The Sacred War

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The Sacred War Page 28

by H A CULLEY


  The next morning Philip marched his army onto the plain below the Petrakos Rock and drew them up facing the combined armies of Athens, Thebes and their allies.

  He noted that the enemy had placed several thousand light spearmen on the left of their line on the slopes below the Petrakos Rock and he sent his own light spearmen and half his peltasts to prevent them from interfering and to secure his right flank. The remainder of his peltasts were positioned below the rest but high enough up to pepper the Athenian hoplites on the enemy’s left flank. Philip and his Macedonian hoplites faced the Athenian phalanx whilst Parmenion and the phalanx made up of hoplites from Thrace, Chalkidike and Illyria took the centre, facing the Corinthians and the men from the other allied minor city states. Alexander, with Antipater commanding his Thessalian and Epirian hoplites held the left opposite the Thebans and other Boeotians. The Sacred Band secured their right flank and were standing on elevated ground between the rest of their army and the river. Opposite them Philip placed his massed heavy cavalry with the Thracian light horsemen in reserve.

  Iphitos positioned his Gastraphetes and Katapeltikons in the centre of the line opposite the hoplites from Corinth and the minor city states and then took his place beside Parmenion. His three youngsters had been ordered to stay with the baggage train and the lochus of light spearmen detailed to guard it. However, Enyo wasn’t about to miss all the fun and she and the other two rode forward and joined the Thracian epihipparchos commanding the reserve. He nodded at Theon, who he knew, and let them stay on the slight incline so that they could see what was happening, but told them to stay behind if his men were ordered forward.

  In mid-August the ground was very dry and as soon as the battle started what was happening was obscured by a cloud of dust. A light wind was blowing and occasionally this blew the dust cloud away enough to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

  Philip had slanted his line so that, whilst his men were in contact with the enemy left, Alexander was some distance from the enemy right and the Sacred Band. Consequently Philip’s wing came into contact first and held their ground, armed as they were with the sarissa, but then they started to deliberately retreat slowly and the Athenians pressed home their attack. Once the side of the Athenian phalanx was within easy range of the peltasts on the lower slopes they stated to fire into the rear ranks and that side of the phalanx stated to crumble. A few hotheads broke away from the side of the phalanx and tried to climb up to attack the peltasts, but they were killed before then could get anywhere near them.

  Now Philip halted his withdrawal and started to attack the Athenians in earnest. The longer range of the sarissa, the tactic of withdrawing men in the front few ranks when they tired and replacing them with fresh ranks for the rear, and the grater professionalism of the Macedonians began to tell and now it was the Athenians who were retreating.

  Meanwhile Iphitos was using his artillery to good effect, battering the Corinthian centre. Only a few hundreds were killed but the effect of the metal bolts fired by the Gastraphetes knocking a man back into the men behind him and, even more, the skewering of several men at a time by the long bolts fired by the katapeltikon was having a dramatic effect on their morale. Eventually though, as the enemy centre pressed home its attack, the artillery had to be withdrawn behind the phalanx.

  Whilst this was going on Alexander’s left hand division of the phalanx advanced, but held off from closing with the enemy. Having the hated enemy so close infuriated the Thebans and other Boeotians and they charged forward recklessly. The Sacred Band watched them go in frustration. If they left their mound they would be exposed and they couldn’t hope to fill the growing gap between phalanx and the river bank; so they decided to stay where they were.

  This was the moment that Alexander had waited for and, leaving Antipater in command of the phalanx, he mounted his war horse, Bucephalus. Surrounded by Hephaestion and his personal guard he led four thousand heavy cavalry into the gap between the Sacred Band and the phalanx. Once they had penetrated behind the enemy’s line they set about attacking the hapless rear and rolling up the phalanx.

