Φιλίππου δὲ πρέσβεις πέμψαντος εἰς Ῥώμην ἀπέστειλε καὶ ὁ Τίτος παρʼ αὑτοῦ τοὺς πράξοντας ὅπως ἐπιψηφίσηται ἡ σύγκλητος χρόνον αὐτῷ τοῦ πολέμου μένοντος, εἰ δὲ μή, διʼ ἐκείνου τὴν εἰρήνην γενέσθαι, φιλότιμος γὰρ ὧν ἰσχυρῶς ἐδεδίει πεμφθέντος ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον ἑτέρου στρατηγοῦ τὴν δόξαν ἀφαιρεθῆναι.
Philip now sent an embassy to Rome, and Titus therefore dispatched thither his own representatives, who were to induce the senate to vote him an extension of command in case the war continued, or, if it did not, the power to make peace. For he was covetous of honour, and was greatly afraid that he would be robbed of his glory if another general were sent to carry on the war.
διαπραξαμένων δὲ τῶν φίλων αὐτῷ μήτε τὸν Φίλιππον ὧν ἔχρῃζε τυχεῖν καὶ τοῦ πολέμου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐκείνῳ φυλαχθῆναι, δεξάμενος τὸ δόγμα καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσιν ἐπαρθείς εὐθὺς εἰς Θετταλίαν ἐπὶ τὸν Φιλίππου πόλεμον ὥρμησεν, ὑπὲρ ἑξακισχιλίους καὶ δισμυρίους ἔχων στρατιώτας, ὧν Αἰτωλοὶ πεζοὺς ἑξακισχιλίους καὶ ἱππεῖς τετρακοσίους παρεῖχον. ἦν δὲ καὶ τοῦ Φιλίππου τὸ στράτευμα τῷ πλήθει παραπλήσιον.
His friends managed matters so successfully for him that Philip failed to get what he wanted and the command in the war was continued to Titus. On receiving the decree of the senate, he was lifted up in his hopes and at once hastened into Thessaly to prosecute the war against Philip. He had over twenty-six thousand soldiers, of whom six thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry were furnished by the Aetolians. Philip’s army also was of about the same size.
ἐπεὶ δὲ βαδίζοντες ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους καὶ γενόμενοι περὶ τὴν Σκοτοῦσαν ἐνταῦθα διακινδυνεύειν ἔμελλον, οὐχ, ὅπερ εἰκὸς ἦν, πρὸς δέους ἔλαβον οἱ στρατοὶ τὴν ἀλλήλων γειτνίασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ μᾶλλον ὁρμῆς καὶ φιλοτιμίας ἐπληροῦντο, Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν, εἰ Μακεδόνων κρατήσουσιν, ὧν ὄνομα διʼ Ἀλέξανδρον ἀλκῆς καὶ δυνάμεως πλεῖστον ἦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς, Μακεδόνες δὲ Ῥωμαίους Περσῶν ἡγούμενοι διαφέρειν ἤλπιζον, εἰ περιγένοιντο, λαμπρότερον ἀποδείξειν Ἀλεξάνδρου Φίλιππον.
The two armies advanced against each other until they came into the neighbourhood 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.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Τίτος παρεκάλει τοὺς στρατιώτας ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς γενέσθαι καὶ προθύμους, ὡς ἐν τῷ καλλίστῳ θεάτρῳ τῇ Ἑλλάδι μέλλοντας ἀγωνίζεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἀρίστους τῶν ἀνταγωνιστῶν ὁ δὲ Φίλιππος, εἴτε ἀπὸ τύχης εἴτε ὑπὸ σπουδῆς παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἀγνοήσας, ἦν γάρ τι πολυάνδριον ὑψηλὸν ἔξω τοῦ χάρακος, ἐπὶ τοῦτο προβάς ἤρξατο μὲν, οἷα πρὸ μάχης φιλεῖ, διαλέγεσθαι καὶ παρορμᾶν, ἀθυμίας δὲ δεινῆς πρὸς τὸν οἰωνὸν ἐμπεσούσης διαταραχθεὶς ἐπέσχε τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην.
Accordingly, Titus exhorted his soldiers to show themselves brave men and full of spirit, assured that they were going to contend against the bravest of antagonists in that fairest of all theatres, Greece; and Philip, too, began a speech of exhortation to his soldiers, as is the custom before a battle. But, either by chance or from ignorance due to an inopportune haste, he had ascended for this purpose a lofty mound outside his camp, beneath which many men lay buried in a common grave, and a dreadful dejection fell upon his listeners in view of the omen, so that he was deeply troubled and refrained from battle that day.
τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον, ἐκ μαλακῆς καὶ νοτίου νυκτὸς, εἰς ὁμίχλην τῶν νεφῶν τρεπομένων, ἀνεπίμπλατο ζόφου βαθέος πᾶν τὸ πεδίον, καὶ κατῄει παχὺς ἐκ τῶν ἄκρωνἀὴρ εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ τῶν στρατοπέδων, εὐθὺς ἀρχομένης ἡμέρας ἀποκρύπτων τοὺς τόπους, οἱ δὲ ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀποσταλέντες ἐφεδρείας ἕνεκα καὶ κατασκοπῆς ἐν πάνυ βραχεῖ περιπεσόντες ἀλλήλοις ἐμάχοντο περὶ τὰς καλουμένας Κυνὸς κεφαλάς, αἳ λόφων οὖσαι πυκνῶν καὶ παραλλήλων ἄκραι λεπταὶ διʼ ὁμοιότητα τὸν σχήματος οὕτως ὠνομάσθησαν.
