Mithridates the Great (16 page)

Having hardly paused for the chariots, the Romans came on and launched their trademark shower of
pila
(heavy javelins) at the Pontic phalanx. Archelaus had put freed slaves in the front line, and these, knowing that victory or crucifixion were the only alternatives, fought like men possessed. Sulla’s men in turn were incensed that they had been matched against slaves, and tried frantically to break through the hedgehog spears of the Pontic phalanx. Meanwhile, the Romans put to use some of the lighter engines left over from the siege of Athens. Making good use of their position on slightly higher ground, they lobbed assorted ordnance, including ‘fiery bolts’, over the heads of their own men into the Pontic phalanx, which, given the confined space at the end of the valley, was necessarily drawn up in depth.
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Whilst making life uncomfortable, the engines were less effective than they might have been because the soldiers in the back ranks left their 16ft spears pointing upward at an angle, creating a sort of wall which deflected arrows and broke the force of heavier objects on their way down.

Despite his early setback, Archelaus had achieved the classic Hellenistic battle plan. His phalanx had pinned the main block of enemy infantry and it was now time for him to sweep, Alexander-like, around the flanks with his superior cavalry, take out the enemy reserves and bring the battle to a climax as his massed cavalry crashed into the backs of the main Roman force and crushed them against the phalanx.

Of course, Sulla had read of Alexander as well, which is why he had made sure his flanks, being the side of a mountain and a river respectively, were not ideal for sweeping around. In any case, a Roman cohort was not a phalanx and on running into mounted opposition its members were able to group into tight
hedgehog formations about which cavalry could only swirl ineffectively.

Archelaus’ first target was Murena’s corps, still overstretched and disordered from following up the routed troops from the mountain. Hortensius saw the danger and came rushing down the slope with five cohorts, intending to hit the Pontic horse in the flank. However, he had underestimated the superb control and discipline of the Pontic cavalry, which swerved violently and hit Hortensius men in mid-charge, though not before they could stop and brace for it. This, in turn presented Archelaus’ flank to Murena, but Murena’s men were busy reforming, and once they had done that they had urgent business approaching in the form of Taxiles, who was following up with his Brazen Shields. For the moment, Hortensius was on his own.

Sulla, on the river flank (the Roman right), had not yet engaged. Realizing how desperate things were getting on the left, he pulled what forces he could spare from the battle line and hurried to retrieve the situation. Meanwhile, Hortensius’ infantry formations had evidently kept their shape in the face of Archelaus’ charge and were beginning to contemplate a counterattack. As infantry will generally beat cavalry in a static situation, Archelaus decided to pull back in the face of Sulla’s reinforcement and try his luck on the weakened Roman right wing. There followed a race to the river flank. Sulla ordered Hortensius to join Murena in throwing back the Brazen Shields and took his reserves back across the rear of the main battle line (still fruitlessly trying to get to grips with the Pontic phalanx) to meet Archelaus again on the Roman right. For the first time in the battle, Pontic numbers told against Archelaus. He had to get his cavalry around the mass of his army, reform and hit Sulla’s right wing. Before he could manage it, Sulla’s right wing hit him. Archelaus found himself trying to steady troops reeling from the Roman assault. Despite his efforts, these eventually fell back in disorder toward the gap between the river and Mount Acontium, where Archelaus had fortified his camp in order, as he had expected, to stop the Romans escaping from the valley.

Now under the ramparts of his camp, he ordered his men to stand and fight and it is a tribute to his personality and the discipline of the Pontic forces that they gamely attempted to do so. However, the Romans followed up too fast for the Pontic forces to pull themselves together and the tightly-packed, confused soldiers stood little chance against the wall of Romans hemming them ever closer. Satisfied that the river flank was under control, Sulla made a third commute across the rear of his battle line to see how Murena was getting on. On arrival, the Roman commander was greeted by the gratifying sight of the
backs of Taxiles’ Brazen Shields in open rout.

