Phalanx vs Legion : Battle of Cynoscephalae 

Vox Populi.... Seeing a lot of comments asked for a voice over, we decided to add VO in our latest video, covering the roman republican legion - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Wn7ZrPjcW6Y.html

"Our men are fleeing the field of battle, this is a shameful display"

No triangles or rectangles were harmed in the making of this video

That one Tribune that decided to take his company and flank - *I am gonna do whats called pro roman move*

"The enemies hearts are full of fear and now they flew! Pursue them, And drive them from the battlefield!"

The Romans thought they could just go around that. ... And they did.

- *watches video* - *re-installs Rome II Total War*

Much like Gettysburg, a decisive battle happens almost accidently, when two groups doing scouting/recon run into each other and start fighting, and then draw the rest into the battle. Generals didn't pick the terrain, or the time but were forced into a battle.

Even at its peak, the Macedonian phalanx was not often used offensively. Alexander, for example, relied on the phalanx to pin the enemy's army in place, while he led the Companion cavalry to making a decisive breakthrough....by the 3rd century the strong (and expensive) cavalry was greatly reduced, leaving everything up to the inflexible infantry.....Rome never really had to face the original phalanx force....

Thumbs up. If history was taught like this, with the assisting visuals and added life, I think more people would be interested in learning it.

The phalanx of Philip's day was a remnant of a once combination of arms system. Philip and Alexander relied on their superior Companion cavalry for the needed offensive punch; the phalanx was meant to transfix the enemy and prevent him from making necessary field adjustments.

Hmm. I still think that the defeat was largely Phillip's fault. Had he held a defensive position on top of the hill with all of his men, he might have held out. It seems he didn't respect the Roman's enough.

“The battle is turning in our favour!” Is the best feeling

The rigid Phalanx was winning head to head, yet the flexible Legion was able to outmaneuver and shatter their line

Macedonians: but how?! Our Phalanx! Romans: the future is now old man.

Romans: Go around the phalanx Macedonians: “Wait, that’s illegal!”

Philip V: It's over Romans! I have the high ground! Me: Then why didn't you use it?!

That tribune that flanked became instantly rich after the battle

Animations like these show how minute maneuvers factor into the outcome, marking the difference between A) textbooks and Wikipedia and B) it happening before one's eyes.

I never knew seeing shapes moving around could be so exciting

RIP all the soldiers who fought and died defending or conquering

Great video. Love the 3D work, really impressive.

A phalanx is extremely effective in head on assaults and holding the line, provided your battle line is longer than your opponents or you can bottleneck them. The legions however require little set up or placement like a phalanx does and are more versatile. But crumble against a strong defence or offense. If a phalanx is flanked or not long enough it can be routed easily.

The Invention of "King of the Hill" 197 B.C., colorized

This was fantastic! I really felt the momentum and flow of the battle. Those sarissa's were something else! They got a psychological factor too! It must have taken quite a bit of work! 👏

That tribune better've gotten a raise if not a promotion for initiative...

The phalanx was supposed to work in tandem with the cavalry and the light infantry if Alexander had been the commander in chief the battle might have had a very different outcome

Loved this video, simple but effective. The musical score is perfect. Superb. Played the video several times, accompanied by that musical score, can’t never get enough! Thanks!

The level of knowledge for this battle proves you have a great understanding! We want more of these type battle videos! 🙏

"The enemy are fleeing for their lives! What a glorious day!"

We need reinforcements. SEND MORE TRIANGLES!

First time I have seen your show...it is absolutely excellent and the graphics bring the battle to life with time for thought about the tactics in use. Well done you !

If anyone's interested, there's a game called "A Legionary's Life" which chronicles this military campaign against Philip of Macedon in it's final third. The battle of Cynoscephalae serves as the game's climax and it's fittingly nearly impossible to "win" against the Macedonian phalanx like you can against the Carthaginian and Macedonian irregulars you face earlier in the game. It's quite a nice historical introduction to both this campaign and the Second Punic War, offering a perspective from a common soldier as well as a strategic narrative.

Charged to the back; a favored tactics that most who play Total War series will be familiar with.

Wow, soldiers back then strongly resembled triangles and quadrilaterals.

