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The so-called Battle of Crocus Field (Krokion pedion) (353 or 352) was
a battle in the Third Sacred War, fought
between the armies of Phocis, under Onomarchos, and the combined Thessalian and
Macedonian army under Philip II of Macedon. In the bloodiest battle recorded in
Ancient Greek history, the Phocians were decisively defeated by Philip's
forces. Philip's victory secured his appointment as ruler of Thessaly, marking
an important step in the rise of Macedon to political ascendancy in Ancient
Greece. Opinion amongst historians is divided as to the year of the battle;
some favour 353, and others 352.
Opponents:
Macedon, Thessalian Confederation versus Phocis, Athens
Commanders and leaders:
Macedon - Philip
II of Macedon
Phocis - Onomarchos †, Athens -
Chares
Strength:
Macedon - 20,000 foot 3,000 horse
Phocis - 20,000 foot 500 horse
Casualties and losses:
up to 9,000 dead
Background:
The Third Sacred War (often just called
'the' Sacred War) began in 356, and would present Philip with his first real
opportunity to expand his influence into the affairs of central and southern
Greece. The war was caused by the refusal of the Phocian Confederation to pay a
fine imposed on them in 357 by the
Amphictyonic
League, a pan-Greek religious organisation which governed the most sacred
site in Ancient Greece, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Behind the religious
element, there probably lay a display of realpolitik in bringing charges
against the Phocians, instigated by the Thebans. At this time, Thebes
controlled a majority of the votes in the council, and at the autumn meeting in
357, the Thebans were able to have both the Phocians (for the cultivation of
the sacred land) and the Spartans (for occupying Thebes some 25 years
previously) denounced and fined. Since the fines for both parties were
"unjustifiably harsh", the Thebans probably expected neither party to
pay, and thus to be able to declare a "sacred war" on either. The
ruins of ancient Delphi In response, the Phocians, under the leadership of
Philomelos, seized Delphi (which was situated within the boundaries of Phocis),
and asserted the ancient claim of Phocis to the presidency of the Amphictyonic
League, intending to annul the judgment against themselves. There seems to have
been some sympathy in Greece for the Phocians, since other states could see
that "the Thebans...had used the Amphictyony to pursue petty and
destructive vendettas".
The Phocians were supported by Athens (perennial enemies of Thebes) and
unsurprisingly Sparta, who hoped to see their own fine wiped out when the
Phocians seized Delphi. However,
Philomelos plundered the
treasury of Apollo to pay for mercenaries, thus raising a powerful army, but
drastically altering the opinion of the other Greek states. In winter of
356/355, a "sacred war" was declared against the Phocians by the
Amphictyonic council, with the Thebans being the major protagonists. The war
started relatively well for the Phocians, but a severe defeat was inflicted on
the Phocians at Neon by the Thebans in either 355 or 354 and Philomelos was
killed. Undeterred, Onomarchos took over the Phocian effort, and raised new
mercenaries to carry on the fight.
The Sacred War appears to have paved the way for renewed conflict within
Thessaly. The Thessalian Confederation were in general staunch supporters of
the Amphictyonic League, and had an ancient hatred of the Phocians. Conversely,
the-city state of Pherae had allied itself with the Phocians.
In either 354 or 353, the nobility of the Thessalian city of Larissa appealed
to Philip to help them defeat the Pheraeans. Philip thus brought an army into
Thessaly, probably with the intention of attacking Pherae. Under the terms of
their alliance, Lycophron of Pherae requested aid from the Phocians, and
Onomarchos dispatched his brother, Phayllos, with 7,000 men; however, Philip
repulsed this force before it could join up with the Pheraeans. Onomarchos then
abandoned the siege he was prosecuting, and brought his whole force into
Thessaly to attack Philip. The exact details of the campaign that followed are
unclear, but Onomarchos seems to have inflicted two defeats on Philip, with
many Macedonians killed in the process. After these defeats, Philip retreated
to Macedon for the winter. He is said to have commented that he "did not
run away but, like a ram, I pulled back to butt again harder".
