36.18
After
this address the soldiers were dismissed and got their armour and weapons
ready before they took food and rest. As soon as it began to grow light the
consul hung out the signal for battle and formed his line on a narrow front to
suit the confined limits of the ground. When the king saw the standards of
the enemy he also led out his men. Part of his light infantry he stationed in
front of their rampart to form the first line. Behind them in support he posted
the Macedonians, the main strength of his arm, known as the "sarisophori";
they extended across the whole length of the rampart. To the left of them
were posted a body of javelin men, bowmen and slingers immediately under
the foot of the mountains, so that they might from their higher ground harass
the unprotected flank of the enemy. On the right of the Macedonians,
towards the end of his lines, where the ground beyond down to the sea is
impassable owing to bogs and quicksands, he posted the elephants with their
usual guard, and behind them the cavalry, and a short distance behind them
again the rest of his troops. The Macedonians in front of the rampart had no
difficulty at first in resisting the Romans, who were trying at all points to
break through, and they received considerable assistance from those on the
higher ground, who discharged bullets from their slings, arrows and javelins
all at once, a perfect cloud of missiles. But as the enemy's pressure increased
and the attack was made in greater force they gradually fell back to their
rampart, and standing upon it made practically a second rampart with their
levelled spears. The rampart, owing to its moderate height, not only offered
a higher position from which to fight, but also enabled them to reach the
enemy below with their long spears. Many in their reckless attempts to
mount the rampart were run through, and they would have had either to
retire baffled or sustain serious losses had not M. Porcius appeared on a hill
which commanded the camp. He had dislodged the Aetolians from the crest
of Callidromus and killed the greater part of them, attacking them when they
were off their guard and most of them asleep.
