shores again. Alexander, whether he knew it or not, had
chosen kleos over nostos, as Achilles had once done. Alexander felt the gods governed a man’s
fate, and he would die when the gods deemed it his time. At heart, he was a deeply religious
man driven by the faith of his destiny.
3. Philip II
Pella, the capital city of Macedonia, was in the northernmost

reaches of Greece, roughly four days travel north of Mt. Olympus. The
Athenians and other city-states of central and southern Greece looked
upon the Macedonians as semi-barbaric, hard drinkers, who
shamelessly had a history of offering invading Persian armies “fire and
water.” As it has been mentioned earlier, such symbols of submission
were demanded and received of Alexander I, who ruled Macedonia
during the Second Persian War. Essentially snubbed as “Greek
groupies” by the Athenians and other older city-states of central Philip II of Macedon
Greece, the Macedonians were—in a manner of speaking—the loud tenants who move in to a
loft apartment above some gentile older couple. It was under the leadership of Philip II,
Alexander’s father, that Macedonia would rise and unite the Greek city-states under one, single
rule—his own.
Philip II spent his early years as a hostage in Thebes, receiving an education from its
leading general Epaminondas. This was the same general who smashed the Spartan army at
the Battle of Leuctra. In 364 BC, at age 18, Philip returned to Macedonia. Five years later, after
the deaths of his two elder brothers, he ascended to the throne of Macedonia. In that same
62
year, he secured his kingdom’s western border, which had been invaded by Thracians, and
defeated a force of 3,000 Athenians, who were attempting to put their own puppet king on the
Macedonian throne. He spent these crucial early years reforming the Macedonian army into
one of the most powerful military forces of the ancient world.
Philip instituted changes to the standard equipment of a Greek hoplite, radically
changing phalanx warfare. His soldiers were no longer the temporary farmer-soldier, but paid
by the state. This allowed them to train all year round, even during winter, in an effort to
strengthen their endurance. 30 The phalanx was deepened from the traditional depth of 8 to 16
men, and formed a square of 256 soldiers called a syntagma. The large hoplite shield, which
had changed very little for the past thousand years, was reduced in size. Now, with the addition
of a shoulder strap, it could be wielded without using the left hand. This left both hands free to
hold the new Macedonian spear, the sarissa. Philip ordered the length of the traditional hoplite
spear doubled, making it roughly 14-17 feet long, which took both hands to use. This turned a
phalanx into a rolling pin cushion capable of tremendous offensive damage. Before an enemy
could even touch the first man in a syntagma he had to get through the first five rows of
sarissae that bristled out in front. Behind
them, the remaining men of the syntagma
held their spears at an angle to help block
incoming missiles.

40. What was the name of the arsonist who
burned down the Temple of Artemis?
41. What year was Alexander the Great
born?
42. What city did Philip II spend his early
years as a hostage?
43. What is the name for the 256 man
phalanx formation?
Reflection Essay
14. Compare Alexander’s birth and destruction of the temple to someone having been born on
th
September 11 , 2001.
30
This classifies Philip II’s army as professional, since their sole occupation became was war, and they
were paid, unlike the Spartans.
63
4. Consolidation of Power
Philip spent the next 13 years in an almost constant state of war and diplomacy, usually
against Athens and her allies. He ruthlessly expanded his control in nearly every direction of the
compass; however, it was not without sacrifice. In 355 BC, Philip besieged the Athenian city of
Methone, and lost an eye from a nearly fatal arrow. But the year before he lost his eye, Philip
gained a son.
Portents and signs preceded Alexander’s birth.31 Philip dreamt that he tried to seal up
Olympias’ womb, and engraved on the seal was the figure of a lion. The lion has long been a
sign of kingship, and it was believed that this was a sign that Philip’s son would one day become
king. Olympias also suffered strange dreams before giving birth; she awoke one night, having
dreamt that lightning struck her womb with a thunderous crash, and a blinding light thereupon
shone from it. On the day Alexander was born, news was brought to Philip that his most trusted
general and old friend, Parmenio, won a great victory over the Illyrian tribes in the north. Word
also reached Philip that his horse had won in the Olympic Games. As the saying goes, everything
happens in three’s.
Olympias was not Philip’s first wife, nor his second, or even his third—she was in fact his
fourth.32 More of a political arrangement, Philip’s marriage to Olympias linked him to the royal
bloodline of King Arymbas of Epirus, since she was the king’s niece. The marriage with Olympias
helped to strengthen Philip’s ties to that kingdom and secure his western border, allowing him
to focus on his Thracian and Athenian problems.
5. Bucephalus
As Alexander grew up under Philip’s watchful eye, Philip continued waging war and
expanding Macedonian territory. In 346 BC a tentative peace was made with Athens, and Philip
turned his attention to Sparta. Even though Sparta’s military prestige was shattered at Leuctra
31
Alexander the Great was named Alexander III.
32
Olympias’ name was, according to the historian Plutarch, originally Polyxena, but it was changed
Myrtale due to her initiation in the secretive cult of Dionysius. He also claimed that she loved to sleep
with snakes, which were symbolic of the cult. When Philip’s horse won at the Olympic Games, her name
changed yet again.
64
in 371 BC, they were still a military power to be worried about. Philip sent a message to Sparta,
“You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army into your land, I will
destroy your farms, slay your people, and raze your city.” The Spartans, in their customary
Laconic language, sent a simple reply: “if”. Philip left Sparta alone.
In 346 BC, the ten-year-old Alexander greeted some Persian ambassadors who came to
Pella seeking an audience with Philip. Charmed by the inquisitive young prince, they happily
answered all his questions. Alexander asked what the extent of the Persian Empire was, it’s
military strength, and who was its king and how
did he rule the lands. The Persian ambassadors
did not feel threatened by these questions.
After all, he was just a boy. Hindsight is truly
20/20.
There is another story that gives an
insight into Alexanders’ character, and it
concerns perhaps his closest friend—his horse
Bucephalus. A horse trader attempted to sell
Philip a black horse of immense size and
volatile temperament. It had a single,
distinguishing white mark on his head in the
shape of an ox, and for that it got its name,
Bucephalus (meaning ‘ox-head’ in Greek).33
The trader demanded 13 talents from Philip for
the horse, a staggering amount, since it amounted to 858 pounds of silver. The horse would not
let anyone ride him, and could not be broken.34 When Philip tried and gave up in frustration,
Alexander offered his father a wager (it is important to remember that he is only ten-years-old).
He told his father that if he could not ride the horse, he would pay for it himself. As Philip and
his entourage looked on, Alexander carefully walked up to the horse, and with the gentlest of
motions, turned him to face the sun. The young prince noticed something no one else had;
Bucephalus was afraid of his own shadow. When Bucephalus’ shadow disappeared, Alexander
33
The other story is that the horse’s extreme stubbornness was the origin of its name.
34
A wild horse had to be “broken” before it could be rode. This meant taming the horse so a rider could
mount on its back without being thrown.
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slipped onto his back, and rode him away at a gallop. Things were tense for Philip, as Plutarch
says:
Philip and his friends looked on at first in silence and anxiety for the result, till
seeing him turn at the end of his career, and come back rejoicing and triumphing
for what he had performed, they all burst out into acclamations of applause; and
his father shedding tears, it is said, for joy, kissed him as he came down from his
horse, and in his transport said, "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to
and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."
While John Dryden’s translation of Plutarch is a bit old fashioned, one can still see in
Alexander a keen awareness of things that others would miss, and an exceptional fearlessness
he would display all his life.
6. Education
Growing up, Alexander had an early tutor named

Leonidas, who was exceedingly strict. One day as a young boy,
Alexander was offering sacrifice and heaped a large amount of
incense on the altar fire. Leonidas scolded the young Alexander
for throwing too much and said that when he conquered all the
spice bearing lands could he then afford to be so generous to the
gods. Many years later, in 332 BC, Alexander conquered the city
of Gaza on his way to Egypt. Gaza was a key city on the spice
trade between Persia and Egypt. Leonidas awoke to find that six
hundred talents (40,000 pounds) of frankincense and myrrh had
Aristotle
been shipped to him. Again, a childhood episode gives a glimpse
into how Alexander thought. He could harbor a grudge for years, and was patient and
calculating—a very dangerous combination.
When Alexander was fourteen, Philip hired the famous philosopher, Aristotle, to
continue tutoring the young prince. In a quiet grove, along with some of Alexander’s closest
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friends, Aristotle taught him rhetoric, astronomy, biology, politics, ethics, logic, and many other
wide-ranging subjects. Aristotle was, after all, Plato’s most brilliant pupil; and Plato himself was
a pupil of Socrates. Things do indeed happen in three’s.

44. What was Bucephalus afraid of?
45. What kingdom was Olympias from?
46. What were the names of Alexander’s two tutors?
Reflection Essay
15. How were multiple wives for Philip II different than modern polygamist marriage?
7. The Battle of Chaeronea
When Alexander was eighteen, he took part in a battle with his father against a united
army of Athenians, Thebans and their allies. They fought to prevent Macedonian hegemony
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over Greece—the Spartans, of course, did not show. The Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC had two
significant events: first, this battle ended the Greek effort for independence and recognized
Philip as Captain-General of Greece itself. Second, while Alexander was still in his teens, when
most American students are just graduating high school, he led a cavalry charge that was
decisive in bringing about Philip’s victory. Seeing a gap between the Athenian and Theban lines,
Alexander charged through it and broke the enemy lines. While Plutarch suggests that
Alexander may have been leading a division of the phalanx and not the cavalry, the result was
still the same. The Athenians lost over 1,000 men, while the Theban Sacred Band, a fierce
contingent of 300 homosexual lovers who were known for their skill and tenacity in combat,
died nearly to the man. Philip, in honor of the Sacred Band’s courage, erected a lion monument
where they were buried, which still stands to this day.
With his victory at Chaeronea, Philip secured himself as the leader of the Greeks, albeit
tenuously. Given the right opportunity, Thebes and Athens would surely revolt. Then there was
Sparta, known for stirring up trouble for any city-state with dreams of grandeur, but for the
moment, with shortage of allies, she stayed quiet down in the Peloponnese. With Greece
pacified, Philip now set about for his grandest plan: the invasion of Persia.
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8. Family Trouble
Olympias was not the last wife of Philip. In fact, in 337 BC Philip II married Eurydice,
niece of Attalus, an officer and nobleman in the Macedonian army. She was wife number eight,
and a hated rival of Olympias. Eurydice, unlike Alexander’s mother, was of pure Macedonian
blood. Thus, if a child came of that marriage, it would have a greater hereditary claim to the
throne than Alexander. This argument nearly came to blows at a dinner banquet one evening,
when Attalus made a toast—in front of Alexander—that he hoped Philip’s new marriage would
result in a “legitimate heir.” Insulted, Alexander got into a shouting match with Attalus, and
asked if he took Alexander to be a bastard. Alexander then threw his wine glass at him.
Infuriated, Philip drew his sword to strike at Alexander for this insult, but unsurprisingly he had
too much wine that night, and he tripped and fell over a table. With a bit of smugness,
Alexander said to the dinner crowd, “Look, men, here is the man who was getting ready to cross
from Europe to Asia, and he cannot even cross from one table to another without falling down.”
Olympias now deemed it prudent to return to Epirus,35 and Alexander to campaign
against some northern tribes. Soon, Philip realized that he needed Alexander, as he was a good
soldier and able leader. If Philip was going to lead his great invasion into Persia, he would need
his son at his side. But Fate had a different plan for him. In 336 BC, Philip ordered Attalus to set
out with an advance force into Asia Minor in preparation for the main invasion of the Persian
Empire. Philip decided now was the appropriate time to visit Delphi and seek confirmation
before setting out against Persia. The Oracle’s advice was typically cryptic, and said “Wreathed
in the bull, all is done.” Philip confidently took the message to mean that King Darius III of Persia
was going to be offered up as a sacrifice on the altar. Now satisfied, he had one more thing to
do before setting out on his Persian campaign in the spring of the following year;36 he decided
to arrange one more marriage, this time for his daughter, Cleopatra. She was the daughter of
Olympias and Philip, born the same year as Alexander, and therefore his direct sister. She was
to marry Alexander I of Epirus, Olympias’ own brother. That meant that Cleopatra was going to
marry her own uncle. Putting aside the obvious familial issues here, one can see that Philip
arranged this marriage for political reasons. By making Alexander I of Epirus his son-in-law,
35
Her brother, also named Alexander (I), had been placed as king by Philip a few years before.
36
335 BC.
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Philip tightened his grip on the kingdom of Epirus. Olympias was, in a manner of speaking,
having the political door shut in her face.
9. Philip II’s Assassination
Theatre of Aegae
In celebration of this marriage, Philip arranged a public ceremony in the theatre of

Aegae (pictured above) in October of 336 BC. Appearing with Alexander I of Epirus on one side
and Alexander III on the other, Philip made his way through the city and into the theatre. Here,
representatives of almost all the major Greek city-states were present. Philip’s rule over Greece
was tenuous at best, despite his claim that he was about to wage war on behalf of all Greeks for
the atrocities of the Persian Wars over a century earlier. As Philip entered the theatre,
Pausanias, chief of the Macedonian Royal Guard, approached him when he was alone, and
stabbed him.37 Running from the theatre to a waiting horse, Pausanias tripped and was stabbed
to death by some loyal guards who had given chase to the assassin.
At this turn of events Cleopatra and Alexander I had the good instinct to return to
Epirus. Alexander, now twenty-years-old, was proclaimed king the next day by the Macedonian
37
Pausanius was one of seven soldiers in Philip’s Royal Bodyguard. His motivation for killing Philip was
officially that he was on the Persian take, while another darker reason was that he was avenging being
spurned by Philip when his sexual advances were denied.
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army. Olympias, feeling secure in her position, had Eurydice and her new infant killed.38
Enraged at his mother’s actions, Alexander nonetheless now felt that Attalus was a threat to his
rule, who was at that time over in Asia Minor, preparing for the forthcoming invasion of Persia.
Alexander also learned that Attalus was in conversation with Demosthenes, Athens’ most
famous orator and outspoken critic of Philip. It would not take much convincing for Athens to
throw off Alexander’s rule, and Attalus’ conversations with Demosthenes were enough of a
danger to order his assassination. The Greek world
held its collective breath to find out what was going to
happen next.

47. What two city-states fought against Philip at
Chaeronea?
48. What did Philip do to commemorate the Sacred
Band that died at Chaeronea?
49. What Greek city-state did not recognize Philip as the
Captain-General of Greece?
50. What was the name of Philip’s assassin?
Reflection Essay
16. How is “being thrown the keys to a new car” an apt

analogy for Alexander’s ascension to the throne in
336 BC?
Demosthenes of Athens
39
Philip II's burial larnax
38
It is uncertain if there was a child, but the name Europa is given. Some sources say that Olympias had
them burned alive, forced to hang themselves, or dragged over a burning brazier. While the method is
not clear, the result is all the same.
39
In Vergina (Aegae), the box (larnax) holding Philip II’s remains is on display in the museum there.
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Chapter V
Alexander’s March: Granicus to Siwa
1. Captain-General of Greece
As soon as Alexander became king, the revolt of Macedonian rule broke out in the cities
of Athens and Thebes, along with all of Thessaly. Alexander acted quickly and headed south to
subdue Thessaly, and then sped on south through the Gates of Thermopylae. The speed of his
reaction silenced all opposition, for now. Arriving in Corinth, he was pronounced the Captain-
General of Greece, as his father had been.
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While he was in Corinth, Alexander sought out the philosopher, Diogenes of Sinope.
Diogenes was in his late 70’s, and was a founder of the Cynic philosophy, whose believers said
that honor was better in action than theory. He thought the ideal animal was not man, but a
dog, which never betrays, always acts out of honesty, and never jealousy or greed. In fact, the
word Cynic is derived from the Greek word for dog ( κύων).
Diogenes had spent his life mocking Plato and Athenian society, along with those whom
he considered vain and without merit. He ate in the marketplace, which was contrary to the
custom of the times. When scolded for this behavior, he replied that is was in the marketplace
when he was most hungry. The next time you find yourself in the fruit section of your local
grocery store, be a Diogenes and eat a grape before you get to the register. The philosopher
was also seen walking around during the daytime, lamp in hand, saying he was looking for an
honest man. He had an intense desire to mock Plato, and brought him a plucked chicken. He
proudly said, “Behold, I’ve brought you a man!” Plato’s definition of man was “flightless bipeds”
and it was Diogenes’ way of mocking Plato’s arrogance.40 The philosopher lived in perpetual
poverty, and was in Corinth when he and Alexander met. As Plutarch recounts:
While he stayed here, many public ministers and philosophers came from all
parts to visit him and congratulated him on his election, but contrary to his
expectation, Diogenes of Sinope, who then was living at Corinth, thought so
little of him, that instead of coming to compliment him, he never so much as
stirred out of the suburb called the Cranium, where Alexander found him
lying along in the sun. When he saw so
much company near him, he raised himself
a little, and looked upon Alexander; and
when he kindly asked him whether he
wanted anything, "Yes," said he, "I would
have you stand from between me and
the sun." Alexander was so struck at this
answer, and surprised at the greatness of
the man, who had taken so little notice of
him, that as he went away he told his
followers, who were laughing at the
moroseness of the philosopher, that if he
were not Alexander, he would choose to
be Diogenes.
40
Plato was recounting the definition as originally told by Socrates, his teacher.
73
Alexander had everything, and Diogenes—nothing. However, both men saw in each
other a man who could call his own shots. They may have been radically different, but each was
his own alpha male.
While in Corinth, Alexander received word that revolt had broken out with the Illyrians
and the Thracians in the north. With great rapidity he marched and defeated the rebellious
tribes, and when Alexander’s army went deep into the north and was not heard from, Athens
and Thebes thought him dead. Encouraged by Demosthenes, they threw off the Macedonian
yoke and declared themselves free. To their shock, Alexander returned from his northern
campaign and marched on Thebes. The Thebans rejected Alexander’s demand to hand over the
ring leaders of the revolt in exchange for clemency. They decided to resist, fatally. The historian
Diodorus Siculus recounts the fall of the city:
In the capture of the city, no Theban was seen begging the Macedonians to
spare his life, nor did they in ignoble fashion fall and cling to the knees of
their conquerors. But neither did the agony of courage elicit pity from the
foe nor did the day's length suffer for the cruelty of their vengeance. All the
city was pillaged. Everywhere boys and girls were dragged into captivity as
they wailed piteously the names of their mothers. In the end, when night
finally intervened, the houses had been plundered and children and women
and aged persons who had fled into the temples were torn from sanctuary
and subjected to outrage without limit. Over 6,000 Thebans perished, more
than 30,000 were captured, and the amount of property plundered was
unbelievable.
There was only one place that was left untouched; the house of the poet
Pindar, for whom Alexander had a fondness. The actual destruction of the
city was left to Alexander’s allies and the cities near Thebes. A Thracian
general and his men found a woman named Timoclea, a Theban noblewoman
and sister to the general who fell at Chaeronea.41 She was raped by the
Thracian commander, and then asked if she had any hidden money. She led
him to a well, and when he looked in, she shoved him over the edge to his
death. The other soldiers brought her before Alexander, who promptly
ordered Timoclea’s release when he learned what had happened.42
41
The Theban commander, Theagenes.
42
Alexander had a strict policy of not allowing his soldiers to rape the inhabitants of a captured city.
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2. Alexander’s Generals
Upon the death of his father, Alexander inherited the finest army in Greece, if not the
entire world at that time. His phalanx was deadly with its long sarissae, and the Macedonian
cavalry was lethally strong. The phalanx would engage the enemy, while the cavalry would
circle around and smash it from behind; often historians describe this as a ‘hammer and anvil’
tactic of the Macedonians. Alexander personally led the Companion Cavalry on the right wing,
while Parmenio led the allies on the left. Parmenio was Philip’s most trusted general, and now
stood at Alexander’s side, ready to fight despite being 64-years-old. Age had only made
Parmenio tougher and wiser. Cleitus the Black, called that because of his hair, was 39 and a
junior officer in Philip’s army in 336 BC. He too would follow Alexander into Asia, along with
Parmenio’s three sons; Philotas, Nicanor and Hector.
Alexander recalled some of his closest friends, whom Philip had exiled the year before
he was murdered. Some of them included Erigyius, Nearchus and Ptolemy, all of whom served
as Alexander’s hetairoi (literally ‘companions’) and became commanders within his army. It is
with this group of close friends and elder advisors that Alexander marched to war in the spring
of 334 BC. However, he sent the Macedonian army on ahead to cross the Hellespont into Asia
while he himself made a special visit to Troy.
3. Trojan Pilgrimage
When Alexander neared the shores of Asia Minor, a bull was sacrificed in honor of
Poseidon. This was a display of his strong religious belief in the gods. It was also a rebuttal to
Xerxes’ whipping the waters of the Hellespont during his crossing into Greece in 480 BC. One
must remember that Philip’s reason for invading Asia, at least to appease the Greek sentiment,
was revenge for the Persian Wars one hundred and forty-four years before and the subsequent
burning of Athens. In Greek history, old trespasses were not forgotten. In a manner befitting
Achilles, Alexander’s ship pulled up on the shore near Troy, and jumping into the water in full
battle armor he cast a spear onto the beach. It stuck in the sand, and he loudly claimed Asia for
the Greeks. It was, to be sure, a very Homeric image.43
43
Alexander slept with a copy of the Iliad with him at all times.
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Before leaving Troy, Alexander ordered the tomb of Achilles restored, while his closest
companion and boyhood friend, Hephaestion, restored the tomb of Patroclus. The message is
very clear; the Iliad was not just a story, but a part of his history. Lastly, Alexander decided to go
to the temple of Athena, within which were some of the Trojan War’s most famous artifacts.
Alexander left his personal shield in the temple, in exchange for the shield of Achilles, the one
said to have been made by the god Hephaestus himself.44

51. Who was the founder of the Cynic philosophy?
52. What Greek city rebelled against Alexander?
53. Where did Alexander stop first on his Persian invasion?
54. What book did Alexander always have with him?
Reflection Essay
17. Why would Alexander use so many of his close friends as generals in his army?
4. Memnon of Rhodes and Battle of the Granicus River
Memnon of Rhodes was a very capable Greek general, who was in command of the
mercenaries and the Persian defense of Asia Minor. He understood that Alexander did not have
enough provisions or money to support a long campaign, and would soon be forced to go back
to Macedonia if he did not achieve a battlefield victory. Memnon insisted on avoiding a direct
confrontation with Alexander, and instead pushed the Persians to follow a scorched-earth
policy, in order to deny the invading force any provisions. However, he was overruled by the
Persian satrap and they assembled an army to meet Alexander. There was undoubtedly a bit of
Persian suspicion to trust a Greek who was willing to fight against his own people.
The Granicus River, located east of Troy, was narrow and fairly shallow at that time of
year. It was here on the 3rd of May, 334 BC that the Macedonians faced off against a Persian
army for the first time. Parmenio advised an assault on the enemy in the morning of the
following day, when a surprise attack could be launched, but instead Alexander immediately
44
Whether this was the actual shield of Achilles, in the modern factual sense, did not matter to Alexander.
To him, it was a living link to Achilles and the gods of the Iliad.
76
drew up his army for battle. Across the river, the Persians numbered about 25,000 men, almost
half of which was cavalry. Darius III was not there, but instead they were commanded by the
local satraps in Asia Minor. Alexander needed an immediate victory in order to legitimize his
invasion to those back in Greece. Athenians, such as Demosthenes, undoubtedly wanted to
hear that Alexander’s invasion was not going well, thereby providing an opportunity to raise a
rebellion against Macedonian hegemony over Greece. Alexander also needed a quick victory at
the Granicus River in order to pay his soldiers with the victory spoils, since he could not afford a
long campaign. On the battlefield, the Greek mercenaries were arranged on a bluff in the rear
of the Persian army, with the cavalry drawn up on the bank overlooking the river. While the
Persians had superior numbers in cavalry (10,000 to Alexander’s 5,000), the Macedonians had
the advantage with their phalanx.
Alexander was not attempting to blend in with his army; dressed in his shining armor and with
prominent white plumes sticking out of his helmet, he was easily recognized on the battlefield.
The Persians, spotting Alexander, massed their cavalry opposite him and the Companions, while
Parmenio commanded the left wing and the Macedonian allies. Launching the attack, Alexander
led the Companion Cavalry and the phalanx across the river.
77
Guy MacLean Rogers, in his book, Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness, describes the chaos of
the battle, and how Alexander was right in the middle.
Mithrdates, the son-in-law of the Persian king, led a second Persian charge, this
time directed at Alexander himself, who by now was up and out of the riverbed,
on the east side of the river. Alexander rode out to meet Mithrdates and struck
him in the face with his spear. The brothers Rhoesaces and Spithridates then
rode after Alexander. Rhoesaces sliced off part of Alexander’s helmet with his
scimitar, slightly wounding him; Alexander killed him with a spear thrust
through his cuirass. Spithridates now raised his scimitar, ready to strike a fatal
blow at Alexander from behind. But Cleitus…severed Spithridates’ arm at the
shoulder with a single blow.45
Alexander’s fortune at Granicus truly seemed like the gods were watching from above.
Now, the Macedonian phalanx spotted an opening in the Persian cavalry formation, exploited it,
and routed them from the battlefield. As for the Greek mercenaries, Alexander gave them no
quarter. He ordered his infantry to advance and slaughter them without mercy, sending a clear
message to all Greeks who would fight against their own countrymen. Memnon of Rhodes
managed to get away, and made plans to continue the Persian resistance.
As for casualties, the Macedonians lost a few hundred men, while the Persians suffered
roughly 4,000 dead. However, the Greek mercenaries were devastated, with 3,000 slaughtered
and another 2,000 being sent into slavery. As a final and somewhat stinging gesture of this
victory, Alexander ordered 300 suits of Persian armor sent back to Athens. They were inscribed,
“Alexander, son of Philip, and the Greeks, except the Spartans, dedicate these spoils, taken from
the barbarians who dwell in Asia.” Alexander, like his father, had found it best to leave Sparta
alone and not invade the Peloponnese. It would have been a snowy day in Tartarus before
Alexander begged them to join his invasion of Persia. The number of shields sent to Athens was
a clear snub of the famous Spartan sacrifice at Thermopylae. Again, Alexander was not one to
forget those who had crossed his path.
45
Rodgers: 47.
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5. Ionian Freedom
Now that the Persian forces were shattered at Granicus, Alexander began the process of
taking cities along the Ionian coast. Marching south, the Persian governor of Sardis surrendered
the city without a shot. One hundred and sixty-four years before, in 498 BC, Athens had helped
during the Ionian Revolt and Sardis had been burned to the ground by the rebels. That
interference, remember, had kicked off Darius and Xerxes’ Persian invasions of Greece and the
subsequent burning of Athens in revenge for Sardis in 480 BC. Now, the city was under the 22-
year-old’s control as he continued to march his Macedonian army south.
As Alexander approached Ephesus, the city’s inhabitants threw open the gates and
welcomed their liberator, having expelled the Persian garrison. While the Ephesians declined
any financial assistance to help rebuild the Temple of Artemis, he did re-allocate Persian funds
to the temple itself. Once the democratic institutions were re-established, Alexander continued
down the Ionian coast. It was at this time that other cities, spurred on by Alexander’s success,
rebelled and threw out their own Persian garrisons. Alexander had shown the Ionian city-states
that he was there as their liberator, not their conqueror.
79
This map shows the current shoreline, which has silted up since antiquity due to the Meander River.
The Macedonians now approached the powerful harbor-city of Miletus and quickly
seized the nearby island of Lade, which stopped the Persians from sending their fleet into the
harbor. Miletus had been the most famous and prosperous of the Ionian city-states, and
claimed a resettlement by Athenian colonists during the Dark Ages. Now, Alexander’s army
approached the landward walls and laid siege to the city. The defenders fiercely resisted, but
their defense fell apart when the Macedonian siege engines breached a section of the wall.
Alexander spared the Miletus’ population, with the exception of those who fought against the
Macedonians.
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81
View to the northeast of Miletus. The flat, green land out beyond is the silted plain of the Meander River.
View of the ruins to the southwest of Miletus, from the top of the Greek amphitheatre.
82
6. The Oracle of Didyma
From Miletus, a Sacred Road ran south 10 miles to the town of Didyma (modern Didim)
and a Temple of Apollo that was the religious focus of the city. It was an oracle, similar to the
Oracle of Delphi on the Greek mainland, and was also sacred to the god Apollo. In 494 BC the
Persians destroyed the temple en route to Greece, and looted the treasury inside. In the heart
of the temple was a sacred spring to Apollo, which symbolically dried up after the temple’s
destruction by the Persians. In addition, a famous statue of Apollo was carried off as a war prize
to the city of Ecbatana, deep within the Persian Empire. According to the historian
Callisthenes,46 as Alexander and his Macedonian army passed Didyma, the spring once again
bubbled. Apollo approved.
The Temple of Apollo in Didim, Turkey.
46
Aristotle’s great-nephew and Alexander’s official historian that traveled with the army.
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7. Fall of Halicarnassus
After the Persian fleet was unable to help the defense of Miletus, Alexander approached
the heavily fortified city of Halicarnassus, now the modern city of Bodrum. Before marching on
the city, Alexander boldly decommissioned his
fleet and sent them back home. He had 160
ships at his command, compared to the
Persian navy which numbered around 400
ships, but while the Macedonian navy had
helped in the defeat of Miletus, the city had
actually fallen from the landward side and his
siege towers. Alexander now saw his own
fleet as a constriction on his campaign,
realizing that his aim of liberating Ionia could
be achieved by his army alone.47 As long as
The Myndus Gate of Halicarnassus
Alexander deprived the Persian navy of friendly
ports, then they could not pose a threat. In other words—checkmate.
It was now the late summer of 334 BC, and Alexander’s army fought a hard,
four-month siege of Halicarnassus, the last major Persian stronghold in Ionia.48 The Macedonian
siege engines were brought from Miletus, and a deep ditch in front of the city’s wall was filled in
to make way for the towers. The walls surrounding the city were broad and wide, and
Macedonian assaults were initially repulsed. Diodorus gives us an account of the siege’s
ferocity:
Alexander encamped near the city and set in motion an active

and formidable siege. At first he made continued assaults on the
walls with relays of attackers and spent whole days in active
fighting. Later he brought up all sorts of engines of war, filled in
the trenches in front of the city with the aid of sheds to protect
47
Diodorus Siculus states that the 20 ships from Athens, along with the bulk of the remaining, were sent
home. Only a few ships were kept for transporting the siege engines.
48
Halicarnassus was the birthplace of the famous historian Herodotus.
84
the workers, and rocked the towers and the curtains between
them with his battering rams. Whenever he overthrew a portion
of the wall, he attempted by hand-to-hand fighting to force
an entry into the city over the rubble. But Memnon at first easily
beat off the Macedonians assaulting the walls, for he had large
numbers of men in the city. Where the siege engines were
attacking, he issued from the city at night with numbers of
soldiers and applied fire to the machines. Fierce fights occurred
in front of the city, in which the Macedonians showed far
superior prowess, but the Persians had the advantage of
numbers and of fire power.49
The fighting was so savage that Alexander even had to ask for a truce in order to collect
the dead for burial. The Persian fleet kept the city supplied, so it was on the landward side
where Alexander’s siege engines had to force a breakthrough. The city’s defense was personally
led by Memnon of Rhodes, but when he realized that Halicarnassus would fall, he fled.
Alexander left 3,000 soldiers behind to ensure that the city remained loyal, and he and the army
proceeded along the southern coast of Asia Minor, mopping up what resistance was left. Asia
Minor was no longer in Persian hands. Memnon attempted to raise support within Athens and
Sparta for a revolt, and began subjugating islands in the Aegean. Luckily for Alexander, Memnon
died of illness while at Mytilene and the Persian resistance along the coast fell apart without his
leadership.

