Talk:Battle of Cynoscephalae

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Untitled[edit]

I see this also spelled Cynocephalae, which, as it means dog-headed folk might be the correct spelling. Not that I know... Wetman 10:31, 27 Dec 2003 (UTC)


This was added to the article today...I'm not sure what the point of it is, or what it is supposed to mean:

Supplement to this article When Flaminius begun march to Larisa he had under command about 32500- 33400 soldiers in his army as author this article said he has got aetolian but I had to say that he had got light infantry from Athamanian kingdom, mercaneries archers from Crete elephants and numidian cavallery which were sent By king Massinissa. Philip had got 22,5 thousands soldiers 16 thousands soldiers who figh as phalanx, 2 thousands elite peltastów, 5,5 thousands light infantry from Iliria, Thracia, Creta. 2 thousands cavallery.

Bibliography to supplement

Krzysztof Kęciek "Kynoskefalaj 197 p.n.e." Publishing House Bellona Warsaw 2002

Adam Bishop 00:35, 5 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, after discussion with the guy who added it, it makes sense now, so I've fixed up the English and added it in. Adam Bishop 17:55, 5 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Size of Roman army[edit]

I changed the wording of the second paragraph of the introduction. The previous wording made it sound as if the 33,400 number given for the size of the Roman army only counted the actual Roman troops (and we could probably throw in the usual auxiliaries), meaning that with all of their allies they would outnumber the Macedonians by a ridiculously unlikely margin (if we think of the most conservative estimates for the allies it would still be significantly more than 2:1). I might be able to believe the aforementioned details if the battle took place in Macedonia proper where Philip and his troops would be defending their homeland, but considering the fact that it took place in Thessaly I find it very unlikely that Philip V would risk a battle with such an unfavorable ratio of troops. I mean yeah the guy was definitely guilty of hubris, and wasn't the best military commander but he wasn't stupid.- Moshe Constantine Hassan Al-Silverburg | Talk 10:58, 11 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Map + a few changes[edit]

Added map :) Tidied up the article a bit and added a bit more detail from Polybius' account. Removed the part where it says the Macedonians dropped their pikes and used their swords. Although arguable, this is highly dubious. Livy tells us this, but Polybius doesn't mention it. Livy was NOT a military expert and he is known for making mistakes. After listening to the TTC lecture by professor Garret G Fagan on Phalanx vs legion warfare, where he mentions this, it seems clear that there is no way the Macedonian phalangites would drop their primary weapon in favor of short swords. even in rough terrain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Javierfv1212 (talkcontribs) 05:09, 9 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]