  As the cavalry got embroiled in the fight with the mass of hoplites the epihipparchos in command of the Thracian reserve took the initiative and led his men around the Macedonian left flank to plug the gap left by Alexander’s charge. For a second or two Theon, Enyo and Philomedes sat there unsure of what to do. All three were armed, Enyo with her bow, Theon with spears and shield like the rest of the Thracians and Philomedes with a shield suited to his size and a long dagger. Feeling isolated they charged after the Thracians.

  The latter arrived just in time because the front ranks of the Thebans and Boeotians, either unaware of the attack on their rear or deliberately ignoring it, had outflanked Antipater’s wing of the phalanx and was starting to do it damage. The sudden arrival of the Thracians took them by surprise and they started to fall back in confusion. The Thracian charge took them through the milling Theban hoplites to link up with the rest of the cavalry, who were embroiled in the disintegrating rear of the enemy phalanx.

  Alexander and a few of his companions had become separated from the rest of the cavalry and were surrounded by some fifty panicked Thebans. They saw Alexander and his dozen companions as blocking their flight to safety and had charged into them. A few still had their spears but many had thrown them away and were only armed with swords. Nevertheless they posed a very real threat to the Macedonians.

  Two of the prince’s young companions had been killed by the time that Enyo spotted what was going on. She tried to attract the attention of the Thracian cavalry but they were all fighting their own battles. Seeing one of the enemy hoplites about to thrust his spear into Alexander’s back, she drew her bow almost without thought and put an arrow into the hoplites shoulder. It penetrated his linothrax and, although it didn’t kill him, his left arm was now useless and he dropped his spear in pain.

  Her next arrow was aimed more deliberately and took the man who Alexander was fighting in the neck. She had a chance to kill one more hoplite before Theon and Philomedes blocked her aim as they tore into the Thebans. Theon killed one hoplite and Philomedes barged his mare between another hoplite with a spear and Alexander, deflecting the point and nearly being knocked of his horse in the process. The prince looked surprised, and then grinned at Philomedes and nodded his thanks. Then, as quickly as a passing squall at sea, the enemy had gone; most were dead or wounded but a few escaped. Alexander had a flesh wound on his thigh and, after checking that the rest of his companions, especially Hephaestion, were alright, he rode over and thanked both Philomedes and Enyo for saving his life.

  The Theban wing of the enemy phalanx was now broken and they started to flee the field of battle. Alexander sent half his cavalry to attack the rear of troops facing Parmenion and one epihipparchia to keep the fleeing enemy running whilst he led the remainder towards the Sacred Band. Enyo caught a fleeting glimpse of a helmetless Georgios chasing the routed Thebans and she offered a prayer of thanks to Ares that her brother had survived. Alexander called on the Sacred Band to surrender but, when they refused and shouted insults at him, he hardened his heart and kept them penned in for now.

  Seeing that the right flank had crumbled, panic set in amongst the remainder and, although some tried to fight on, the rest of the Thebans and their allies either fled or surrendered, leaving the Sacred Band completely isolated. Alexander sent for Iphitos and fifteen minutes later the Gastraphetes began to fire into them. Once enough gaps had been torn in their ranks, Alexander led his cavalry against them but they fought back fiercely and he began to suffer casualties. He was forced to withdraw and decided not to risk anymore of his cavalrymen. So he sent to Antipater for a chiliarchy of hoplites.

  By now the Sacred Band were down to little more than half their strength. Most of them probably guessed that their demise was near but a lot of the survivors had lost their lovers. As they had agreed prior to the battle that they didn’t want to live without their partners, they
ignored Alexander’s final offer for them to surrender. They sold their lives dearly and when it was all over the Illyrian chiliarchy had suffered nearly four hundred casualties. Of the three hundred members of the Sacred Band who had started the day only forty six were left alive, and they were too badly injured to fight on.