Great video! Super-helpful visualization of the battle. I've read "Legion versus Phalanx," a book that describes this battle at length, but this is the first time I can visualize the battle clearly.

new to channel, loved it, gave the reasons it happened, the tactics - and the music was properly martial - subbed, hope this channel illuminates more of the battle of ancient history like this!

I craved for months to find a video that explains how a legion and phalanx would bare againest each other.

I thought I wouldn't like this since it didn't have a voiceover, but the fluid graphics really helped me imagine the battle and how it unfolded. Got a sub and bell from me!

The troops on the left side of the battle at 10:13 "Sooooo... We cool?" "Yeah we cool"

This is actually really, really cool. Having the visual aid makes it a lot more engaging and informative than simply reading about the battle and trying (and often failing in my case) to visualise it in your head. Great job on it Syntagma. Would love to see more of these.

Dude I love your page! I also liked how you showed all the animations and showed the placement and timing of those positions while explaining everything.

Really interesting and enlighting video! I would argue however it doesn't so much prove the superiority of Roman tactics vs the Phalanx as show the Phillip was a poor commander (at least here). Who the hell leaves the high ground and attacks with only half their forces?!?!

I've been watching the same thing videos over and over I like them so much. I love the format and everything about it. Please, please, please, make more. And I understand maybe one of the big battles from the gallic war.

Wonderful video! I miss something like that when I was a younger student at the College. Would you have in mind to make some video about Pyrrhus and their campaings in Italy? It would be great!

fantastic presentation well done .far more comprehensive than the "fog of war" you get from reading from a book .

Absolutely amazing and would love more videos showing similar content about tactics.

Really great way to recreate this battle had me captivated thanks 👍

Fun fact, Cynoscefalae is a Greek word meaning Dog's head. It's a composite word, comprised of the ancient words "Κύνος"= dog and "Κεφαλή" = head.

Excellent video and superb representation. The flowing 3D presentation allows us to gain a visual understanding of the events and the battle far beyond what pure text or even some pictures would let us.

I love your whole animated depiction of the battle -- the formations, the timing, the natural conditions, etc., etc. Really quite a SUPERB job!!

Excelente!!! buen ilustrado, bien narrado y fondo músical apropiado. Me mantuvo a la expectativa todo el tiempo y aprendí. Gracias. Me suscribo.

Greetings from Pharsalus (so close to tjst battlefield). The temple of Thetis hasn't been excavated yet, though archaeologists know the exact position. Skotoussa has been excavated for the last few years thanks to Italian archaeologists. Amazing findings so far.

Unprepared left flank due to foraging mission was the reason he lost that battle...his army was divided aleady at the start of the major engagement..

First video I watched. It was inspiring and extremely well done! I consequently subscribed. Thank you.

The absolute madlads who decided as light infantry to engage cavalry up a hill.

I remember this battle fro The History of Rome podcast, it is awesome to see now in person!!

Wow this was ace! Very well set out and it's amazing the amount of views this video has, it's great to see so many people still care about history.

I'm a history geek and a lover of organised battle tactics. I'm really saddened and feeling sorry that I didn't find your channel earlier. I've been watching battle tactics for years and really, your visual interpretation of the battle was one of the best i've seen so far. To me, modern battle tactics are best interpreted by Eastory and untill now, Kings and generals & Baz battles held the best previous age battle Interpretations. This one was great, I'm looking forward to watch more of your works.

Hope the quick thinking tribune got rewarded. Great vid - never would have thought this style could be so gripping!

What a great video! It is a relatively simple animation, but intense music makes the whole thing enjoyable learning experience ;)

I am honestly impressed with the presentation here. I really hope that more content like this occur in the future. Fantastic work!

I just stumbled on your channel, and I have to compliment you on your animation and general presentation. Keep up the good work, and if you need help with your scripts' grammar, I'd be happy to help. Subbed.

Thank you so much for uploading this video. It is helping me get through the pandemic!

This was epic AND awesome, thank you!

Philipp did not use the macedonian battle strategy as it was supposed to be. The most important body of the army was not the phalanx, but the cavalry. The cavalry was the fast, flexible force that could save the phalanx by striking the enemy's back.

