The Battle of Callinicus was the opening engagement of the Third Macedonian War, yielding a tactical Macedonian success against Rome despite being inconclusive.
Key Facts
- Date
- 171 BC
- War
- Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC)
- Location
- Near Callinicus hill, 5 km north of Larissa
- Macedonian allies
- Cotys IV (Odrysian kingdom), Cretan mercenaries
- Roman allies
- Eumenes II of Pergamon, Thessalian cavalry, Greek allies
- Outcome
- Considered Macedonian victory; Romans suffered heavy casualties
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tensions between the expanding Roman Republic and the Macedonian kingdom under Perseus escalated into open war in 171 BC. Perseus sought to reassert Macedonian power in Greece, while Rome moved to check this ambition, leading to the deployment of a consular army under Publius Licinius Crassus into Thessaly.
Near the hill of Callinicus close to Tripolis Larisaia, the Macedonian army under King Perseus, supported by Odrysian, Cretan, and auxiliary forces, clashed with the Roman consular army and its allied contingents. The battle featured mixed cavalry and light infantry formations. Perseus withdrew before a decisive conclusion, but Roman casualties were severe enough to award the Macedonians a moral victory.
Although tactically inconclusive due to Perseus's withdrawal, the battle was widely regarded as a Macedonian victory because of the heavy Roman losses sustained. This early success boosted Macedonian morale at the outset of the Third Macedonian War, which would ultimately conclude with Rome's decisive victory at Pydna in 168 BC and the dissolution of the Macedonian kingdom.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
3 belligerents
Perseus of Macedon, Cotys IV.
Side B
2 belligerents
Publius Licinius Crassus.