Philip returned to Thessaly the next summer (either 353 or 352), depending on
the chronology followed), having gathered a new army in Macedon. Philip
formally requested that the Thessalians join him in the war against the
Phocians. Philip now mustered all the Thessalian opponents of Pherae that he
could, and according to Diodorus, his final army numbered 20,000 infantry and
3,000 cavalry.
Prelude:
Both Buckler and Cawkwell suggest that Philip besieged the strategic port of
Pagasae (effectively the harbour of Pherae) before the Battle of Crocus Field.
By taking Pagasae, it is probable that Philip intended to prevent it being
reinforced by sea; Buckler suggests that Philip had learnt his lesson from the
previous campaign, and wanted to cut Pherae off from outside help before
attacking it.
Meanwhile, Onomarchos returned to Thessaly to try to preserve the Phocian
ascendancy there, with approximately the same force as during the previous
year. Furthermore, the Athenians dispatched
Chares with a substantial
fleet to help their Phocian allies, seeing the opportunity to strike a decisive
blow against Philip. The Phocians and Athenians probably intended to rendezvous
at Pagasae, since it was the only harbour the Athenian fleet could use, and
since Philip was there anyway.
Battle:
Subsequent events are unclear, but a battle was fought between the Macedonians
and the Phocians, probably as Philip tried to prevent the Phocians joining
forces with the Pheraeans, and crucially, before the Athenians had arrived. No
ancient source names the battlefield, but according to Diodorus the two armies
met near the sea. The Krokion/Krokoton Pedion or 'Crocus Plain' (around modern
Almyros in Magnesia, Thessaly region) seems the most suitable location, and the
battle is therefore known to modern scholars as the Battle of Crocus Field;
however, firmly identifying the battle-site has proved impossible. Philip sent
his men into battle wearing crowns of laurel, the symbol of Apollo, "as if
he was the avenger...of sacrilege, and he proceeded to battle under the
leadership, as it were, of the god". Some of the Phocian mercenaries
supposedly threw down their arms, troubled by their guilty consciences. In the
ensuing battle, the bloodiest recorded in ancient Greek history, Philip won a
decisive victory over the Phocians. The battle seems to have been won by
superior numbers and by the valour of Philip's cavalry. Fleeing from defeat,
the Phocians ran to the sea, where Chares' fleet had arrived during the battle,
but many men were killed during the pursuit, or drowned as they tried to reach
the ships. In total, 6,000 Phocian troops had been killed, including
Onomarchos, and another 3,000 taken prisoner. Onomarchos was either hanged or
crucified and the other prisoners drowned, as ritual demanded for
temple-robbers. These punishments were designed to deny the defeated an
honourable burial; Philip thus continued to present himself as the pious
avenger of the sacrilege committed by the Phocians. Buckler states that:
"Nor should one automatically assume that a mass-drowning...would shock
the Greek world. Even the mild-tempered Isocrates felt that the Phocian
mercenaries were better off dead than alive...Dreadful indeed was the
punishment, but it was entirely consistent with Philip's role as Apollo's
champion".
Aftermath:
It was probably in the aftermath of his victory (if not before) that the
Thessalians appointed Philip archon of Thessaly. This was an appointment for
life, and gave Philip control over all the revenues of the Thessalian
Confederation, and furthermore made Philip leader of the united Thessalian
army. The tyrants of Pherae, rather than suffer the fate of Onomarchos, struck
a bargain with Philip and, in return for handing Pherae over to Philip, were
allowed, along with 2,000 of their mercenaries, to go to Phocis. Philip spent
some time reorganising Thessaly, and once satisfied he marched south to the
pass of Thermopylae, the gateway to central Greece. He probably intended to
follow up his victory over the Phocians by invading Phocis itself, a prospect
which greatly alarmed the Athenians, since once he was past Thermopylae he
could also march on Athens. The Athenians therefore dispatched a force to
Thermopylae and occupied the pass; there is some debate as to whether other
contingents may have joined the Athenians at Thermopylae. Although it might
have proved possible to force the pass, Philip did not attempt to do so,
preferring not to risk a defeat after his great successes in Thessaly.
