The Battle of Astros was a major naval battle of the First Mithridatic War which was fought in the Argolic Gulf in 85 BC. The Roman general Sulla, in command of the Legio I Macedonica in Greece, decided to intercept Mithridates of Colchis' Pontic army as its transport ships lurked off the eastern coast of the Peloponnese, although he was lacking in naval experience. The Romans nearly annihilated the Pontic fleet, saving Greece from a Pontic invasion, but Sulla lost half of his army in the process, most of them when their ships were sunk by fire arrows.
Background[]
In 88-87 BC, the Roman general Sulla led the Roman Army's Illyrian legions to victory over the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator's forces in Greece, driving out the Pontians with the recapture of Sparta in 87 BC. His general Pompeius Strabo led the Legio III Antiqua to reconquer Thrace shortly after, gradually pushing the Mithridatic armies out of Europe. Mithridates, fearing that the Romans would soon invade Asia, decided to counterattack, capturing the poorly-defended island of Rhodes and briefly attempting to invade Crete before the Romans raised Legio IV Equestris in Gortyn, discouraging an attack. While King Mithridates and his fleet withdrew to Anatolia as the Romans advanced on Asia, his son and commander Mithridates of Colchis and his fleet haunted the eastern shores of Greece, first menacing the coast of Attica before Sulla and his army marched from Sparta to Athens, and then the coast of Argolis from the Argolic Gulf. Sulla was convinced that Mithridates and his army would disembark in Laconia and march on the poorly-defended and disloyal city of Sparta, so he marched his army to Argolis, planning on intercepting and defeating the Pontians. After a game of cat and mouse, in which Mithridates and his army frequently sailed to an undefended coastline before being chased away by the Roman legion on the shore, Sulla decided to risk a naval battle in spite of his inexperience at sea. Once his scouts located the Pontian fleet in the Argolic Gulf off the coast of Astron (now Astros), Sulla risked an attack, putting his army to sea on transport ships and offering battle.
Battle[]
The Roman and Pontic fleets facing off
Sulla's fleet was larger than the Pontic fleet, but he was forced to leave several of his transport ships out of the action, as the crews of his ballistae field artillery and his dismounted cavalrymen were incompetent without their equipment. The Roman ships attacked the Pontic ships in twosomes, but the Pontians left several ships full of archers behind the main line, shooting fire arrows at the Roman ships as they approached. This incurred heavy losses, with entire Roman units perishing as their ships were sunk. However, the superiority of the legionaries over the unarmored Pontic hillmen enabled the Romans to massacre the Pontic soldiers once they locked into boarding actions with them. The Romans were successful in routing, and nearly destroying, the Pontic fleet, although they suffered heavy losses. The battle saved Greece from a Pontic invasion, and Mithridates and the remnants of his fleet returned to Anatolia.
Gallery[]
