The Battle of Leontium was a major battle of Antony's Civil War which was fought in 33 BC near the Greek town of Leontium (Leontio) in Achaea. Mark Antony attempted to ambush and destroy Octavian's Legio VI Concordialis as it invaded the Peloponnese, but Octavian's general Decimus Vergilius Praetextatus was able to win a miraculous, yet hard-fought and costly victory against both Antony's Legio II Graeca and Antony's garrison of Sparta. The Battle of Leontium saw the near-destruction of Antony's legion, cleared the way for Praetextatus to capture both Sparta and Athens, and effectively secured Greece for Octavian's cause.
Background[]
By the autumn of 34 BC, the civil war between the triumvirs Octavian and Mark Antony was going strongly in Octavian's favor. Octavian's Rome seized control of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Bithynia from Antony's Rome after a series of sieges and the decisive Battle of Pessinus in Asia Minor; the defeat at Pessinus effectively cost Antony control of Roman Asia. Antony was soon threatened with encirclement in the Peloponnese, but, rather than abandon his capital of Athens and the rest of Greece to Octavian, Antony and his Legio II Graeca held fast behind the strong walls of Athens. Octavian's general Decimus Vergilius Praetextatus led his Legio VI Concordialis southeast from Thessaly and into Attica, pillaging the countryside in a bid to lure Antony and his legion out of Athens and into a decisive battle. Antony refused to fall for Praetextatus' trap, and the Greek countryside was harried and looted by Praetextatus' legionaries for several months.
Eventually, Praetextatus decided to cross the Gulf of Corinth to the south and invade the Peloponnese, as capturing Sparta would leave Athens isolated, and possibly lure Antony south to face both Praetextatus' legion and his skeleton garrison of Sparta. Once again, Antony believed that he had outsmarted Praetextatus, as Praetextatus was unaware that his army's position was within marching distance of the garrison of Sparta, and Antony moved his army southwest from Athens, across the Isthmus of Corinth, and into Achaea to attack Praetextatus' army near the ancient town of Leontium.
Battle[]
Antony's legion took Praetextatus' legion by surprise, ambushing the Octavian legion as it marched. As Antony's legionaries had to charge uphill, however, Praetextatus had barely enough time to rearrange his column into a battle line. His legion fought off Antony's skirmishers to their rear and charged against Legio II Graeca from three sides, outflanking Antony's legionaries and destroying his force. Antony was able to flee unharmed, but he lost three cohorts of elite First Cohort legionaries, a cohort of legionaries, a cohort of legionary cavalry and two cohorts of mercenary cavalry (including one Cappadocian cohort), two cohorts of spearmen, and two cohorts of velites, while his light cavalry and female Spartan slingers suffered heavy losses. Praetextatus then turned his legion against the weaker Sparta garrison, whose ranks consisted mostly of raw recruits rather than legionaries. The second half of the battle was comparatively easy, although Praetextatus' own cohorts would suffer heavy losses. Ultimately, Praetextatus won the field, albeit with a devastating 1,541 losses (57% of his legion); Antony's gambit failed, and it cost him three-quarters of his combined force.
Aftermath[]
Praetextatus miraculously emerged from Antony's ambush as the victor, although he lost many of his bodyguards, and one of his First Cohort cohorts, five of his legionary cohorts, his three cavalry cohorts, and his cohort of vigiles were almost entirely slain; however, all of his cohorts survived the battle and would soon be either merged or replenished. Antony, however, suffered irreplaceable losses, as the momentum was in Octavian's favor, and a weakened Sparta's fall to Praetextatus' legion isolated Antony in Athens with the remnants of his legion. It would not be long before Athens, too, fell to Praetextatus, sealing the fate of Antonian Greece.
Gallery[]