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 alongside one another, and got their name from a resemblance in their shape.
γενομένων δὲ οἷον εἰκὸς ἐν τόποις σκληροῖς μεταβολῶν κατὰ τὰς φυγὰς καὶ διώξεις, ἑκάτεροι τοῖς πονοῦσιν ἀεὶ καὶ ὑποχωροῦσιν ἐπιπέμποντες βοήθειαν ἐκ τῶν στρατοπέδων, καὶ ἤδη τοῦ ἀέρος ἀνακαθαιρομένου καθορῶντες τὰ γινόμενα πανστρατιᾷ συνέβαλον. τῷ μὲν οὖν δεξιῷ περιῆν ὁ Φίλιππος, ἐκ τόπων καταφερῶν ὅχην ἐπερείσας τὴν φάλαγγα τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις, τὸ βάρος τὸν συνασπισμοῦ καὶ τὴν τραχύτητα τῆς προβολῆς τῶν σαρισῶν οὐχ ὑπομεινάντων·
As was natural on a field so difficult, there were alternations of flight and pursuit, 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. With his right wing, then, Philip had the advantage, since from higher ground he threw his entire phalanx upon the Romans, who could not withstand the weight of its interlocked shields and the sharpness of its projecting pikes;
· τοῦ δʼ εὐωνύμου διασπασμὸν ἀνὰ τοὺς λόφους καὶ περίκλασιν λαμβάνοντος, ὁ Τίτος, τὸ μὲν ἡττώμενον ἀπογνούς, πρὸς δὲ θάτερον ὀξέως παρελάσας, προσέβαλε τοῖς Μακεδόσι συστῆναι μὲν εἰς φάλαγγα καὶ πυκνῶσαι τὴν τάξιν εἰς βάθος, ἥπερ ἦν ἀλκὴ τῆς ἐκείνων δυνάμεως, κωλυομένοις διά τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν καὶ τραχύτητα τῶν χωρίων, πρὸς δὲ τὸ κατʼ ἄνδρα συμπλέκεσθαι βαρεῖ καὶ δυσέργῳ χρωμένοις ὁπλισμῷ.
but his left wing was broken up and scattered along the hills, and Titus, despairing of his defeated wing, rode swiftly along to the other, and with it fell upon the Macedonians. These were unable to hold their phalanx together and maintain the depth of its formation (which was the main source of their strength), being prevented by the roughness and irregularity of the ground, while for fighting man to man they had armour which was too cumbersome and heavy.
ζῴῳ γὰρ ἡ φάλαγξ ἔοικεν ἀμάχῳ τὴν ἰσχύν, ἕως ἕν ἐστι σῶμα καὶ τηρεῖ τὸν συνασπισμὸν ἕν τάξει μιᾷ. διαλυθείσης δὲ καὶ τὴν καθʼ ἕνα ῥώμην ἀπόλλυσι τῶν μαχομένων ἕκαστος διά τε τὸν τρόπον τῆς ὁπλίσεως καὶ ὅτι παντὸς ὅλου τοῖς παρʼ ἀλλήλων μέρεσι μᾶλλον ἢ διʼ αὑτὸν ἰσχύει, τραπομένων δὲ τούτων οἱ μὲν ἐδίωκον τοὺς φεύγοντας, οἱ δὲ τοὺς μαχομένους τῶν Μακεδόνων παρεκδραμόντες ἐκ πλαγίων ἔκτεινον, ὥστε ταχὺ καὶ τοὺς νικῶντας περισπᾶσθαι καὶ φεύγειν τὰ ὅπλα καταβάλλοντας.
For the phalanx is like an animal of invincible strength as long as it is one body and can keep its shields locked together in a single formation; but when it has been broken up into its parts, each of its fighting men loses also his individual force, as well because of the manner in which he is armed as because his strength lies in the mutual support of the parts of the whole body rather than in himself. This wing of the Macedonians being routed, some of the Romans pursued the fugitives, while others dashed out upon the flank of the enemy who were still fighting and cut them down, so that very soon their victorious wing also faced about, threw away their weapons, and fled.
ἔπεσον μὲν οὖν ὀκτακισχιλίων οὐκ ἐλάττους, ἑάλωσαν δὲ περὶ πεντακισχιλίους. τοῦ δὲ τὸν Φίλιππον ἀσφαλῶς ἀπελθεῖν τὴν αἰτίαν ἔλαβον Αἰτωλοί, περὶ ἁρπαγὴν γενόμενοι καὶ πόρθησιν τοῦ χάρακος ἔτι τῶν Ῥωμαίων διωκόντων, ὥστε μηθὲν εὑρεῖν ἐκείνους ἐπανελθόντας.
The result was that no fewer than eight thousand Macedonians were slain, and five thousand were taken prisoners. Philip, however, got safely away, and for this the Aetolians were to blame, who fell to sacking and plundering the enemy’s camp while the Romans were still pursuing, so that when the Romans came back to it they found nothing there.
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