Re: Macedonian Military Numbers
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 3:09 am
Post by Paralus » Mon Nov 30, 2015 3:52 am
‘Military realities’ again !
It would seem the Aetolians had their hands full with the Acarnanians and the aftermath of their invasion. Even if they had fully recovered, and their army was already mustered, Polyperchon was in no danger in Phokis, where he probably stayed no more than a day or two before moving on to join Alexander and the army in Attica. Aetolia was over 100km/64 miles or thereabouts from Phokis. It would take a couple of days minimum for the Aetolians to learn Polyperchon was not with the army in Attica, and a further few days, even forced marching, to get there, getting close to a week ( assuming they even wanted to pursue him) by which time of course Polyperchon was long gone.....Xenophon wrote:As for the Aetolians, they were in no position to intervene even had they wanted to, having been heavily defeated previously by the Macedonians under Polyperchon. [Diod XVIII.38 ], not to mention some ‘military realities’.
In fact, the Aetolians had not been defeated by Polyperchon at all - "heavily" or otherwise. Polyperchon had waited on events, not willing to take the field against the “twenty-five thousand infantry and fifteen hundred cavalry” that Alexander, the Aetolian general, had assembled in Thessaly. Polyperchon took the field only after Alexander had departed for Aetolia along with the Aetolian levy of “twelve thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen” on the news that the Acarnanians had invaded Aetolia. This is entirely logical given the greater part of the Macedonian army was in Asia ostensibly to engage in a fight for empire with the royal army under Perdikkas.
Since you are ‘hair-splitting’ in pointing out that it was the larger part of the Aetolian forces that were heavily defeated rather than the Aetolians, I’ll do so too and point out that the ‘greater part’ of the army in Asia was not serving under Perdiccas, but rather operating independently under Craterus, whom his veterans, we are told, preferred him.
At the time, then, that Polyperchon, the court and army are in Phokis, the Aetolians are yet to be dealt with for having “defeated Antipater's general Polycles in battle, killing him and no small number of his soldiers”. It is not really militarily probable that the king, court and regent are without the army while in the neighbourhood of a league which had so recently mustered 12,000 infantry and defeated a Macedonian general and his army.
Diod. 18.38After the departure of Antipater for Asia, the Aetolians, in accordance with their compact with Perdiccas, made a campaign into Thessaly for the purpose of diverting Antipater. They had twelve thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen, and their general was Alexander, an Aetolian. On the march they besieged the city of the Amphissian p119Locrians, overran their country, and captured some of the neighbouring towns. They defeated Antipater's general Polycles in battle, killing him and no small number of his soldiers. Some of those who were taken captive they sold, others they released on receiving ransoms. Invading Thessaly next, they persuaded most of the Thessalians to join them in the war against Antipater, and a force was quickly gathered, numbering in all twenty-five thousand infantry and fifteen hundred cavalry. While they were gaining the cities, however, the Acarnanians, who were hostile to the Aetolians, invaded Aetolia, where they began to plunder the land and to besiege the cities. When the Aetolians learned that their own country was in danger, they left the other troops in Thessaly, putting Menon of Pharsalus in command, while they themselves with the citizen soldiers went swiftly into Aetolia and, by striking fear into the Acarnanians, freed their native cities from danger. While, however, they were engaged in these matters, Polyperchon, who had been left in Macedonia as general, came into Thessaly with a considerable army and, by defeating the enemy in a battle in which he killed the general Menon and cut most of his army to pieces, recovered Thessaly.
‘Military realities’ again !