55. Who was the Greek general that fought for Persia against Alexander?
56. Who saves Alexander’s life at Granicus?
57. What city threw out its Persian garrison before Alexander arrived?
58. Why was Alexander taking coastal cities in Ionia?
Reflection Essay
18. What events at the Battle of the Granicus River could support an argument that Alexander was
beloved by the gods?
19. Memnon of Rhodes can almost be considered a tragic military figure. Why?
49
Book XVII, 24.
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8. The Gordium Knot
In 333 BC Alexander left his army, which was continuing across the southern coast, in
order to visit the town of Gordium in the center of Asia Minor. This provides yet another
glimpse into Alexander’s belief in the importance of religious verification of his campaign and his
own destiny. Long before, a peasant named Gordias entered the city with his ox-cart. It had
been foretold by an oracle that whoever should enter with this type of cart should be
proclaimed king of that city. Gordias lucked out, became king, and named the city after himself.
As for the cart, it was dedicated to the gods by his son, Midas.50 It had a large knot of extremely
intricate wool, with its ends tucked inside so there was no visible way to pull it apart. The local
legend was that whoever was able to un-tie the knot would become the master of all Asia.
As Alexander stared at the knot, legend says one of two things happened. The first, and
more widespread account, is that Alexander drew his sword and cut the knot in half, causing it
to fall open. He then declared that no mention was made how the knot was to be un-done. The
second version is that he pulled the pin of the wagon’s yoke out, letting the knot fall open.
Whichever version is to be believed, it does show one critical detail about Alexander’s mind; if
there were two choices available in order to solve a problem, he would create a third.
Alexander rejoined his
army and marched along the coast,
leaving his wounded at the town of
Issus, and headed south down the
Phoenician shoreline towards
Egypt. It was at this point that
word reached him that Darius III,
the Persian King, had set out from
Babylon with a huge army. Leading
the Persian army himself, Darius
meant to meet Alexander and
crush the Macedonians and re-take
Asia Minor from the young upstart.
50
This Midas is the same figure in Greek mythology who could turn everything he touched into gold.
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9. The Battle of Issus
The Great King Darius had amassed an enormous army, with a modern estimate of
200,000 men and 10,000 cavalry.51 Darius seems to have thought that Alexander was going to
cross over the mountains and lead an assault on the Persian heartland, but was surprised that
the Macedonians were instead heading south towards Egypt. Darius passed through the Amanic
Gates (remember that “gates” means a narrow gap in a mountain range) and descended on the
town of Issus. Alexander had left the wounded and sick in the city, and now Darius ordered all
their hands cut off—an act of barbarism that would come back to haunt the Persians. Darius
and his army were now behind Alexander’s army, which was still heading south. This was an
extremely dangerous position for Alexander, as his supply line was now cut, and the Persians
might once again have access to their fleet along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.
Alexander immediately turned his army 180 degrees and marched north, meeting Darius
at the Pinarus River just south of Issus. The Persian army was on the north side of the river, and
was restricted from full deployment, since there were mountains in the east and the
Mediterranean Sea in the west.
Alexander brought with him
about 40,000 infantry and
5,800 cavalry, arranged on the
south side of the Pinarus
opposite the Persians.
Parmenio once again
commanded the Macedonian
left wing, with orders to hold
the Persian cavalry, which were
at least twice their number.
Alexander commanded the
Companions on the right, while
the phalanx comprised the
center.
51
According to the historian Curtius Rufus. Arrian and Plutarch’s numbers of 600,000 are unlikely.
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Darius held the Persian place of honor in the center of his army, with his Greek hoplite
mercenaries directly in front, and his Royal Cavalry guarding him. On Darius’ own left he
positioned his archers—the one weak link in the battle plan that Alexander would exploit. On
the right, the Persian cavalry opened the battle by charging across the shallow river into the left
wing under Parmenio. It was up to the elder general to hold the Persian cavalry charge while
Alexander attacked on the right flank. A small Persian force tried to go around the Macedonian
right wing, but was driven back into the hills. As soon as the Persian archers let loose a volley of
missiles, Alexander and the Companion Cavalry charged hard across the Pinarus. The archers
were not ready for such an aggressive attack and scattered. In the center, the phalanx found
that the northern bank of the river was slightly elevated, and they were having great difficulty
holding their lines intact against the Persian onslaught. A gap opened in the Macedonian line,
and the fighting escalated as the Persians tried to exploit it. The Greek mercenaries knew that
after Granicus no forgiveness would be given by the Macedonians, and the Macedonians knew
that capture meant torture and death like those left behind at Issus. The Greek mercenaries
fought fiercely, but gave way once they saw that Alexander was rapidly approaching from their
left now that the Persian archers scattered. Alexander went straight for Darius. Diodorus
states:
Alexander cast his glance in all directions in his anxiety to see

Darius, and as soon as he had identified him, he drove hard with
his cavalry at the king himself, wanting not so much to defeat
the Persians as to win the victory with his own hands. By now
the rest of the cavalry on both sides was engaged and many
were killed as the battle raged indecisively because of the evenly
matched fighting qualities of the two sides.52
The Macedonians went like madmen for Darius. Oxathres, brother of Darius, killed many a
Macedonian as he and the other royal bodyguard bravely protected the Great King. Alexander
took a spear to his leg, while the bodies of both armies piled up all around the royal chariot.
Darius’ horses were covered in wounds and threatened to go wild, so he took up the reigns of
the chariot himself and fled the battlefield. Seeing their king fleeing, the Persian attack now
52
Book XVII, 33.
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completely fell apart and a rout ensued. The battle lasted less than a half-hour. Now thousands
of Persian infantry were cut down by the Macedonian cavalry in the aftermath. Only nightfall
ended the Persian slaughter.
The number of casualties at Issus were horrifying and vastly different. If we believe
Diodorus, the Persians brought 400,000 infantry and 100,000 cavalry to the battle, while they
lost 100,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. These numbers seem to modern historians both
unrealistic and exaggerated both in how many the Persians had, and how many they lost.
Diodorus then states that the Macedonians lost just 300 infantry and 150 cavalry. Even if we
take ancient bias into account, it is still clear that the Battle of Issus was an unmitigated disaster
for the Persians.
Alexander Mosaic from Pompeii, 100 BC
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When the Macedonians entered the Persian camp after the battle they found the royal
attendants preparing Darius’ bath for his return, not knowing the defeat the Persians had just
suffered. Women came screaming from the tents, bewailing their fate and that of their men,
while 3,000 talents of gold and silver were found.53 It was the Persian custom to bring your
family with you on campaign, and Alexander found Darius’ mother, wife, two daughters, and
young son. The Great King had not returned to camp, but fled to Babylon in order to raise a new
army. Thinking that Darius was dead, his mother, Sisygambis, openly lamented his death. Word
was brought to them that he was still alive, and that they were safe from harm. The next
morning Alexander and Hephaestion, his closest friend, and others officers went to see the royal
family. Hephaestion was taller and more handsome than Alexander, which prompted
Sisygambis to greet him mistakenly as the Macedonian king. Realizing her mistake, she tried to
embarrassingly correct herself, but Alexander said, “He too is Alexander.”
After the dead were buried, Alexander and his army continued south. For seven months
they laid siege to the Phoenician island fortress of Tyre. Alexander could not march past and
leave this powerful city-state and sea-port behind his line of march. While part of the city was
on land, the main portion was an island
a ½ mile off the coast. The island-city
had walls that went all the way down
to the waterline, affording an attacker
no foothold to land troops by ship.
Mother-city to the powerful colony of
Carthage in North Africa, the Tyrians
were not going to be bullied. Friendly
negotiations broke down, and the
Tyrians executed the Macedonian
ambassadors on their second attempt
at negotiations. The Macedonians
were put on the walls of the island, had
their throats cut, and dumped into the sea below. The Tyrians had made a fatal mistake.
Alexander began his attack by having a mole built out to the island; a mole is an earthen
53 th
3,000 talents of silver equals 201,000 lbs, which at the July 5 2011 value is worth almost $114 million
dollars.
90
causeway that’s man-made. As it was being constructed, the Tyrians made sorties at night to
attack the mole and burn it. A second mole was built, and the siege towers were yet again
brought up to provide protection. At this time the island of Cyprus sent 120 ships to Alexander’s
aid, and other allies brought the total up to 223 warships under his command. The Tyrians were
cut off.
Once the mole reached the island, the wall was breached during an all-out Macedonian
assault from both land and sea. Alexander was one of the first to enter the city, which fell
quickly once the defenses were breached; 8,000 were killed and 30,000 of the 40,000 Tyrians
were sold into slavery. Those that sought shelter in the temple of Herakles were spared,
including their king. Thousands of Tyrians were crucified in retribution for the execution of the
ambassadors and their resistance during the siege. Carthage could not come to her mother-
city’s aid in time.
After the siege of Tyre, the mole remained, and the silting up around it has
permanently attached the island to the mainland.
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10. On to Egypt
After the successful siege of Tyre, Alexander continued down the coast, taking the city
of Gaza and its important position along the spice trade with the east.54 Next, the city of
Jerusalem avoided a siege by opening its gates to the approaching Macedonians. Crossing the
Sinai Peninsula in late 332 BC, Alexander, aged 24, entered the Egyptian capital of Memphis as a
liberator. The riches of Egypt were legendary, and this brought tremendous wealth and power
to Alexander. Even though there was no Persian army in Egypt to fight, Alexander was
nonetheless very busy. He traveled west of the Nile Delta, and picked out the site for a great
city to be built in his name: Alexandria. This city would increase its population, power and
influence at an astonishing rate, and would be a cultural and intellectual hub of the ancient
world within three centuries of its founding.
54
The siege of Gaza lasted two months.
92
Once Alexander personally laid out the design for the new city, he rode with his closest
companions out into the desert to the Oasis of Siwa. After four days in the dry, arid desert,
Alexander and his men were saved from dehydration by a sudden rainstorm. The rareness and
timing of the event was seen as divine intervention.55 Once he arrived at Siwa, Alexander
approached the priests of the oracle, and was greeted by the priests not as “Alexander, son of
Philip,” but as “Alexander, son of Zeus Ammon.” Zeus Ammon was a blending of the Egyptian
chief deity, Ammon, and those characteristics that the Greeks identified with Zeus. After
bringing Egypt under his control, coins sometimes depicted Alexander having ram’s horns; a
physical characteristic of Zeus Ammon. Whether by mistake or planning, the 25-year-old
general was just told he was a living god on earth.

59. What was the name of the town that Alexander un-tied the knot?
60. What year was the Battle of Issus?
61. What members of Darius’ family did Alexander capture at Issus?
62. How long was the siege of Tyre?
Reflection Essay
20. Explain what Alexander’s military policy was regarding the Persian fleet.
21. Imagine you are Alexander just after Siwa. Reflecting back on your life, why might you believe
that you were the son of Zeus Ammon?
55
Shortly after, Alexander’s party became lost, but were saved by some cawing crows that pointed a way
to the oasis.
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Chapter VI
Alexander’s March: Gaugamela to Death
1. Battle of Gaugamela
Once Alexander made his way back from Siwa (of course by a different route), he set out
with his army to again confront Darius.56 He marched back up to Tyre in order to meet the fleet,
and released the 2,000 Athenian mercenaries that he had been holding captive since Granicus
two years earlier. The Athenians had requested their release, and back in Greece the Spartan
King Agis was leading a rebellion in the Peloponnesus and on the island of Crete. The Athenians
only needed an excuse to join the revolt, and it seemed prudent to Alexander to keep Athens
friendly by releasing the prisoners. Alexander sent more ships back to Greece, which combined
with the forces under Antipater and succeeded in crushing the Spartans and all opposition. 57
56
Hector, one of Parmenio’s three sons drowned in the Nile before setting out for Persia.
57
Alexander had left Antipater as the Macedonian regent during his absence.
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Darius had not been idle since his disaster at Issus. He could explain both defeats; he
was not in command at Granicus, while at Issus the terrain did not suit his vastly larger army.
The Persian army was squeezed between the mountains and the Mediterranean, and could not
properly deploy. Now Darius took chance out of the equation. A defense of Babylon was not
feasible, especially since the siege of Tyre. Darius marched his army north to a large, flat plain in
front of the Zagros Mountains. Any holes in the battlefield were filled in, and trees were cut
down. Nature would bow before the plans of the Great King. The honor of the Achaemenid
Dynasty and Persia would be avenged at Gaugamela—or so Darius thought.
As Alexander marched east, a messenger arrived from the Great King with an offer: the
hand of his daughter, Stateria II, in marriage, along with 30,000 talents of silver and control of all
the lands west of the Euphrates River. It was an offer that was beyond what his father could
ever have imagined. As Alexander held a council with his generals, he told them what Darius
offered. Parmenio spoke, and insisted that he take the offer. Alexander replied, “I would, if I
were Parmenio.” As the messenger arrived back to Darius, he not only learned that Alexander
refused his offer, but that his wife, Stateria I—said to have been the most beautiful woman on
earth—had recently died. It had been nearly two years since Darius had seen his wife.
However, she did not die from illness, but during childbirth.58 Ever since Issus, Alexander had
kept Darius’ family with him in his camp as his army moved on campaign. Darius had even
thanked Alexander for his kind treatment of his mother, Sisygambis—that acknowledgement
would come back to bitterly haunt him.
Alexander understood that he could not march on Babylon, because doing so would
expose him to attack from Darius in the north, so he had no choice but to march to where
Darius was waiting with his army. Alexander crossed the Tigris River at a fordable location
upstream as the Persians scorched the land across the river. Alexander marched a few miles
from the Persian army and made camp, giving his troops some much needed rest. The number
of Persians that Darius had assembled can scarcely be believed. Diodorus says that the Great
King brought 200,000 cavalry and 800,000 infantry, while Curtius Rufus puts the number at
200,000 infantry and 45,000 cavalry. Both historians also mention that scythed chariots were
brought, some 200 in number. These were war chariots with long blades protruding out of each
wheel, meant for cutting down infantry. Whatever the numerical differences of each author,
58
Rumor had circulated that Stateria’s lover was actually Alexander.
95
Darius had brought a massive army to the battlefield. The number of Persian cavalry was vastly
increased, which was on more favorable ground than at Issus.
By comparison, Alexander had with him 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry. On the night
of September 30th there was a total eclipse of the Moon, which the Persians took as an ill-omen.
Alexander led a scouting party to Darius’ position, and was stunned at the size of the Persian
host. It was vast. Alexander returned to camp and immediately called his generals together for
a meeting. Parmenio and Alexander both agreed that more needed to be learned about the
Persian army, so scouts were sent to reconnoiter. When word was brought about the terrain
and formations, Alexander issued his orders for the following day, exhorting his men to follow
orders and avoid individual heroics. Afterwards, Parmenio suggested a surprise attack on the
Persian army at night, but Alexander said that he would not be robbed of the glory this victory
would bring by something so unpredictable as night.
Darius, aware that Alexander’s army was close, drew up his army in battle formation.
Since there was recently a Full Moon, its glow would provide a faint light most of the night,
rising shortly after sunset. Darius’ troops spent the night staring off into the distance, straining
to see the Macedonians. They never came.
At dawn the next day, Parmenio was forced to go into Alexander’s tent in order to wake
him, as he overslept. The old general was incredulous that Alexander was still soundly asleep on
the day of battle. But Alexander was confident, stating that he had already won. As the battle
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formation of the Macedonians took shape, the vast numerical difference became
overwhelmingly apparent. The Persian battle line stretched roughly 2 ½ miles, overlapping the
Macedonians at either end. In fact, Alexander anticipated this; on his left wing Parmenio
commanded the allied cavalry, with orders to stop the wave of Persian cavalry that would
advance on his position. The old general was outnumbered at least six to one. However, the
phalanx was arrayed in a formation that puzzled the Persians. From the center to Parmenio, the
left wing echeloned away, thereby giving a bigger gap from Parmenio to the Persians than the
center (see the picture on the previous page). Alexander was borrowing a page from his father’s
old teacher, Epaminondas of Thebes. At the Battle of Leuctra, Epaminondas used the echelon
formation to delay the contact of his left wing of his army with the Spartan right, now Alexander
did the same with the Persians. He needed time, and that gap would give him the precious
moments required.
Knowing that his line was
likely to be outflanked, Alexander
had placed a reserve of phalanx in
the rear, with orders to stop the
Persians from rolling up the
Macedonian line in case they got
around Parmenio. On the right,
Alexander again led the Companion
Cavalry. By comparison, Darius
placed himself in the center of his
army, and issued the command for
his chariots to attack. The 200
scythed chariots rushed out to the Macedonian lines, but Alexander had thought of that as well
and planned accordingly. The historian Arrian states:
Yet some got right through the ranks; for the men stood apart and opened their
ranks, as they had been instructed, in the places where the chariots assaulted
them. In this way it generally happened that the chariots passed through safely,
and the men by whom they were driven were uninjured. But these also were
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afterwards overpowered by the grooms of Alexander's army and by the royal
shield-bearing guards.59
Alexander’s phalanx were ready to open ranks and allow the chariots to pass through,
only to be brought down afterwards by lightly-armed troops. Darius’ key weapon at the outset
of the battle was a total failure. On the left, Parmenio was facing a hard fight, and his lines were
not able to completely hold off the numerically superior Persians. Instead of rolling up the
Macedonian line, some of the Persian cavalry rode on to Alexander’s camp, where they came
upon Darius’ mother, Sisygambis. They urged the great mother to come with them and return
to her son, which she had not seen since Issus two years before. She refused to go and leave
Alexander. Darius had lost his wife in
childbirth, and now his mother had
disowned him.
It was now that Alexander
launched his key attack. Much to the
confusion of Darius and Bessus, his
cousin and commander of the Persian
cavalry on the left wing, Alexander and
the Macedonian cavalry appeared to
move off the battlefield to the east.
From the Persian perspective, they
moved left, nearly parallel with the
battle lines. Bessus matched Alexander’s move, and the two cavalry wings moved in tandem.
Behind the Macedonian cavalry skirmishers were running to keep pace with the cavalry, unseen
by the Persians. At a full gallop Alexander turned 140 degrees and raced into the gap that now
opened up in the Persian line since Bessus pulled away from the Persian center. The
Macedonian skirmishers came out and harassed the Persian cavalry that tried to turn and stop
Alexander’s charge. In a wedge formation the Companions rode hard straight at Darius, just as
they had done at Issus. The fighting was fierce, and sixty of the Companions fell and many were
wounded, including Hephaestion. The Great King panicked and fled the battlefield, eventually
leaving his golden chariot and bow behind again. But the battle was not yet won, as Parmenio
59
Anabasis, Book III.11.
98
was near defeat on the left wing. Pressing the advantage, Alexander helped complete the
Persian route. The Persian king had fled east, knowing that a defense of Babylon, Susa and
Persepolis were no longer possible, and that Alexander was more likely to capture the cities
than pursue him. Darius was right.
The casualties of Gaugamela are hard to believe, even if ancient exaggeration is to be
taken into account. Arrian states that 300,000 Persians died, while the Macedonians lost only
100 men. Diodorus says that 90,000 Persians fell, compared to 500 Macedonians, while even
the cautious Curtius puts the number at 300 Macedonian dead, while the Persians lost 40,000
men. No matter how you try and sugarcoat it, this effectively destroyed the military capability
of the Persian Empire. Alexander was only twenty-five.
2. Babylon, Susa and Persepolis
After burying the dead and resting his army,

Alexander marched on the city of Ecbatana. There he found
the statue of Apollo that the Persians had taken from the
Temple of Apollo in Didyma during the Persian Wars over a
century ago. Proceeding south, Alexander then marched on
Babylon, with its famous Ishtar Gate opened for the
Macedonians as a sign of no resistance. Mazaeus,
commander of the Persian right wing that fought against
The Ishtar Gate in the British Museum
Parmenio, surrendered the city to Alexander. The Macedonians
stayed for a month, enjoying all the pleasures that Babylon had
to offer. The city had been conquered many times in the past, and they knew how to please
their newest rulers.60
After receiving reinforcements from Greece, Alexander rapidly covered the 225 miles to
Susa in 20 days, and arrived to find the city awaiting his arrival. Susa, the political heart of the
Persian Empire, fell without a shot. Entering the royal hall, Alexander sat on Darius’ throne, his
legs dangling above the floor; a reminder that Alexander was only 5’6” tall, while Darius was
60
It was custom for Babylonian men to have strangers have sex with their wives, as long as they were
paid.
99
well over 6 feet. More significantly,
Alexander came into possession of the
royal treasury, which was staggering.
Diodorus says 40,000 talents of gold and
silver were captured, which amounts to
2,680,000 pounds. At current market value
(just silver), that means the royal treasury
was worth over $1.5 billion dollars.
Alexander paid bonuses to the army,
upwards of a year’s salary, and rewards
were given to all those cities that fought against the Persians during Darius I and Xerxes’
invasions.61 Two famous statues were also recovered from the Susa treasury, which were taken
by Xerxes during the burning of Athens. They were sent back, as a reminder to the Athenians of
the purpose of Alexander’s march. Lastly, before setting out, Alexander left Darius’ mother,
daughters and son back in Susa, where they were to receive a Greek education and continue
enjoying the benefits of their royal rank.
The Persians tried to hold off Alexander from Persepolis, but as the Macedonians
neared the Araxes River, a horrifying sight met them. As historian Guy MacLean Rogers
explains:
About 800 Greeks, most of them elderly, came out to greet Alexander, bearing
branches of supplication. These Greeks had been carried away from their homes
by previous Persian kings and in captivity had been taught skills or crafts.
Afterward their captors had mutilated them, amputating all the extremities they
did not need to perform their work. Some lacked hands, others feet, some ears
and noses. Others had been branded with letters of the Persian alphabet. The
battle-hardened veterans of the Macedonian army pitted the lot of these poor
wretches; Alexander was said to have been moved to tears.62
61
Alexander granted freedom from taxes for the family of any soldier that died under his command.
62
p. 124
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These mutilated Greeks asked not to be returned home and face disgrace and ridicule
because of their physical deformities. Alexander richly rewarded them, and gave orders to
ensure they were taken care of for the rest of their days.
In the spring of 330 BC the Macedonians entered Persepolis, the religious heart of the
Persian Empire, and seat of power of the Persian kings for centuries. Here, Alexander claimed
another 120,000 talents and riches beyond measure63. It was here that the Macedonians were
allowed to vent their frustration on the Persians. As at Thebes, rape was forbidden, but beyond
that his troops killed, stole and burned all in sight except the royal palace. Before leaving
Persepolis, Alexander held a dinner banquet and games. After copious celebrating, an Athenian
woman named Thais (with the approval of Alexander) grabbed a torch and walked into a room
of the royal palace. Famed for their beautiful wooden columns, intricate art and sumptuous
tapestries, the Persian royal palace was
magnificent. As revenge for Xerxes’
burning of the temple of Athena on the
Acropolis in 480 BC, Thais flung the torch,
starting a conflagration that destroyed the
palace to cinders. The burning of
Persepolis was all about one word:
revenge.
After Persepolis, Alexander
continued his pursuit of Darius into the
northern satrapies of Media and Parthia. Ruins of Persepolis in Iran
The former Great King, devoid of an army, a family, and of hope, was now betrayed by Bessus.
Alexander’s scouts found Darius by a riverbed, mortally wounded from a spear thrust from one
of his former officers. He weakly asked for water, and the Macedonian scout filled his helmet
from the river. Darius took a drink, then died. When Alexander saw the body of the Great King,
he took off his own cloak and covered the body. Afterwards, he was given a resplendent burial,
worthy of the kings of Persia, and was entombed with the other Achaemenid kings of the
Persian Empire at Persepolis.
63
120,000 talents is worth 4.6 billion dollars.
101
Tomb of Darius III (on right)

63. What was the name of Darius’ cousin who commanded the left wing of the Persian army?
64. Name the three important cities Alexander captured after Gaugamela?
65. Which of the three cities was the political capital of the Persian Empire?
66. Why was Persepolis such an important city to the Persians?
Reflection Essay
22. What makes Gaugamela one of the most decisive battles in the ancient world?
23. How is the death of the Taliban leader, Osama Bin Laden, similar to the death of Darius?
102
3. We’re Not Going Home?
After the death of Darius, Alexander’s men expected to go home. The Persian Empire’s
power was shattered, the Great King was dead, and they had more wealth and power than any
Greek had ever dreamed of. Marching east, Alexander led his army into the furthest reaches of
the Persian Empire. All were not happy with this choice. In October 330 BC Alexander had
Philotas, the last surviving son of Parmenio, executed.64 Believed to have taken part in a plot on
his life, Alexander had him put to death, along with any others thought to be involved. Fearing
revenge for the execution of his son, Alexander sent messengers to Parmenio, who had been
left at Susa. Handing Parmenio a false letter from Philotas, the messengers became assassins,
killing the 70-year-old general on the spot. Alexander was no longer loved by all.
64
Nicanor, Parmenio’s last son, had died of disease during the chase for Darius.
103
4. The Branchidae and Bessus
Alexander continued exploring and conquering lands to the east, founding Alexandria’s
along the way.65 In 329 BC the Macedonians crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains, the legendary
location where Prometheus was chained and tormented by Zeus for giving man the knowledge
of fire. While pursuing Bessus across the Oxus River (in modern Uzbekistan), Alexander came
across a town inhabited by the Branchidae, descendants of the priests from the Oracle of Apollo
at Didyma. When Xerxes captured Miletus and Didyma in the Second Persian War, he ordered
the priests to surrender the temple’s treasury. The priests submitted, and they were sent back
into Persia along with the temple’s treasury. Now, Alexander held a council on what do to with
the descendents of the traitors. Xerxes’ invasion was not just a military expedition, but a
religious war against the Greeks as well. The priests’ actions with the Persians amounted to
heresy in Greek eyes. It was decided that the entire male population would be killed, and the
women and children sold into slavery; the town was then razed to the ground.
Soon after, Bessus was handed over to Ptolemy by the Persians, and brought before
Alexander. The young Macedonian was now ruler of both the Greek and Persian world, and
now acted out of respect for Persian custom. He was whipped for his treachery to Darius, then
handed over to Darius’ brother, Oxathres, who fought at Issus and now served Alexander.
According to Persian custom, Oxathres had Bessus’ ears and nose cut off, and was crucified and
shot full of arrows. Alexander was now the undisputed king.
5. Death of Cleitus
In fall of 328 BC, while in the northern satrapy of Bactria, Alexander held a banquet
where copious amounts of wine were drunk. At this party, discussion soon raged about
Alexander’s parentage. Cleitus reminded Alexander of how he saved his life at Granicus, and
shouted his dislike at how his Macedonian army was now full of Persian units. He mocked
Alexander for accepting the gesture of proskynesis; a custom of Persians prostrating themselves
in front of their king. Persian dress, Persian titles and Persian habits, were all too much for
65
There would be over twenty Alexandria’s built. Some still survive, including Kandahar in Afghanistan
and the first Alexandria in Egypt.
104
Cleitus to stomach anymore. Shouting escalated to shoving and turned the banquet room to
chaos. In a drunken rage Alexander grabbed a spear and ran Cleitus through, killing him
instantly. For three days Alexander’s generals put him on suicide watch, as he refused any food
or drink. It was becoming very dangerous for anyone to be an old friend of Alexander.66
6. Marriage to Roxane
In 327 BC Alexander fell in love and married a Sogdian princess named Roxane in the city
of Samarkand. The marriage, like those of Philip, ended hostilities in that region, allowing
Alexander to continue his march into India.67
As Alexander entered India, he faced opposition from King Porus and his army.
Alexander was certainly no longer the liberator, but the conqueror. The two armies met at the
Hydaspes River now located in modern Pakistan. While the Macedonians had seen elephants at
Gaugamela, they appeared to not have been used. At Hydaspes, Porus employed nearly 100
war elephants to devastating effect. Alexander managed to out-flank Porus’ army and rout it,
inflicting over 20,000 casualties. However, Alexander was impressed at Porus’ bravery and let
him continue to rule his kingdom as an ally to Macedon. Sadly, it was also at Hydaspes where
Alexander’s horse, Bucephalus, died. Historians are not sure if the horse died from wounds or
old age (the horse was around twenty-three), but Alexander honored his old friend by building a
city in his name, Bucephala.68 It was at this time that Porus confirmed rumors that to the east
were many kingdoms with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of war elephants.
Alexander wished to continue, his men did not.
66
Callisthenes, Aristotle’s great-nephew and official historian, was thrown into prison in 328 for criticizing
Alexander’s adoption of Persian customs. He died either from torture or disease.
67
Alexander had produced a child with Barsine, the former wife of Memnon of Rhodes. The child was
named Herakles and lived with her mother in Pergamum in Ionia.
68
After Gaugamela, Bucephalus was stolen by some Persian locals. Alexander threatened to execute
every male in that satrapy if his horse was not returned. It was.
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7. Homeward Bound
Alexander made a passionate speech to his troops, telling them of the lands yet to be
conquered, but the Macedonian army refused to go any further. They had marched over fifteen
thousand miles, and had been fighting constantly for twelve years. They had travelled farther
than Herakles and had not seen home and their loved ones for a very long time. The rumor of
even stronger enemies to the east was the proverbial straw—they would not go any further.
Alexander and the army now headed southward, following the Indus River to the ocean.
Along the way he entered the territory of the Mallians. Town after town fell to Alexander, until
the Macedonians found themselves laying siege to one of the last Mallian strongholds.
Alexander led the charge himself, grabbing a scaling ladder and climbing up onto the top of the
wall. Behind him were three other Macedonians; Peucestas, Leonnatus and Abreas, who quickly
followed him up the ladder. When he reached the top of the battlement, Alexander drew his
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sword and cleared that section of the wall, killing or smashing the defenders with his shield. As
the rest of the army tried to follow them, the ladder broke under their weight. Now, Alexander
the three other Macedonians were alone on the wall. Not wishing to die ignominiously from the
Mallian archers who were raining arrows on him, Alexander leapt down from the wall into the
city. The Mallians, stunned at first by his audacity, charged at him from every direction. Using a
nearby tree and wall for protection, Alexander beat back his attackers, while, Peucestas,
Leonnatus and Abreas jumped down to his aid. As the Macedonian army watched, all four
disappeared from sight, and a panic swept through them. Fear for their commander sent them
screaming at the wall with their ladders, in an attempt to get in and rescue their king and
comrades.
Inside, Abreas immediately was shot in the face with an arrow as he landed. Alexander
was then hit in the right breast with an arrow, and fell faint; blood and air gurgled out of the
wound.69 After all the years on campaign, Alexander now lay helpless on the ground, appearing
to be mortally wounded. Leonnatus tried valiantly to hold back the Mallians amid a shower of
missiles as Peucestas protected Alexander’s fallen body with his shield. As it happened,
Peucestas carried with him the shield of Achilles that Alexander had taken from Troy at the
beginning of the campaign. Now the fabled shield of Hephaestus protected the descendant of
Achilles in this most desperate of moments.
The Macedonian army broke through into the city, and in their madness they left no one
alive, neither man, woman or child. Alexander may have pushed them to the breaking point,
but the siege of the Mallian city proved that the army still deeply loved their king.

