Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
plundered Lebadea, and robbed the oracle without any orders from
their commanders.
Sylla, all this while, chafing and fretting to see the cities all
around destroyed, suffered not the soldiery to remain idle, but
leading them out, compelled them to divert the Cephisus from its
ancient channel by casting up ditches, and giving respite to none,
showed himself rigorous in punishing the remiss, that growing weary
of labor, they might be induced by hardship to embrace danger. Which
fell out accordingly, for on the third day, being hard at work as
Sylla passed by, they begged and clamored to be led against the
enemy. Sylla replied, that this demand of war proceeded rather from
a backwardness to labor than any forwardness to fight, but if they
were in good earnest martially inclined, he bade them take their arms
and get up thither, pointing to the ancient citadel of the
Parapotamians, of which at present, the city being laid waste, there
remained only the rocky hill itself, steep and craggy on all sides,
and severed from Mount Hedylium by the breadth of the river Assus,
which running between, and at the bottom of the same hill falling
into the Cephisus with an impetuous confluence, makes this eminence a
strong position for soldiers to occupy. Observing that the enemy's
division, called the Brazen Shields, were making their way up
thither, Sylla was willing to take first possession, and by the
vigorous efforts of the soldiers, succeeded. Archelaus, driven from
hence, bent his forces upon Chaeronea. The Chaeroneans who bore arms
in the Roman camp beseeching Sylla not to abandon the city, he
dispatched Gabinius, a tribune, with one legion, and sent out also
the Chaeroneans, who endeavored, but were not able to get in before
Gabinius; so active was he, and more zealous to bring relief than
those who had entreated it. Juba writes that Ericius was the man
sent, not Gabinius. Thus narrowly did our native city escape.
From Lebadea and the cave of Trophonius there came favorable rumors
and prophecies of victory to the Romans, of which the inhabitants of
those places give a fuller account, but as Sylla himself affirms in
the tenth book of his Memoirs, Quintus Titius, a man of some repute
among the Romans who were engaged in mercantile business in Greece,
came to him after the battle won at Chaeronea, and declared that
Trophonius had foretold another fight and victory on the same place,
within a short time. After him a soldier, by name Salvenius, brought
an account from the god of the future issue of affairs in Italy. As
to the vision, they both agreed in this, that they had seen one who
in stature and in majesty was similar to Jupiter Olympius.
Sylla, when he had passed over the Assus, marching under the Mount
Hedylium, encamped close to Archelaus, who had entrenched himself
strongly between the mountains Acontium and Hedylium, close to what
are called the Assia. The place of his entrenchment is to this day
named from him, Archelaus. Sylla, after one day's respite, having
left Murena behind him with one legion and two cohorts to amuse the
enemy with continual alarms, himself went and sacrificed on the banks
of Cephisus, and the holy rites ended, held on towards Chaeronea to
receive the forces there and view Mount Thurium, where a party of the
enemy had posted themselves. This is a craggy height running up in a
conical form to a point, called by us Orthopagus; at the foot of it
is the river Morius and the temple of Apollo Thurius. The god had
his surname from Thuro, mother of Chaeron, whom ancient record makes
founder of Chaeronea. Others assert that the cow which Apollo gave to
Cadmus for a guide appeared there, and that the place took its name
from the beast, Thor being the Phoenician word for a cow.
At Sylla's approach to Chaeronea, the tribune who had been appointed
to guard the city led out his men in arms, and met him with a garland
of laurel in his hand; which Sylla accepting, and at the same time
saluting the soldiers and animating them to the encounter, two men of
Chaeronea, Homoloichus and Anaxidamus, presented themselves before
him, and offered, with a small party, to dislodge those who were
posted on Thurium. For there lay a path out of sight of the
barbarians, from what is called Petrochus along by the Museum,
leading right down from above upon Thurium. By this way it was easy
to fall upon them and either stone them from above, or force them
down into the plain. Sylla, assured of their faith and courage by
Gabinius, bade them proceed with the enterprise, and meantime drew up
the army, and disposing the cavalry on both wings, himself took
command of the right; the left being committed to the direction of
Murena. In the rear of all, Galba and Hortensius, his lieutenants,
planted themselves on the upper grounds with the cohorts of reserve,
to watch the motions of the enemy, who with numbers of horse and
swift-footed, light-armed infantry, were noticed to have so formed
their wing as to allow it readily to change about and alter its
position, and thus gave reason for suspecting that they intended to
carry it far out and so to enclose the Romans.
