Titus Flamininus

Titus Flamininus brought his army to stop Philip, who would not leave the Greeks alone. They drew up in a rough place, and made speeches to their men. Titus told his men to be valiant men, because they would be acting on the stage of the world. Philip gave the usual inspiring speech, but by accident he gave it on a grave mound. He would not fight for some time, because his army was upset at this bad omen. The armies were about equal in strength. They each sent out scouts, and they met. The generals sent more men when needed. The Macedonians threw the whole weight of their phalanx against the Romans, forcing them back. But Titus Flamininus saw that in one place, the rough ground had broken up the Macedonians. So he attacked there, and the Macedonians were forced to fight man to man, weighted down by their heavy armor. For the strength of the Macedonians lay in the strength of their numbers, so when they fought man to man, they lost their strength.

I think that the Romans won by looking for a weakness in the other army, and then taking advantage of that weakness. They defeated the Macedonians, who had not been beaten in a long time, showing that strength in numbers is not all. I think they had strength in numbers because they had a very good formation that was strong altogether, but the Romans had the advantage of the ground, it being rough. This was also shown in a battle between the French and the English, I forget the name, where the English had much fewer numbers, and the advantage of the ground. The French lost terribly, and showed once again that strength in numbers is not all.

More later,
Bell