67. Who did Alexander have killed for trying to assassinate him?
68. Who scolded Alexander for not respecting his father and paid for it with his life?
69. What river marked the furthest east that Alexander ever went?
70. What was the name of the Indian king that Alexander fought at the Hydaspes River?
Reflection Essay
24. Theorize what would have happened if Alexander had convinced his army to continue east.
69
This seems to indicate that the arrow punctured a lung.
107
8. The Gedrosian Desert
In the autumn of 325 BC, Alexander had recovered by the time they reached the Indus
Delta. A Macedonian fleet, commanded by Nearchus, was supposed to have followed Alexander
and his army along the coastline back to Susa, but contact was lost after a monsoon. The
extreme heat and arid conditions of the Gedrosian Desert forced many to give up their spoils of
war they had carried with them. Pack animals were the first to die, whether from the heat or
the desire of the men to eat. Arrian retells the desperation that the Macedonians felt:
So there was nothing for it but to leave the sick by the way, and any man
rendered incapable by exhaustion or thirst or sunstroke. No one could give them
a helping hand; no one could stay behind to ease their sufferings, for the
essential thing was to get on with all possible speed, and the effort to save the
army as a whole inevitably took precedence over the suffering of individual men.
Most of the marching was at night, and many men would fall asleep in their
tracks; the few who had strength left to do so followed the army when they
woke up again, and got safe through; but the greater number perished - poor
castaways in the ocean of sand. 70
The living were too weak to help

the sick. Even when they
managed to camp near the
barest trickle of a stream, a
sudden rain burst filled up the
riverbed. The rush of water
swept away the women,
children, the royal tent and all
the remaining animals.
70
Anabasis, 6.24.1-26.5, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt.
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9. Inconsolable Grief
On his way back to Susa, Alexander took care of some governmental matters within his
satrapies, and proceeded up the Tigris River. It was at this point that he married Stateria II,
eldest daughter of Darius, thereby legitimizing his link to the Achaemenid royal family.
Hephaestion married another of Darius’ daughters, and many of the Macedonian officers also
took Persian noble women as wives. In addition, ten thousand Macedonian troops married, and
Alexander gave each one of them a wedding gift. He also announced that he was going to pay
off all of his soldiers’ debts, amounting to thousands of talents. Alexander was attempting to
blend together Greek and Persian culture. In July 324 BC he founded yet another Alexandria and
reached the city of Opis. Here Alexander faced a situation he had not counted on. He told his
soldiers that any who were unfit for duty based on age or physical impairment were going
home. They would have enough wealth to enjoy the rest of their years in luxury. Instead of
being happy, the old veterans felt used and discarded after having fought by his side all these
years. The younger soldiers felt that all their years of service warranted a dismissal from service,
since they fought the whole campaign alongside the older soldiers. The final straw was telling
Alexander to go to war by himself, with his father Ammon at his side if he wanted company.
Alexander became furious. He had the ringleaders executed and then scolded the rest for their
lack of respect. It was through Philip and him that they had achieved so much, having made
their former masters their slaves. He had honored the dead and shared every danger with the
living. He was wounded by every weapon of war, and challenged them to show a scar that he
did not earn in battle.71 With that he dismissed his soldiers and sulked in the palace for two
days. On the third day the Macedonians realized that there were now Persian troops who could
replace them. Alexander had Persian troops trained in Macedonian warfare, from phalanx
soldiers to the Companion Cavalry. In other words, the Macedonians were replaceable, and
they knew it. They rushed the palace and prostrated themselves before Alexander. Some
10,000 Macedonians went home, while it is likely that Cleitus and Callisthenes rolled over in
their graves.
In the autumn of 324 BC, as Alexander settled in Ecbatana for the winter, Hephaestion
came down with a fever. He fought the fever for seven days, and died. Alexander sunk into
71
Alexander was wounded eight times in battle.
109
despair at the death of his closest friend, and in a rage he ordered Hephaestion’s doctor
crucified. Achilles had lost his Patroclus.
10. Death in Babylon
Alexander now received ambassadors from many peoples, including the Carthaginians,
Iberians in Spain, Celts from Europe, and Etruscans from northern Italy. It is debated by
historians whether he received ambassadors from a growing power in central Italy—Rome.
Alexander was back in Babylon by the late spring of 323 BC, having travelled up the Euphrates
River. His future plans seemed to have included a consolidation and further expansion of his
empire. A fleet was being prepared to sail around Arabia and expand his conquests further east,
while he also planned an invasion into the west. Alexander planned on unleashing a storm of
conquest that would encompass the entire ancient world. However, he never got the chance.
About mid-May Alexander attended a banquet where, yet again, there was heavy
drinking. He suddenly came down with a terrible pain in his chest and collapsed. He felt
feverish, but still had strength. For the next couple days he spent time in the baths or in his
bedchamber. At the end of May he held an audience with Nearchus, as they worked out the
forthcoming exploration and invasion of Arabia. His fever now grew worse, and by early June he
had lost almost all his ability to speak. As Alexander neared death, his generals and staff quietly
filed by his bed in order to pay their respects. When asked to whom he would leave his great
empire, he replied, “To the strongest.” On June 10th, 324 BC, Alexander the Great died.72 He
was one month shy of his thirty-third birthday. Diodorus wrote:
Alexander accomplished greater deeds than any, not only of the kings who had lived
before him but also of those who were to come later down to our time.73
72
Another possibility was poison. Antipater back in Macedon, whom Alexander had left in charge, was at
odds with Olympias and was on tense relations with Alexander. In addition, the procurement of the
poison may have been done by Aristotle, still fuming over the death of Callisthenes.
73
7.117
110
11. The Aftermath
The moments after Alexander’s death had to be one of the most uncomfortable silences
in history. He had left no clear heir, and each of the generals interpreted himself as the
strongest and most capable to take over the empire. Roxana soon ordered Stateira II and her
sister thrown down a well. There would be no pretenders to Alexander’s heir. Shortly after
Alexander’s death, Roxana gave birth to his son, Alexander IV. Ptolemy took Alexander’s body
back for burial in Memphis, then to Alexandria, Egypt. The generals made war upon each other
for rule of the empire. Within three years his former generals, Craterus, Perdiccas and Antipater
were all dead. Rule of Greece and Macedonia fell to Cassander, son of Antipater. In 316 BC he
had Olympias executed, and six years later Roxana and Alexander IV were put to death. The
following year rumors began to circulate that Herakles, the eighteen-year-old son of Alexander
and Barsine, Memnon of Rhodes’ former wife, was the legitimate heir to Alexander. Cassander
had him killed as well. For the next forty years, generals fought over Alexander’s empire,
eventually splitting it into three parts: Ptolemy in Egypt, Antigonus in Greece and Macedon, and
Seleuces in the old Persian Empire. In the west a new power was rising that would quickly
dominate the ruins of Alexander’s Empire—Rome.

71. What were the names of Alexander’s two
wives?
72. How many sons did Alexander have, and
what were their names?
73. What city did Alexander die in?
74. Where was his body eventually buried?
Reflection Essay
25. Alexander’s tomb has yet to be found.

What would happen if archeologists
found the tomb today?
111
Chapter VII
Rise of Rome
1. Trojan Refugee
As Troy burned, some of the city’s inhabitants found their way to a handful of ships and
fled. One of them was Aeneas, a Trojan warrior and a Dardanian ally, who was second in
fighting ability only to the Man-Slaying Hector. Like most warriors in the Iliad, Aeneas could
claim partial parentage from the gods on Olympus. Son of the goddess Aphrodite and the
mortal Anchises, Aeneas fought against the Mycenaean Greeks, nearly losing his life multiple
times throughout the Trojan War. In Book V of the Iliad, Aphrodite herself rescues Aeneas from
almost certain death as he fought Achilles. She couldn’t bear to see her beloved son slain in
combat.
In Vergil’s Aeneid, the Trojan hero Aeneas fled the burning ruins of the city, carrying his
father Anchises and dragging his young son Ascanius to safety.74 During the escape Aeneas’
wife, Creusa, was lost in the chaos of Troy’s destruction. Distraught, Aeneas went back into the
burning city, prepared to die fighting in his grief. However, he met the ghost of Hector and was
convinced to flee, and found the Trojan race in a distant land. Taking the images of Troy’s gods
with them,75 Aeneas and the last surviving remnants of the Trojan people sailed away under the
cover of darkness as their beloved city lit the night sky with its inferno.
Mimicking the length of Odysseus’ journey, Aeneas wandered for ten years until he
arrived in Italy. Along their voyage the Trojans made many attempts to stop and found a new
city, but they all failed. The goddess Hera, called Juno (Iuno) by the Romans, desperately sought
to kill Aeneas and stop his eventual arrival in Italy. She knew that the descendants of the Trojan
race would one day become the Romans and dominate the Mediterranean. If she could kill
74
Vergil’s Aeneid is a Roman continuation of Homer’s stories, written 1000 years after the Trojan War.
75
The statue of Athena in Troy, called the Palladium, was stolen by Diomedes and taken to Southern Italy
after the war. Diomedes founded many cities in Italy and kept the Palladium until late in his life, when he
once again met Aeneas and returned it to him. It was kept in the house of the Vestal Virgins until the
Emperor Elegabalus (220 AD) moved it within Rome, and then to Constantinople by order of the Emperor
Constantine (320 AD).
112
Aeneas before he landed in Italy, then the future of her beloved Greeks would be safe from
Roman interference in later centuries. Hera was messing with time and fate. As Vergil wrote:
Arms and the man (Aeneas) I sing, who first from the coasts of Troy, exiled by
fate, came to Italy and Lavine shores; much buffeted on sea and land by violence
from above, through cruel Juno’s unforgiving wrath, and much enduring in war
also, till he should build a city and bring his gods to Latium; whence came the
Latin race, the lords of Alba, and the lofty walls of Rome.76
One of the key stops along Aeneas’ voyage was the Phoencian colony of Carthage in North
Africa. Here, Aeneas recounted the fall of Troy to Queen Dido of Carthage, who fell madly in
love with the Trojan hero. Aeneas looked upon the lofty walls of Carthage and marveled at the
construction of this new and powerful Phoenician colony of Tyre. Despite his desire to stay with
Dido, Aeneas was told by the gods to leave and continue his voyage. Distraught at his
departure, Dido committed suicide. This remorseful act set up the future hatred and distrust
between Rome and Carthage, which would ultimately lead to a series of devastating wars in the
3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
76
Book I, lines 1-7
113
After making another stop in Sicily (the first time to bury his father), Aeneas and his
surviving Trojans landed at Cumae near the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. Cumae was famous
in antiquity for its oracle to Apollo, like at Delphi in Greece. The priestess of the temple, called
the Sibyl, guided Aeneas to an opening which led to the Underworld.77 Descending into the
Underworld, Aeneas found and spoke with the ghost of his father. He told Aeneas of his future
descendants and their greatness, and urged him to continue to the end of his voyage.
Sailing north, Aeneas arrived at a kingdom in central Italy called Latium and met King
Latinus, for whom it was named. Aeneas eventually married King Latinus’ daughter, Lavinia.
The marriage was not without loss, for Lavinia’s former fiancée, a local prince named Turnus,
made war upon the Trojans in revenge for losing his bride to Aeneas. In the melee both Turnus
and King Latinus died, which left Aeneas as the king of Latium. He honored Lavinia by founding
a city in her name, Lavinium, and the Trojan refugees settled down and blended with the locals,
learning their language: Latin.
77
Lake Avernus
114
2. Romulus and Remus
After Aeneas’ death, rule of Lavinium went to his son, Ascanius.78 Years later, Ascanius
left Lavinium and founded another city a few miles to the northeast, named Alba Longa.
Ascanius ruled Alba Longa for nearly three decades and was succeeded to the throne by a king
named Silvius, who is thought to be either his son, or a younger step-brother from Aeneas and
Lavinia. The Roman historian Livy states that Silvius was born in the forest, which is echoed in
the Latin spelling of his name (silva is Latin for ‘forest’). In the 8th century BC, Alba Longa was
ruled by King Procas, the eleventh king and descendant of Ascanius. The king had two sons,
Numitor and Amulius, and the rule of Alba Longa eventually fell to Numitor. Amulius, jealous of
his elder brother, expelled Numitor from the throne. He had Numitor’s sons killed and his
daughter, Rhea Silva, forcibly entered as a priestess of the goddess Vesta. According to custom,
any woman who entered the service of Vesta and her sacred flame must remain pure and a
virgin.79 This was meant to stop Rhea Silva from having any offspring that could challenge
Amulius for the throne of Alba Longa. However, Rhea Silva gave birth to twin boys, much to
Amulius’ fears. Claiming that she was raped by the god Mars, Amulius feared killing the infants,
so he had them put in a basket and ordered it to be placed in the Tiber River. Amulius hoped
that by floating them down the river, they would drown, but the murder would not be on his
hands; this was the ancient world’s custom of separating murder from the will of the gods. In
ancient thinking, if the gods wished the twins to survive, then they would intervene. As for Rhea
Silva, she was then buried alive, as was the custom for any Vestal Virgin who broke her oath of
chastity. A Vestal priestess was protected by the goddess, and could not be executed by mortal
hands, so she would be buried in a cave and given a small amount of food and water. Being
buried alive was yet another fine line that modern thought would clearly see as murder. If
Vesta truly did wish the priestess to live, she would intervene. As it was, Rhea Silva died, while
the infants, named Romulus and Remus, disappeared down the Tiber River.80
78
Aeneas was honored by Venus and Jupiter (Aphrodite and Zeus) by having his body cleansed with
ambrosia and nectar, and then made into a god.
79
The cult of the Vestal Virgins was one of the oldest traditions in ancient Rome and Latium, and predated
the founding of the city.
80
According to Livy, the Tiber River was named for a former king of Alba Longa, Tiberinus, who had
drowned while crossing the river.
115
The river’s waters retreated and the cradle was left on a bit of exposed riverbank.
Hearing the boys’ crying, a she-wolf found and nursed the twins with her milk, and guarded
them as if they were her own. Romulus and Remus were found by the king’s shepherd,
Faustulus, who took and raised them as his own sons with his wife. The boys grew up in secret,
since Faustulus had correctly guessed that the twins were the sons of Rhea Silva. As the years
passed, Romulus and Remus grew up as strong young men. One day, Remus was brought before
King Amulius on false charges, and Faustulus thought he could not deceive his sons any longer.
He told Romulus of his true parentage, and with Numitor’s help, they killed their uncle, rescued
Remus and restored their father to the throne of Alba Longa.
Capitoline She-Wolf, Rome
With their father once again king, the brothers set out to found a new city themselves.
They went back to where their cradle washed up along the Tiber, near two large hills, the
Palatine and the Aventine. Unable to decide which hill should be the sight of the new city, the
brothers turned to augury, which is the practice of observing the flights of birds and their
116
number in order to determine the will of the gods. Remus was the first to spot vultures,81 while
Romulus spotted double that number. An argument erupted over who the gods favored, and
Remus was slain by his brother. Livy suggests that Romulus killed his brother because Remus
jumped over the newly built walls of Rome. However, how did Romulus have time to construct
Rome’s rudimentary walls, and how was Remus able to jump over them? The answer lies in the
ancient custom of founding a city.
The act of founding a city, especially for Romulus, was steeped in religious overtones. In
ancient Rome there was a sacred boundary called the pomerium, which according to Roman
tradition was the line of the original walls of Rome marked out by Romulus. According to Livy,
Romulus would have used a plow to dig a symbolic trench around the Palatine Hill. The dirt that
was kicked up by the plow represented the beginnings of a rudimentary earthen wall. Early
cities did not have stone walls, since the cost and labor required for stone fortifications would
have been beyond the ability of a city in its infancy. Wherever Romulus wanted to place a gate
into the city, he lifted the plow for a few paces then stuck it back into the earth as he continued
to mark out the wall. To Romulus, the message was very clear: friends go through gates while
enemies go over the walls.82 When Remus jumped over Romulus’ wall, it was likely that he
stepped over the dirt the plow had kicked up, and not some tall wooden or stone structure. By
doing this Remus not only mocked his brother, but committed a religious offense that now
symbolically made him an enemy. This shameful act of fratricide, the murder of one’s own
brother, marked the founding of Rome.

75. What was the city Aeneas stopped at in North Africa?
76. What was the name of the city Aeneas founded? Ascanius?
77. On what hill did Romulus found Rome?
78. The sacred boundary of Rome was called what?
79. What year was Rome founded?
Reflection Essay
26. How do boundaries, or limits, of a modern city differ from an ancient city?
81
The animal attributed to Mars, their father.
82
For a similarity, compare with the Trojan Horse.
117
The Seven Hills of Rome: the Palatine, Capitoline, Aventine, Caelian, Esquiline, Quirinal and
Viminal. The dark line is the Servian Wall, a stone fortification around the city. However, the
th
wall does not date to the reign of Servius Tullius, but was actually built in the 4 century BC.
3. Roman Regal Period
Rome was ruled by a series of seven kings; Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus
Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Lucius Tarquinius
Superbus. Some of the kings ruled with an aggressively expansionist policy for Rome, while
others stressed piety and adherence to religious doctrine. Romulus founded Rome in 753 BC,
just as Greece was beginning to emerge out of its Dark Age and the first Olympic Games were
barely a generation old.83 During the first Roman kingship, Romulus tricked, conquered and
subdued the neighboring Latin and Sabine tribes, merging them with Rome. However, two of
the Roman kings, Priscus and Superbus, were actually Etruscan, while the other five were of
83
The Latin word for Rome (Roma) is a derivation of the name Romulus.
118
either Latin or Sabine origin. The nearby Sabine
people were forcibly merged with Rome under
Romulus’ rule. The most powerful Etruscan
cities were north of Rome across the Tiber River
in Etruria, but their influence continued to
spread south into Campania during the Roman
Regal Period. The origins of the Etruscan people
are still undetermined among modern historians,
but it is without debate that many of the
Etruscan cities pre-dated Rome. It is not known
if they were a native Italic people, or another
people who immigrated and merged with the
local population, as the Romans themselves had
done. Whatever the case, the power of the
Etruscans expanded to the north and south of Etruria, and they ruled over Rome
by the time of the 5th king, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.84 Etruscan cities and culture
already existed by the 8th century BC, and may even have influenced how
Romulus founded Rome. Livy credits the religious and pastoral act of using a
plow to found a city to an Etruscan custom. Things later identified as Roman,
such as the toga or fasces, were also Etruscan in origin. The fasces were a bundle
of rods, bound in leather with an axe head sticking out of it, and were a symbol of
power for Roman magistrates. The rods represented the power of the king for
corporal punishment while the axe was for beheading as capital punishment.85
The fasces are still used today as a sign of power, even by the United States on currency and the
Lincoln Memorial. Rome during the Regal Period (753-509 BC) was dominated by the king and
powerful aristocratic families that vied for power within the political system.
84
The Tarquin family likely came from Tarquinia in Etruria.
85
The Latin word corpus translates as ‘body’ while caput means ‘head’.
119
4. Revolution
The end of the Roman Regal Period is connected directly to the fall of the Tarquin family
from power. The 7th and last king of Rome was Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, son of the 5th king,
Tarquinius Priscus, both of whom were Etruscan. Tarquinius Superbus (Latin for ‘Proud’ or
‘Arrogant’) rose to the kingship by the assassination of the previous king, Servius Tullius.
Tarquin’s wife, Tullia, was actually the daughter of Servius Tullius and helped bring her father
down from power in order to put her husband on the Roman throne. Tullia even ran over her
father’s dead body in the street with her chariot, an infamous deed in Roman history that
earned the street its name, the “Vicus Sceleratus" (street of wickedness). The Roman Regal
Period, and the transition of power for the kings, was one of violence, murder and betrayal.
Even during the Regal Period the city had its senators; men of important and well-
educated aristocratic families that initially served as the king’s advisors. When Tarquin the
Proud came to power, he refused to bury Servius, earning him his nickname Superbus, and
executed many senators who he felt threatened his rule. Under Tarquin’s strong leadership,
Rome gained a dominant position among the other Latin city-states and with her Etruscan
neighbors to the north. Rome was transitioning from a bunch of huts on the Palatine Hill under
Romulus, to the most prominent city-state in Latium. During Tarquin’s reign, many Roman civic
projects were completed, such as the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, the Cloaca
Maxima (the main sewer system that drained the mosquito and malaria filled marshes between
the Palatine and Capitoline Hill), and the Roman Forum (the open-air marketplace and heart of
ancient Rome).
Despite this, Tarquin’s position as king was not secure. In 509 BC his son, Sextus, raped
a noble Roman woman named Lucretia. As a consequence of the rape, Lucretia committed
suicide. Her death became a rally cry against Etruscan rule and the Tarquin family, and the king
and his immediate family were expelled from Rome. For the Roman people, a replacement
government would not be another kingdom, but a Republic. Literally from the Latin words res
(‘thing’) and publica (‘public’), the Roman Republic was a government bound by law with
representation for its citizens through the Senate. In reality though, power to run the Roman
state simply changed hands from the king to the aristocrats, a body of 300 senators from the
most powerful families in Rome. Despite those limitations, this was the only type of
representative government in existence, with the exception of Athens, which had become a
120
democracy only the year before Rome became a Republic.86 In a world where kings dominated,
Rome was unique. In fact, the symbol of the Republic was not a flag, but the acronym “S.P.Q.R.”
(Senatus PopulusQue Romanus), which translates as “the Senate and the Roman People” and is
symbolic of the shared power between the people and their
representatives in the Senate.
After Tarquin was expelled, two members from the Senate
were chosen to be the first pair of consuls for the new Republic;87
Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, Lucretia’s
widowed husband. Both men had familial connections to the
Tarquin family, but despite his prominent anti-Tarquin position,
Collatinus’ family connection prompted him to resign as consul
and retire to Lavinium. Nobody with obvious ties to the Tarquin
family could now hold power in Rome. Despite a connection to
the Tarquin family, Brutus was saved by his nomen (clan name)
being Junius.88 Collatinus’ consulship was eventually filled by
Lucretia’s father, Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus, who also took part Lucius Junius Brutus, Capitoline
Museum
in the rebellion against the Tarquins.
Even though Tarquin the Proud was driven from Rome, he was determined to regain the
throne. He plotted with some pro-royal Roman citizens to take back the city, but the conspiracy
was discovered. Those found guilty of collaborating with Tarquin were executed, which
included Brutus’ own sons, Titus and Tiberius.89 However, Tarquin still managed to rally enough
allies from other Etruscan city-states and fought the fledgling Republic at the Battle of Silva Arsia
in 509 BC. Tarquin lost not only the battle, but also his son, while Lucius Junius Brutus was killed
during the fighting. His sacrifice for the fledgling Republic would serve as an example of Roman
virtue against tyranny for centuries. Four hundred and sixty-five years later his descendant,
Marcus Junius Brutus, would be one of the key conspirators against Julius Caesar, a general of
the Roman Republic who wished to be the sole ruler of the Republic. The word “king” (‘rex’)
had become a hated word for the Romans, and the ancestral honor of the Brutus family pushed
86
By comparison, in 510 BC the Athenians expelled their tyrant, Hippias.
87
The Romans elected two consuls each year, who shared power. Each could veto the power of the other,
and was a system of rule based on the Spartan state.
88 th
Brutus’ mother was Tarquinia, daughter of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome’s 5 king.
89
The fact that Brutus’ own sons sided with Tarquin instead of their own father, one of the first consuls,
shows how precarious the Republic was in its infancy.
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Marcus to assassinate Caesar. Julius Caesar’s death in 44 BC, and the subsequent fall of the
Republic, was directly tied in its founding by Lucius back in 509 BC.
The Tarquin Family Tree
5. Gallic Sack of Rome
Tarquin tried a second time to re-take

Rome, this time with the help of the Etruscan king
of Clusium, Lars Porsenna. This ally marched his
army south and made camp on the north side of
the Tiber River, directly across from Rome. The
siege of the city did not go well for Porsenna, and
Rome defended herself with brave heroes like
Mucius Scaevola and Horatius Cocles.90 The siege
ended, and a peace treaty with Clusium was
established. Tarquin was denied a return to the
Roman throne, and died in 496 BC as an exile in
the southern Italian city of Cumae. Rome would
not tolerate another king.
90
Mucius secretly entered Porsenna’s camp and tried to assassinate him, while Horatius defended the
only bridge across the Tiber. The Romans destroyed the bridge, and stopped the enemy from crossing the
river into the city.
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For the next century Rome dominated her Latin allies and expanded her power over the
now weaker Etruscan cities to the north and south. In 390 BC the Roman Senate received word
from Clusium, the city-state that was once allied to Tarquin the Proud, that they were being
attacked by the Gauls and needed military support in the defence of their city. Clusium’s
request for Roman assistance clearly shows the advancement of Rome’s military power during
the first century of the Republic. The Gauls were seen by the Romans as a barbaric northern
people who inhabited the Po Valley just south of the very mountainous Alps. They often raided
Etruscan cities to their south, and now Clusium was their target. As a result of the part that
Clusium had played aiding Tarquin the Proud, the Romans were hesitant to give military
assistance. The Roman Senate sent ambassadors to ascertain the situation and determine what
should be done. When they arrived, the Romans claimed Clusium as an ally and met the Gallic
chieftan, who said they were only looking for land to settle in that was not being used. As Livy
says:
The Romans asked them what right they had to demand, under threat of war,
territory from those who were its owners, and what business the Gauls had in
Etruria. The haughty answer was returned that they carried their right in their
weapons, and that everything belonged to the brave. Passions were kindled on
both sides; they flew to arms and joined battle. Thereupon, contrary to the law
of nations, the envoys seized their weapons, for the Fates were already urging
Rome to its ruin.
For some reason, and contrary to the ancient law of nations that ambassadors do not fight, the
Gauls saw the Romans fighting in the front line of the Etruscan army. One of the ambassadors,
Quintus Fabius, personally killed the Gallic chieftain in combat and was recognized by the Gauls.
Infuriated at this breach of treaty and interference, the Gallic army abandoned its siege of
Clusium and marched south towards Rome. The Romans, thinking the Gauls were not really
much of a threat, were surprised by their rapid advance, and barely managed to assemble an
army when the enemy was only eleven miles from the gates of Rome. Arrogance of their own
superiority had blinded the Romans to the Gallic threat. At the Battle of the River Alia, the
Romans met the screaming, long-haired, wild men of the north and their army was crushed.
The left wing of the Roman army retreated to a nearby city, while the right wing routed and fled
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back to Rome. They gathered on the top of the Capitoline Hill, which acted like a citadel in times
of danger.
They were in such a state of flight that they didn’t even close the gates of the city. Livy
continues to explain how stunning and dramatic the victory was for Gauls:
The Gauls for their part were almost dumb with astonishment at so sudden and
extraordinary a victory. At first they did not dare to move from the spot, as
though puzzled by what had happened, then they began to fear a surprise, at
last they began to despoil the dead, and, as their custom is, to pile up the arms
in heaps. Finally, as no hostile movement was anywhere visible, they
commenced their march and reached Rome shortly before sunset. The cavalry,
who had ridden on in front, reported that the gates were not shut, there were
no pickets on guard in front of them, no troops on the walls.
The citizens of Rome decided on drastic action. Those of military age and all the wives and
children retreated behind the walls of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill. In addition, the Vestal
Virgins and the state priests quickly gathered all the sacred objects from the temples, while
others stockpiled provisions and weapons for the oncoming siege. The rest of the city was
abandoned to the Gauls. All those who were too old, both the aristocrats (patricians) and the
common people (plebians), either fled into the countryside or waited for the arrival of the Gauls.
They nobly sat side-by-side with former consuls who were no longer able to take up arms. As
the Gallic army entered Rome they found the patricians sitting regally in their own homes,
resplendent in their togas and long beards. The Gauls hesitated at this strange sight, but
became incensed from the scorn of a seated patrician and slaughtered all within sight. The
houses were plundered and the city was set on fire. Those Romans who were safe behind the
walls of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill could only watch as the enemy ran through the streets
day after day, burning and destroying the city.
One night during the siege the Gauls tried sneak up a steep and undefended side of the
Capitoline Hill near a temple to Juno (Hera). Previously, the enemy had tried a more direct
attack on the citadel but the Romans had beaten them back with significant loss. Now they
would try to sneak their way onto the Capitoline Hill for a surprise assault. As they climbed the
cliff under the cover of darkness they were spotted, not by sentries or guard dogs, but by some
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geese that were sacred to Juno and kept near her temple. The noise of the honking geese
roused the Romans to the danger. The Gallic sneak attack was beaten back and the citadel was
saved, as well as the entire Roman treasury which had been gathered in her temple. Juno’s
temple became known as Iuno Moneta (‘Juno the Warner’), and the Roman treasury stored
there during the siege was saved; from Moneta we get the English word money.
Soon afterwards a plague struck the Gallic army, which prompted them to make peace
with the Romans—for a price. The Romans were to pay 1,000 lbs of gold to the Gauls for them
to depart, roughly 15 talents. This amount, compared to the 3,000 talents that Darius had with
him at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, reflects the drastic difference in the level of wealth in early
Rome compared to the Greek and Persian world. As the gold was being weighed out, the
Romans felt that the scales were unjustly measured and they were paying too much. They
complained. To their humiliation a Gaul threw his sword onto the scales and cried, “Woe to the
conquered!” Now the Romans paid an even higher price and a humiliation that would not easily
be forgotten.

