Battle of Pidne

The Third Macedonian War began in 171 BC. e. In that year, Roman troops successfully began military operations, since Perseus of Macedonia did not manage to gather all his troops. But by the end of the year, the situation had changed, and he managed to recapture the important religious city for the Macedonians - Dion .

In 168 BC e. the commander of the Roman forces was an experienced soldier and consul Lucius Emilius Paul of Macedon . In order for Perseus to withdraw from his positions, he sent a separate detachment (8,200 infantrymen and 120 cavalrymen) under the command of Publius Cornelius Scipio Naziki Korcula to the coast. By this he wanted to convince the Macedonians that the Romans would try to cross the river. Scipio himself took his troops south at night and took them to the Pithium in the mountains to attack the Macedonians from the rear.

But the Roman deserter ended up in a Macedonian camp, and Perseus sent Milon with 12,000 soldiers to block the driveway. However, a clash with the Romans drove the Macedonians away, and they returned to their camp. After this, the king moved his army north, taking up positions near Katerini , a village south of Pidna . On this flat terrain, the Macedonian phalanx was in the best conditions for battle.

The Roman forces united, and at this time Perseus deployed his forces to repulse the attack of Scipio from the south. But the Romans were in the west, and during their advance they found the Macedonian troops ready for defense. Having decided not to start battles with tired fighters, the Romans settled in the west of the Macedonians - in the foothills of Mount Olokrus. On the eve of the lunar eclipse, which the Macedonians considered a bad omen, believing that it portends the death of the king ^[1] .

The battle began on the next day, June 22 .

The army of the Romans consisted of 29 thousand soldiers, of which 24.5 thousand were infantry, including two legions. The Macedonians had 44 thousand soldiers, of which 21 thousand were phalanxes. The number of cavalry among the opponents was equal, about 4 thousand on each side.

The Romans placed two legions in the center, and the allied Latin, Italian and Greek infantry were located on the flanks. The Roman legion (approximately 4-4.5 thousand people) was divided into 30 smaller units - maniples . On the battlefield, the legion lined up in three lines, ten maniples in each, in a checkerboard pattern. The cavalry was placed on the wings of the building, and on the right flank were 22 fighting elephants.

The phalanx occupied the center of the Macedonian army along with an elite three thousandth guard located to its left. Light peltasts , mercenaries, and the Thracian infantry guarded the two flanks of the phalanx, while the Macedonian cavalry lined up on the flanks. A stronger military contingent was on the right Macedonian flank, where Perseus commanded a heavy cavalry ^[2] .

At 15:00 the rapprochement of the armies began. The sight of the enemy alarmed and frightened the Romans, the phalanx swept the advanced parts of the Romans, and they began the planned retreat to Mount Olcor.

At this time, the consul noticed that the Macedonian phalanx moved forward unevenly, with gaps. He ordered the units of the legions against which the phalanx breaks appeared to act independently from each other and break into the breaks in small parts and attack from the flanks.

The legionnaires of the first two lines, armed with shields and short swords, slipped past the Macedonian peaks and entered into close combat, in which the advantage in armament was on their side.

Seeing the change in the course of the battle, Perseus left the battlefield with his cavalry. The Macedonian army was defeated, having lost 20 thousand people killed and 11 thousand wounded (out of 40 thousand). The battle lasted about an hour, but the persecution lasted until dusk.

Perseus fled, but was overtaken and captured by the Romans, who saved his life so that he adorned the triumphal entry into Rome of the consul Emilia Paul.

The battle showed the Roman legion's advantage over the phalanx in maneuverability. However, some historians claim that the battle was lost due to the non-participation of Perseus in it and the wait-and-see attitude of the gethirs who did not attack the enemy.

Having defeated the Macedonians under Pidna, the consul Emilius Paul marched with the army against the former allies of Perseus - Illyria and Epirus . He completely devastated these countries, devastated 70 epirus cities, and 150 thousand epirots were sold into slavery .

Macedonia was divided into four districts (union of cities), each of which was completely independent, had the right to mint its own coins, but was deprived of any right to maintain economic and political relations with its neighbors. All tsarist officials were evicted to Italy, and were punished by death with an attempt to return. The inhabitants of the districts were to deliver to Rome an annual tribute of half what they paid to their former king.

Illyria was also divided into three districts and arranged according to the example of Macedonia. In Greece, the Romans punished all who sided with Perseus. So, more than a thousand Achaeans were sent to Rome as hostages, including the subsequently famous historian Polybius .

In 148 BC e. , after the suppression of the anti-Roman uprising, Macedonia, together with Illyria and Epirus, was turned into a Roman province .

• Angelides, Alekos, A History of Macedonia
• Scullard, HH , A history of the Roman world from 753 to 146 BC Methuen. (London, 1935)
• The Third Macedonian War, The Battle of Pydna

• Pidna // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 vol.] / Ed. V.F. Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• The Third Macedonian War, The Battle of Pydna