Rome Destroyed the Macedonian Phalanx at Cynoscephalae

[00:00:00]197 BC, the hills of Greece near Cynoscephalae. Rome faces Macedon for control of Greece. Titus Quinctius Flamininus commands the legions. Philip V leads the phalanx. Fog covers the battlefield. Both armies move blindly.

[00:00:17]Confusion spreads before the fighting begins. The Macedonian phalanx forms first. Sarissas lowered.

[00:00:23]>> [music] >> An unstoppable wall of spears. Roman lines struggle against it. The left wing gives ground. Pressure builds. But one side of the phalanx is unfinished.

[00:00:34]Broken terrain disrupts formation. Gaps appear. A Roman commander sees the weakness. Without orders, he attacks.

[00:00:41]Legionaries rush into the openings.

[00:00:43][music] Short swords. Close combat. The phalanx cannot turn quickly. [music] Cannot recover. The line collapses.

[00:00:51]Philip flees the field. Macedon [music] is broken.

[00:00:55]Cynoscephalae proves a new age of war.

[00:00:58]Flexibility defeats rigidity. And Rome rises over Greece.