80. Who were the first and last kings of Rome?
81. What important family helped expel the last king, and whose descendent killed Julius Caesar?
82. What year was the Republic founded?
83. What people sacked Rome in 390 BC?
Reflection Essay
27. As of 2011 the United States has existed 235 years. In the same time frame Rome was still in the
Regal Period (518 BC) and about to enter the Republic. Could the United States ever be ruled by
kings?
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Chapter VIII
Pyrrhus of Epirus and Defensive Imperialism
1. Enter Pyrrhus, Stage Right
With the death of Alexander the Great, and the subsequent 40-year war of succession,
Rome was granted the breathing room needed to emerge with a vengeance from the sacking of
390 BC. Fear of attack from neighboring city-states on every border drove Rome’s expansion
ever outward, in a form of what historians call “defensive imperialism”. In other words, better
to attack those now, who would only attack you later. To echo the later Roman historian
Vegetius, si vis pacem, parare bellum, ‘if
you want peace, then prepare for war’.
Rome became an almost accidental empire,
driven by the fear instilled by the Gallic
destruction of the city. Rome, however,
usually practiced tolerance and assimilation
of her defeated subjects, preferring to
make them into new and useful allies from
whom she could draw troops and supplies
to further fuel her legions. Unlike her
imperial history to follow, Rome did not
levy tribute on Italian cities that were
conquered.91 A system of founding colonies
in conquered territory, populated by
Roman citizens and her soldiery, helped to
spread Roman influence further and further
south in the Italian peninsula.
91
A tribute is a tax on conquered peoples.
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Meanwhile, Etruscan power was waning north of the Tiber River, as their territory was
squeezed on both their northern and southern borders. In the south they were being
conquered and absorbed by Rome, while in the north the Gauls descended out of the Alps and
south of the Po Valley to raid their city-states.
The Apennine Mountains divide Rome from Italy’s eastern coast, which meant she
naturally expanded up and down the west coast into the heavily Geek influenced part of
Southern Italy, and into the Etruscan north. Conflicts with the Samnites of central Italy during
the 4th century brought Roman influence further and further south, eventually bringing their
expansion to the Bay of Naples and other neighboring Greek city-states.
By the time the Samnite Wars (343-290 BC) were over for Rome, Alexander’s empire was
already broken into the three major divisions: the Ptolemaic pharaohs in Egypt, the Antigonid
Empire in Greece, and the Seleucid Empire in Persia. To the west of Egypt, Carthage controlled
the North African coast, and was waging war with the troublesome Greek city of Syracuse in
Sicily, which refused to submit to Carthaginian rule of the island. Spain and northern Europe
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were filled with small but powerful tribes of Celtic92 and Germanic peoples, which often
mistrusted each other and were in a constant state of war. Such was the state of the
Mediterranean world at the start of the 3rd century BC. It was at this time that Rome’s influence
came in contact with the powerful southern Greek city of Tarentum.
Located on the inner heel of Italy along the northern shore of the Bay of Tarentum, this
Greek city-state was a powerful merchant and naval power in Southern Italy. In 282 BC, the
conflict with Tarentum started when Rome came to the aid of another Greek city-state, Thurii,
which was being attacked by a neighboring city.
The Romans sent troops and a handful of ships to the Bay of Tarentum in response. However,
they were never to sail into those waters, which were the exclusive domain of Tarentum. The
Roman ships were quickly sunk by the superior Greek warships, and this escalated to a state of
war with the Tarentines. Feeling threatened by the proximity of Rome’s power, Tarentum called
upon those Greeks back home across the Ionian Sea to aid her against this upstart Italian hill
tribe which now threatened Greek independence.
92
Celts and Gauls are the same people, and the names are often interchanged. It was Julius Caesar who
stated that the word “Celts” is of Greek origin, while the Romans called the same people “Gauls.”
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The general who answered Tarentum’s call for help was
Pyrrhus of Epirus, a competent and skillful general who saw an
opportunity to expand his kingdom into Italy, while veiling it in
the role of a protector of Greek independence. There was no
Greek power in Italy itself that could stand up to the Roman
expansion, so all hope was put in Pyrrhus and his army. While
some cities like Thurii were friendly to Rome, there were very
few Greeks in Southern Italy who saw Pyrrhus as a greater
threat than Rome.

84. When has the Kingdom of Epirus been discussed before?
85. Looking back at the map on page 127, why did the Etruscans, Romans and Greeks not spread
east in Italy?
86. What is the name of the Greek city-state that asked Pyrrhus for help?
Reflection Essay
28. Is there a time in American history that we’ve acted with defensive imperialism, and if so, is it
justified? Why?
2. The Roman Army of the Middle Republic
In 280 BC Pyrrhus arrived in Italy at the head of an

army that Rome had never before encountered; a force of
highly trained Greek phalangites and a host of war elephants.
However, the Roman army that Pyrrhus faced no longer
resembled the Greek style hoplites that it started as back
during the 8th century. In all the years that Rome had waged
war, her army had evolved. Starting out as a
characteristically Greek phalanx of soldiers equipped with a
round shield, spear, helmet, and sword, the Roman army had
evolved over the three centuries since the creation of the
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Roman Republic. The old-style phalanx was not effective when the Romans expanded into the
mountainous terrain of central Italy against the Samnites in the 4th century. It was a simple fact:
a phalanx had extreme difficulty when it moved over anything but flat terrain. As it has been
noted, Alexander and his phalanx had difficulty just getting over a riverbank and maintaining a
solid line of soldiers at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. The old, solid line of soldiers locked shield-
to-shield cannot by its very nature maintain cohesion when fighting uphill. Therefore, in what
would become a hallmark of Roman warfare, the Romans adapted their army to be more
mobile. They formed their army, called a legion, into three lines of infantry, with each line
broken down into sub-units of men called maniples. In Latin, the word manus means ‘hand,’ so
in essence these were ‘handfuls’ of men, usually 120 strong each, while a legion at full strength
numbered around 4,800 men.
In the very front of the army the Romans would have velites, short-range skirmishers
equipped with various light weapons. These could be dislodged against an enemy, and the
velites could retreat behind the army for safety. A couple hundred cavalry held the flanks, with
the main infantry in the center. Each maniple had enough space between another maniple to
allow the lines to move through each other, giving the Roman army the look of a checkerboard
formation. This was done to allow a battle line, if needed, to retire in good order back behind
the safety of fresh troops. This gave the legions something that the phalanx did not have:
flexibility.
The first line of Roman heavy infantry was called the hastati, and represented the newer
units, who had seen some battle, but were the most raw and least experienced battle line. If
the fight was beyond the hastati, they fell back through the gaps in the line, letting the second
line take over the fight. In fact, the Romans typically used the hastati to exhaust an enemy’s
strength, so they could hit them with their second line, which would be fresh for the fight. This
second line was called the principes, and was comprised of soldiers who had seen some
experience in battle. They were the core of the Roman army, and represented the seasoned
soldier, who was usually in his mid-twenties. However, even they might break in the face of a
tough opponent. If the Roman army needed to retreat from the battlefield, they relied on the
third line to step forward and protect the army from a rout and potential disaster. An army that
could not maintain order could easily turn a retreat into a rout. Then, in full flight, the fleeing
troops could be hunted down by an enemy’s cavalry and suffer terrible losses, since soldiers
tend to throw away their weapons in the panic of flight. For that reason, the Roman third line,
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called the triarii, was equipped differently than that of the first two lines. The hastati and
principes had both spear and sword, with the spear (pilum) roughly 6-8 feet in length and meant
to be thrown en masse at the enemy. Instead, the triarii had longer spears, which were used in
a manner similar to the Macedonian phalanx. Composed of the most experienced veterans of
the Roman army, the soldiers of the triarii were expected to save a legion if it faced potential
defeat. Calm and cool under pressure, the older soldiers of the triarii would protect the rear of
a retreating legion. The Roman expression ad triarios redisse (‘it has come to the triarii’)
became synonymous with a desperate situation. This was the Roman army that Pyrrhus of
Epirus faced in 280 BC.

87. What are the names of the three Roman lines of an army?
88. Which line was expected to win a normal Roman engagement?
89. What is a maniple?
Reflection Essay
29. Why did the Roman army look different when they faced Pyrrhus, when in the beginning they
looked the same as a Greek army?
131
3. First Engagement: Heraclea
Pyrrhus and his army landed on Italian soil

with the public message that he was coming to the
aid of his Greek cousins in Southern Italy; however,
he saw the chance to expand his power westward
from Epirus. His army consisted of about 20,000
phalangites, 3,000 cavalry and even 20 war
elephants. Pyrrhus brought with him knowledge of
phalanx warfare perfected generations before by
Alexander the Great. It is commonly mistaken that the first time the Romans encountered
elephants was during the Second Punic War against Hannibal in 218 BC, but it was actually sixty-
six years before when Pyrrhus brought his Hellenistic army to Italy. The Tarentines had invited
Pyrrhus to come to their aid, but soon found out, to their dismay, that Pyrrhus was more
interested in securing a position of power in Southern Italy than crusading Greek independence
from Rome. Nonetheless, Rome presented the more immediate and barbaric invader to the
Italic Greeks, and they threw their support to Pyrrhus.
The two armies first met at the Battle of Heraclea which was along the western shore of
the Bay of Tarentum. This was the first time that the Romans faced off against three things:
elephants, a Greek phalanx, and most importantly—a Greek general. This was not some local
Latin or Samnite hill tribe, nor some invading mass of Gauls, but a true professional army the
Romans faced.
The two armies met and joined battle on the banks of the River Siris near the town of
Heraclea. Pyrrhus drew up his army, seeing the Romans open the battle with their velites. He
charged the Roman cavalry with his Macedonian and Thessalian contingents, and drove them
off the battlefield. In the center of the battle, Pyrrhus’ Epriote phalanx tried to push its way
through the massed Roman infantry, but could not break through its ranks. For the Romans,
things were worse and already getting desperate. Seven times the Roman lines charged the
phalanx, but every time they were hurtled back. Fear or folly drove the Roman legionaries to try
and roll under the phalangite spears, vainly trying to grab the Greek sarissae. Once the Romans
threw their spears, they only had their short swords to use against the much longer Greek
spears. It proved lethally useless and the Roman maniples buckled.
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In a manner similar to Alexander and other Greek generals, Pyrrhus wore armor that
made him easily recognizable on the battlefield. Curiously, he took off that armor and gave it to
a bodyguard to wear, who was unfortunately cut down by the Romans soon thereafter. The
Romans cheered, and rallied, thinking Pyrrhus had fallen in battle. Seeing his men beginning to
panic, Pyrrhus rode down the Greek line, cheering his men on and reassuring them he was alive
after all.93
At this point in the battle the Roman cavalry had rallied and returned to the battlefield,
and was pressing in on Pyrrhus’ flanks. Seeing the decisive moment, Pyrrhus played his trump
card: his elephants, which he had kept in reserve until this key moment. The Roman horses
panicked at the sight and smell of the elephants, which threw the whole of the Roman army into
confusion, routing them from the battlefield. Pyrrhus ordered his cavalry to pursue and cut
down the retreating Romans, further exacerbating their defeat. The Romans left an estimated
10,000 dead on the battlefield, while Pyrrhus had only slightly less. It was a victory for Pyrrhus
and his army, but in that victory was sown the seeds for his ultimate defeat.
4. The Battle of Asculum
The term “Pyrrhic Victory” means that, while you might be victorious against an enemy,
the enemy did such damage to your own army that you are unable to exploit it and ultimately
will lose the war. This was going to be the case for Pyrrhus, who after the Battle of Heraclea,
continued further north into Apulia, and in 279 BC met the Romans again at the Battle of
Ausculum.
Led by both consuls, Publius Decius Mus (‘the Mouse’) and Publius Sulpicius Saverrio,
the Romans fought a hard, two-day battle against Pyrrhus. Both sides had roughly 40,000
infantry and cavalry, while Pyrrhus also now had Tarentines and Samnites, who saw in this
foreign invader a chance to overthrow their recent Roman oppressors. Having had time to
prepare for this battle, the Romans had anti-elephant countermeasures ready: ox-led chariots
with long spears, skirmishers with spears to throw at the elephants, and pots filled with burning
pitch to hopefully scare them. As the battle progressed that first day, both sides suffered losses.
93
We do not know the motivation for this move by Pyrrhus. The Romans would cite cowardice, but that
seems unlikely.
133
The Romans had one of their four legions routed along with their Latin allies, while for Pyrrhus
the Tarentines and Epriotes in the center had to fall back. Retreating to a nearby hill, the
Romans broke off their attack, while Pyrrhus himself retreated to deal with an attack on his own
camp, which was promptly crushed. Both sides spent a wary night encamped on nearby hills for
protection.
At dawn on the second day, both sides renewed the battle on an open plain between
the two hills. The battle’s outcome was in doubt until Pyrrhus, as he had done at Heraclea,
seized the opportunity to use his elephants, which once again broke through the Roman line.
The Roman anti-elephant countermeasures worked briefly, until Epriote skirmishers destroyed
the ox-led chariots. The elephants charged once again and broke completely through the
Roman line. At the same time Pyrrhus ordered his Royal Cavalry Guard to charge the Roman
line. Overrun, the Romans fled the field, and the consul Publius Mus lay dead.94 While
victorious, Pyrrhus lost about 4,000 men—many of them his officers, while the Romans lost
nearly 6,500. It was at this time that Pyrrhus famously said, “One more such victory and we
shall be undone.” This was the origin of the phrase “Pyrrhic Victory”, since Pyrrhus decided to
seek a new opportunity than the conquest of Italy. That opportunity would be Sicily.
94
The Publius Decius Mus family had a record of dying on the battlefield; his grandfather (same name and
also a consul), pledged his life to the gods if his army would be victorious against the Latins in 340 BC. His
father (also a consul and also the same name) made an identical devotio and also died in battle against
the Samnites in 312 BC.
134
5. On to Sicily
At this point Pyrrhus tried to negotiate a truce with Rome, asking only for Tarentine
independence, but the offer was rebuffed by the Senate. Led by the aged and blind former
consul Appius Claudius Caecus, creator of the first Roman highway and aqueduct (the Via Appia
and Aqua Appia), the Senate turned down any offer from Pyrrhus and vowed to continue the
war95. Pyrrhus, seeing a lack of any strong allies in southern Italy, decided to change opponents
and aid the Greek city of Syracuse in Sicily against the powerful city-state of Carthage, which had
been trying for centuries to subjugate the entire island. Carthage, located in North Africa, saw
Syracuse as the only real Greek threat left on the island of Sicily.
95
Ironically, Rome formed a military alliance with Carthage. In an attempt to aid Rome, Carthaginian
ships sailed up the Tiber, only to be sent back to Carthage with the polite refusal for any direct help on
Italian soil. Never again would a Carthaginian ship come so close to Rome.
135
Landing his forces successfully in Sicily in 278 BC, Pyrrhus drove off the Carthaginians
from their siege of Syracuse and forced them back to the western port city of Lilybaeum. He
then proclaimed himself king of Sicily and captured the Carthaginian stronghold of Mt. Eryx the
following year.96 The only city in Sicily left for Carthage was Lilybaeum, and Pyrrhus began
peace negotiations with the Carthaginians. Pyrrhus knew the siege of Lilybaeum would be
costly, so he thought a peace accord would be the wiser course of action. The Sicilian Greeks
were not pleased that Carthage still had a port city in Sicily, and the peace process broke down.
The Sicilian Greeks pushed Pyrrhus to lay siege to Lilybaeum. He then demanded manpower
and money from his Sicilian allies in order to throw Carthage out, but his measures became so
unpopular that he lost Greek support, which prompted the Sicilians to shockingly side with
Carthage against Pyrrhus. Another Carthaginian army was sent to exploit the situation, but
Pyrrhus promptly defeated it. The situation in Sicily became poisonous for Pyrrhus, and it was at
this time that he received word that the Tarentines were in a desperate situation. They were
about to be defeated by the Romans, so Pyrrhus decided to go back to Italy with his army and
aid them in their conflict.
96
Pyrrhus was also given the choice to become king of Macedonia, whose king was killed in 279 when the
Gauls invaded Greece and sacked Delphi. He thought the better opportunity lay in Sicily and Italy for he
and his sons.
136
6. The Battle of Beneventum
Having given up on Sicily and returned to Italy, in 275 BC Pyrrhus met the Romans at the
town of Maleventum (literally ‘evil wind’) and was defeated. In the three years that Pyrrhus was
in Sicily, the Romans had called up thousands of recruits and had been training fresh legions. At
the Battle of Beneventum, Pyrrhus’ designs for the conquest of Italy were forever stopped by
the more numerous Roman forces.
For their good fortune, the Romans changed the name of the town from Maleventum to
Beneventum (‘good wind’), which still retains its ancient name to this day: Benevento. Pyrrhus
had lost two-thirds of his army by this point in the campaign, and after retreating to Tarentum,
decided to go back to Greece.
Leaving Italy, he famously prophesized, “Oh, what a battlefield I am leaving for Carthage
and Rome!” That battlefield would be Sicily, the natural convergence point for these two great
expanding powers of the western Mediterranean. Pyrrhus knew that the Greeks in Southern
Italy would fall under Roman dominance, while the Carthaginian expansion in Sicily would now
continue. Sicily would be the future conflict of Rome and Carthage.
Pyrrhus returned to Greece and took the city of Argos, where he was killed. As he was
going through the defeated city, an old woman threw a roof tile down upon his head, knocking
him from his horse. Standing nearby was an enemy soldier, hidden in the crowd. The Argive
drew his sword and slew the great commander where he had fallen in the street. Pyrrhus was
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46 years old. With the death of Pyrrhus, there was no further aid that would be coming to the
Greek city-states of Southern Italy—they were now on their own to face Rome. Within the next
few years, Roman forces dominated Italy from the northern regions all the way down to the tip
of the boot. There, across the narrow Straits of Messina lay the fertile plains of Sicily, the
powerful city of Syracuse and the expanding power of Carthage. As a sign of Roman pre-
eminence, the Ptolemaic pharaohs of Egypt officially recognized Rome as a power by opening an
embassy and dialogue between them. Rome had now thrust herself onto the world stage.
In this photo, from the Sicilian port of Messina, Sicily’s tip of land (back left) extends to the Strait of Messina
towards Italy (back right). Less than two miles apart separate Italy from Sicily at this point.

90. What is a Pyrrhic Victory?
91. What prompted Pyrrhus to give up in Italy the first time?
92. What was the only Carthaginian stronghold left in Sicily after Pyrrhus’ invasion?
93. What made Greek support fall away from Pyrrhus in Sicily?
94. What was the original name of the Roman town of Beneventum?
Reflection Essay
30. Thinking back on Pyrrhus and his generalship, what would your opinion of him be? Would you
classify him as a successful general?
138
139
Chapter IX
The First Punic War and the Battle of Telamon
1. Tension in the Strait
When Pyrrhus of Epirus finally left Italy after his defeat, he left Rome as the dominant
power in the Italian peninsula. Now, the remaining independent Greek city-states in southern
Italy fell under the control of the Roman Republic. In the north of Italy, the enormous Alps
Mountains acted as a natural barrier against any large invading army. The Padua River, now
called the Po, ran down from the Alps into a fertile plain just south of the mountains. The
Etruscans, who had such influence and power in northern Italy in former centuries, were either
absorbed into the Roman Republic or had their lands taken over by the Gauls who encroached
into the Po Valley region south of the Alps. The Samnites, who lived in the mountainous
Apennines of central Italy, and all the Greeks of the south, were now under the protection of the
Roman Republic.
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2. Carthage’s Origin
According to the Greek historian Timaeus, Carthage (Punic97 for ‘New City’) was founded
in 814 BC, evidenced by radiocarbon-dating of archeological finds. The city was a colony from
the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, which later would fall to Alexander the Great. According to
Vergil’s Aeneid, it was Aeneas who stopped at Carthage to see Queen Elissa (Dido was what the
Romans called her) when the city was first being constructed. However, there’s an obvious date
discrepancy between the flight from Troy (1184 BC) and the archeological evidence (814 BC). It
must be remembered, though, that the origin myth did not have to fit an actual timeline, so the
two are not necessarily in contradiction for an ancient reader. As the Roman historian Livy
commented in his history of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita):
Events before Rome was born or thought of have come to us in old tales with
more of the charm of poetry than sound historical record, and such traditions I
propose neither to affirm nor refute. There is no reason, I feel, to object when
antiquity draws no hard line between the human and the supernatural: it adds
dignity to the past.98
97
The word “Punic” comes from the Latin word for Phoenician (punicus)
98
Book 1.1 (Penguin Classics)
141
Livy states that founding myths are just that—myth. Just because it was myth did not
mean that it was not important or valid in an ancient’s eyes. In a modern world where history
means verifiable facts, it must be remembered that history in the ancient world was not so
much about validity, but a good story. That is not to discount historians like Herodotus, Appian
or Livy, but events before the 6th or 7th centuries BC are more myth than actual records. In
contrast to Timaeus, the historian Appian claimed the Phoenicians settled Tyre fifty years before
the capture of Troy. Whatever the true founding date, it is generally believed that Queen Elissa
fled Tyre when her brother, King Pygmalion, killed her husband in a dispute over the throne.
She, and those wishing to join her, sailed to Tunisia, the North African promontory that is closest
to Sicily. The native inhabitants who owned the land laughingly agreed to give Queen Elissa as
much land as she was able to enclose with the hide of an ox. Cutting the hide into very thin
strips, she laid them in a large circle end-to-end and claimed the land within that enclosed
space. This, according to the myth, is how Carthage was first settled.
As Phoenicians, the Carthaginians were skilled in maritime trade and naval warfare. The
city’s position, along the trade routes between it and Sicily, quickly made Carthage a powerful
city-state. By the 6th century BC, the Carthaginians’ power stretched along the African coast to
Egypt, the western part of Sicily, and the coasts of Sardinia and Corsica.99 As Carthage’s power
expanded on Sicily, they were challenged for supremacy of the island by the Greek city of
Syracuse. For over two centuries Carthage fought against Syracuse and its allies on the island.
As the Second Persian War was raging with Xerxes in 480 BC, Carthaginian forces tried to take
over the island, but were unsuccessful. Over the 5th century, as Greece was rocked by the
Peloponnesian War, there were a constant series of battles and plagues between the
Carthaginians and Syracusans. It was during this time that Syracuse also managed to defeat the
Athenian force that was sent to take the city in 415 BC. The Athenian loss at Syracuse, you may
remember, was an influential factor in bringing down the Athenian Empire during the
Peloponnesian War. By 310 BC the Carthaginians had managed to conquer a great portion of
Sicily, but the tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles, in response sent an army across the sea to
Carthage itself. This chess-like move by the Syracusans forced the Carthaginians to recall their
army to Africa and protect the city. Agathocles’ forces were defeated, but he managed to
escape back to Syracuse and negotiated a peace with Carthage. Pyrrhus of Epirus then came to
99
In 509 BC, Rome established a merchant treaty with Carthage shortly after they established the
Republic. The treaty does not survive, but it shows that there was at least mercantile contact between
the two city-states, even at this early period.
142
Syracuse’s aid against Carthage (278-276 BC), but did not manage to drive them from the island.
Carthage, long since independent of its mother colony, Tyre, was prophetically drawn into
conflict with the Romans after the Pyrrhic War.
3. Harbors and Walls
Carthage was very famous for two things: its harbors and the defensive fortifications
around the city. There were two harbors that greatly aided Carthage’s ability to become a
merchant and naval superpower; one was strictly for trade, while the other had specially
designed docks for warships of the time. Looking at the image below, you can see in this
computer rendering the long, rectangular harbor that was for merchant ships. Two towers
protected the entrance, and a large iron chain could be stretched across the mouth of the
harbor to stop ships from entering or leaving. The Carthaginians had 220 warships at her
disposal in the other harbor. Both the inner island and circular docks maintained battle-ready
warships, which could be quickly launched for the city’s defense.
143
The walls of Carthage were perhaps the finest defensive fortification in the entire
ancient world, stretching some 23 miles around the city, even on the seaward side. There were
a series of three walls on the landward side, while the seaward were not nearly as strong since
the Carthaginians relied on their navy to protect themselves from a seaborne attack. In all the
years of warfare between Carthage and Rome, the landward walls would never be breached.
4. The Quinquereme
Warships had been evolving ever since the days of the Trojan War, when perhaps 50
men were crewed on each ship. During the Persian Wars of the 5th century BC, warships had
evolved into triremes with a crew compliment of roughly 200 men each. By the 3rd century,
ships had evolved into the quadrireme and the largest to date, the quinquereme. The tri-, quad-,
and quin-, refer to the
number of oarsmen or oars
per row on each ship. How
the oarsmen were arranged
on each design is still a
subject of debate by modern
historians. Even though
quinqueremes were the most A Roman Quinquereme
advanced design of that period, with a crew of about 420 men, smaller quadriremes and
triremes were still produced as the need required. So, for example, a small fleet of 150 warships
consisted of 63,000 sailors and soldiers—the equivalent of a large army. The maintaining of a
large naval force was a considerable expense for Carthage, but it was that naval force which
gave her dominion over a huge area of the Mediterranean Sea. However, it is somewhat ironic
that the design of the quinquereme has been credited to Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse at the
beginning of the 4th century BC.
144
5. Messina and Rhegium
In the narrow Strait of

Messina, barely 2 miles
separates the toe of Italy from
the northeastern tip of Sicily and
the coastal town of Messina. In
288 BC, a group of mercenaries
called the Mamertines occupied
Messina (called ‘Messana’ in
antiquity) and killed all the men
and took the women as their
wives. At the same time, across
the strait, a body of Roman
soldiers seized the city of
Rhegium without orders.100 The Mamertines eventually fell into conflict with the Syracusans,
and had their army destroyed by King Hiero II of Syracuse. The remains of the Mamertine force
fled back to Messina and appealed to Carthage for aid against their common foe. Seeing an
opportunity, Carthage sent a force and garrisoned Messina, and Hiero II backed down. The
Mamertines now had a change of heart and send a deputation to Rome, asking them for aid
instead. Debate raged in the Roman Senate over sending troops, since this would be the first
conflict outside of Italy, and the Romans had no navy to take on Carthage. However, the
prospect of the Carthaginians controlling all of Sicily, and therefore the Strait of Messina and the
trade routes, was something they did not wish to see.
The Mamertines expelled the Carthaginian garrison, and the Romans landed two legions
in Sicily under the command of Appius Claudius Caudex, the grandson of Appius Claudius
Caecus, the consul who built the first Roman highway, the Via Appia in 312 BC. The Romans
defeated the Carthaginian force when they tried to retake Messina, as well as the Syracusans
who now saw Rome as a threat. Appius quickly marched on Syracuse, forcing Heiro II to make
100
Rhegium, a Greek colony, had allied itself with Athens during the Peloponnesian War, but was taken by
the Syracusans in 387 BC, since Syracuse had allied themselves to Sparta.
145
peace with Rome and became an ally. The Romans now began preparations to continue the war
against the Carthaginian forces in Sicily. The First Punic War had begun.