Meanwhile, the Phocians regrouped under Onomarchos's brother, Phayllos. After
the huge Phocian defeats at Neon and Crocus Field, Phayllos had to resort to
doubling the pay for mercenaries, in order to attract enough to replenish his
army. Despite their defeats however, the majority of the Phocians were still in
favour of continuing the war.
Over the winter of that year, Phayllos engaged in diplomatic efforts to gather
more support from Phocian allies, and succeeding in widening the theatre of
conflict in the next campaigning season. Uniquely in Greek history, the
Phocians were able to absorb huge losses in manpower, thanks to their pillaging
of Temple of Apollo, a factor which was to contribute to the war dragging on
indecisively until 346.
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The battle of the Crocus Field or of Pagasae in 353 was a significant
victory for Philip II of Macedon and saw him defeat and kill
Onomarchus, the Phocian
leader, a victory that helped to secure Philip's dominance over Thessaly. At
first Philip hadn't been affected by the Third Sacred War, which saw the
Phocians defy a judgement against them, occupy the Oracle at Delphi, and
inflict a number of defeats on their Locrian, Thessalian and Boeotian enemies.
The two sides eventually came into conflict as a result of events in Thessaly.
In 354 BC Philip responded to a call for help from his Thessalian allies, who
were threatened by Lycophron, tyrant of Pherae. Lycophron responded to this
threat by asking for help from the Phocians. Onomarchus, the Phocian leader,
sent an army commanded by his brother Phayllus into Thessaly, but Philip
quickly defeated this army. Onomarchus then led the main Phocian army into
Thessaly in person, and inflicted two rare defeats on Philip. Battles of the
Third Sacred War (356-346 BC) Battles of the Third Sacred War (356-346 BC) In
the aftermath of these defeats Philip returned to Macedon to regroup, while
Onomarchus moved into Boeotia, where he defeated the Boeotians at the battle of
Hermeum, and captured Coronea. Philip didn't take long to recover from his
defeats. In 353 BC he led his army back into Thessaly, where he attacked the
port at Pagasae. He was joined by his Thessalian allies, producing an army that
Diodorus reports as containing 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry (Diodorus
16.35.4). Lycophron sent desperate messages to Phocis asking for help and
promising to share the government of Thessaly. Onomarchus led his army north,
bringing 20,000 infantry and 500 cavalry of his own. He was probably also
hoping for Athenian help (in a list of Athenian failures Demosthenes includes
their failure to provide aid to Pagasae in time). Battles and Sieges of Philip
II of Macedon Battles and Sieges of Philip II of Macedon, 358-338 BC The
resulting battle took place on a large plain near the sea, probably the area
known as the Crocus Field. According to Diodorus Philip's Thessalian cavalry
won the day. Onomarchus fled towards the coast, where an Athenian fleet under
Chares was just off shore. In an attempt to reach the safety of the fleet many
of the Phocian survivors stripped off their armour and attempted to swim out to
the ships. Many of them were killed during this phase of the battle. The
Phocians lost 6,000 dead in the battle, while another 3,000 were taken capture
and then thrown into the sea as a punishment for robbing the temples at Delphi.
Diodorus gives contradictory accounts of the death of Onomarchus. In the main
account of the battle (16.35.6) he was crucified by Philip. Later on, when
summarising the fates of those involved in the war (16.61.2) he reports that
Onomarchus was 'cut to pieces' in a battle in Thessaly and then crucified.
Pausanius gives a different account of Onomarchus's death (10.2.5). In his
account Onomarchus was shot down by his own troops while fleeing to the coast,
as they blamed him for the defeat. Once again the Phocians managed to recover
from a potentially crushing defeat. Onomarchus was replaced by his brother
Phayllus, and then by Onomarchus's son Phalacus, and the war dragged on until
346. Philip may have intended to invade Phocis in the aftermath of the battle,
but he delayed his move south too long, and the worried Athenians were able to
block the pass at Thermopylae. Philip didn’t want to risk a defeat, and
returned home.
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