In the meanwhile, the Chaeroneans, who had Ericius for commander by
appointment of Sylla, covertly making their way around Thurium, and
then discovering themselves, occasioned a great confusion and rout
amongst the barbarians, and slaughter, for the most part, by their
own hands. For they kept not their place, but making down the steep
descent, ran themselves on their own spears, and violently sent each
other over the cliffs, the enemy from above pressing on and wounding
them where they exposed their bodies; insomuch that there fell three
thousand about Thurium. Some of those who escaped, being met by
Murena as he stood in array, were cut off and destroyed. Others
breaking through to their friends and falling pell-mell into the
ranks, filled most part of the army with fear and tumult, and caused
a hesitation and delay among the generals, which was no small
disadvantage. For immediately upon the discomposure, Sylla coming
full speed to the charge, and quickly crossing the interval between
the armies, lost them the service of their armed chariots, which
require a consider able space of ground to gather strength and
impetuosity in their career, a short course being weak and
ineffectual, like that of missiles without a full swing. Thus it
fared with the barbarians at present, whose first chariots came
feebly on and made but a faint impression; the Romans repulsing them
with shouts and laughter, called out as they do at the races in the
circus, for more to come. By this time the mass of both armies met;
the barbarians on one side fixed their long pikes, and with their
shields locked close together, strove so far as in them lay to
preserve their line of battle entire. The Romans, on the other side,
having discharged their javelins, rushed on with their drawn swords,
and struggled to put by the pikes to get at them the sooner, in the
fury that possessed them at seeing in the front of the enemy fifteen
thousand slaves, whom the royal commanders had set free by
proclamation, and ranged amongst the men of arms. And a Roman
centurion is reported to have said at this sight, that he never knew
servants allowed to play the masters, unless at the Saturnalia.
These men by their deep and solid array, as well as by their daring
courage, yielded but slowly to the legions, till at last by slinging
engines, and darts, which the Romans poured in upon them behind, they
were forced to give way and scatter.
As Archelaus was extending the right wing to encompass the enemy,
Hortensius with his cohorts came down in force, with intention to
charge him in the flank. But Archelaus wheeling about suddenly with
two thousand horse, Hortensius, outnumbered and hard pressed, fell
back towards the higher grounds, and found himself gradually getting
separated from the main body and likely to be surrounded by the
enemy. When Sylla heard this, he came rapidly up to his succor from
the right wing, which as yet had not engaged. But Archelaus,
guessing the matter by the dust of his troops, turned to the right
wing, from whence Sylla came, in hopes to surprise it without a
commander. At the same instant, likewise, Taxiles, with his Brazen
Shields, assailed Murena, so that a cry coming from both places, and
the hills repeating it around, Sylla stood in suspense which way to
move. Deciding to resume his own station, he sent in aid to Murena
four cohorts under Hortensius, and commanding the fifth to follow
him, returned hastily to the right wing, which of itself held its
ground on equal terms against Archelaus; and, at his appearance, with
one bold effort forced them back, and, obtaining the mastery,
followed them, flying in disorder to the river and Mount Acontium.
Sylla, however, did not forget the danger Murena was in; but hasting
thither and finding him victorious also, then joined in the pursuit.
Many barbarians were slain in the field, many more were cut in pieces
as they were making into the camp. Of all the vast multitude, ten
thousand only got safe into Chalcis. Sylla writes that there were
but fourteen of his soldiers missing, and that two of these returned
towards evening; he, therefore, inscribed on the trophies the names
of Mars, Victory, and Venus, as having won the day no less by good
fortune than by management and force of arms. This trophy of the
battle in the plain stands on the place where Archelaus first gave
way, near the stream of the Molus; another is erected high on the top
of Thurium, where the barbarians were environed, with an inscription
in Greek, recording that the glory of the day belonged to Homoloichus
and Anaxidamus. Sylla celebrated his victory at Thebes with
spectacles, for which he erected a stage, near Oedipus's well. The
judges of the performances were Greeks chosen out of other cities;
his hostility to the Thebans being implacable, half of whose
territory he took away and consecrated to Apollo and Jupiter,
ordering that out of the revenue compensation should be made to the
gods for the riches himself had taken from them.
After this, hearing that Flaccus, a man of the contrary faction, had
been chosen consul, and was crossing the Ionian Sea with an army,
professedly to act against Mithridates, but in reality against
himself, he hastened towards Thessaly, designing to meet him, but in
his march, when near Melitea, received advices from all parts that
the countries behind him were overrun and ravaged by no less a royal
army than the former. For Dorylaus, arriving at Chalcis with a large
fleet, on board of which he brought over with him eighty thousand of
the best appointed and best disciplined soldiers of Mithridates's
army, at once invaded Boeotia, and occupied the country in hopes to
bring Sylla to a battle, making no account of the dissuasions of
Archelaus, but giving it out as to the last fight, that without
treachery so many thousand men could never have perished. Sylla,
however, facing about expeditiously, made it clear to him that
Archelaus was a wise man, and had good skill in the Roman valor;
insomuch that he himself, after some small skirmishes with Sylla near
Tilphossium, was the first of those who thought it not advisable to
put things to the decision of the sword, but rather to wear out the
war by expense of time and treasure. The ground, however, near
Orchomenus, where they then lay encamped, gave some encouragement to
Archelaus, being a battle field admirably suited for an army superior
in cavalry. Of all the plains in Boeotia that are renowned for their
beauty and extent, this alone, which commences from the city of
Orchomenus, spreads out unbroken and clear of trees to the edge of