95. Name the three main powers that the Romans conquered by 270 BC.
96. What was the Latin name for Queen Elissa?
97. What was the mother city of Carthage?
98. How many men were on a quinquereme?
99. What two cities face each other across the Strait of Messina?
Reflection Essay
31. Give an example of one myth from early American history that is widely known and told.
6. Battle of Agrigentum
With Syracuse and Messina now secured as allies, the Romans began the process of
securing cities in Sicily one by one with land warfare. In 262 BC the Romans besieged the
Carthaginians strongest city on the southern coast, Agrigentum, in response to a Carthaginian
build-up of forces on the island. Situated on a high plateau a few miles from the coast,
Agrigentum (‘Acragas’ in Greek) was easily defensible and posed a difficult target for the
Romans.
The two consuls for the year, Lucius Postumius Megellus and Quintus Mamilius Vitulus
took their combined consular armies and marched on Agrigentum. The inhabitants, not wishing
to risk a battlefield engagement, retreated behind the walls and put their faith in the strong
defensive position that the city held. The Romans were caught off guard by the determination
of the Carthaginian’s resistance. Skirmishes and 5 months of starvation followed. As the siege
dragged on, a Carthaginian relief force, under the command of Hanno, landed at the city of
Heraclea (Minoa) and cut the Roman supply line. Hanno pursued the Romans to their camp,
and now they found themselves under a state of siege by the Carthaginian relief army.
146
After another 2 months, both those Carthaginians who were inside Agrigentum and the
Romans inside their camp were growing desperate. The consuls decided, since they were close
to starvation, to offer battle. The historian Polybius wrote:
For two months both sides remained in these positions without attempting
anything more decisive than skirmishing actions every day. But all this while
Hannibal (the commander of Agrigentum) was making fire-signals and sending
messages to remind his colleague that the population could not endure the
famine any longer, and that more and more of his men were deserting to the
enemy for lack of food. As last the Carthaginian commander determined to risk
a battle, while the Romans for the reasons which I have explained were no less
eager, and so both armies advanced into the space between the camps and
engaged. The fighting was long and drawn-out, but in the end the Romans
147
succeeded in driving back the front line of Carthaginian mercenaries, and as they
retired on to the elephants and the other units stationed behind them, the whole
Punic army was thrown into confusion.101
In the aftermath, the remains of Hanno’s army fled west to Heraclea, while Hannibal102
and what was left of his mercenaries escaped under the cover of darkness from Agrigentum,
leaving the city to be sacked by the Romans. Its 25,000 remaining inhabitants were sold into
slavery.
7. Polybius
Before any further account of the war is discussed, a brief mention must be made about
the one truly reliable source we have for this war. The Greek historian, Polybius, was born in
the city of Megalopolis at the end of the 3rd century BC when the war between Rome and
Carthage would be at its height. The city of Megalopolis was founded in 371 BC by the Theban
general Epaminondas in an attempt to counter Spartan supremacy in the Peloponnesus.
Polybius lived an aristocratic and educated life, and by 180 BC he held some distinction among
the Greeks. However, when Rome eventually came into conflict with the Macedonians and
Greeks, he was sent to Rome as a hostage. By chance, he became friends with Scipio
Aemilianus, a general of distinction in the later years of the Punic Wars. Polybius traveled the
Mediterranean and provided both political and military advice to Scipio. Later in his life,
Polybius would serve as an intermediary for peace between Greece and Rome. His opinions are
somewhat blunt, but honest, about the mistakes that Rome made on its way to becoming an
empire. However, he comments with admiration on the balanced political system that the
Romans had at that time. He was an eye witness to the very end of Rome’s wars with Carthage,
and stood alongside his friend Scipio. It is his account that is the only reliable source of the First
Punic War.
101
Polybius, Book 1.19
102
Hanno, Hannibal and Hasdrubal were extremely common names for Carthaginians and can cause
confusion. The famous Hannibal of the Second Punic War was Hannibal Barca, son of Hamilcar.
148
8. Mercenaries and Shipwrecks
Like the Greeks, the Carthaginians took it as a point of pride that their citizens rowed
their own ships. Their armies, however, were composed of mercenaries but commanded by
Carthaginians, and were usually a mix of North African, Celt-Iberian (Spanish Celts) or other
allied peoples. Unlike the Romans, who saw it as an honor to serve in the army, the
Carthaginians did not. The opening years of the 23-year-long First Punic War were
predominantly fought on land, subjugating cities by traditional siege warfare. Rome felt, with
the capture of Agrigentum, that Carthage could be pushed completely from the island of Sicily.
There was a problem, since the Romans had practically no fleet whatsoever. The Romans were
shown to be completely inadequate in naval warfare when they went against the Tarentines at
opening stages of the Pyrrhic War twenty years before, and had no fleet at the outbreak of the
First Punic War.
After Agrigentum, many of the inland Sicilian cities went over to Rome. However, many
coastal cities instead threw in their lot with the Carthaginians, seeing the power of their fleet,
which was also raiding the Italian coast unchallenged. Polybius speaks with admiration at how
the Romans made their first real venture upon the sea:
When the Romans first ventured to transport their forces to Messina, not only
had they no decked ships, but no warships at all, not so much as a single galley.
They merely borrowed penteconters103 and triremes from the Tarentines, the
Locrians and the people of Elea and Neapolis, and ferried the troops across at
great risk. It was on this occasion that the Carthaginians sailed out to attack
them as they were crossing the straits, and one of their decked ships, in their
eagerness to overtake the transports, ventured too near the shore, ran aground,
and fell into the hands of the Romans. It was this ship which they proceeded to
use as a model, and they built their whole fleet according to its specifications;
from which it is clear that but for this accident they would have been prevented
from carrying out their program for sheer lack of the necessary knowledge.104
103
A penteconter was the earliest type of warships from the Archaic Period, with 50 oarsmen.
104
Book 1.19
149
In other words, the Romans found a Carthaginian warship—a quinquereme—and
reverse-engineered its design to produce 100 warships and an additional 30 triremes in order to
challenge the Carthaginians. The Romans were so unfamiliar and ill-prepared for naval warfare
that crews rowed on land, practicing the movements of their oars while sitting on logs. Quickly,
the Romans challenged Carthaginian dominance of the seas around Sicily, the Italian coast and
Sardinia. Both sides threw themselves into a contest for mastery of the sea, which resulted in
the largest naval battle the world had ever seen.
9. Battle of Ecnomus
In 256 BC, after six years of indecisive land warfare, Polybius says the Roman consul
Marcus Atilius Regulus led a fleet of 330 warships along the eastern coast of Sicily. They sailed
around Cape Pachynus to the southern city of Ecnomus, where their land forces were stationed.
The Carthaginians, in response, had a fleet of 350 ships sailing from Heraclea to meet them. The
Roman intent was to launch an invasion of Africa and bring the war to Carthage’s doorstep,
much the same way that the Syracusans had done years before. The Carthaginians sent their
fleet with the intention of stopping the invasion before it even started. The result was the
Battle of Ecnomus.
With an average of 420 men per ship, Polybius estimated the overall force of both the
Romans and Carthaginians at nearly 300,000 men. While the Persian Empire had more ships
two centuries before during the Persian Wars, the newer ships carried at least twice the crew of
the older design. Go back even further to the Iliad, and the supposed 1000 ships of the Greeks
would have been able to carry roughly only 50,000 men. The sheer human element in this naval
battle outstrips the size of almost any land battle in history.
150
As the Roman fleet lined
up for combat, they distinctly
choose a multiple line formation
as a kind of echo of their
manipular legions. Their most
vulnerable ships, the transports,
were placed in the center of their
fleet with the first two lines
forming a shape like an
arrowhead. In the rear of their
fleet they stationed their triarii in
a single line, forming the solid
base of the arrow, like the bottom
of a pyramid turned on its side. While the
Carthaginians showed superior seamanship, being
faster than their Roman counterparts, they were
unprepared for the Roman corvus (Latin for ‘crow’).
The Romans had modified their ships with a boarding
bridge, affixed to the front of their warships. The
corvus could swivel and pivot, and when a Roman
warship got close to a Carthaginian, they would drop
it onto the enemy deck. On the end of the corvus was
A Roman corvus
an iron spike, like the beak of a crow, from which it
got its name. The heavy iron would crash through the enemy deck from its weight and
momentum, and lock the two ships together. The Romans would then take their marines,
essentially legionaries transferred to the ships, and race across and capture it. Essentially, the
Romans turned a sea battle into a land battle. The Battle of Ecnomus went to the Romans, who
lost twenty-four ships, while the Carthaginians had sixty-four captured and thirty sunk. If we
assume that Polybius’ numbers were correct, then the 88 ships which were lost account for over
35,000 dead, while the captured Carthaginian ships were an additional 26,000 sailors and
soldiers lost for Carthage.
151
100. What was the name of the powerful Carthaginian city along the southern coast of Sicily that fell
to the Romans?
101. What is the name of the Greek historian who is the primary source for the First Punic War?
102. What type of ship did the Romans find washed up on their shore?
103. How did the Romans practice rowing?
104. What was the corvus?
Reflection Essay
32. What is genius behind the Roman use of the corvus?
10. Regulus’ Folly
After repairing his ships, the consul Regulus sailed on to Africa and disembarked his
troops in the spring of 255 BC. The Romans began sacking nearby towns and soon met the
hastily arranged Carthaginian defense, routing them. For Carthage, things were now desperate
since they had met defeat on both sea and land, and now found the enemy outside their walls.
Regulus was eager to settle the conflict with Carthage, since his term as consul was ending and
he’d have to return to Rome. Under the Roman political system, the new consul would sail to
Africa and replace Regulus and finish his campaign, thereby robbing him of his glory. Regulus
felt that the city was pretty much his already, and his peace terms were harsh. The
Carthaginians rejected them and resolved to fight on. As Polybius wrote:
(The Carthaginians) resolved that they would suffer any extremity and try every
resource rather than submit to a settlement which was so ignoble and so
unworthy of their past achievements. 105
It was at this time that a Spartan officer named Xanthippus showed up in Carthage,
recruited by the city for its defense. Even though Sparta’s power was broken over a century
before by Thebes, nonetheless their skill in warfare was still legendary. Xanthippus did an
inspection of the forces available for Carthage and determined the Roman victory was not
because of their superiority of arms, but because of the Carthaginians’ inexperience. He set
105
Book 1.32
152
about re-organizing the Carthaginian forces, training them, and making the citizens themselves
fight for their own city’s defense. In short order Xanthippus molded the Carthaginians into a
fighting force of 12,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and nearly 100 elephants and marched out to
meet the enemy at the Battle of Tunis in May, 255 BC. The Romans on the other hand had a
force of about 15,000 infantry but only about 500 cavalry. Regulus, as a countermeasure to the
elephants, compressed the ranks of his legions. As the battle began the Roman cavalry were
quickly driven from the battlefield, and the Carthaginian elephants rammed into the main body
of the legions. Regulus’ battle plan of massing his infantry succeeded in doing nothing but
limiting his troops’ mobility and making it easier for the elephants to make Roman pancakes out
of the legionaries. Those that survived the mauling of the elephants now faced the main body
of the Carthaginian citizenry, armed in phalanx style and ready for battle.
Regulus was captured, along with a small body of soldiers. About 2,000 Romans
managed to extricate themselves and flee back to the coast and the security of the Roman
camp; the rest were annihilated and were stripped of their armor. He once demanded their
surrender, and now as a prisoner the consul Marcus Atilius Regulus was led into Carthage and
pleaded for his life.106
Polybius comments on Regulus’ actions, and reflects on what anyone can—and should—
learn from his example:
I have recorded these events in the hope that the readers of this history may
profit from them, for there are two ways by which all men may reform
themselves, either by learning from their own errors or from those of others; the
former makes a more striking demonstration, the latter a less painful one. For
this reason we should never, if we can avoid it, choose the first, since it involves
great dangers as well as great pain, but always the second, since it reveals the
best course without causing us harm. From this I conclude that the best
education for the situations of actual life consists of the experience we acquire
106
Regulus will be held hostage until 250 BC, when he’s sent back to Rome to seek a peace treaty. Instead
of asking for a settlement, Regulus gave a moving speech to the Senate to continue fighting. Bound by his
oath to return, Regulus went back to Carthage and was executed for his actions.
153
from the study of serious history. For it is history alone which without causing us
harm enables us to judge what is the best course in any situation or
circumstance.107
History, according to Polybius, was not just the study of facts but an acquisition of
knowledge and experience gained without harm. From this we might better ourselves and gain
a greater understanding of the world around us. I greatly agree with the Greek historian.
11. The War Drags On
After the Battle of Tunis the Carthaginians repaired and built a fleet of 200 vessels and
started patrolling the coast in order to stop any further Roman invasions. A Roman relief force
of 350 ships was launched at the beginning of summer, and met the Carthaginian fleet near
Cape Hermaeum east of Carthage. The Romans won again, capturing an astonishing 114 ships
and their crews. What was left of Regulus’ army was then picked up, and they sailed back to
Sicily. Near Camarina on the southern coast the Roman fleet ran into a fierce storm, and only 80
of the 364 ships survived. The loss of life would have been around 100,000 men, higher if the
ships were at full capacity. Polybius squarely blames the destruction of the fleet not on Fortune,
but on the commanders. The native captains had advised against sailing along the southern
shore of Sicily, with its rocky coastline and few good harbors. Any survivors would have been
bashed up against the rocks in the storm, or would have gone down with their ship. The
Romans used slaves to row their vessels, and frequently they were chained together and to the
ship itself.
The Carthaginians now felt emboldened by this reversal of fortune and built yet another
200 ships and transported a force across to their stronghold of Lilybaeum.108 The Romans were
not willing to surrender, and built a new fleet of 220 ships in an astonishing three months and
then set sail for Sicily. The consuls for that year, Aulus Atilius and Gnaeus Cornelius, met the
surviving ships from Regulus’ fleet in the Strait of Messina in the summer of 254 BC. The
107
Book 1.35
108
Lilybaeum is now known as Marsala, the region from which the red wine is produced for some of the
most popular Italian recopies.
154
combined Roman fleet sailed along the north coast and laid siege to the city of Panormous
(modern Palermo), took it, put a garrison in it and then set sail for Rome. The following year the
new consuls took a fleet once again to Africa, but this time they were nearly destroyed when
their ships approached the shoals. They were forced to throw many heavy items overboard in
order to lighten their ships. Barely escaping danger, the Roman fleet sailed back to Sicily and
around the western coast through hostile waters to Panormous. After that, the Roman fleet
attempted to sail across the open water directly for Rome, but were once again caught in a
storm and lost 150 ships.
Polybius states that at this point the Romans grew tired of the losses to their fleet, and
resolved to continue the war on land and use the fleet only for transport and re-supply in Sicily.
Carthage now ruled the sea, and for the next two years the Romans did not engage the enemy
forces in open battle, since they still feared the charge of the Carthaginian elephants.
In 251 BC the Romans managed to defeat a Carthaginian force under the command of
Hasdrubal who was raiding the territory around the city of Panormous. Feeling emboldened,
the Romans built another fleet of 200 ships and set sail for Sicily. Arriving on the west coast, the
Roman force began an assault on Lilybaeum, which was the only other remaining Carthaginian
port besides the city of Drepana. The Carthaginians realized the importance of this battle as
well, and committed themselves to the city’s defense. As the Romans began the bitter siege of
Lilybaeum, a Carthaginian fleet set sail from Africa with a 10,000 man relief force. To the shock
of the Romans anchored off Lilybaeum, the Carthaginian fleet, loaded with troops, skillfully
sailed past them into the harbor. The Roman navy couldn’t stop them because of the wind’s
direction, because they feared being swept into the harbor themselves. The next morning the
Carthaginians, under the direction of the garrison’s commander, Himilco, rushed from the
defenses with nearly 20,000 men in many different locations. The Romans were expecting this
bold move, and met it with superior numbers and with great speed. A fierce battle broke out all
around the Roman siege works, but not with any discipline. Polybius describes the struggle as
“something of the spirit of single combat pervaded the whole battlefield.”109 Himilco feared
that the battle was about to be lost and called for a retreat back into the city, which was a relief
to the Roman forces who were about to break—unknown to Himilco.
However, some weeks later a very strong storm blew with tremendous force upon the
Roman siege towers, nearly knocking them over. The Carthaginians saw an opportunity, and
109
Book 1.45
155
attacked the Roman towers with fire and a general assault from the walls of the city. The wind
drove the smoke and debris onto the Roman lines, blinding them. In the end, the destruction
was so complete that the towers and battering rams were ruined. The legions now decided
starvation was a better tactic against the enemy, and dug a moat and fortifications all around
the city, while the fleet blocked the harbor, not altogether successfully.110
12. Sacred Chickens
In 247 BC the consul Publius Claudius Pulcher111 set sail with the fleet from Lilybaeum to
surprise the Carthaginians fleet in Drepana. Pulcher set out with his fleet in the middle of the
night and hugged the coastline, approaching Drepana from the south at dawn. His chance of
surprise was gone, however, when Carthaginian scouts spotted the Roman fleet on the horizon.
Conditions were hazy, and the Romans didn’t notice that the Carthaginian fleet had scrambled
to battle and slipped out another passage of the harbor. Finally realizing what was happening,
Pulcher hastily tried to turn around and re-order his fleet for battle, since the Carthaginian ships
were now rounding the small islands outside the harbor and were now bearing down on the
Roman fleet.
Polybius describes how desperate the Romans were:
Because of the abruptness of the turn, the result of this maneuver was to cause
some of the ships inside the harbor to foul those which were entering it; it also
created great confusion among the crews, and a number of vessels had the
blades of their oars snapped as they collided with one another.112
110
A Carthaginian captain named Hannibal the Rhodian, brazenly sailed multiple times through the
Roman blockade. In the beginning the Romans attempted to chase him, but could not match his speed.
Hannibal stopped his ship and waited, to see if any Romans would continue the chase, before he
continued on his voyage to Drepana. He served as a messenger between these two remaining
Carthaginian strongholds, but he was eventually caught when the Romans used a captured Carthaginian
ship to overtake him.
111
Brother to Appius Claudius Caudex, the consul of 264 BC who landed the first forces in Sicily.
112
Book 1.50
156
Drepana (modern Trapani), Lilybaeum (Marsala) and the Aegates Islands (Aegadian Islands)
Google Earth view of modern Drepana
157
The Carthaginians had the advantage of superior ship quality and better rowers, plus
they weren’t hemmed in by the shoreline and could retreat to more open water if necessary.
Pulcher, seeing the battle was lost, fled with 30 ships; the remaining 93 Roman vessels were
captured along with their crews.
The orator and senator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, writing about this event two-hundred
years later, told a slightly different story in regards to Pulcher’s actions. Before the battle, the
Roman commander took the sacred omens to determine the will of the gods. On board his
flagship were chickens, which were supposed to eat
some grain that was offered them. However, the
chickens would not eat. Pulcher, who was irate at this
delay, threw the chickens into the water in his
frustration. He famously shouted, ut biberent, quando
esse nollent ("let them drink, since they refused to eat").
Having escaped back to Rome, Pulcher was put on trial,
condemned and fined for his religious transgression. He
would die shortly afterwards, possibly by suicide.

105. Where did Carthage get help from to defeat Regulus?
106. What weapon was most effective against Regulus’ army?
107. What was the biggest factor for the destruction of Roman fleets?
108. What city was the most important Carthaginian stronghold in Sicily?
109. What city was Pulcher trying to take when he lost his fleet??
Reflection Essay
33. Pulcher was on trial for committing a religious crime. Could that happen today?
158
13. Hamilcar Barca
The Carthaginians once again felt they had an opportunity and raided the Roman fleet,
which was still anchored off Lilybaeum with their fleet from Drepana. A great amount of
damage was done to the Roman ships, but instead of finishing the attack the Carthaginian fleet
continued to sail down the coast.113 As the Carthaginian fleet sailed along the southern coast,
they met two separate Roman fleets, including one that had left from Syracuse. Seeing the
weather worsen, the Carthaginian admiral, Carthalo, took the advice of his pilots to seek the
safety of a harbor around Cape Pachynus. The Romans, typically, did not. The Romans, as
Polybius says, “...had never suffered such a total disaster” since it was the loss of over a hundred
warships and nearly 800 transports loaded with supplies. After this setback, the Romans once
again decided to concentrate on land operations and not on naval warfare.
The Carthaginians now appointed Hamilcar Barca to oversee the fight in Sicily, which
was now in its 16th year. He showed extreme confidence and
ability, and began harassing the Romans along the southern coast
of Italy. He ordered raids by the Carthaginian fleet as far north as
Cumae along the western coast of Italy. The Romans decided not
to challenge the Carthaginians for supremacy of the sea. However,
the Romans were still encamped outside Lilybaeum, concentrating
on land operations.114 Hamilcar countered every Roman action
with guerilla tactics, hitting and wearing down the Romans
wherever he could for the next five years. When the Romans took Hamilcar Barca
the large and imposing Mount Eryx, Hamilcar countered their move by
putting his own base of operations on very defensible hill near Panormous.
113
As the fleet left, a land battle now raged all around the city. The Romans in the camp tried to save
their ships, while Himilco, seeing the confusion the Carthaginian ships were causing, rallied from inside
the town to attack the Romans on two fronts. It would once again end in a stalemate.
114
Their siege of Lilybaeum was so long that the modern town of Marsala still shows the imprint of the
Roman camp.
159
The formidable sight of Mt. Eyrx.
Polybius does not go into detail of Hamilcar’s actions, but describes the Romans and
Carthaginians as two great boxers, bashing away at each other, using feints and hard blows to
try and knock out their enemy. The two forces were evenly matched, and more importantly
were deeply dug in to their positions. Neither had the strength to dislodge the other during the
early years of Hamilcar’s arrival, and the battles near Mt. Eyrx were taking each of their forces to
the breaking point. All the years of constant warfare, the loss of human life, and the disruption
of trade were beginning to make both the Roman and Carthaginian Senate crack under the
strain of the long and drawn-out war.
14. Battle of the Aegates Islands
In 242 BC, fearing Hamilcar’s success, the Romans decided to once again change tactics
and build yet another fleet. However, the public treasury was empty, so the aristocrats of the
Roman Senate reached into their own pockets to finance the building of another 200 warships.
160
Under the command of the consul Gaius Lutatius Catulus, the Roman fleet sailed to Sicily in
order to reinforce those ships that were still laying siege to the ports of Drepana and Lilybaeum.
Rome’s intent was to cut off any support to those cities, and more importantly, to Hamilcar. A
fleet of 250 Carthaginian ships arrived at the Aegates Islands off the coast, but waited for a
favorable wind in order to race into Lilybaeum’s harbor. Catulus, however, ordered all the
unnecessary equipment removed off his ships, and lowered their masts in order to make his
vessels faster. When the two fleets engaged, the Romans were lighter and faster, while the
Carthaginians were laden with provisions and reinforcements for Hamilcar. The battle was
never in doubt. Polybius explains:
The Carthaginians had assumed that the Romans would never again challenge
their naval supremacy, and so in their contempt for their opponents they had
neglected their own navy. The result was that immediately the battle was joined
they were worsted at one point after another, and were swiftly put to flight: fifty
ships were sunk outright and seventy captured with their crews.115
With the loss of this fleet, the supplies, and with no ability to help Drepana, Lilybaeum or
Hamilcar, the Carthaginians decided to sue for peace. The 23-year-long First Punic War was
finally over.
15. The Cost of War
The Romans ratified the peace terms; the Carthaginians were instructed to evacuate all
of Sicily, never to harm Hiero II and the Syracusans, and to free all prisoners incurred during the
war. In addition, they were to pay 2,200 talents of silver,116 spread out in payments over the
next twenty years. The scale of the forces lost in the First Punic War were gigantic; Polybius says
that overall the Romans lost 700 quinqueremes while the Carthaginians, 500. He compares the
loses to the wars between the Persians and the Greeks, and the Athenians and the Spartans,
115
Book 1.61
116
Remember, ninety-two years before, when Alexander beat Darius at the Battle of Issus, the
Macedonians found over 3,000 talents in Darius’ “traveling treasury.”
161
and states that never before in the history of the world had a war raged this long, and cost so
much in human life, materials and money. Polybius, in the final lines of Book I, gives a final
opinion on the war:
In respect to individual courage the Romans were far superior, but the general
who must be acknowledged as the greatest on either side, both in daring and in
genius, was Hamilcar, surnamed Barca. He was in fact the father of that
Hannibal who later made war on the Romans.117
Leaving Sicily, Hamilcar Barca returned to Carthage to put down a rebellion by her
mercenaries, who did not care if Carthage lost—they just wanted to get paid. The rebellion was
bloody and fierce, but no direct account of it survives to validate what happened.
In 238 BC, while Carthage was embroiled with the Mercenary War, Rome annexed the
islands of Sardinia and Corsica. In addition, they forced the Carthaginians to pay another 1,200
talents for the trouble. When the Carthaginians protested, Rome used the treaty as a
smokescreen and threatened a renewal of hostilities. Carthage remained silent, for now.
The following year Hamilcar finally crushed the Mercenary War and then set out with an
army along the North African coast towards Spain.118 Crossing over into southern Spain, he set
about expanding Carthaginian power, since their possessions in Sardinia and Corsica were now
lost. For the next eight years Hamilcar fought against the native Celts in Spain, called Celt-
Iberians. In 228 BC, Hamilcar was killed; however, his legacy as a general of extraordinary skill
was assured. Before his death, he had founded the port of Barcino on the eastern coast of
Spain, after his family name, Barca. Today the port city still survives, as does the derivation of
Hamilcar’s family name: Barcelona.
16. Gallic Troubles Again
After the death of Hamilcar, command passed to Hasdrubal the Fair, who was skilled in
diplomacy and military ability. He had commanded the fleet that followed Hamilcar initially into
Spain nearly a decade before. During Hasdrubal’s command in 226 BC, Roman ambassadors
117
Book 1.61
118
236 BC
162
visited him and completed a treaty between Rome and Carthage concerning Spain. It marked
the Ebro River as the dividing line between Roman controlled territory to the north, and
Carthaginian territory to the south. The speed and necessity of this treaty quickly became
evident, because an old foe was again on the move in the north of Italy—the Gauls.
Back in 390 BC, the Roman errors at Clusium prompted a Gallic army to quickly give up
the siege of the city and march on Rome, destroying a Roman army that had come out to meet
them. The city was sacked, and a humiliating bribe was paid to the Gauls for them to leave.
From that moment on, Rome
emerged as a defensive
Republic, ever aware of the
enemies on her frontier who
might one day pose a threat.
Now, unexpectedly, the
northern Gallic tribes of the
Boii, Insubres, and Gaesatae
formed into one large army and
marched south into Roman
territory.
Rome quickly
assembled her forces to meet
the renewed Gallic threat. In
Sardinia, the consul Gaius
Atilius Regulus set sail with his
forces for Italy.119 He was the
son of Marcus Atilius Regulus,
the consul who had lost to
Xanthippus and the
Carthaginians during the failed invasion of Africa. The other consul, Lucius Aemilius Papus, was
on the east coast of Italy near modern-day Venice. In central Italy an unknown praetor
commanded an army directly in the path of the oncoming Gauls. The Gallic army descended
through Etruria and set up camp, ironically, near the town of Clusium. The praetor and his army
119
Gaius’ brother, Marcus, held the consulship in 227 BC.
163
noticed the campfires of the enemy camp, and saw the Gallic cavalry hastily leaving at dawn the
next day. Unknown to the Romans, the Gallic infantry had slipped out under the cover of
darkness to a defensible hill about 8 miles away. The cavalry were left behind to light the
campfires and give the impression to the Romans that the entire army was still encamped at
Clusium. The Romans took the bait and pursued the cavalry, only to fall into the Gallic trap. The
Gauls charged the Roman force and caught them by complete surprise. Despite the fight being
hotly contested, the weight of Gallic arms and courage put the Roman army to flight. Around
6,000 Romans fell, while the survivors retreated to a nearby hill that offered a strong defense.
However, the Gauls were tired from battle and did not pursue.
The Gauls now held a council of war and decided that they had collected enough wealth
from their raid into Etruria, and now started marching home. They also learned that Papus and
his consular army was shadowing them, and they decided to avoid a direct conflict and head
north. The consul hesitated against directly attacking the Gallic force, and was content at the
moment to harass the rear of the enemy army and recover some of the plunder that they had
taken. Unknown to the Gauls or even Papus, Regulus and his army had landed near Pisae in the
north and were currently proceeding south towards Rome.
17. Battle of Telamon
As the Gauls approached the shore near the city of Telamon, some of the foragers were
captured by the advance guard of Regulus’ army. They revealed the Gallic position and
strength, and Regulus realized that he was in the extraordinary position of trapping the Gauls
between his army and Papus’, who was still shadowing the Gallic enemy.
Regulus wanted to occupy a prominent hill overlooking the battlefield, and he himself
went forward with his advance cavalry to scout the position. However, the Gauls assumed that
the cavalry they encountered ahead of them was Papus’ somehow, who had managed to get
around them during the night. Quickly, though, the Gauls learned of the true identity of
Regulus’ forces and decided on a bold strategy. The Gallic army, realizing that they were caught
in a pocket between two Roman armies, changed their normal battle formation and faced the
164
army in both directions, back to back. Papus, realizing the good fortune of running into Regulus’
forces, sent reinforcements to secure the hill that was being contested.
The Gauls had 50,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry against a Roman army of slightly more
numerous infantry, but only 5,400 cavalry. The Gauls were a frightful sight, as Polybius explains:
The Insubres and the Boii wore their trousers and light cloaks, but the Gaesatae
had been moved by their thirst for glory and their defiant spirit to throw away
these garments, and so they took up their positions in front of the whole army
naked and wearing nothing but their arms. They believed that they would be
better-equipped for action in this state, as the ground was in places overgrown
with brambles and these might catch in their clothes and hamper them in the
use of their weapons.120
The fighting over the hill was fierce and Regulus lost his life in the melee. His head,
according to Gallic custom, was cut off and brought to their king. However, possession of the
hills went to the Romans, whose cavalry finally overcame the Gallic force there. Polybius
continues:
By this time the infantry were almost in contact, and the battlefield provided a
strange and marvelous spectacle, not only to those who were actually present,
but to all those who could afterwards picture it in their imagination from the
reports.121
The battle was between three armies in a confined space, and Polybius states the
spectacle that was beheld by all those there:
For their part the Romans felt encouraged at having trapped the enemy between
their two armies, but at the same time dismayed by the splendid array of the
Celtic host and the ear-splitting din which they created. There were countless
horns and trumpets being blown simultaneously in their ranks, and as the whole
120
Book 2.28
121
Book 2.29
165
army was also shouting its war-cries, there arose such a babel of sound that it
seemed to come not only from the trumpets and the soldiers but from the whole
surrounding countryside at once.122
The Gauls, whose warrior culture was

based off individual glory, faced an enemy
who was on two fronts, with little or no hope
of escape if they lost. Each of the Gallic
warriors believed in reincarnation, and that
dying in battle was the best way for them to
meet death. But death was only temporary
since they knew they’d be born again. The
release of death added to their courage.
Think of a football stadium at full capacity,
when a cheer goes up and reverberates and
seems to echo from everywhere. Now double
it, and you might get close to the noise that
echoed on the battlefield at Telamon.
When the infantry clashed, the
Romans let loose volleys of spears, called pila,
which caused the greatest havoc among the
Gaesatae. Without shields, armor or clothes,
the spears found their deadly mark, and those
who did have shields found themselves encumbered by the Roman spear now stuck in it.
Despite this, the Gauls fought fiercely. The Roman advantage in arms quickly became clear. The
Gallic shield did not cover as much of the body as the Roman, and while the Gauls used a sword
that was much longer than the gladius of the Romans, it could not be used effectively. The
Gallic sword was meant more for swinging and cutting, while the Romans’ was a thrusting
sword. In the confined space of the battlefield, the Gauls could not swing their swords
appropriately.
122
Ibid.
166
The end came swiftly, as Polybius continues:
The end came when the Gauls were attacked by the Roman cavalry, who
delivered a furious charge from the high ground on the flanks; the Gallic cavalry
turned and fled, and their infantry were cut down where they stood.123
In the end, the Gallic force was not just defeated, but annihilated. Around 40,000 were
killed, including one of their kings, and about 10,000 taken prisoner. The captured Gallic armor
was brought to Rome, and used to decorate the Capitoline Hill. Back in 390 BC, the Gauls said
that they would not take off their armor until they had entered the Capitol after it had been
captured. It never was, and now the Romans mockingly displayed them for all to see. The Gallic
nightmare was over.
The remains of the Gallic army—a few thousand cavalry—fled the battlefield to the
safety of the north. The Romans lost about 10,000 men themselves, but it was nevertheless a
clear victory for Rome. Afterwards, the Roman forces raided the territory of the Boii and
pillaged it. Next, the Romans marched against what was left of the Insubres and subjugated
other northern tribes. The Gallic tribes were quiet, for the moment.

110. What type of tactics did Hamilcar Barca employ against the Romans?
111. What made the Carthaginian ships so heavy in the Battle of the Aegates Islands?
112. What did Carthage have to give up at the end of the First Punic War?
113. Where did Carthage expand her power after she lost Sardinia and Corsica?
114. Why did the Gaesatae fight naked at the Battle of Telamon?
Reflection Essay
34. After World War I, Germany was punished so hard for the war that it unintentionally bred the
circumstances that would bring about World War II. How is that similar to the end of the First
Punic War, when it should be no surprise that Carthage will again wage war on Rome?
123
Book 2.30
167
Chapter X
The Second Punic War: Invasion to Cannae
1. Swear to Ba’al
Six years before the end of the First Punic War, in 247 BC, Hannibal Barca was born. He
was the son of Hamilcar, the famously ingenious and daring Carthaginian commander who
reluctantly had to give up Sicily to the Romans at the conclusion of Carthage’s first war with
Rome. After crushing a revolt of Carthage’s mercenaries, Hamilcar set out for Spain with his 9-
year-old son. The Roman historian Livy says that:
Hannibal…begged, with all the childish arts he could muster, to be allowed to

accompany him; whereupon Hamilcar, who was preparing to offer sacrifice for a
successful outcome, led the boy to the altar and made him solemnly swear124,
with his hand upon the sacred victim, that as soon as he was old enough he
would be the enemy of the Roman people.125
Hannibal went with his father, Hamilcar, when he led his army westward along the North
African coast and crossed over the Strait of Gibraltar into southern Spain in 236 BC. After eight
years of successful warfare, Hamilcar was suddenly killed in battle,126 and command shifted to
his second-in-command and son-in-law, Hasdrubal the Fair, who had commanded the
Carthaginian ships that accompanied Hamilcar on the initial invasion into Spain. Hasdrubal
founded the city of Nova Carthago on the southeastern coast (modern Cartagena), which
became the capital of Carthaginian Spain. For another eight years Hasdrubal commanded the
forces in Spain, more by peaceful diplomacy than by force. It was during this time that Rome
sent ambassadors in 226 BC, seeking a treaty to reassure that there would be no immediate
124
Ba’al was the chief diety for the Carthaginians, and was of Phoenician origin. Hannibal’s own name
translates as ‘by the grace of Ba’al’.
125
Book 21.1
126
228 BC.
168
hostilities between Rome and Carthage. At that time Rome was sensing unrest with the Gauls in
northern Italy, and would soon be embroiled with the Gallic invasion and the Battle of Telamon.
The Treaty of the Ebro River clearly defined Rome and Carthage’s territory; those areas south of
the Ebro would be Carthaginian controlled, while all those north of the river would fall under
Rome’s dominion.
Roman and Carthaginian Territory in 218 BC
Despite his able command, in 221 BC Hasdrubal the Fair was murdered and command of
the forces now fell to 26-year-old Hannibal Barca. The reaction from the troops, as Livy tells us,
was dramatic:
169
The troops received him with unanimous enthusiasm, the old soldiers feeling
that in the person of this young man Hamilcar himself was restored to them. In
the features and expression of the son’s face they saw the father once again, the
same vigour in his look, the same fire in his eyes.127
Hamilcar Barca had been an extremely capable Carthaginian general; however, the future
successes of his son would overshadow his glory, as Alexander had done to Philip. In this same
passage Livy gives us perhaps the most descriptive ancient account of Hannibal:
Power to command and readiness to obey are rare associates; but in Hannibal
they were perfectly united, and their union made him as much valued by his
commander as by his men. Hasdrubal preferred him to all other officers in any
action which called for vigor and courage, and under his leadership the men
invariably showed to the best advantage both dash and confidence. Reckless in
courting danger, he showed superb tactical ability once it was upon him.
Indefatigable both physically and mentally, he could endure with equal ease
excessive heat or excessive cold; he ate and drank not to flatter his appetites but
only so much as would sustain his bodily strength. his time for waking, like his
time for sleeping, was never determined by daylight or darkness: when his work
was done, then, and then only, he rested, without need, moreover, of silence or a
soft bed to woo sleep to his eyes. Often he was seen lying in his cloak on the bare
ground amongst the common soldiers on sentry or picket duty. His arms, like the
horses he rode, was always conspicuous, but not his clothes, which were like
those of any other officer of his rank and standing. Mounted or un-mounted he
was unequalled as a fighting man, always the first to attack, the last to leave the
field.128
Livy’s account of Hannibal’s virtues almost pours off the page, which is surprising when one
remembers that it was written by a Roman historian over two hundred years after the Second
Punic War. Compare Hannibal’s virtues to what Livy writes of his flaws:
127
Book 21.4
128
Ibid.
170
So much for his virtues—and they were great; but no less great were his faults:
inhuman cruelty, a more than Punic treacherousness, a total disregard of truth,
honor, and religion, of the sanctity of an oath and of all that other men hold
sacred.129
Livy’s list of Hannibal’s negative attributes is noticeably less than his good qualities. He even
writes that Hannibal was a “great military leader” in the very next sentence. As an author
writing at the beginning of the Roman Empire, at a time of social upheaval and powerful pro-
Roman sentiments, Livy could not openly have favored a Carthaginian general over a Roman,
but a certain amount of admiration is obviously
evident in his account. Livy himself admitted
that he favored the centuries of the Roman
Republic before his birth, and lamented the
state of the world in which he was living (59
BC—17 AD).

