The Macedonian king Perseus suceeded his father Philip through intrigue after disposing of his bother. To gain popularity he annulled debts and advocated land redistribution. He married the daughter of the Odryssian king, making alliance with the Thraceans. That made him very popular among the indebted farmers of Greece who were reduced to serfdom of oligarchic parties who were supported by the Romans. He also made an armed visit to Delphi to propagandise his cause. Naturally worried about his behaviour, the Romans declared war on him under the pretext of aiding their Aetolian allies. Perseus was a populist politician but a very bad general. He squandered all his advantages and allowed the Romans to invade Thessaly. Emboldened by the success of his light troops in Kallinikon, he decided to offer battle in the plain of Pydna in ground suitable for his pikemen. The Romans had 38,000 men, of which 33,400 were infantry, including two legions. The Macedonians 44,000 soldiers, of which 21,000 were phalangites. The cavalry numbers were roughly equal, at about 4,000 each. The battle was fought late in the day and initially the phalanx drove off the legions. The Romans fought tenaciously until they were driven to the slopes of Olympus where the broken ground allowed the maniples to exploit the openings in the phalanx and slaughter the pikemen. Perseus promptly fled along with his Thracian allies. Without an army, he later had to surrender to the Romans, who dragged him to a triumph in Rome before finally executing him. The way was now open for conquering the rest of Greece. The battle even today is used for heated arguments about the battle systems used by the opponents but most arguments usually omit the presence of the elephants that must have given the Romans advantage against cavalry in one of the flanks. There is the possibility that the Romans managed to gain the upper hand in the wings and then rolled Perseus' flanks. It is a fact that at that time Roman generals were as a rule better than their opponents. The ArmiesThis is a 15 element battle. The three extra elements are reliable allies, which deploy and fight normally as part of the main command. Polybian Roman (II/33) - 1x3Cv(Gen), 1x3Cv, 6x4Bd, 2x4Sp, 2x2Ps, plus Aitolian ally (1xEL, 1xKn/Cv, 1xAux) Later Macedonian (Modified) 1x3Cv(Gen), 1x3Cv, 1x2LH, 4x4Pk, 2x4Aux/Sp, 1x4Aux, 2x2Ps, plus Thracian ally (1xCV, 1xAux 1xPs) DeploymentThe Roman is the Attacker and deploys first on the high ground The Macedonian deployed in front of the town of Pydna
Game Map (ASCII)===============Roman Baseline==================== Terrain Notes Impassable terrain is Mount Olympus. The Macedonian camp is the town of Pydna. Broken ground is the mountain edges of Olympus, which are at a higher elevation than the plain. Special RulesThe Macedonian spears option represent the volunteers
who went to Perseus because of his If Perseus is killed, all Macedonian cavalry flee the field and count as lost in determining Roman victory points. Victory ConditionsNormal DBA. Background ResourcesPlutrach "Parallel lives" Polybius' Histories. Special thanks to Jona Ledering for his site
www.livy.org. > Top of Page > Battles > DBA Resources > Fanaticus Last Update: 4 Oct. 2005 Thanks to SS for contributing
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