With the left and right flanks gone, the phalanx stood little chance. Whilst its multiple ranks of spears made it almost invincible from the front, the Romans, hardened by years of fighting the similarly-armed Macedonians, had long known that there was nothing that phalangites hated more than hostile troops at the sides and rear. Those same massed ranks of spears made turning sideways to fight extremely difficult, while dropping the spears to achieve this pitted lightly-armed men with tiny shields against well-armed legionaries. The phalanx crumbled into a mass of panicked men scrambling for the safety of the camp; a safety which the guards at the gates were reluctant to give without orders, and Archelaus was still rabidly insisting that his men fight to the last.

When, finally it became apparent, even to Archelaus, that the day was lost, the gates of the camp were opened. But the Pontic commander had left it too late. The Romans burst in on the heels of their fleeing enemies, and once they were in the camp the rout was complete.

The slaughter did not end when the final remnants of the Pontic army managed to squeeze out of the bottleneck at the end of the valley. Though a phalangite who had dropped all the tools of his trade could outrun the most enthusiastic legionary, Sulla’s cavalry had come through the battle intact and made the most of a relatively open plain and a defenceless, fleeing enemy. Safety for the Pontic troops was only found far to the northeast at Chalcis in Euboea, to which point the Pontic navy brought those they were able to evacuate from the Greek mainland, some 10,000 men in all from an army that was originally estimated at 120,000 strong.

Sulla’s estimate that he lost fourteen men in the battle (two of whom were not dead and returned later) sounds wildly optimistic under any circumstances. However, it was a truism in ancient warfare that the serious casualties came when a unit broke. In fact, apart from the serious fighting against the Brazen Shields on the left, much of Sulla’s army had spent the battle being held off by the spears of the phalanx; a process which – if the Romans did not press too hard – would have done little harm to the front ranks of either side. If, as is assumed here, Hortensius’ men did manage to brace for Archelaus’ cavalry charge, then again, casualties would have been minimal, for the cavalry would have been no more able to penetrate the Roman formations than the Romans were able to get through the front of the phalanx. In short, Sulla’s propaganda claim is more plausible than it first seems.

Archelaus had lost a huge number of men and materials to the Romans (Sulla burned what captured supplies he could not make use of), but thanks to
the tireless logistic work of Mithridates, plenty more of both were forthcoming. Pontic command of the sea made transporting these from Asia Minor relatively straightforward, whilst lack of sea power meant that the Roman attempt to finish off the remains of Archelaus’ army ended at the mainland shore, despite Chalcis being clearly visible across the strait.
^*
Though defeated, Archelaus could try again. If Sulla was defeated, he was finished. As Archelaus probably reassured his men, one victory would be enough; the Greek campaign was far from over.

* As explained in Chapter 1, the Romans had severely limited the size of the Rhodian fleet after they suspected the city of leaning towards the cause of Philip VI of Macedon.

* Sadly, because none of the characters in whom the ancient sources were interested fought in the Macedonian campaign, the story of Rome’s unsuccessful defence of the province is unknown, especially as the Romans were not particularly keen on discussing their failures.

* It is reached by bridge today.

Chapter 6

The Road to Dardanus

It was to the credit of Mithridates that his immediate response to the catastrophe in Greece was not to look for scapegoats but to attempt to limit the political damage. Whether he succeeded in this aim cannot now be determined, as it is impossible at this distance in time to determine what the consequences would have been had he not acted as he did. Nevertheless, it can be said with certainty that the political situation in Asia Minor deteriorated disastrously after Mithridates acted – either despite his measures, or because of them.

Chaeronea went beyond a mere military setback. Mithridates had dispatched a huge, well-organized and experienced army of veteran soldiers. Morale had been boosted by an almost unbroken string of victories in Asia Minor and the Crimea. Yet this army had not only been beaten, it had been crushed by an enemy force less than a quarter of its size which had taken minimal casualties in the process.