115. Where did Carthaginian power expand
after the First Punic War?
116. What was the name of the river that
divided Roman from Carthaginian power in
Iberia?
117. Who commanded Spain after Hamilcar?
118. How old was Hannibal when he took
command?
Hannibal Barca
Reflection Essay
35. Do you think Hannibal would be a good CEO? State a few reasons why you believe this.
129
Book 21.4
171
2. The Siege of Saguntum
After the assassination of Hasdrubal the Fair, Hannibal consolidated power in the
territory south of the Ebro, attacking and laying siege to all hostile tribal strongholds.130 Under
the previously agreed Treaty of the Ebro River with Rome, these actions were within the
Carthaginian sphere of influence. Hannibal continued to pillage and subdue the native tribes,
until the last of the resistance, those of the Carpetani tribe, were wiped out at the Tagus River.
Saguntum was now isolated deep within Carthaginian territory (see map on p.169).
Feeling threatened with imminent attack, ambassadors from Saguntum went to Rome
to request military protection. While the Senate was deliberating what to do, word reached
them that Hannibal had already begun his attack on the city. Debate raged in the Roman Senate
as to their course of action, finally settling on sending ambassadors to Hannibal to ‘caution him
to leave the Saguntines alone, since they were allies of the Roman people.’131 The consuls of that
year, Publius Cornelius Scipio132 and Titus Sempronius Longus, were to raise the legions for the
upcoming war, while two other men, Publius Valerius Flaccus and Quintus Baebius Tamphilus,
were sent to question Hannibal himself. If a settlement was not reached with the Carthaginian
general, then they were instructed to proceed directly to Carthage and force the issue with the
Carthaginian Senate.
130
Livy says that as soon as Hannibal took command, he “decided to make war upon Saguntum at once,”
(Book 21.5) but in fact, he did not.
131
Book 21.6
132
Roman sons usually took the name of their father, which can cause confusion. This Scipio is the father
of the more famous Scipio Africanus, who will go on to defeat Hannibal.
172
When the Roman ambassadors arrived at Saguntum, they found the city well under
siege by Hannibal. However, they received a somewhat chilly reception from the Carthaginians.
As Livy says:
Meanwhile the envoys from Rome arrived. But messengers from Hannibal met
them at their ships and advised them that it would be unsafe for them to come
into the camp among the half-savage native troops. Moreover, Hannibal, they
said, had no time to listen to embassies during such a crisis.133
In other words, they were snubbed. Hannibal knew what the course of that meeting would
bring, and did not even bother to talk to the ambassadors. During the continuing siege of
Saguntum, Hannibal received a javelin wound in his thigh.134 The Saguntine defense was valiant,
but the city eventually fell after 8 months, and Hannibal secured this last independent city-state
south of the Ebro River. He returned to New Carthage and began in earnest to prepare for the
invasion of Italy.135
3. You Decide, Fabius
News reached Rome that Saguntum had fallen, and that Hannibal had departed from
New Carthage with a large, well-trained army. The Romans knew they were going to be
attacked, and that another war with Carthage had indeed begun. According to custom, the
consuls prepared their legions, made public prayers for a successful outcome, and all other
arrangements necessary for the oncoming war. Rome now sent a second delegation to the
Carthaginian Senate, where they were met by cold hostility. Hannibal’s, and to a great extent his
father’s, successes in Spain had made the senators of Carthage partisan to the Barcid family, and
now there was little dissent to not go to war with Rome. Fabius, a leading Roman senator, gave
the Carthaginian Senate a choice. Livy wrote:
133
Book 21.9
134
Livy actually makes mention of a timeline error made by Polybius, from whom he was using as a more
contemporary author to the events of the Second Punic War. (Book 21.5).
135
Polybius gives very specific numbers as to Hannibal’s troop preparations, which he says he got from a
plaque that Hannibal left in southern Italy at the end of the war. He says, “I considered this to be an
absolutely trustworthy piece of evidence, I had no hesitation in following it.” (Book 3.33).
173
Fabius, in answer, laid his hand on the fold of his toga, where he had gathered it
at the breast, and, ‘Here,’ he said, ‘we bring you peace and war. Take which you
will.’ Scarcely had he spoken, when the answer no less proudly rang out:
‘Whichever you please—we do not care.’ Fabius let the gathered folds fall, and
cried: ‘We give you war.’136
The Second Punic War had officially begun.
136
Book 21.18
174
4. Hannibal’s March
The Roman envoys now sailed on to Spain, in an attempt to convince some of

Carthage’s Spanish allies to go over to their side—they failed. Thereupon the Romans went
north into Gaul, and sought audience with the Gallic chiefs and their warriors. When they were
asked by Fabius to fight the Carthaginians and protect Rome, the Roman delegation was openly
laughed at. The Gauls were already aware of Hannibal, who had long ago sent scouts and
ambassadors north in an attempt to raise allies, or at least get those tribes to allow his army to
pass by unharmed. The Gauls told the Romans that they knew what had befallen their cousins
in northern Italy not long before, and they were certainly not willing to help Rome. Failing here
too, the Roman delegation returned home.
Hannibal had two brothers, Hasdrubal and Mago; the former he put in charge of Spain,
with the order to raise more troops and follow him into Italy as soon as he was able, while Mago
went with the army as one of Hannibal’s most trusted generals. After offering prayers, Hannibal
left New Carthage in 218 BC and crossed the Ebro River in late spring with nearly 90,000 infantry
and 12,000 cavalry. He crossed the Pyrenees Mountains, secured the alliance of the Gallic tribes
on the other side, and reached the Rhone River in southern Gaul (France) by September.
However, Hannibal and his army now met resistance from a native Gallic tribe called the
Allobroges, who cared for neither the Romans nor the Carthaginian forces that were now
attempting to cross through their territory. The Rhone River was broad, and not easily
crossable. In addition, the Allobroges occupied the opposite shore, and were watching Hannibal
and his army’s movements, waiting for an opportune moment to attack this invader. Unknown
to the Gauls, Hannibal had sent a detachment of forces upstream, which crossed the river where
it was more easily fordable. As Hannibal and part of his army began to cross the Rhone River on
small boats, the Gauls, in their midst of screaming and challenging the oncoming force, where
totally taken by surprise when the Carthaginians attacked them from behind. As Hannibal’s
troops landed on the opposite shore, the Gallic force panicked and ran. Having secured both
river banks, Hannibal now began to cross the bulk of his army.
175
Perhaps the most difficult part of the crossing was for the elephants, which feared the
river and would not willingly get on the rafts. According to Livy, Hannibal ordered large piers
built, 200 feet long and 50 feet wide, and covered with dirt and grass. The elephants were
calmly led onto piers, thinking
they were still on solid ground.
Then, a large raft was brought up
to the end of the pier, and the
elephants obligingly walked onto
them, since it too was covered
with dirt and vegetation. When
ready, the raft was detached and
floated across to the opposite
shore. It was in this manner that
Hannibal moved his 37 elephants
to the eastern side of the Rhone
River.
Not wishing a battle with Rome yet, Hannibal led his army northward in order to make a
crossing of the Alps at a location unknown to the Romans. Just days later, a Roman army under
the command of Publius Cornelius Scipio arrived too late at Hannibal’s camp, which had been
recently abandoned. Scipio separated his army, giving the bulk of the forces to his brother
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio137 with orders to conquer Spain from Hasdrubal, while he would go on
to northern Italy and wait for Hannibal’s eventual crossing of the Alps. The Gallic tribes living in
northern Gaul were restless after their recent wars with Rome, and Publius rightly feared what
would happen if Hannibal were allowed to link up with them.
Historians are not sure where Hannibal crossed the Alps, but the march was full of
danger, from both hostile mountain tribes and the extremes of the Alpine winter. The
Carthaginian army was crossing in late November, and the snows were already blanketing the
passes. Hannibal’s army fought and marched for nine days to the summit, and then began the
more difficult decent into the Italian plain. The slopes of the mountains were, as Livy says, far
steeper and more precipitous on this side of the Alps. Men and animals slipped off the narrow
paths to their doom below. At one point, the army halted, and Hannibal rode forward to see
137
Gnaeus was nicknamed “Calvus” meaning ‘the Bald’.
176
the cause. A landslide had blocked their route, and there was no easy way around it. Livy
wrote:
It was necessary to cut through the rock, a problem they solved by the ingenious
application of both heat and moisture; large trees were felled and lopped, and a
huge pile of timber erected; this, with the opportune help of a strong wind, was
set on fire, and when the rock was sufficiently heated the men’s rations of sour
wine were flung upon it, to break them apart.138
Not even nature could stop Hannibal and his army. After fifteen days Hannibal’s army had
finally crossed the Alps and descended the lower slopes into Italy. The march from Saguntum
had taken 5 months and had cost him the lives of many soldiers. Polybius says that Hannibal
descended out of the Alps with 12,000 African troops, 8,000 Spanish, and no more than 6,000
cavalry. This is in stark contrast to his initial army, which had withered from a beginning total of
90,000 men in Spain, and was already down to 38,000 at the Rhone.139

119. What was the name of the city that Hannibal attacked in Spain, starting the Second Punic War?
120. What was the name of the Roman ambassador who declared war on Carthage?
121. What mountain range did Hannibal cross between Spain and Gaul?
122. What was the name of the river that Hannibal crossed his elephants on rafts?
123. How long was Hannibal’s march from Spain to his crossing of the Alps?
Reflection Essay
36. Hannibal took horrendous losses since setting out from Spain. Do you consider him a good
commander on that point? If so, defend your reason.
138
Book 21.37
139
Hannibal had left men in Spain and Gaul in order to secure his route, plus some were lost due to
disaffection and, of course, the crossing itself.
177
5. Skirmish at the Ticinnus River
When Hannibal’s army arrived in Italy, he immediately set out to restore what was left
of his forces to good fighting order, since he knew that the Romans would attempt a battle at
the earliest opportunity. Hannibal quickly assaulted a nearby Gallic town that had snubbed a
proposed allegiance, taking it within three days. Perhaps out of fear, other Gallic towns now
allied themselves with Hannibal, while others remained quiet. Publius Scipio and his army were
nearby, and it was likely that they were waiting to see how this confrontation would play out
before they chose a side. He had sailed from the Rhone and marched his Roman army into the
Po Valley to oppose Hannibal whenever he eventually crossed the Alps. Here, Publius had made
camp and kept watch on the Gallic tribes, all the while awaiting the Carthaginian forces. He had
shown Hannibal that he was competent and bold, and not to be overestimated.
The Romans had encamped near the Ticinnus River, which was a rather small tributary
from the Alps that fed into the larger Po River, and kept an eye to the north. Both sides knew
that their enemy was close, but not sure where, so each general decided to send out a large
scouting party and accompany it themselves. By chance they came into contact with each
other, and Hannibal quickly pushed his forces forward before the Romans could use their
javelin-throwers, which would have wreaked havoc on the Carthaginian cavalry. In the melee of
this skirmish, Publius Scipio was seriously wounded and found himself isolated, along with just a
handful of other Roman soldiers and the enemy all around. His 18-year-old son of the same
name, Publius Cornelius Scipio, drove his horse in and rescued his wounded father (whom I will
call “the Elder” from now on in order to distinguish him from his son). Disengaging, the Romans
returned to their main camp on the other side of the Po River. Upon hearing that the
Carthaginians could resist the Romans, some Gallic tribes now decided to throw in their lot with
Hannibal. Even some Gauls who were allied with Rome now decided that their fate was better
with the Carthaginians. Polybius wrote:
Meanwhile the Gallic contingents who were serving in the Roman army had
decided that the Carthaginians’ prospects were decidedly brighter and had
concerted a plot among themselves; for the moment they remained quietly in
their quarters, while they watched for an opportunity to attack the Romans. All
ranks within the entrenched camp had taken their evening meal and retired to
178
rest; the Gauls then waited for the greater part of the night to pass, seized their
arms about the time of the morning watch, and fell upon the Romans who were
quartered near them. They killed many men outright and wounded not a few,
and finally after cutting off the heads of those they had murdered, they went
over to the Carthaginians.140
The Gauls arrived in Hannibal’s camp, holding Roman heads as proof of their loyalty. As
enthusiastic as these Gauls were, many tribes were still very cautious about showing
Carthaginian support. The next day Hannibal marched his army to the Roman camp, but Scipio
the Elder had known that the Carthaginians would be coming and ordered it evacuated and the
bridge across the Po River demolished. The Roman forces continued to retreat south of the Po
River and made a new camp on a strong defensive hill. Here, Scipio attempted to recover from
his wound and awaited the arrival of the other consular army, under the command of Tiberius
Sempronius Longus.
6. Battle of the River Trebbia
Even before the Battle of the Ticinnus River, the

Senate had ordered Tiberius Sempronius Longus back to
Italy to help stop Hannibal. The consul had been in Sicily
preparing for a Roman invasion of Africa, but the speed
of Hannibal’s arrival forced a change in the aggressive
Roman battle strategy. Crossing over into Italy from
Messina, Longus marched up the Via Amelia to
Placentia, a Roman colony near Scipio’s camp.141 It is not known whether Longus joined his
forces with Scipio’s or remained in their own separate camp nearby, but whatever the case
Hannibal devised a trap for his adversary. He needed a victory over the Romans in order to
convince the remaining Gauls to join the Carthaginian cause. Some local Gauls were trying to
140
Book 3.67
141 th
As the Roman armies expanded throughout Italy in the late 4 century BC, Rome constructed a series
of well-built roads (called via in the singular), named after the Roman who commissioned its building;
here, named after Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.
179
play both sides, and Hannibal methodically devastated their countryside. However, while doing
this, the Roman forces of Longus caught the Carthaginians by surprise, and managed to win a
minor victory. Hannibal, however, knew now that Longus could be provoked to battle.
The next day, Hannibal chose over 2,000 of his best infantry and cavalry, and sent them
to a nearby hill under the command of his brother, Mago. Polybius wrote:
Hannibal had some time before noticed a piece of ground between the two
camps, which, although flat and treeless, was well suited for an ambush; it was
crossed by a watercourse with high overhanging banks that were densely
overgrown with thorns and brambles, and here he planned to lay a trap for the
enemy. He had a good chance of catching them off their guard, for the Romans
always suspected wooded ground because the Celts were apt to choose such
terrain for their ambushes, but they had no fear of treeless spaces. They
overlooked the fact that the latter may offer the concealment and security
required for an ambush even more effectively than woods, for the reason that
the men who were lying in wait have an excellent view over long distances and
in most cases can also find sufficient cover. A watercourse with an overhanging
bank and a quantity of reeds or ferns or some kind of thorny plants conserved to
conceal not only infantry but even cavalry, if the simple precaution is taken of
laying any shields which carry blazons flat on the ground and hiding the helmets
underneath them.142
Mago and his forces arrived at their ambush location under the cover of darkness, aware that
the Romans were preparing for battle the next day. At dawn, Hannibal sent a detachment of
Numidian cavalry to attack Longus’ camp, but quickly fell back to the river when challenged.
This was part of Hannibal’s plan, and had the desired effect—Longus quickly assembled and
rushed his soldiers out of camp in order to pursue the Carthaginians. The weather conditions
that morning were horrible, as it was December and the winter snow was already falling. Again,
we turn to Polybius:
142
Book 3.71
180
The day was bitterly cold with occasional guts of snow, and the men and horses
had almost all left the camp without having taken their morning meal. At first
they (the Romans) were buoyed up by their natural high spirits and martial
ardour, but when they had to ford the Trebbia, which was in full flood because of
the rain which had fallen in the previous night on the high ground above the
camp, the infantry had great difficulty in wading across, since the water was
running breast high. In consequence, as the day wore on the whole army began
to suffer intensely from the cold and from the desire for food. The
Carthaginians, by contrast, who had eaten and drunk in their tents and groomed
their horses, were all anointing and arming themselves round their campfires.143
By attacking the Romans early, before they had a chance to eat breakfast and prepare for battle,
Hannibal put an advantage to the Carthaginians, who were comfortably back in their own camp.
They were eating a good
meal in preparation for the
battle, and putting oil on
their skin in order to stay
warm. As Hannibal had
predicted, the extreme cold
and snow quickly drained
the strength of the Romans,
especially since they had to
wade through the frigid
Alpine waters of the Trebbia
River. Cold and hungry, the
Romans found a fully fed
and warm Carthaginian army
waiting for them.
143
Book 3.72.
181
With difficulty, Longus’ army completed the crossing of the Trebbia and advanced on
the Carthaginians, who numbered about 30,000 men, which included about 10,000 cavalry. The
Romans, by contrast, had nearly twice as many infantry but only half the number of cavalry. As
the two battle lines engaged, the cold and wet hampered the Roman infantry, while the
Carthaginian cavalry drove their adversary from the battlefield. With their infantry flanks now
exposed, the Carthaginians pressed in with their elephants. Things were getting desperate for
Longus, and it was at that key moment when Mago and his troops appeared in the battle, having
come out of hiding behind the Roman lines. As the Romans had crossed the river, Mago and his
forces had watched as their enemy marched confident up to the Carthaginian position, unaware
that they sat in ambush behind them, waiting for this decisive moment. Now the Roman forces
began to panic and buckle, with only the Roman center having any success. They held their
nerve, and hacked through the African and Gallic units of Hannibal’s army. Having seen that the
battle was lost, the 10,000 Romans who broke through the center now retreated back across
the river and sought the safety of their camp. Livy explains the horrible weather conditions at
the close of this battle:
Rain, sleet and intolerable cold carried off many of the pack-animals and nearly
all the elephants. At the river-bank the Carthaginians ceased their pursuit, and
on their return to camp the men were so numbed from the cold that they could
hardly feel pleasure in their victory.144
Because of the cold and torrential downpour, the Carthaginians did not pursue the Romans, and
allowed them to retreat from their camp across the river to the nearby town of Placentia.
Longus, who survived the battle, along with the still-wounded Scipio, retreated with the remains
of their combined forces across the Po River to Cremona. For Hannibal, however, the weather
conditions were no less devastating; all of his elephants died, except for one, and a great
number of men and horses perished from the cold. When word reached Rome of this disaster,
the consuls designate,145 Gaius Flaminius and Gnaeus Servilius, took steps to mobilize all the
Roman forces throughout Italy and Sicily. Polybius wrote:
144
Book 21.56
145
The consuls had been elected for the next year, but had not taken up the office yet.
182
In short, they hastened their preparations in every direction. It is when the
Romans stand in real danger that they are most to be feared, and this principle
applies both to their public and their private life.146

124. Who rescues the Roman general at the Ticinnus River?
125. Based on where the Romans had their legions, where do you think they were expecting the next
war to be located?
126. What was the name of Hannibal’s brother who fought with him at Trebbia?
127. What was the name of Hannibal’s brother who had remained back in Spain?
128. What saved the Romans who had escaped from Trebbia?
Reflection Essay
37. People always associate elephants with Hannibal. Why?
7. Disaster at Lake Trasimene
As 217 BC began, Hannibal was encamped in Cisalpine Gaul and was preparing to march
south as soon as possible. He feared the temperament of the Gallic allies, and was nervous of
their betrayal while they impatiently waited to invade Roman territory. Many Roman highways
ran south, but Hannibal feared attack on these roads, so he decided to go through the marshes
of Etruria. Hannibal put his African and Spanish units at the head of the column, then the Gauls,
and in the rear his brother Mago who commanded the cavalry. The hardened Carthaginian units
did well marching through the wet marsh, while the Gallic units were far less effective since they
were not accustomed to that kind of hardship. They marched for four days and three nights,
sleeping when they could on little bits of dry land or the piles of those men and animals which
had died. Hannibal rode the one surviving elephant, Syrus, but nonetheless became ill from the
marsh,147 getting an infection in one of his eyes. Without the ability to stop and have a doctor
look at it, he permanently lost sight in that eye.
Once he reached the edge of the marsh, Hannibal gathered intelligence about the
current consul, Gaius Flaminius and his army. He concluded that Flaminius was a politician, and
146
Book 3.76.
147
The elephants became sick from the previous cold and wet conditions of the Alps and Trebbia, and had
all died except for Syrus.
183
possessed little talent for the conduct of war. The area around Hannibal in central Italy was lush
and offered a wealth of plunder, and Hannibal set about devastating the countryside. Knowing
that Flaminius would not suffer the indignity of seeing Roman territory ravaged, the
Carthaginian army now marched further south towards Lake Trasimene. Hannibal wanted
Flaminius to think that the Carthaginians were just blindly ravaging Roman territory, but it was
here that he planned his next trap.
The Romans were so confident
that crowds followed Flaminius and his
army, hoping to see Hannibal’s
destruction firsthand. They even carried
chains in anticipation of putting them on
any Carthaginians that might survive the
forthcoming battle. Hannibal
understood this blind arrogance, and
used it to his advantage. When they
reached the north side of Lake
Trasimene, Hannibal stationed his troops
in the hills near the shore of the lake.
Only a narrow path wound around the
lake to a valley on the other side, and
Hannibal knew this was the place to lay
his trap. Under the cover of darkness he
ordered his troops quietly into the
nearby forest that overlooked the lake,
and waited for the Romans to march
blindly past.
Flaminus and his 40,000 troops
had camped late the previous night, and
set out early the next morning,148 eager
to pursue the Carthaginians. As the
148 st
June 21 , 218 BC
184
Roman column wound its way around the shore, their vision was obscured by an intense fog and
morning mist. As the column neared the valley on the other side, they found their exit blocked
by enemy forces, and all along the Roman line the Carthaginians suddenly sprang from hiding.
Polybius wrote of the horror the Romans now faced:
They found themselves under attack simultaneously from the front, the flanks
and the rear. In consequence most of the troops were cut down while they were
still in marching order and without the least chance of defending themselves,
delivered up to slaughter, so to speak, by a complete lack of judgment on the
part of their commander; in a word, death took them unawares while they were
still wondering what to do. Flaminius himself, demoralized and thrown into
utter despair by what had happened, was attacked and killed by a band of
Gauls. Some 15,000 Romans perished in the valley. In this situation they could
do nothing to help themselves, and yet they would not yield to circumstances;
the Romans considered it their supreme duty, as all their training had taught
them, never to turn tail or to leave their ranks. As for those in the rear who had
been trapped between the hillside and the lake, they suffered an even more
humiliating, or rather pitiable fate. They found themselves herded into the lake,
whereupon some lost their heads, tried to swim away in their armor and were
drowned, while the greater number waded as far as they could. There they
stood with only their heads above the water; then, when the cavalry rode in
after them and death stared them in the face, they raised their hands, uttering
the most piteous pleas for mercy and begging to be spared. In the end they
were either killed by the horsemen or steeled themselves to self-destruction.149
The trap was perfect. The consul Flaminius was dead, along with 30,000 Roman and allied
soldiers, while 4,000 were taken prisoner; another 6,000 escaped to a nearby town, but were
soon caught as well. The Roman force was not just mauled, but completely annihilated. When
the prisoners were brought before Hannibal, he freed the Roman allies and sent them home to
their native cities, telling them that he was in Italy to fight Rome, not them. It was a tactic he
employed after the Trebbia as well, in order to win over the Italian allies, who supplied half of
149
Book 3.84
185
the manpower for the legions. The rest of the Romans were sold into slavery. The following day
another 4,000 cavalry, which had been sent ahead by the other consul, Gnaeus Servilius, arrived
as a relief force, but Hannibal was aware of their approach and destroyed them as well.
An aerial view of Lake Trasimene, with a view of the north shore. The islands of Isola Maggiore and
Minore are absent in the Wiki image above, but the promontory jutting out into the lake between
the islands can be matched on the map.
186
8. Roman Panic
When the news of Flaminius’ defeat reached Rome, the people were summoned
together and told of the disaster. At first there was a stunned silence, but quickly panic began
to spread through the city. The remainder of Flaminius’ consulship was given to an elder
senator and ex-consul named Marcus Atilius Regulus, whose brother had died against the Gauls
at the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC, and whose father had fought in the First Punic War. The
Romans feared that Hannibal was now only days away from marching on their city. Despite the
victory at Trebbia and Trasimene, the Carthaginian soldiers were desperate for rest. Therefore,
Hannibal led his forces east down the Adriatic coast, and gave his army the respite and recovery
it so badly needed. Those soldiers that needed to be re-armed were given the best of the
Roman weapons that their victories had given them. When Hannibal was near the sea again he
sent word back to Carthage of his victories, which were met with the rejoicing that one would
expect.
It was in this great state of anxiety and crisis that the Romans now appointed a dictator,
the senator Quintus Fabius Maximus, who previously had been an ambassador to Carthage and
had held the consulship twice already. The title of dictator (Latin for ‘one who speaks’) was an
appointed position and emergency leader of the Roman state that was enacted in times of great
danger. A dictator’s leadership was absolute, and possessed an authority unseen since the days
of the kings. To aid Fabius, Marcus Minucius was elected his second in command, called a
Master of Horse, and together with four hastily assembled legions, they set out for Hannibal.
Fabius met Gnaeus Servilius and his army on the march, and relieved the former consul
of his command and sent him with an escort back to Rome. His forces, however, were
combined with Fabius’ and he set up camp about 6 miles from Hannibal’s. Testing Fabius,
Hannibal marched out of camp and drew up his army for battle outside the Romans’
fortifications, but the dictator did not march out to meet him. Hannibal was now facing a
different type of Roman commander, who would later earn the nickname “Delayer” (Latin
‘Cunctator’). Fabius knew his troops were raw recruits, while Hannibal was now in possession of
a well-armed and battle-tested force. He was, however, on foreign soil, and Fabius felt it was in
that aspect that he had the advantage. If Hannibal could be isolated without reinforcements,
his army could be whittled away by disease and desertion. Despite the loss of two battles, all
the Italian cities had remained with Rome, and it was that loyalty that Hannibal wished to test
187
and destroy. Fabius, unlike former Roman commanders, was not prone to rash action. He
would not be provoked into battle and seemed content to shadow the Carthaginians as they
moved south, harassing and capturing enemy foraging parties when they lagged behind or went
too far astray. Plus, Fabius hoped to rebuild the confidence of the Roman army, which by this
time had been seriously shaken. He would not be lured into a pitched battle and repeat the
mistakes of previous commanders, and counted on time and desertion to whittle down the
Carthaginian forces. In response to Fabius, Hannibal continued to ravage the countryside, with
the exception of property that belonged to the dictator. It was Hannibal’s hope that this act
would cast doubt on the loyalty of Fabius’ command within the Roman Senate, and as such he
was summoned back to Rome for inquiry. After Fabius’ departure, Minucius took command of
the Roman forces and soon sought battle with Hannibal. He was deceived and his army was
saved only by the timely return of Fabius. The charges against the dictator were dropped, and
Fabius had returned as fast as possible, fearing exactly this outcome. From this point onward,
Minucius deferred all tactical decisions to his commander.
As the Carthaginian forces neared the city of Capua, just north of the Bay of Naples,
Hannibal attempted to provoke Fabius to battle by devastating all the extremely fertile land in
the area. Again Fabius did not offer battle, but instead attempted to trap Hannibal and his army
in the plain by occupying all the passes. Seeing this, Hannibal encamped and ordered his men to
bed early, but had them rise a few hours before dawn. Meanwhile, Fabius had all the passes out
of the plain blocked, and was waiting with the bulk of the Roman army for Hannibal’s next
move. Suddenly, the Romans awoke to see thousands of torches racing up one of the paths in
the darkness, and assumed that Hannibal was attempting a breakout. The Romans rushed their
forces to the pass, but were perplexed by what they saw when they got there. Along with a
scant force of Carthaginian light infantry were 2,000 oxen, whose horns had been affixed with
torches, which were then set alight. What the Romans didn’t see was the bulk of the
Carthaginian army, with all their baggage and their general, escaping out of the plain through
another now un-guarded pass. Fabius may have been cautious, but Hannibal was cunning.
188
9. The Battle of Cannae
In 216 BC, the new consuls, Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro, took
office and Fabius relinquished his dictatorship since it had now expired.150 The Roman Senate
made plans to continue the war by attacking Carthaginian forces in Spain, while troops were
brought back from Sicily, including the fleet which was currently at Lilybaeum.151 The Senate
decided that an ultimate show of strength was required to oust Hannibal from Italy, so they
raised eight legions, a number of
men that had never been done in
the history of the Republic.
Normally the Republic had four
legions, with each consul
commanding two of them. The
average strength of a single
legion was about 4000 infantry
and 300 cavalry, while the
Roman allies contributed an
equal number of infantry but
typically three times the number
of cavalry. The Romans now
massed this grand army of the
Republic with one intention—to
smash Hannibal and the
Carthaginians, who were
currently on the southeastern
coast of Apulia down near the
heel of Italy.
150
Consuls held office for one year, while dictators held power for a briefer six months. The Romans were
ever wary of one person holding power too long, even if it was during a crisis.
151
Lilybaeum, the former Carthaginian stronghold, had been in Roman hands since the conclusion of the
First Punic War twenty-five years before.
189
The Roman army of 216 BC numbered roughly 80,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry, and
was so enormous both consuls were present, but since they could not decide on a common
battle strategy it was determined that they should alternate command of the whole army on
different days.152 The Romans marched south and encamped about 5 miles from Hannibal,
while the consuls tried to determine the next course of action. Varro did not have the
experience of Paullus, who was being cautious, but instead showed the arrogance and
impetuousness of the typical Roman commander.
On the following day, Varro took command of the army and marched onto the
battlefield near the hill of Cannae and offered combat. Hannibal, with his 40,000 infantry, was
outnumbered 2 to 1, but his cavalry had an advantage of 10,000 to the Roman 6,000. Varro
massed his infantry, closing the normal gap of five feet between each man down to below three.
His plan was to use the momentum of mass and simply smash through the Carthaginian center,
as they had done at Trebbia, and afterwards destroy what was left of Hannibal’s forces.
Hannibal, by contrast, offered the Romans one of the most confusing battle lines they had ever
seen. He placed his Gallic and Spanish units in the center, but instead of a straight line, the
formation bulged out towards the Romans in a great curve. On either side Hannibal stationed
his African units, which were now equipped with the finest Roman armor that could be had from
all their previous victories. Customarily, on either side, both forces had placed their cavalry.
Conversely, the right wing of the Roman army was commanded by Paullus, while Varro
commanded the left. Hannibal stood and fought in the center of his army, where he felt it was
weakest, in the hope of providing encouragement to his forces and overseeing direct control of
his army. As the lines engaged, the sheer mass of the Roman center began pushing the
Carthaginian center back. For a short time, the Romans thought that the success they had at the
Trebbia River was happening again here at Cannae. A feeling of oncoming triumph drove the
Roman legionnaires deeper into the Carthaginian lines. The cavalry on both sides had already
engaged, and after a fierce struggle the Romans were driven from the battlefield and
remorselessly pursued to the nearby river. 153 With the cavalry gone, it was the infantry who
were left to slug it out that hot August afternoon. The Celts and Spaniards gave ground and the
bulge that once faced the Romans now became convex as the Romans enthusiastically pushed
deeper and deeper into the Carthaginian lines, all the time unaware that this was exactly what
152
The Roman army was so vast that they had to split it between two camps, as it was to large for the
typical camp fortifications.
153
The Aufidus River, now called the Ofanto.
190
Hannibal was expecting. So blind was the Romans’ confidence that the normal organization of
the maniples, under Varro’s compressed battle plan, had now become a huge condensed mass
of Roman legionnaires, many of whom were now stuck in the middle of this tumult. Unable to
move, draw their swords, or even throw their pila, the Romans in the center could only peer
through the dust and haze of the battlefield and watch helplessly as events unfolded around
them.
As the Romans pushed deeper into the Carthaginian line, Hannibal sprung his trap. The
Celts and Spaniards stopped retreating and now held their ground, and the Roman advance
stalled. Paullus, who had been commanding the right wing at the start of the engagement, now
saw the desperate situation and threw himself into the thick of the battle, encouraging his men
and exchanging blows with the enemy. Hannibal’s best units, his African troops, had been
placed on each end of the main army, and were now sweeping in like the sides of the letter “U”.
191
It was at this point in the four-hour-long battle that the Carthaginian cavalry returned
after having routed their Roman counterparts, and fell upon the rear of the enemy infantry. In
this desperate melee, Paullus fell from multiple wounds and died. Panic spread through the
Roman lines, and now the battle became a slaughter. Completely surrounded, only a few
thousand survivors managed to fight their way out to safety, Varro ironically being one of them.
Polybius wrote:
So ended the battle between the Romans and the Carthaginians at Cannae, a
struggle in which both victors and vanquished fought with indomitable courage.
The proof of this is the fact that out of the 6,000 cavalry on the Roman side only
seventy escaped with Varro to Venusia, while about 300 of the allied horse took
refuge in different cities in scattered groups. Of the infantry, some 10,000 were
captured fighting, although not in the actual battle, and only about 3,000 got
away from the field to the towns of the neighborhood. All the rest to the
number of about 70,000 died gallantly. On Hannibal’s side about 4,000 Celts
were killed, together with 1,500 Spaniards and Africans and about 200
horsemen.154
Livy, who gives a more detailed account of the battle, describes Varro’s escape as ‘either by
chance or design’ (“seu forte seu consilio”) and the surviving consul kept clear of the other
Roman fugitives on his rapid escape to Venusia. Livy recorded that among the dead were many
ex-consuls and men of senatorial rank, nearly 80 in number, which amounted to about 1/3 of
the Roman Senate. Twenty-nine out of the forty-eight Roman military Tribunes were killed, and
sadly both consuls from the preceding year; Gnaeus Servilius and Marcus Atilius Regulus, who
took over after the disaster at Lake Trasimene in order to finish Gaius Flaminius’ consulship.
Like his brother at the Battle of Telamon, and his father in the First Punic War, the cost of
serving Rome was his life.
154
Book 3.117
192
The hill and battlefield of Cannae.