  Once the Thebans had fled the rest of the army crumbled and followed their example. Many got away but large numbers were cut down by the Macedonian cavalry as they fled. However, Philip called the pursuit off before they had left the immediate area of the battle. He wanted peace with Athens now and hoped that sparing their men would help achieve that. The Athenian dead were laid out ready for collection by their relatives and the same treatment was accorded the rest, apart from the Thebans. They had deceived Philip, pretending friendship whilst plotting war with Athens, so their dead were piled in heaps and left to rot. Nevertheless, Alexander ordered that the Sacred Band be buried in the place where they fell in seven rows of graves as a mark of respect for their courage. Philip wasn’t too happy with this but he let Alexander have his way. Where pairs of lovers had evidently died together, they were buried in a shared grave.

  Philip had heavily defeated the forces of the Athenian/Corinthian/Theban alliance, killing many thousands and taking thousands more captive. However, it wasn’t over. The cities now prepared to withstand him with what soldiers they had left. Although they had been badly weakened at Chaeronea, Philip hadn’t brought any siege artillery with him and so taking the cities one by one would be difficult and time consuming.

  -o0o-

  Iphitos had been sent to demand the surrender of the fort at the Gates of Fire immediately after the battle and, having secured this, he garrisoned it once more with Illyrian soldiers, but this time under a Macedonian commander. Now that the coast road was open again he sent for the lithoboloi and started to think about building siege towers outside Thebes, Philip’s first target. However, they were to prove unnecessary. The Thebans and the Boeotians League had suffered most during the battle and their people now clamoured for peace.

  Whilst Philip negotiated with Thebes, Iphitos was sent with one of most important Athenian prisoners, Demedes , to Athens. He took with him the same ilium of Thracian light horsemen he had used as before, but this time he was also escorted by a tetrachium of Philip’s Companion Cavalry including his son, Georgios. The young man had escaped the battle relatively unscathed, although he did have a couple of minor flesh wounds.

  Enyo and Theon had asked to accompany him as well and he saw no reason not to take them. He was going to address the Athenian assembly and he didn’t expect Theon’s activities the last time he was there to cause any difficulties with that. As his other children were going, Iphitos took Philomedes along as well. He had intended to send him back to Pella so that he could commence his military training as an Ephebe but Alexander had told him of the young boy’s courage, and so this was partly as a reward, although he did get a stern lecture from Iphitos about endangering his life.

  Athens had been in turmoil ever since Chaeronea. The two strategoi who had commanded their army at the battle had been accused of incompetence by Demosthenes, the leader of the pro-war party. One had been executed and the other had fled rather than face the same fate. However, Demosthenes’ determination to continue the struggle against Macedon had been opposed by Phocion , who had been elected as the city’s new strategos.

  Iphitos had been uncertain of his reception in Athens and, as he entered the city, he wondered whether he’d been unwise to bring Enyo and the two boys with him. In the event the people who lined the streets to watch the column of cavalrymen pass seemed neither hostile nor friendly. The general ambience was one of apprehension. At one point they passed a group of young men, one or two of whom had known Theon when he was there last year. Now, although bareheaded, he wore a military exomis , a linothrax and a rich blue chlamys decorated with gold embroidery. He rode beside Philomedes and Enyo immediately behind Iphitos and Demedes . She wore a short white chiton and had her bow and quiver slung over her shoulder whilst her cousin was dressed similarly to Theon, but without the linothrax and the embroidery on his blue chlamys.

  The men who had known him gaped at him open mouthed. He had been popular and they had all thought him very good looking, but now he looked like a young Apollo. One started to yell out his name and the others started chanting Theon, Theon. The boy looked down at them from his horse and grinned. If Iphitos was surprised at Theon’s reception he didn’t show it and kept looking straight ahead. Otherwise the journey to the Pnyx Hill passed uneventfully.

  When they got to the assembly Iphitos had a quick word with the commander of the Companions and Georgios came and joined him.