"What is best in life?" Conan: "To crush your enemies....to see them driven before you....and to hear the lamentations of their women!"

Great job, thanks for the content!

Great video. I have seen it many times. So simple, but so good. I love brief, well-made videos like this. Who has 20 or 30 minutes to learn what can be shown in 5? Thanks.

This was a really great video with some awesome visuals! I have seen this battle portrayed many times but this is something different. It really gives you a sense of how the battle was won with the maniples of Rome versus the phalanx of Phillip. More videos like this please! I can't get enough of later Republican/ early Imperial Roman times!

Fantastic visuals! The 3d perspective clearly reveals how the terrain influenced the decision making. Just subbed! Keep it coming! 😁

Nice video ! I would have appreciated a short explanation of the military and political consequences of the battle. Just like you explained what led to the battle

This makes me want to play Rome: Total War SO BAD!!! Awesome work.

I urge caution against those who base their assumption of the manipular based Legion's superiority over the Macedonian Phalanx based on the outcome of the Battle of Cynoscephalae *or* Pydna for that matter where both Greek armies were ultimately crushed. In both those battles the true *combined arms* doctrine of Philip and Alexanders Macedonian Phalanx had been been betrayed and hadn't been fully in use since Pyrrhus of Epirus's adventures in Italy and Sicily nearly a century earlier. By the late 3rd Century BC most Greek/Hellenistic use of the so-called Macedonian Phalanx consisted almost entirely of phalangites armed with 18ft. sarrisa pike weapons and were flanked with a cavalry contingent much smaller than the combined numbers in use in Alexander's days. Cavalry used by Philip V or his son Perseus couldn't hold a candle to the lethal hitting power of the Companion Cavalry or that of the Thessalian Cavalry Corps under Parmenion's direction and there was the total lack of attention given to maintaining specialized individual cavalry units such as the Prodromoii & Paeonian squadrons or that of the Odrysian and miscellaneous Thracian and Greek allied or mercenary component parts of the Cavalry in use by Philip and Alexander. Likewise there is scant evidence that later Greek and/or Hellenistic potentates of the Successor Kingdoms put much emphasis on the maintenance of an elite light infantry corps that were vital to both the protection of the main phalangite infantry component part of the army and in working in concert with the cavalry to exploit battlefield vulnerabilities of the enemy that often led to victory. The record is nill with respect to Philip and Perseus's attempt to assign infantry for the purposes of forming a "rear phalanx" which would be vital to the protection of main phalanx core whose vulnerabilities are well known. In fact I don't know if by Philip V's days there was even the existence of the Hypaspists stationed to the right of the phalangites composed of the best most capable men of the regular infantry the king had to offer. Absent these vital cogs in the wheel of the *real* Macedonian Phalanx it's difficult to know with any certainty just which system of fighting was the better. The phalanx that Philip V threw against Rome were poor reproductions of the masterful war machines in use by his ancestors for sure. We only have the battles fought between Pyrrhus and Rome to see an example of a Macedonian Phalanx that remained truer to the integrity of doctrine Philip and Alexander espoused and in two of the three battles the phalanx triumphed, albeit with high losses which I suspect had a lot to do with the sort of numbers they were up against in those encounters. Having said all this I will say that the higher fuctionality of the individual Roman infantrymen over the phalangite probably would lead to higher probability rates of success for this type fighting style yet absent those other important component parts previously mentioned that were part of Philip/Alexander's Macedonian Phalanx it remains difficult to know for sure.

This was superbly put together,I really enjoyed this, great job!

8:38 The moment you hold your breath. Love this animation. Thank you for made it! ;)

"Phalanx is unbeatable" Romans: Hold my beer.

Very interesting video, but we also see that the phalanx, if properly assembled, will beat the roman legion in a head to head battle. I think the real determining factor between the two though, is the commander and the terrain.

just discovered the channel, beautiful! Your graphics are fantastic. If it could be combined with the individual biographical information for the combatants from invicta and the incremental real time damage hueristics from baz battles I could live in that world! Great work!

It’s the greatest battle of triangles and rectangles ever. Love the videos. It reminds me of playing games on the computer that had to be loaded with disc.