129. What natural phenomena helped Hannibal’s trap at Trasimene?
130. What was the name of the dictator elected after Trasimene?
131. What does “Cunctator” mean?
132. Which Roman commander survived Cannae?
Reflection Essay
38. How can the Battle of Cannae be considered a greater military achievement than Gaugamela?
193
Chapter XI
The Second Punic War: Scipio Rising
1. A Schoolboy’s Debate
Right after Cannae, some of the Roman survivors fought their way out of their camp to
the nearby town of Canusium. Maharbal, one of Hannibal’s senior commanders and the man in
charge of the Carthaginian cavalry, urged Hannibal to send him ahead to Rome, so that the first
news of the battle would be the sight of his own cavalry outside their Roman walls. Hannibal,
instead of setting out for Rome right away, decided to rest his troops and carefully weigh his
options. Livy wrote of Maharbal’s reply, “Surely the gods did not give everything to one man.
You know how to conquer, Hannibal, but you do not know how to use a victory.” The decision
Hannibal made that day inadvertently saved Rome. Livy wrote, “It is generally believe that that
day’s delay was the salvation of the City and of the Empire.” For the Carthaginians, however,
the next day was one of nightmares as they inspected the dead on the battlefield. Again, we
look to Livy:
At dawn next morning the Carthaginians applied themselves to collecting the

spoils and viewing the carnage, which even to an enemy’s eyes was a shocking
spectacle. All over the field Roman soldiers lay dead in their thousands, horse
and foot mingled, as the shifting phases of the battle, or the attempt to escape,
had brought them together. Here and there wounded men, covered with blood,
who had been roused to consciousness by the morning cold, were dispatched by
a quick blow as they struggled to rise from amongst the corpses; others were
found still alive with the sinews in their thighs and behind their knees sliced
through, baring their throats and necks and begging who would to spill what
little blood they had left. Some had their heads buried in the ground, having
apparently dug themselves holes and by smothering their faces with earth had
choked themselves to death. Most strange of all was a Numidian soldier, still
living, and lying, with his nose and ears horribly lacerated, underneath the body
194
of a Roman who, when his useless hands had no longer been able to grasp his
sword, had died in the act of tearing his enemy, in bestial fury, with his teeth.155
Roman stragglers continue to arrive in Canusium, including Fabius Maximus, son of the
dictator, and the 19-year-old Publius Cornelius Scipio, who had previously rescued his father at
the Ticcinus River and had fought at Trebbia. Once collected, Varro and the remaining Roman
forces began to make their way northward to safety. Back in Rome, the shock of the disaster
was beyond anything that the Romans had ever faced in their history. Livy found it difficult to
even write of Rome’s mood at this time, saying, “To write of it is beyond my strength, so I shall
not attempt to describe what any words of mine would only make less than the truth.” He goes
on to write, “No other nation in the world could have suffered so tremendous a series of
disasters, and not been overwhelmed (‘Nulla profecto alia gens tanta mole cladis non obruta
esset’). To this day, there is a column with this Latin inscription, which overlooks the battlefield
of Cannae (see p. 193).
Things only continued to get worse for Rome in 216 BC; emboldened by this
Carthaginian victory, the Greek cities of Tarentum and Capua (the second largest city in Italy)
went over to Hannibal, along with many other Samnite and Greek towns in southern Italy. Cities
in Sicily also rose in revolt, and the new king of Syracuse, Hieronymous, pledged loyalty to
Carthage.156 Across the Adriatic Sea, the 22-year-old king of Macedon, Philip V, pledged a treaty
of support to Hannibal in order to help bring down what was left of Rome. Rome now found
enemies in every direction of the compass, but when Hannibal sent terms of surrender to the
Roman Senate, they were refused. The decision that Hannibal took to not march on Rome
would change the outcome of the Second Punic War, and gave the city the time it needed to
regroup and counter-attack the Carthaginians. For generations afterwards, Roman schoolboys
debated in their classes what would have happened if Hannibal had marched on Rome right
after Cannae.
155
Book 22.51
156
King Hiero II, ruler of Syracuse during the First Punic War, had died, leaving his 15-year-old grandson as
ruler of the city. An embassy from the Roman controlled town of Lilybaeum reached Syracuse and sought
to renew their treaty, but were informed that an alliance was no longer possible.
195
2. The Sword of Rome
Shortly after Cannae, Hannibal made three attempts to

take the city of Nola near the Bay of Naples on the southwestern
coast, but was unable to get past the defense of Marcus Claudius
Marcellus. Proclaimed “the Sword of Rome”, Marcellus was one of
Rome’s most capable generals, along with Fabius Maximus (called
“the Shield of Rome” for his defensive tactics). Marcellus was on
his way to regain Roman control in Sicily when news of Cannae
forced his immediate recall to Rome and the city’s defense.
Having sent part of his force ahead to the capital, Marcellus saw
that Hannibal was intending to take Nola and reinforced it with his remaining forces and
successfully kept it out of Carthaginian hands.
Hannibal sought to destroy Rome by destroying her Republic, which meant separating
her from her allies. He understood that the allies provided a huge reserve of manpower for the
Roman legions, and losing them would cripple the Republic’s ability to put armies on the
battlefield. In the north, Hannibal had successfully raised the Gauls in revolt and brought them
into his army, while in the south the Greek cities threw off Roman domination under the
protection of Carthaginian independence. Yet, much to Hannibal’s surprise, the cities of central
Italy remained loyal to the Republic, whether from fear, common sense, or luck.
In 214 BC, Marcellus arrived in Sicily and led the Roman siege of Syracuse, while
Hannibal still roamed with impudence about Italy. Immediately after Cannae, the Senate had
reinstated their previous Fabian Strategy and tried to restrain Hannibal’s movements in Italy,
while at the same time securing their positions in Sicily and Spain. Now, Marcellus sought to
retake the city of Syracuse and bring her back into the Republic—by force if necessary.
Marcellus, ever the capable commander, devised multiple ways to penetrate Syracuse’s
strong defenses.157 Having seen that the walls on the seaward side were weaker than those on
land, he had floating siege towers built, which were taller than the walls of the city. However
ingenious this tactic was, Marcellus was not prepared for the city’s chief defender—Archimedes.
157
It was Syracuse’s walls and strong defense that had stopped the Athenians in 413 BC during the
Peloponnesian War.
196
3. Archimedes
The mathematician, inventor, astronomer and engineer named Archimedes was the
Leonardo da Vinci of the ancient world. Born in Syracuse in 287 BC, he was already 73-years-old
when Marcellus and his army laid siege to his city. He had already gained fame for discovering
the mathematical formula for volume, when he sat in a bathtub full of water and caused the
excess water to overflow. In an instant he understood the relationship of volume to mass, and
in his enthusiasm he ran through the streets of the city yelling, “Eureka!” (Greek for ‘I got it!’).
As Marcellus floated his siege towers (sambuca158) up to the city’s walls, the Syracusans
fired various artillery pieces and iron bolts at them, while cranes swung out large rocks that
crashed through the towers. Time after time, Marcellus and the Romans adapted their tactics to
penetrate the Syracusan defenses, but again and again Archimedes had some sort of strange
contraption to stop the Romans’ assault.
The most famous of these
Archimedian inventions was the Archimedes
Crane, which was used to devastating effect
on the Roman ships. In one attempt, the
Romans brought ships with scaling ladders
up to the walls of the city, only to see the
arm of a crane extended out and over the
wall. On the end of the crane was a
grappling-iron, which was quickly lowered
onto the bow of the enemy ship and
hooked. Inside the walls, a counterweight
would be engaged, thereby lifting the whole
ship out of the water with its stern just
touching the sea. The counterweight would
be cut loose, and the Roman ship would
crash back down into the water with a
tremendous crash, causing it to sink.
158
The sambuca refers to the shape of the tower, which Polybius says looked like an ancient musical
instrument of the same name.
197
The other Roman commander present at the siege of Syracuse, Appius Claudius
Pulcher, son of Marcus Claudius Pulcher, tried to make a breakthrough into Syracuse on the
landward side, but the Roman forces faced the same Archimedian machines and found their
siege towers crushed by huge stones, while grappbling hooks picked up men in full armor and
dropped them to the ground from a great height. 159 Frustrated, Appius gave up on a general
assualt of the walls and conferred with his commander, Marcellus, who was equally now
frustrated at sea. Both the Romans and Syracusans settled down into a long siege by starvation,
nevertheless, the Roman fleet was not able to fully cut-off supplies from reaching the city.
Appius was put in charge of the siege, and Marcellus set out to subdue the other parts of Sicily
that had revolted against Rome.
In 212 BC, the Romans destroyed a Carthaginian relief force that had arrived on the
island, and then Marcellus was informed that the Syracuasans were going to celebrate an annual
festival to Artemis. Under the cover of darkness, a few Roman soldiers scaled the walls and
opened the gates as the drunken revelers slept. The Roman army rushed in and sacked the city,
but they were under direct orders from Marcellus not to harm Archimedes. In spite of this, a
Roman soldier came upon Archimedes as he was working on some equations in his home, and
when he protested this interruption (“Do not disturb my circles!”) he killed Archimedes on the
spot.160

133. What other battle against Hannibal did Scipo the Younger survive besides Cannae?
134. What are the two primary authors used for the Punic Wars?
135. What two areas revolted from Roman control after Cannae?
136. Which foreign king pledged help to Hannibal?
137. What city did Archimedes defend against Rome?
Reflection Essay
39. How are mathematics and engineering so important in understanding Archimedes’ defense?
159
Marcus Claudius Pulcher was the Roman commander who famously threw the chickens overboard
before the ill-fated naval battle off Drepana during the First Punic War.
160
Archimedes was buried in Syracuse; however, his tomb has not been fully identified. Over a century
later, in 75 BC, the Roman orator and consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero, served in Sicily as quaestor and
sought out Archimedes’ tomb. He found it in a neglected state and had it restored.
198
4. Disaster in Spain
The re-conquest of Sicily brought a bit of hope to the Roman Republic. The Fabian tactic
of shadowing Hannibal was working, although not effectively stopping him. However, it was
proving more useful against Hannibal’s allies; while Hannibal was in one part of Italy, the
Romans would then attack an ally that had gone over to him and re-take the city before
Hannibal could arrive to help. Unable to defend them, the allies began wondering if staying with
the Carthaginian was the best idea. Flushed by their success, the Roman Senate concentrated
their forces in Spain, which was still under the command of Hannibal’s brother, Hasdrubal.
Likewise, the Carthaginian Senate had prioritized sending reinforcements for Spain before Italy,
partially to keep the rich Spanish silver mines secured, and partly because there was a strong
anti-Barca element in the Senate that was working against Hannibal.
The Roman Senate sent Publius Cornelius Scipio the Elder, long-healed from his wound
at the River Ticinnus, to aid his brother, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, who was already in Spain
working to take the Iberian Peninsula away from the Carthaginians. Since 215 BC the Romans
had secured the territory north of the Ebro River, however, both sides were using local Celt-
Iberians in their forces as allies. This was proving un-reliable, and in the end, would be fatal.
Mago, Hannibal’s other brother, had returned to Spain to help out Hasdrubal, and the Roman
and Carthaginian armies quickly clashed. Publius and Gnaeus were working independently of
each other, and it was that independence that Mago and Hasdrubal sought to exploit as a
weakness. They bribed many of Gnaeus’ Celt-Iberian allies to desert, which forced him to keep
his now-weakened Roman army in camp. Having temporarily immobilized Gnaeus, Mago and
Hasdrubal focused on destroying Publius and his army. The proconsul was attempting a night
assault on some pro-Carthaginian allies, but it wasn’t going as well as he hoped, and his attack
became bogged down when a combined Carthaginian force counterattacked. In the melee,
Publius died along with many of his men.
Gnaeus was unaware of his brother’s fate and feared attack on his weakened army, so
he decided to march north to the safety of the Ebro River and Roman territory. With the
desertion of his Celt-Iberian allies, and the unknown fate of his brother, Gnaeus’ force was too
weak to offer battle. Hounded by the Carthaginians, the tired and shaky Romans withdrew to a
nearby hill for defense. When all the Carthaginian armies arrived onto the battlefield, Gnaeus
199
saw the extreme danger they were in and ordered his troopers to construct any type of
fortifications they could. Livy described the desperate situation:
But the hill was bare and the soil so stony that no timber could be found for
stakes, no ground could be cut, no trench could be dug: for any work of
fortification whatever it was useless. At no point was the ascent rough enough
or steep enough to cause the enemy any serious difficulty: on all sides there was
no more than a gentle slope. None the less, to make something at any rate
resembling a rampart, they piled their pack-saddles, with the loads still
attached, all round in a circle, building them up to the normal height of a
rampart, and heaping on top of them, where there were not enough, any sort of
baggage and gear they could get hold of.161
It didn’t take long for the Carthaginian forces to break through the ramshackle defense,
and when they did the Romans were slaughtered. Gnaeus died during the assault, or shortly
after when the remainder of the Roman force was destroyed at the camp. As Livy says, “it had
been eight years that Gnaeus had been fighting in Spain, while Publius was killed a scant 25 days
after his arrival.”
5. Scipio Rising
Four years after Cannae, the only city that remained free from Hannibal in southern Italy
was Rhegium. Going on the offensive in 211 BC, the Romans laid siege to Capua, a vital ally for
Hannibal near the Bay of Naples. Hannibal tried to harass the Romans into battle, but was
unsuccessful. Wishing to draw the Roman army away from Capua, he marched on Rome itself.
If he had done this five years before things might have been very different, but now Hannibal
found his army staring at the strong walls of Rome, with the inhabitants no longer fearful of the
Carthaginian, but contemptuous. Hearing of Hannibal’s approach, the city prepared for a siege
while the Senate sat, awaiting those who might need guidance. As a sign of resistance and
161
Book 25.36
200
supreme confidence, the Romans auctioned off the land that Hannibal’s army had encamped on
outside the walls of Rome—for no reduction in price. The Romans called his bluff. Not being
able to effectively attack Rome, the Carthaginian force now fell back south, and shortly
thereafter Capua was re-taken. Despite these reverses for Hannibal, news of the disaster in
Spain soon crushed the Roman morale once more, even though they had just enjoyed success in
Sicily and had re-taken Capua. Hannibal continued to roam Italy without check, and despite
fewer and fewer allies, he and his army were still extremely dangerous.
Publius Cornelius Scipio (the Younger) had risen through the ranks of the Roman army
ever since the beginning of the war. He saved his father’s life at the River Ticinnus, fought at the
Trebbia and survived Cannae. Now, his father and uncle were both killed by Hannibal’s brothers
in Spain. No one wished to risk taking the Spanish command, which had been so troublesome
and cost the Romans so dearly. On the day of the public assembly, Publius Cornelius Scipio
presented himself to lead the command, despite the fact that he was only about twenty-seven.
His command was ratified and he arrived in Spain and quickly began preparations.162 Unlike
Hannibal, who had marched into Italy intent on separating Rome from her allies and only then
taking the capital, Scipio ascertained that New Carthage was the most important Carthaginian
stronghold in Sicily and he set about to take it immediately by siege.
New Carthage had the best harbor in eastern Spain, and offered the most direct route
for Carthaginian forces to be transported from Spain to Africa by ships.163 At that time, Mago
(not Mago Barca) was commanding the city’s defense, while all the other Carthaginian forces
were campaigning elsewhere in Spain. Scipio’s assault on New Carthage was fierce and
relentless; he cut off the city from the landward side, and attacked from an isthmus that ran
from the east across to the city (the remnant of which is used as a breakwater; see the map on
the opposite page). A large canal cut off the city from west, while a lagoon kept the attackers
back from the north. On the southern side Scipio’s fleet attacked the walls, and everywhere the
Carthaginians were hard-pressed, as they were being attacked from nearly every quarter. The
defense was stubborn, but a sudden gale rose up and forced some of the water in the lagoon
into the canal, exposing a bit of shoreline and the undefended north wall to assault. Before the
attack even began, Scipio—ever religious—had made an appeal to Neptune for his aid, and now
162
Scipio had an older brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio (later with the additional cognomen “Asiaticus”),
who was already in Spain and would continue to fight there until the conclusion of the Spanish campaign.
163
New Carthage also had extensive supply and monetary reserves for the Carthaginian war effort in
Spain, and was therefore a very tempting target.
201
it looked to the Roman soldiers as if the god was indeed working with them to defeat the
Carthaginians.
The Romans scaled the north wall and beat back the few defenders who rushed to stop
them, slashed the bolts and opened the gates, allowing even more legionnaires inside. On the
isthmus, Scipio’s infantry and navy now broke through there as well, and the city quickly fell.
What happened next was a Roman reprisal of the most terrible kind. Polybius wrote:
Scipio, when he judged that a large enough number of troops had entered the
town, let loose the majority of them against the inhabitants, according to the
Roman custom; their orders were to exterminate every form of life they
encountered, sparing none, but not to start pillaging until the word was given to
do so. This practice is adopted to inspire terror, and so when cities are taken by
the Romans you may often see not only the corpses of human beings but dogs
202
cut in half and the dismembered limbs of other animals, and on this occasion the
carnage was especially frightful because of the large size of the population.164
Afterwards, the city was plundered and all the wealth put in the market-place and
guarded that first night. The next day, it was divided among the legions according to Roman
custom. That winter, Scipio began the practice of releasing Celt-Iberian hostages, and being
generous in his treatment, promising a good relationship with Rome if they fought against
Carthage. It was in this Hannibalic manner that he continued to fight against the Carthaginian
forces in Spain
Meanwhile, the Romans were continuing to raise rebellions in Greece against Philip V,
thereby tying up his forces and not giving him the chance to send support to Hannibal.
Continuing to push their advantage, the 73-year-old Fabius Maximus led an assault against the
southern city of Tarentum in 209 BC, re-taking it from Hannibal and denying him the best allied
harbor in Italy. Hannibal had once again been battling the army of Marcus Claudius Marcellus,
this time near Canusium. While Hannibal was occupied, Fabius had marched on Tarentum and
retaken it, glaringly showing the weakness of Hannibal’s strategy; the Carthaginian couldn’t be
everywhere at the same time to defend all his allies. This left all of Hannibal’s remaining Italian
allies exposed to Roman counterattacks. Marcellus had suffered heavy losses in the
inconclusive battle and retired to Campania for the remainder of the summer, while Fabius once
again returned to Rome a hero. The war seemed to be swinging in Rome’s favor, however, the
following year (208 BC) was not without tragedy. Marcellus, the victor of Sicily and the “Sword
of Rome”, was ambushed near Venusia in Apulia by a detachment of Hannibal’s forces and was
slain.
6. Don’t Lose Your Head
Even as tragedy struck Marcellus in Italy, Scipio was making progress in Spain. With the
fall of New Carthage, Mago and Hasdrubal Barca were now on the defensive. Despite Scipio’s
good fortune thus far, in the winter of 208 BC Hasdrubal and his army slipped past the Roman
164
Book 10.15
203
forces to the north in order to follow his brother’s footsteps across the Alps. Hasdrubal had
always intended to join Hannibal in Italy, and now the losses in Spain pushed him to accelerate
his plans. Mago stayed behind in Spain with the hope of winning back lost territory, while
Hannibal, unaware of his brother’s crossing of the Alps, remained penned in the south of Italy.
Even contained, the Romans knew that Hannibal posed a tremendous threat.
In the spring of 207 BC, the consuls Gaius Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator
were facing a dilemma. In the north, Hasdrubal had crossed the Alps and was encamped,
preparing to move south in order to join forces with his brother. For the past few years the
Romans had been seizing back Hannibal’s allies one-by-one, and denying him the support he so
desperately needed in Italy. On the island of Sicily, Syracuse had gone over to the Carthaginians
but had since fallen, and the rest of the island remained securely in Roman hands. Over in
Spain, Scipio had effectively ousted Hasdrubal and was trying to force a final resolution for
Spanish control with the remaining Carthaginian forces there. The Romans had certainly
suffered in the years past, but they had felt the tide of the war had since turned. To their
horror, it seemed that the Carthaginian threat had risen anew once again.
In the north, Salinator kept watch over Hasdrubal while Nero did the same with
Hannibal in the south, but a bit of good luck came to the Romans at this point. Hasdrubal sent a
message to his brother, suggesting that the brothers Barca meet their armies in central Italy,
and combined they would inflict new catastrophes on Rome. The message, however, was
204
intercepted by the Romans. Nero pounced on this opportunity and took the majority of his
army north, leaving enough troops behind to fool Hannibal into thinking that he and the legions
were still there in strength. Then he set out quickly to join Salinator and attack Hasdrubal. At
the Battle of the Metaurus River, Hasdrubal arranged his army for battle against Salinator, but
quickly realized that the Roman force he was facing was now far larger than the day before. In
the night, Nero had raced north with 7,000 men to strengthen his co-consul’s forces. Unable to
delay battle, Hasdrubal made all the preparations he could, but the superiority of Roman
numbers proved decisive. Livy wrote of Hasdrubal’s end:
When at last no doubt remained that the day was lost, he refused to survive the
great army which had followed his fame, and setting spurs to his horse he
galloped straight into the midst of a Roman cohort. There, still fighting, he
found a death worthy of his father Hamilcar.165
The Carthaginian army was crushed, and those Gallic units that had managed to survive
the battle were allowed by the consul to return home unharmed. The Roman army needed to
rest after their hard-fought victory, and Nero wanted the Gallic survivors to spread the word of
the Carthaginian defeat. Back in Rome, ecstatic joy spread through the city when word reached
the populace that the army and both consuls were safe and the enemy destroyed. The Senate
proclaimed three days of public thanksgiving for this victory, and the temples became crowded
with Romans expressing their gratitude to the gods for answering their prayers.
Down in Southern Italy, Hannibal remained unaware of what had happened to his
brother. The message had never reached him of Hasdrubal’s plan, and he was ignorant of
Claudius Nero’s daring ruse as he went north with his army. Livy describes the shock to
Hannibal when he learned of his brother’s fate:
Nero on his return to Canusium had Hasdrubal’s head, which he had carefully
preserved during his march, flung on the ground in front of Hannibal’s outsposts;
he also ordered his African prisoners to be paraded in their chains, and had two
of them released and sent to Hannibal to tell him all that had happened. The
165
Book 27.49.
205
story is that Hannibal under the double blow of so great a public and personal
distress exclaimed: ‘Now, at last, I see the destiny of Carthage plain!’166