  ‘And I say that no Athenian can be expected to bow the knee to a barbarian chieftain.’ Demosthenes was in full flow, deriding any idea of negotiating peace with Philip of Macedon. His vitriolic attack on Philip and Macedonians in general made many in the council uncomfortable. Philip had razed cities to the ground before and more than a few were worried that he might treat Athens the same way if their opposition to him was pressed too far. When he finally sat down Demedes rose to his feet.

  ‘Fellow citizens, what Demosthenes says may well have some merit,’ he paused, ‘if it were not so ridiculously inaccurate. I have met Philip and his son Alexander and, although we democrats find the idea of monarchy an anathema, it gives Macedon and its allies a strength of purpose and unity that the city states of Attica and the Peloponnese lack. We continually fight amongst ourselves, which makes us weak. Philip has made Macedon strong. We should not decry him for that.’

  A general hubbub of comment and argument followed his speech but then the assembly quietened down when Phocion rose to speak.

  ‘Citizens of Athens and my fellow council members, what Demedes says is correct. Whilst internal wars have riven the Hellenic world, Persia had taken advantage of our weakness and has subjugated all our Greek colonies on the other side of the Hellespont, and some nearby islands with a Greek population. We need to unite behind Philip and free those colonies as well as teaching the Persians a lesson. I believe that only Philip could lead us in such an enterprise. Therefore I say that we need to settle our differences with him and make peace.’

  This caused uproar amongst the council but they were shouted down by the citizens of Athens who had flocked to the hill to listen to the debate. The great majority of the population wanted peace with Macedon and, paradoxically, war with Persia also had their general support.

  Iphitos was then invited to speak and he kept his remarks short and to the point.

  ‘I’m an Illyrian, my adopted sons and daughter sitting beside me are Thessalians, her friend Theon standing behind her is a Thracian, but we are all Greeks. Philip desires peace throughout the Hellenic World so we can devote our energies to defeating our common enemy, Persia. For too long the king of kings in Persepolis has encouraged division between us to keep us feeble. Philip’s great desire is for all Greece to unite and, to that end, he would welcome a delegation from the noble citizens of Athens to meet with him and negotiate an honourable peace.’

  His speech was met with muttering initially but then more and more members of the council got to their feet to support the idea of negotiation. Demosthenes and his supporters eventually left in disgust but, in the end, the council agreed to send Demedes , Phocion and Aeschines to meet Philip and see what terms they could secure.

  Peace with Athens didn’t unite Greece straight away, but a year later Philip, King of Macedon, was appointed as the Hegemon of the League of Corinth, which included all of Greece except Sparta. At long last Philip could turn his attention to the east.

  TO BE CONTINUED IN

  ALEXANDER

  NOTES & GLOSSARY

  For information about the rank structure and units in the Greek armies in the fourth century BC please see the Author’s Note at the beginning of this book. A glossary explaining the Greek terms used in the novel is also included.
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  Other Novels by H A Culley

  The Normans Series

  The Bastard’s Crown

  England in Anarchy

  Caging the Lyon

  Seeking Jerusalem

  Babylon Series

  Babylon – The Concubine’s Son

  Babylon – Dawn of Empire

  Individual Novels

  Magna Carta

  The Sins of the Fathers

  Robert the Bruce Trilogy

  The Path to the Throne

  The Winter King

  After Bannockburn

  Constantine Trilogy

  Constantine – The Battle for Rome

  Crispus Ascending

  Death of the Innocent

  Macedon Trilogy

  The Strategos

  About the Author

  H A Culley was born in Wiltshire in 1944 and entered RMA Sandhurst after leaving school. He was an Army officer for twenty four years during which time he had a variety of unusual jobs. He spent his twenty first birthday in the jungles of Borneo, commanded an Arab unit in the Gulf for three years, and was the military attaché in Beirut during the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War.

  After leaving the Army he became the bursar of a large independent school for seventeen years before moving into marketing and fundraising in the education sector. He has served on the board of two commercial companies and several national and local charities. He has also been involved in two major historical projects. He recently retired as the finance director and company secretary of IDPE and remains on its board of trustees.

 

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