LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

380 criStian eMilian GhiŢĂ
Archelaos’ numerous cavalry, and many miles away from Athens, which
represented his power base in Greece. Archelaos therefore conceived a plan
to cut off Sulla’s communications, by occupying the main road. Since he
failed to do so at elateia, then at parapotamoi, he pushed forward towards
the next likely choke-point, the town of Chaeronea.
the conflict that was about to begin, the battle of Chaeronea, has been
described in a number of literary sources: in plutarch’s Life of Sulla (15-19),
in Appian’s Mithridatika (158-174), in Frontinus’ Stratagemata (2.3.17),
and in photios’ epitome of Memnon’s History of Heracleia (22.13). the
accounts are wildly different in terms of coverage, ranging from detailed
descriptions to bare sketches, but also in terms of narrative content.
the most trustworthy source is plutarch, because he not only consulted
Sulla’s Memoirs, but also had access to local traditions, as he had been
born precisely in the city of Chaeronea, some 120 years after the events he
narrates. We are also lucky to be able to corroborate his version with the
archaeological record. 7 of the modern scholars who have paid attention
to this encounter, the most influential was n.G.l. hammond, 8 and he,
too, gave preference to plutarch. It is, therefore, the narrative sequence
provided by the Chaeronean writer that I prefer to follow in the following
description of the battle.
having established his camp at the foot of Mount hedylion, Archelaos
sent an advance party to occupy the acropolis of Chaeronea, only to be
frustrated once more in his design by one roman legion, led by Gabinius,
which moved with such speed that it managed to enter the town first.
the pontic soldiers calculated correctly that they would need to take up a
position that was easy to defend, while affording them at the same time the
possibility to descend quickly into the valley, if a confrontation were to take
place there. looking from the plain, the eminence presented by the conical
hill of thourion appears to be the ideally suited for both and it was there
that they decided to go. however, what they did not and probably could
not foresee was that the Southern slope of the thourion, rocky, but gentle,
offered assailants easy access. And so it happened that in the morning they
were dislodged with great ease by the roman soldiers, who were shown the
way by two inhabitants of Chaeronea, homoloichos and Anaxidamos, the
same men who would, at the end of the battle, be honoured in the dedication
inscribed upon the triumphal monument erected by Sulla.
7 CAMp, 1992.
8 hAMMonD, 1938. his version is faithfully followed by A. Keaveney
(KeAVeney, 2005, 78-80) and also by J. Camp (CAMp, 1992), though the latter brings
some topographical corrections, in the light of the trophy he has discovered.