This enemy force had been dispatched by Rome while that city was still wrapping up a major war with its own allies, and despite being on the brink of civil war between different factions within the city. Unsurprisingly, the people of Asia Minor began to ask themselves what Rome would be capable of once it got its act together and launched a coordinated assault on the region which had murdered 80,000 Romans and Italians. It was noted that those cities in mainland Greece which had switched their allegiance to Rome at the earliest opportunity had generally got off with swingeing financial penalties, whilst the loyalty of the Athenians to Mithridates had earned them starvation and massacre. Finally, Mithridates’ conquests were too recent for Pontic rule to be the accepted status quo, and after Chaeronea it dawned on many that Mithridates had just lost the army he had done his conquering with.

Under the circumstances it would be surprising if Sulla had not received a series of unofficial delegations delicately enquiring what treatment an early surrender would gain them. Mithridates, a man who liked to be well-informed, was quick to scent betrayal. An early example came from the island of Chios; possibly whilst Athens was still under siege. Word reached
Mithridates that a delegation had gone to Sulla, apparently with the blessing of the city government. It did not help the Chian case in Mithridates’ court that there had always been a strong pro-Roman faction on the island, or that it had been a Chian vessel which had collided with Mithridates’ ship during action off Rhodes.

Therefore the commander of the troops sent by sea to reinforce Archelaus stopped off at Chios en route. The citizens of the island woke up to find their walls occupied by Pontic troops, the leader of which ordered the islanders to disarm and hand over hostages for their good behaviour. Rather than accuse the islanders of treachery (which might lead others with treasonable intentions to suspect that their sentiments were widespread), the charge laid by Mithridates was simple embezzlement, in that the Chians had allegedly failed to hand over the proper share of loot from the Romans whom they had murdered - a charge which contained a reminder of the collective guilt which the cities of Asia Minor shared.

Appian quotes a letter which he claims came from Mithridates himself. In it the king complained

You benefit from the yields of the lands taken from the Romans, yet want to give nothing to us. When your trireme collided with mine at Rhodes, I wanted to believe this was an error of the ships pilot alone ... now you send your leading men to consult with Sulla, and you have made no attempt at all to deny that they acted with public authorization.
¹

Mithridates announced that the Chians deserved death for their betrayal, but the sentence would be waived if they stumped up a 2,000 talent fine. This was no easy matter at a time when trade was depressed and Pontic taxes were rising to pay for the expense of the war. Nevertheless, the citizens managed to raise the sum by stripping their temples and donating items of personal jewellery. Having accepted the sum into Pontic coffers, the leader of the occupying forces cheerfully announced that the Chians had given short weight. The punishment for this further act of peculation was to be the effective destruction of the islanders as a people. Men and women were put into separate groups and shipped off as colonists to different parts of Colchis. This would both provide a welcome Greek influence in the area, and, in this hostile environment, make the former Chians practically dependent on Mithridates for their continued survival.

However, it appears that this scheme was never put into effect. The historian Memnon reports that the transports were intercepted by the ships of the city of Heraclea, and the Chians restored to their homeland. By the time Mithridates was aware of these developments he had much larger problems on his plate and could not do much about Chios in any case. Certainly the archaeological record shows no break in human occupation of the island, indicating that if deportation took place, it was almost immediately reversed.
²

Another group whose loyalty was not so much suspect as non-existent was the Galatians. This people had never forgiven Mithridates for annexing a chunk of northwestern Galatia, but they had been kept quiescent by good wages for mercenary service and the threat that, if sufficiently provoked, the Pontic army would go on to annex the rest of the country as well. Nevertheless, Mithridates felt it expedient to take hostages, sixty in all, from the leading Galatian families. These were treated as prisoners, further increasing hostility toward Mithridates. Nevertheless, the presence of a large Galatian contingent at the Pontic court raised the possibility that one of them might be able to achieve the assassination of Mithridates, thus freeing Galatia and earning the undying gratitude of the Romans.