Battle of Scarpheia
Battle of Scarpheia | |||||||
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Part of the Achaean War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Roman Republic | Achaean League | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus |
Critolaos of Megalopolis † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 legions and allies | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Light | Heavy |
The 'Battle of Scarpheia took place in 146 BC between forces of the
Background
Rome and Achaea had been longtime allies for nearly half a century. However, tensions between the two polities had been building up in the last few decades, due to the growth of Roman power in the region, which had led to Roman desires to check Achaean ambitions and Achaean resentment at being reduced to a lesser position to their once-equal alliance. These tensions peaked in 149/148 BC, when Achaea desired to fully assimilate
The war was to be led by one of the consuls for the year, Lucius Mummius, but while he prepared to sail from Italy to Greece, the Senate allowed praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, who had recently been victorious in the Fourth Macedonian War and was stationed in Macedonia, to act against the League.
Prelude
Back in Achaea, the league's
Battle
Metellus' advance seems to have caught the strategos completely off-guard; he hastily fled with his forces to the town of
Aftermath
The battle saw the League's main force destroyed at barely the outbreak of war; it ensured that the Romans would have an easy and swift campaign. The Romans advanced through Boeotia, had their peace offers rebuffed by the Achaeans, and proceeded to defeat a hastily-assembled League army at Corinth, after which they sacked the city, dissolved the League and subjugated all of mainland Greece, establishing a permanent presence in the region.
References
- ^ Gruen 1976, p. 57.
- ^ Gruen 1976, p. 58.
- ^ Dio, XXI.72
- ^ Gruen 1976, p. 64.
- ^ a b Gruen 1976, p. 65.
- ^ Pausanias, 7.15
- ^ Paterculus, (2011) p. 5.
- ^ Frost (1831) p. 310, quoting Polybius
Sources
Primary sources
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 21
- Paterculus, Velleius; J. C. Yardley; Anthony A. Barrett (2011). The Roman History: From Romulus and the Foundation of Rome to the Reign of the Emperor Tiberius. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 1603847022.
- Polybius, The Histories, Books 38 and 39
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book 7
Secondary sources
- Frost, John (1831). History of Ancient and Modern Greece. Lincoln and Edmands.
- Gruen, Erich S. (1976). "The Origins of the Achaean War". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 96: 46–69. JSTOR 631223.