It's nice that so many channels use the same music. It makes it feel like many channels feel like one single massive entity.

Subbed rigth now! Awesom video!

The part of warfare that is often missed is the smaller confrontations that lead up to any given battle.

That is a really good explanation in overview much appreciated, thanks

I was gripped from beginning to end! On 75% speed is awesome 🐈‍⬛ Subbed

This is an awesome video!! Worthy of the Time where History Channel was talking about history rather than truckers and aliens. I especially loved the part where you put the increasing political tensions that led to the battle. Wars always happen for a reason and battles are the conclusion of those political tensions.

GREAT! WILL WATCH AGAIN!

This video was so damn well done. Good job.

for the uninitiated, the Romans knew very well the phalanx formation, because for many years they fought with that formation. it was during the war against the Samnites (an Italic people who lived in central Italy in the mountains) that they discovered the limits of the phalanx formation, so they invented the maniple formation, much more flexible, faster and easier to control. the phalanx was invincible in a head-on collision, but too rigid and it took a long time to get it into formation, so against the Romans the phalanx was doomed to defeat

Fantastic video, great animations. Amazing!

a simple concept but executed perfectly well done, great work!

I can only imagine what it was like to live your life as a royal hostage, great video the music really adds to the storytelling.

12:26: the moment that the training, loyalty and a good commander with courage and vision changes the tide of the battle.

This is a good video with excellent use of graphics. However I disagree with the main premise, that the legion was superior to the phalanx. It's like comparing chalk and cheese. In the Roman military philosophy, infantry was everything. Infantry was what won battles. Cavalry was peripheral, and after the annihilation of the Roman cavalry at Cannae, they basically ceased bothering with recruiting native Italian cavalry altogether, instead having the provinces contribute cavalry. By the time of the Marian reforms, cavalry in Roman armies was exclusively comprised of levies from Gallic/Germanic/Numidian origins. By and large, Roman infantry was set up to break through enemy formations and strike decisive blows; the cavalry served as auxiliaries assisting the infantry and mopping up remnant enemy soldiers in the aftermath. Conversely, in the Hellenistic military philosophy, cavalry was everything and the phalanx's only role was to hold the line whilst the cavalry engaged with enemy cavalry, and manoeuvred around to flank the enemy infantry, crushing them into the pikes. Hammer and anvil. The hammer plays the decisive role, the anvil is the passive base on which the hammer strikes. The contrast between the two philosophies can be best seen by comparing how the Diadochs fought at the Battle of Ipsos, against how the Romans fought at Cannae. At Ipsos, the phalanxes led by Lysimachos and Antiogonos were almost irrelevant to the outcome of the battle. The whole issue was decided by Seleukos' blocking Demetrios' cavalry from returning to the field on the Antigonid right flank, whilst on the Antigonid left, the cavalry was routed by the Allied right wing cavalry. With the Allies now holding total cavalry superiority, the Antigonid phalanx surrendered and defected to Seleukos and friends. On the other hand, at Cannae, the Romans attempted to win the battle by breaking through Hannibal's centre in a massive infantry charge. The thought of using their cavalry to negate Hannibal's Numidians and Gallic & Iberian cavalry on each flank didn't even occur to them. When Hellenistic monarchs ceased to invest in cavalry and instead doubled down on phalanxes in a regressive return to Greek tactics of the Classical Period, they destroyed everything Philip and Alexander had built. So, defeat at the hands of the Romans was not because the phalanx was inferior to the legion, but because the phalanx was utilised in a manner which its original creators and finest exponents in Philip and Alexander had never intended for it to be used.

I’m so happy this randomly popped up in my recommendations. You have a new sub.

Philip V: "A properly formed phalanx is indestructible!" Flaminius: "I'm 'bout to ruin this guys whole empire..."

Great work with the quality, I really enjoyed this video.

Loved it man, you gained a like and a sub. Keep up the good work!

Most exciting 2200 year old battle I've every watched (!) Riveting (!) Props . . .

So cool! I'm curious about the exact military technology used by Rome at this time. Did they use the pilum? Was it gladius or spear? What shaped shields were they using? Lorica hamata or scale? All these things varied through Rome's history and I think that would help me understand this battle even more! Great video!!!