Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of Cynoscephalae

Battle of Cynoscephalae was a battle fought in 197 BC at Thessaly, in what is now Greece. It was part of Second Macedonian War, which ran from 200 BC to 197 BC. The recorded result: Roman-Aetolian victory.

See it on the globe Read the article

Identifier: battlerollencycl00perc (find matches) Title: The battle roll: an encyclopedia containing descriptions of the most famous and memorable land battles and sieges in all ages Year: 1858 (1850s
Identifier: battlerollencycl00perc (find matches) Title: The battle roll: an encyclopedia containing descriptions of the most famous and memorable land battles and sieges in all ages Year: 1858 (1850s. Failed to serialize data., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought197 BC
WhereThessaly, Greece39.417N, 22.567E
OutcomeRoman-Aetolian victory
BelligerentsRoman Republic; Aetolian League; AthamaniaagainstMacedon
Casualties and lossesBetween 700 and 750 killedand13,000; ----8,000 killed; 5,000 captured
Part ofSecond Macedonian War200 BC to 197 BC

Where it sits in Second Macedonian War

Capture of Antipatreia, 200 BCBattle of the Aous, 198 BCSiege of Corinth, 198 BCBattle of Cynoscephalae, 197 BCSiege of Leukas, 197 BCBattle of Alabanda, 197 BC200 BC197 BCBattle of Cynoscephalae, 197 BC
6 placed engagements of Second Macedonian War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date197 BC (year precision)
PlaceThessaly, Greece
39.417N, 22.567E
KindBattle, ancient
Strengthabout 26,000; ----21,600 infantry (including 6,000 Aetolians and 1,200 Athamanians); 1,300 cavalry (including 400 Aetolians); 3,000 marines; 20 war elephants25,500; ----16,000 phalangites; 2,000 light infantry; 5,500 mercenaries and allies; 2,000 Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry
Casualties and lossesBetween 700 and 750 killed13,000; ----8,000 killed; 5,000 captured
Commanders
  • Titus Quinctius Flamininus
  • Archedemus of Aetolia
  • Amynander of Athamania
Battle of CynoscephalaeBattle of CynoscephalaeBattle of VelestinoBattle of PharsalusBattle of CrannonBattle of CynoscephalaeBattle of CallinicusBattle of PharsalusBattle of CrannonBattle of CallinicusPatraIoaninaAgrinioChalkidaKateriniKorçëLamiaErsekë100 km39.417N, 22.567E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Cynoscephalae
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Cynoscephalae today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-07-22. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 592 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 216 to 724 m, 508 m of relief, steep country and today it is 57% tree cover, 18% cropland, 16% grassland.

tree cover: 57%cropland: 18%grassland: 16%shrubland: 8%tree cover 57%cropland 18%grassland 16%shrubland 8%
west to east, 10.0 km262 to 673 mnorth to south, 10.0 km242 to 606 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 197 BC

Battle of Cynoscephalae is one of 91 engagements of the 2nd century BC in the atlas and one of 493 in present-day Greece.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q391087, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Cynoscephalae, revision 1376998509, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.