138. Which two Roman generals, and brothers, died fighting in Spain?
139. What allied city did Hannibal try and save by marching on Rome?
140. Who was the “Sword of Rome”?
141. How did Hannibal find out his brother was defeated?
142. What two brothers did Hannibal have?
Reflection Essay
40. When a computer detects a virus, a security program can put it in a “vault” which is a secure
portion of the hard drive that is not attached to other systems. How was Hannibal’s later years
in Italy similar?
7. Scipio’s Bold Plan
In 206 BC, Scipio crushed the remaining Carthaginian forces in Spain at the Battle of
Ilipa; here, Scipio used a bold strategy of deception and maneuver (called his “anti-Cannae”)
against Mago and his numerically stronger Carthaginian force. Each day Scipio presented his
army for battle, with his stronger Roman units in the center of his battle line, while his allied
Celt-Iberians he kept on the wings of his army, but each day Mago refused to be rushed into
battle. On the day that Scipio had planned, he once again presented his army at daybreak and
pushed Mago for a quick response before they even had a chance to have breakfast. The
Carthaginians took up their positions for battle, but realized too late that the Roman units were
now on the wings, with the allies in the center. As the battle began, Scipio held the allies back
as he advanced, thus forming them into a concave line. In other words, Scipio’s battle plan was
a reverse of what Hannibal had done at Cannae.
166
Book 27.51. What is of interest is the fact that Claudius Nero chose to preserve the head of Hasdrubal
for the shock value not only to Hannibal, but I believe for his troops as well. After 11 years of warfare
within Italy, Hannibal’s core of African and Spanish troops would have been diminished and replaced by a
heavy number of Gauls. The Gauls believed that the head was the repository of the soul, and they
themselves practiced headhunting and preserving their gruesome trophies using pine resin. If Nero had
not preserved the head, the time required to march back down to southern Italy would have seen the
head decompose, perhaps to the point of not being recognized by Hannibal. The shock of seeing the
decapitated head, I theorize, was meant not only to shock Hannibal personally, but also to cause dissent
within the allied Gallic units and cause defections within the Carthaginian army.
206
The main Carthaginian force now stood helpless as the Romans pushed the weaker
allied Spanish troops back on the flanks, thus encircling Mago and his whole army. The
complete slaughter of the Carthaginians was only saved by a sudden downpour, which gave
time for some of Mago’s troops to escape. However, within days many of those who had fled
were hunted down by Scipio’s forces. Frustratingly, Mago was able to slip away to northern
Italy to raise fresh troops, while the other Carthaginian commander, Hasdrubal Gisco, fled back
to Africa to help keep affairs in Africa from spinning out of control167. Scipio spent the
remainder of the year securing eastern Spain and punishing those tribes that had aided in the
destruction of his father and uncle’s armies five years before.
With affairs in Spain settled, Scipio now returned to Rome in late 206 BC and was
elected consul for the following year, even though he was just 31-years-old.168 With public
support, Scipio began to un-fold his bold plan to end the war in Italy, which was now in its 14th
year. He was elected pro-consul in 204 BC and was given Sicily as his command, and began
enrolling a volunteer army to make a crossing to Africa. However, there were those who
thought the better option was to contain and further reduce Hannibal by slow attrition, namely
the 78-year-old Fabius Maximus. Fabius pushed to not invade Africa, partly to continue those
policies which he thought had worked for so long against Hannibal, and partly as a check to the
growing power of Scipio within the Republic. But Scipio was quite clever, and the desire to end
this war was quite strong within both the Senate and the Roman people as a whole. Even the
survivors of Cannae, who were banished to Sicily because they had fled from the battle, now
saw a chance to redeem themselves. Here was a capable commander, who had stood beside
them through the dark early years of the war. Scipio also had formed an alliance with Masinissa,
who had served with distinction under Hannibal, but after fighting the Romans in Spain (and
being politically pushed out in Africa by his rival, Syphax) he had decided to change sides and
fight for Rome. With this growing army in Sicily, Scipio pushed for an invasion of Africa, which
he hoped would prompt the Carthaginian Senate to recall Hannibal from Italy in order to protect
them.
167
Mago made a costly and failed attempt to re-take New Carthage from Scipio, and his departure from
Spain signaled the abandonment of that campaign by the Carthaginians. In Africa, a bloody civil war was
raging over who should rule Numidia, a crucial ally for Carthage.
168
The customary age for being elected consul was forty.
207
8. Prelude to Battle
After landing his troops in Africa in 203 BC, Scipio smashed the armies of Hasdrubal
Gisgo, whom he had fought in Spain and defeated at Ilipa, and the allied Numidian army under
King Syphax. This prompted the Carthaginian Senate to recall Mago Barca, who was in northern
Italy with his army and recovering from a battle wound, and Hannibal who was still bottled up in
the toe of Italy with his forces. Tragedy, however, would once again follow the Barca family,
and Mago died at sea on his way to join his brother. What must Hannibal have been thinking
before he left Italy on his voyage back to Africa?
For sixteen years he had waged war against Rome,
having marched an army from Saguntum in Spain,
across the Pyrenees and Alps Mountains, and laid
waste to countless Roman armies in Italy. Cannae
had been his masterstroke, but the war had cost
him an eye and both his brothers, while all those
around him had grown old and weary as he and his
army roamed Italy like a wounded lion. Three
years before (205 BC), Hannibal had spent the
summer near the city of Croton dedicating an inscription to Juno (Hera) which had a long record
of his achievements written in both Punic and Greek. This inscription itself was used by Polybius
for his history of the Second Punic War, as he says:
The fact is that I discovered on Cape Lacinium a bronze tablet which Hannibal
himself had had inscribed with these details while he was in Italy, and since I
considered this to be an absolutely trustworthy piece of evidence, I had no
hesitation in following it.169
Polybius, who was born right after the end of the Second Punic War, would have been
able to use primary sources for his histories, namely those old veterans who had fought with—
and against—Hannibal, and would have provided invaluable details of his campaign.
169
Book 3.33
208
In 203 BC, the great Carthaginian general must have been awash in grief and frustration.
He had sailed with his father, Hamilcar, to Spain when he was 9-years-old, and fought against
Rome all his life. He must have stood and looked at the inscription of his accomplishments in
Italy and wondered where it all went wrong. Livy wrote:
Seldom, we are told, has any exile left his native land with so heavy a heart as
Hannibal’s when he left the country of his enemies; again and again he looked
back at the shores of Italy, accusing gods and men and calling down curses on
his own head for not having led his armies straight to Rome when they were still
bloody from the victorious field of Cannae. Scipio, who in his consulship had
never seen a Carthaginian enemy in Italy, had had the audacity to march on
Carthage, while he—when a hundred thousand Roman soldiers had been killed
at Trasimene and Cannae—had been content to grow old in idleness at
Casilinum and Cumae and Nola! Such were his self-accusations and expressions
of distress as he was forced to surrender his long occupation of Italy.170
When word reached Rome that Hannibal had indeed left Italy, the Senate decreed five
days of public thanksgiving and the sacrifice of 120 full-grown animals to the gods. However,
great joy was to be balanced by great despair, for it was in that year that Fabius Maximus died
at the old age of 77. Livy wrote:
What is indisputable is that he was worthy of the name Maximus, and would
have deserved to be the first of his line to bear it. He held more magistracies
than his father, and the same number as his grandfather. His grandfather Rullus
enjoyed the fame of more victories and greater battles, but to have had
Hannibal as one’s enemy is enough to equal or outweigh them all. Fabius has
been stigmatized as a cautious soldier, never quick to act; but though one may
question whether he was a ‘delayer’ by nature or because delaying tactics
happened to suit the campaigns he was engaged in, this, as least, is certain,
that, as the poet Ennius wrote,
170
Book 30.24
209
One man by his delaying saved the State.171
Fabius never saw the conclusion of the war between Hannibal and Scipio. Now, with
Hannibal back on African soil, the Carthaginian Senate broke off peace negotiations with Scipio
and made preparations to repel the Romans. Always wishing to know his enemy, Hannibal sent
scouts to Scipio’s camp in order to find out the strength and disposition of the forces at his
disposal. The scouts, however, were caught by Scipio’s troops, as Livy says:
(the scouts) were brought by their Roman guards to Scipio, who handed them
over to an officer and, telling them to have a good look at everything without
fear of consequences, gave orders that they should be taken round the camp and
shown whatever they wished to see. He then asked them if their investigations
had been both comfortable and adequate, furnished them with an escort, and
sent them back to Hannibal.172
When the scouts returned, Hannibal learned for certain that his old ally, Masinissa, and a large
number of Numidian cavalry were in Scipio’s camp. The size and strength of the Roman force
prompted Hannibal to ask for a conference with Scipio. On an open spot between both camps
the two generals met the following day. Again, we look to Livy:
Exactly half-way between the opposing ranks of armed men, each attended by
an interpreter, the generals met. They were not only the two greatest soldiers of
their time, but the equals of any king or commander in the whole history of the
world. For a minute mutual admiration struck them dumb, and they looked at
each other in silence.173
Hannibal spoke first and wished that the Romans had not desired any territory outside
of Italy, nor that Carthage sought expansion out of Africa. He discussed the role of Fortune in
war, and warned Scipio about being overconfident from his success in Spain and Africa.
Hannibal pointed out to Scipio that he was young, and had not experienced reverses in his
171
Book 30.26
172
Book 30.29
173
Book 30.30
210
command as Hannibal himself had endured. He offered all of Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and
all the islands in-between Italy and Africa up to Rome, and told him to go home lest fortune
steal away his good luck. Scipio’s reply was blunt: both of the wars had been started, so he said,
because of Carthaginian aggression. If he, Hannibal, had left Italy of his own accord, then peace
negotiations might have been possible, but since he was in Africa defending Carthage only
because Scipio had made it so, then there was no room for negotiation. With that, the two
generals went back to their armies.
It was unlikely that either side was looking for a peace settlement. Hannibal knew that
everything was on the table and that they were playing for the highest of stakes. Scipio could
not go home without a victory, and Hannibal was as likely to surrender as Scipio was to trust
him. What is more plausible is that both of these commanders wished to size each other up and
meet them; Hannibal because of the Scipio family and the man who beat his brothers in Spain,
while Scipio wanted to look in the eye of the commander from whom he learned so much by the
point of the sword. His father and uncle had died fighting Hannibal, and his family had brought
uncounted suffering to Rome and her allies over the past sixteen years. The final battle of the
Second Punic War had arrived.
9. The Battle of Zama
The next morning both armies marched out for battle. The Romans now outnumbered
the Carthaginians in cavalry with their Numidian allies commanded by Masinissa, while Hannibal
enjoyed superiority in infantry, along with about 80 new war elephants. The third line of each
army was a poetic ending to the war; for Scipio, they were his Cannae veterans seeking
vengeance and retribution for that horrible day fourteen years before, while Hannibal’s third
line was composed of those old soldiers who had fought with him throughout his Italian
campaign. If a Carthaginian was 17 years old when he set out with Hannibal from Saguntum, he
was now 33-years-old. It would be these two groups of veterans who would determine the
course of the battle. Hannibal sent his elephants charging at Scipio’s line, but the Roman
general had already devised a solution. As the elephants neared, the maniples compressed,
leaving alleys in the infantry lines through which the elephants passed to the rear of the Roman
army. There, the velites finished them off with arrows and spears, rendering this attack
211
harmless. In fact, some of the elephants panicked from the skirmishers weapons, along with
lasts from Roman trumpets and bugles, and had charged back into the Carthaginian cavalry,
causing havoc and confusion. The Roman cavalry on the right and left drove in hard and pushed
the Carthaginians from the battlefield. The front ranks of both armies fought relentlessly, both
sides giving ground at times until the reserve of both armies came to blows. As the fight was
being contested, and Scipio’s forces looked to be on the losing end, the Roman cavalry returned
from the field and attacked the Carthaginian forces from the rear. Scipio had managed to
reverse, literally, the stain of Cannae. Hannibal, however, managed to escape the battle with a
small portion of his forces, and a Carthaginian embassy was sent to Scipio to sue for peace.
212
The Carthaginians, along with many Romans, expected Scipio to march on Carthage and
burn it to the ground.174 Scipio, however, was far more magnanimous; Carthage would not be
burned, and she would be allowed to keep all those territories she already had in Africa. In
addition, all prisoners of war were to be returned to Rome, all their elephants and nearly all
their warships were to be handed over, they were not to wage war on anyone without Rome’s
consent. Moreover, Masinissa was to be restored to the throne of Numidia. Lastly, they were
to pay 10,000 talents of silver over the next 50 years and hostages for good faith. When these
terms were pronounced in the Carthaginian Senate, one of the senators spoke out against
Scipio’s offer. As he was speaking, Hannibal entered and yanked him down off the podium and
read the Senate the riot act for not realizing that they were beaten, and that the terms that
Scipio had demanded were fair. Scipio left Hannibal in charge of the civic duties of Carthage, to
which he proved himself as able to lead a city-state in times of peace as much as in times of war.
As for Publius Cornelius Scipio, he returned to Rome the following year as a hero and was given
the surname Africanus, in recognition from the Senate and a tribute to all that he had
accomplished. The Second Punic War had finally come to an end.

143. Scipio concentrated on conquering what territory before taking on Hannibal?
144. What important Carthaginian died before returning to Africa?
145. Which prominent Roman died before the invasion of Africa could be started?
146. What warning did Hannibal give Scipio?
147. Which important Numidian had changed sides and now supported Scipio?
Reflection Essay
41. What was the crucial and decisive factor for the victories of Cannae and Zama?
174
A Roman officer, named Marcus Porcius Cato, would survive the war and famously advocate for the
destruction of Carthage. He ended every speech to the Senate with the words Carthago delenda est
(‘Carthage must be destroyed’) and was a sign of his distrust for Carthage and his fear that she would one
day take up arms against Rome yet again. His urging would ultimately spur Rome into the Third Punic
War (149-146 BC).
213
Chapter XII
The Battle of Cynoscephalae
1. Revenge
In 221 BC, three years before Hannibal marched over the Alps, Philip the V of Macedon
took the throne when he was just seventeen. He was descended from the ruling family line in
Greece, the Antigonids, whose bloodline linked itself with Ptolemaic Egypt and to both Antipater
and Cassander of Macedonia. At that time, Macedonia still ruled over the Greek city-states as
they had done since the days of Philip II and Alexander the Great over a century before, but now
their hold on Sparta, Elis and other cities of Greece had grown tenuous. Roman influence in the
area was beginning to be felt by Philip, but he continued to expand his territory and control over
Greece with a skill that eventually re-established Macedonia as the dominant force among the
Greek city-states. The year before, the previous Macedonian ruler, Antigonus III, had crushed
the Spartan-led opposition at the Battle of Sellasia, located barely 10 miles north of Sparta itself.
As Antigonus III was occupied in the southern Peloponnesus, the Illyrians, who bordered the
northern edge of Macedonian territory, invaded Antigonus’ kingdom. Quickly he led his army
northward and crushed the invading tribes, but in the process he was mortally wounded. Rule
was then transferred over to the young, but capable, Philip V.
Following the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC, Hannibal formed an alliance with Philip V, in
the hopes of bringing the skilled Macedonian army over to help aid in Rome’s destruction.
Seeing the threat that such a union could bring, Rome supported Sparta and her allies in leading
revolts against Philip, which denied him the ability to help Hannibal. In 211 BC, as the tide of the
Second Punic War was beginning to turn in Rome’s favor, she formed an alliance with the
Aetolian League of Greek cities and Attalus I of Pergamum, and got them to attack Philip’s
forces. With all these problems in his own proverbial backyard, Philip was still unable to send
military assistance to Hannibal and the Carthaginians. Seeking an end of hostilities, Philip made
a temporary peace with the Romans called the Peace of Phoenice in 205 BC, which kept Philip
out of Italy, and stabilized his Macedonian control over Greece and Illyria.
214
215
After the end of the Second Punic War in 202 BC, it was time for Rome to settle some
old scores; first of which was with Philip. When Rome was heavily involved with Spain, she was
unable to send any real forces to the aid of the Greeks against the
Macedonians, but now that the war with Carthage was over, the
Roman Senate was quick to exact revenge. An opportunity came
when Rhodes and Pergamum asked for aid against Philip’s
expansion in that region.175 Now, this call for aid was seen by the
Roman Senate as an opening to send forces, and in 200 BC the
legions of Rome marched into Illyria. This direct confrontation of
Roman and Macedonian arms is called the Second Macedonian
War. Philip V of Macedon
2. Titus Quinctius Flaminius
During the Second Punic War, Titus Quinctius Flaminius served in the Roman army as a
military tribune, and afterwards was elected to the consulship in 198 BC.176 Scipio Africanus,
who had been elected censor in 199 BC, undoubtedly influenced Flaminius’ election as consul.177
Scipio, and his love of Greek—that is to say, Hellenistic—ways was in direct contrast to older,
more conservative aspects of the Roman Senate. Famous among this group of hard-right
Roman politicians and generals was the now-deceased Fabius Maximus, who saw the younger
generation of Romans like Scipio as a threat to the traditional ways of Rome. This conflict spilled
over into Fabius speaking out against Scipio’s invasion of Africa at the end of the previous war.
The customary age for being elected a consul in the Roman Republic was 40, but this custom
was not adhered to during the crises of the Second Punic War, when capable generals over that
age were hard to find. Scipio’s election to lead the forces in Spain brought him political power
unknown to Romans of such a young age. Titus Flaminus was cut from the same cloth as Scipio,
whereas the conservative element of the Roman Senate was now led by another former officer
Hannibalic War, Marcus Porcius Cato.
175
The non-military intervention of the Romans is called the First Macedonian War.
176
He was 30-years-old upon receiving command.
177
The office of censor was an extremely powerful one in the Roman Senate, where a senior Roman
politician had the ability to select and dictate the roster of those who could be senators.
216
Initial command of the war against Philip was held by Publius Sulpicius Galba, but little
success was achieved in the first two years of the war. Command for the war was then given to
Flaminius when he became consul, and he quickly managed to push Philip back into Macedonia.
Flaminus sought peace negotiations with Philip, however, when Flaminius and his Greek allies
met to work out a peace plan, he demanded that Philip renounce all his conquests in Greece
and fully evacuate the territories back into Macedonia. Irate at this treatment, Philip sent an
embassy to Rome to seek a direct negotiation with the Roman Senate. While Philip awaited a
reply, Flaminius learned that his consular command was now extended to the conclusion of the
war. Flaminius, now a proconsul with indefinite command, broke off peace negotiations and
sought to bring the Second Macedonian War to a military conclusion. Setting out from Thebes
with his army in early summer of 197 BC, the Roman army met the Macedonians in the rolling
hills of northern Greece at a place called Cynoscephalae.
The hills of Cynoscephalae

148. What city did Rome side with against Philip during the First Macedonian War?
149. What was the name of the Roman commander who fought Philip V?
150. Which prominent Roman opposed Scipio and the Hellenistic movement?
Reflection Essay
42. How were the Greeks being used by the Romans during their conflict with Philip V?
217
3. A Clash of Armies
The forthcoming battle would be not just a struggle between Macedonian and Roman
arms, but a confrontation of the most dominant armies of the day. Centuries before, when
Rome was a fledgling kingdom in the 8th century BC, her arms and armor looked distinctly Greek.
At that time, the city-states of ancient Greece were emerging from their own Dark Age and
sending colonies all over the Mediterranean. As the Roman Republic’s borders expanded
throughout central Italy in the 4th century, they adapted their stiff, phalanx into a more
manipular formation, which was capable of adaption and flexibility to the terrain. What
resulted from this adaptation was a legion that looked very non-Greek, and had proven itself
superior to every power it had come in contact with. By contrast, the campaigns of Philip II and
Alexander had perfected the phalanx and cavalry formation that became the dominant method
of warfare for all Hellenized nations. Since Alexander’s time, more and more emphasis was
placed on the infantry with its long sarissa, while the cavalry was reduced with lower numbers
and capability. These two powers, Roman and Macedonian, had a common military origin, but
had gone down two different paths over the centuries. Now, at Cynoscephalae, these two
models of ancient armies were to come to battle and determine the ultimate fighting formation
of the 2nd century BC and beyond.
The historian and biographer, Plutarch, wrote about how the armies felt at the outset of
the battle:
The two armies advanced against each other until they came into the
neighborhood of Scotussa, and there they proposed to decide the issue by battle.
Their mutual proximity did not inspire them with fear, as might have been
expected; on the contrary, they were filled with ardour and ambition. For the
Romans hoped to conquer the Macedonians, whose reputation for prowess and
strength Alexander had raised to a very high pitch among them; and the
Macedonians, who considered the Romans superior to the Persians, hoped, in
case they prevailed over them, to prove Philip a more brilliant commander than
Alexander.178
178
Life of Titus Flaminius, 7.3.
218
Both sides felt confident of victory, as both had advantages that they felt were decisive.
Flaminius had nearly 20,000 Roman and allied infantry, about 4,000 phalangites, 2,000 Greek
skirmishers, 2,600 cavalry, and—most shockingly—about 20 elephants. It had been only five
years since the conclusion of the Second Punic War, and now the Romans themselves were
using these large beasts in battle. This shows one, if not the most important, attributes of
Roman warfare: adaptability. The elephant was a weapon, first introduced to Rome when
Pyrrhus of Epirus invaded Italy over a century before, which devastated the Romans in the First
Punic War in Sicily and wrought terror under Hannibal’s leadership. Now, the elephant was
being used by the Romans. By contrast, Philip had 16,000 phalangites, nearly 2,000 mercenaries
(since many of his Greek allies had abandoned him in order to support the Romans), 4,000
skirmishers and an equal amount of other infantry, plus about 2,000 cavalry. In other words,
the forces held nearly the same number of soldiers, but their organizational method was quite
different. On the next day, the weather conditions were terrible. Again, we look to Plutarch:
Towards morning on the following day, after a mild and damp night, the clouds
turned to mist, the whole plain was filled with profound darkness, a dense air
came down from the heights into the space between the two camps, and as
soon as day advanced all the ground was hidden from view. The parties sent out
on either side for purposes of ambush and reconnaissance encountered one
another in a very short time and went to fighting near what are called the
Cynoscephalae, or Dog's Heads. These are the sharp tops of hills lying close
together alongside one another, p343and got their name from a resemblance in
their shape. As was natural on a field so difficult, each party sending out aid
from their camps to those who from time to time were getting the worst of it
and retreating, until at last, when the air cleared up and they could see what
was going on, they engaged with all their forces.179
In other words, both the Roman and Macedonian forces were unaware of each other’s location,
but knew that they were close. The fog and weather conditions greatly limited visibility, and a
fierce battle broke out on the top of one of the hills by skirmishers from both armies. Both sides
179
Life of Flaminius, 8.1-2
219
threw more and more troops into the battle, since a hilltop advantage could prove decisive in
the forthcoming conflict, however, neither side knew that that battle had already begun.
As the fog lifted, Philip realized that he held the high-ground, but did not have his forces
fully deployed—that would take time. As for Flaminius, he had his army drawn up below and
moved his left wing up the hill where the battle had been fiercely contested by the skirmishers.
Philip, hesitant to go into battle without the phalanx fully deployed, sent his right wing
advancing down the hill before the Romans could reach the summit. As expected, the phalanx
and their long sarissae inflicted heavy damage on the Roman lines, but they did not break.
Polyibus would later write:
It is easy to understand that so long as the phalanx retains its characteristic form
and strength nothing can withstand its charge or resist it face to face.180
But in Polybius’ statement one can see the phalanx’s Achilles heel; once a phalanx is committed
to battle, it is very difficult to alter that plan. As the sarissae are long and require both hands to
hold, a phalanx can only attack forward, but it is that forward charge that was so deadly.
Flaminius, seeing that Philip had not fully deployed his line, advanced his left wing,
thereby drawing the Macedonians right wing down in response. Now that Philip’s right was
fixed, Flaminius deployed his right wing upon the Macedonian left wing, which was still not fully
deployed. The Roman elephants now attacked Philip’s left, and caused havoc within the
phalanx. Before they could recover, the legionary maniples slammed into the phalanx, which
fought, wavered, and then broke. At that time, a Roman tribune, whose name is lost to history,
led 2,000 of the triarii around and behind Philip’s right wing, which was now exposed. Success
on the Roman left was more elusive, as they were being forced back down the hill by the long
spears of the Macedonians. Falling upon the rear of the phalanx, the tribune’s force slammed
into the unprotected rear of Philip’s line, making them buckle and rout. These triarii were the
most veteran of Flaminius’ army, and understood the significance of this moment in the battle;
these were also men who were finishing up their military career, and were the survivors from
Cannae who were picked up by Scipio, fought so bravely at Zama, and now found themselves
fighting in the hills of Greece.
180
Book 18.28
220
221
The Macedonian army routed from the battlefield, however, the phalanx was unable to
run due to their heavy weapons and instead raised their sarissae as a sign of their surrender and
mercy. Whether the Romans did not know of this Greek custom, or chose to ignore it, they
continued to slaughter the Macedonians. Losses, depending on the author, were from 5,000-
8,000 killed for the Macedonians, while the Romans lost a couple thousand. As a result of the
battle, the Greek city-states were declared free from Macedonian rule and Philip was forced to
sue for peace from Flaminius. The Roman Senate added that Philip had to pay 1,000 talents of
silver and surrender a huge portion of his fleet, but he was allowed to remain in control of
Macedonia. With the defeat of Philip V, Rome was now the unquestioned military power in the
Mediterranean.

151. What factor prompted the accidental start of the battle?
152. Which side held the geographical advantage at the start of the battle?
153. What weapon of war do the Romans surprisingly use in this battle?
Reflection Essay
43. Rome was founded by the descendant of a Trojan refugee. How is the Battle of Cynoscephalae
an example of circular history?
222
223
Epilogue
With the defeat of Philip V of Macedonia and the formal liberation of Greece in 196 BC,
Rome temporarily withdrew her armies back to Italy. The following year, fear of a Roman
assassination drove Hannibal, who was still ably ruling Carthage seven years after Zama, to flee
in exile from his home and head eastward into the service of the king of Syria, Antiochus III. For
the next decade, Hannibal would go from kingdom to kingdom as a mercenary general for
anyone wishing to fight against the emerging and irresistible force of Rome. Meanwhile, the
political climate in Rome was growing poisonous for Scipio Africanus, as Cato the Elder and the
conservative elements of the Senate sought to reduce the Scipionic influence. However, public
favor was still strong enough for Scipio and his brother, Lucius Cornelius Scipio, to be appointed
the command of the Roman forces against Antiochus III. By 190 BC, the Scipio brothers had
achieved a Roman victory at the Battle of Magnesia in central Asia Minor. An armistice was
declared, and Antiochus III gave a huge payoff of 15,000 talents of silver to Rome for a cessation
of hostilities.
At some point that year, or the next, Scipio and Hannibal met for a second and final time
in the city of Ephesus. The historian Appian wrote:
It is said that at one of their meetings in the gymnasium Scipio and

Hannibal had a conversation on the subject of generalship, in the presence of a
number of bystanders, and that Scipio asked Hannibal whom he considered the
greatest general, to which the latter replied, "Alexander of Macedonia."
To this Scipio agreed, since he also yielded the first place to Alexander.
Then he asked Hannibal whom he placed next, and he replied, "Pyrrhus of
Epirus," because he considered boldness the first qualification of a general; "for
it would not be possible," he said, "to find two kings more enterprising than
these."
Scipio was rather irritated by this, but nevertheless he asked Hannibal to
whom he would give the third place, expecting that at least the third would be
assigned to him; but Hannibal replied, "To myself; for when I was a young man I
224
conquered Spain and crossed the Alps with an army, the first after Hercules. I
invaded Italy and struck terror into all of you, laid waste 400 of your towns, and
often put your city in extreme peril, all this time receiving neither money nor
reinforcements from Carthage."
As Scipio saw that he was likely to prolong his self-laudation he said,
laughing, "Where would you place yourself, Hannibal, if you had not been
defeated by me?" Hannibal, now perceiving his jealousy, replied, "In that case I
should have put myself before Alexander." Thus Hannibal continued his self-
laudation, but flattered Scipio in a delicate manner by suggesting that he had
conquered one who was the superior of Alexander.181
But it seems that the end for both men was not as cordial as their conversation; Scipio
returned to Rome to find the political climate more hostile than ever. Lucius, who had served in
the shadow of his famous younger brother during the Second Punic War, now found fame and
fortune in the war against Antiochus III. However, Cato the Elder claimed that 3,000 talents of
silver were missing, which he said were personally given to Lucius as a bribe. This was a serious
charge, especially since the Senate itself had given him the honorific title “Asiaticus” for his
victory in Asia Minor, as they had given “Africanus” to his brother years before. In 185 BC,
Lucius and Publius were formally put on trial for corruption, but it was thrown out by the
influence of Publius, who angrily reminded the Senate of the 15,000 talents that they brought
back from Antiochus III for the Roman treasury. He also pointed out to the crowd that the trial
was being held on the anniversary of the Battle of Zama, which caused such uproar that the trial
was immediately dismissed.
Two years later, in 183 BC, the 53-year-old Scipio Africanus died in self-exile in southern
Italy near Cumae. His cause of death is unknown, but varies from poison, ill-health, and even
suicide. Whatever the case, Scipio was so incensed at Rome that he demanded the phrase,
‘Ungrateful country, you will not even have my bones’ (“Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem
habebis”) be placed on his tombstone.182 The location of his tomb is still unknown to this day.
That same year, or the next according to Polybius, Hannibal was tracked down by Titus
Flaminius to the city of Libyssa in the kingdom of Bithynia, near the entrance to the Black Sea.
181
The Syrian Wars, 10.
182
It was written that 150 years later, the Roman Emperor Augustus visited his tomb.
225
Ever since he fled from Carthage, the Romans had been hunting down the now 63-year-old
general, wishing to take him back to Rome alive, if possible—dead, if necessary. No enemy had
ever cost the citizens of Rome so dear a price in lives, and he still haunted their collective
memory.183 As the Romans closed in on his residence, Hannibal realized that all of the exits
were guarded, and that there was no escape. Livy, with a bit of sadness, wrote:
Finally he called for the poison which he had long kept in readiness for such an
emergency. "Let us," he said, "relieve the Romans from the anxiety they have so
long experienced, since they think it tries their patience too much to wait for an
old man's death. The victory which Flamininus will win over a defenseless
fugitive will be neither great nor memorable; this day will show how vastly the
moral of the Roman People has changed. 184
In 168 BC, the Romans decided to remain in Greece in order to maintain security and
stability, and too late the Greeks realized that they had replaced one ruling power for another.
Twenty-two years later, in 146 BC, the destruction of Carthage was completed.185 Pushed by
Cato the Elder, who famously finished every speech with “Carthago delenda est”‘ (‘Carthage
must be destroyed’), the Roman Senate declared war on Carthage in 149 BC. Led by the general
Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, the adoptive grandson of Scipio Africanus, the Roman
forces breached the strong walls of the city after three long years of siege warfare, and sacked it
after nearly a week of brutal house-to-house fighting. On the final day, in a final act of defiance,
a small group of remaining Carthaginians jumped into a burning temple on Carthage’s citadel as
the Roman forces closed in. The sight of this tragedy brought Scipio Aemilianus to tears.
183
For generations afterward, the phrase Hannibal ad portas! (‘Hannibal is at the gates!’) inspired terror
to Roman children—he was the Roman Boogeyman.
184
Book 39.51. Livy further recounts how the Romans warned Pyrrhus about poison as a point of honor
among enemies, while now they had sent a man of consular rank to assassinate a defenseless man in his
own house.
185
The Romans would also burn Corinth to the ground as an example to the rest of Greece.
226
Polybius, who was Scipio’s personal historian and was an eyewitness to Carthage’s final
destruction, wrote that the Roman commander, seeing this great city burn, quoted a line from
Homer concerning the fall of Troy:
The day shall come when sacred Troy shall fall, and King Priam and all his warrior people with him.
In the flames of Carthage, Scipio Aemilianus saw the fate of Rome and the descendents of Aeneas.
227
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Earle Ancient Warfare

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Earle Ancient Warfare

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ANCIENT WARFARE

From the Iliad to the Battle of Cynoscephalae:

By Guy Earle, M.A.

Coin of Marcus Claudius Marcellus (coinarchives.com) 196

Map of the Mediterranean powers in 218 BC (Wikipedia) 215

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………… iii

I MINOANS AND THE TROJAN WAR ………………………………………………………… 2

1 The Bronze Age ………………………………………………………………………………… 2

II PERSIAN THREAT ………………………………………………………………………………….. 20

1 The Dark Ages …………………………………………………………………………………… 20

1 The Delian League ……………………………………………………………………………. 44

IV PHILIP II AND ALEXANDER III …………………………………………………………………. 58

1 Artemis’ Absence ………………………………………………………………………………. 58

V ALEXANDER’S MARCH: GRANICUS TO SIWA …………………………………………. 72

1 Captain-General of Greece ………………………………………………………………… 72

VI ALEXANDER’S MARCH: GAUGAMELA TO DEATH …………………………………… 94

1 Battle of Gaugamela ………………………………………………………………………… 94

VII RISE OF ROME ………………………………………………………………………………………. 112

1 Trojan Refugee …………………………………………………………………………………. 112

VIII PYRRHUS OF EPIRUS AND DEFENSIVE IMPERIALISM ……………………………… 126

1 Enter Pyrrhus, Stage Right ………………………………………………………………… 126

IX FIRST PUNIC WAR AND THE BATTLE OF TELAMON ……………………………….. 140

1 Tension in the Strait ………………………………………………………………………….. 140

1 Swear to Ba’al ………………………………………………………………………………….. 168

XI THE SECOND PUNIC WAR: SCIPIO RISING ……………………………………………… 194

1 A Schoolboy’s Debate ………………………………………………………………………. 194

XII BATTLE OF CYNOSCEPHALAE ………………………………………………………………… 214

1 Revenge …………………………………………………………………………………………… 214

EPILOGUE …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 224

BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 228

1450 Eruption of Thera

1250 Collapse of Minoan civilization

1184 Fall of Troy

1100 Collapse of Mycenaean power

776 First Olympic Games Regal Period

490 First Persian War Early Republic

480 Second Persian War

371 Battle of Leuctra

331 Battle of Gaugamela

218 Hannibal crosses the Alps; Second Punic

202 Battle of Zama; Rome wins the Second

197 Battle of Cynoscephalae

1. The Bronze Age

The Cyclades Islands are in red.

2. The Warriors of the Iliad

Questions and Reflection

3. The Iliad and Chariot Warfare

4. Homer and Vergil

Schliemann could read the Iliad

Questions and Reflection

6. The Trojan War

Regions of power in 1400 B.C.

Book I: Explanation of Achilles’ wrath.

Ares prepared for battle.

Apollo and Artemis

8. After the Iliad

After the death of Hector, the war continued on.

Questions and Reflection

1. The Dark Ages

3. The Oracle of Delphi

The Temple of Apollo at Delphi

Questions and Reflection

5. Threat from the East

As the Greek historian and soldier Xenophon later wrote,