The Galatian War was a war fought in 189 BC between the Galatian Gauls and the Roman Republic, supported by their ally Pergamum. The war was fought in Galatia in central Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey. The Romans had just defeated the Seleucids in the Roman–Seleucid War and were in the midst of concluding a treaty with the latter.
The Romans had then turned their attention towards the Gallic tribes of Galatia who were known for making frequent raids into other cities in Asia Minor and possessing much loot. Ancient historians noted that Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, the consul, had justified the invasion by saying that it was in retaliation for the Galatians supplying troops to the Seleucids during the war, and that Vulso had embarked on this campaign without the permission of the Roman Senate. However, modern historians argue that the war had either the covert or tacit approval of the Senate.
Joined by troops from Pergamum, the Romans marched inland, avoiding cities held by the Seleucids and attacking those which had not formally allied with the latter. Modern historians argue that this measure was taken to preserve the Roman–Seleucid truce while also weakening potential Seleucid allies. The Roman army then marched south, possibly to receive supplies from Roman ships at the port of Attalia (modern day Antalya). They then marched northward and unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate with the Galatians. The Romans defeated the Galatians in the battle of Mount Olympus, thought to be either Çile Dağı, a hill located between Gordion and Ancyra, or Alis Daği in northern Galatia, on the border with Bithynia. The Romans then defeated a larger Galatian contingent on a hill near Ancyra (modern day Ankara in Turkey).
These defeats forced the Galatians to sue for peace and the Romans returned to the coast of Asia Minor, where Vulso concluded the Treaty of Apamea with the Seleucids. The territories through which the Roman army had marched during this campaign were transferred from the Seleucids to either Rome or its allies, which modern historians argue was one of the purposes of the campaign. When Vulso returned to Rome, he was charged with threatening the peace between the Seleucids and Rome. He was cleared and was granted a triumph by the Senate. As a result of the campaign, Greco-Asian religious rituals and luxury began to be introduced to Rome, which ancient historians blamed for the moral decline of the Roman Republic. The loot brought by Vulso was used to repay Roman taxpayers and also for increased expenditure on infrastructure.
Background
In 191 BC, Antiochus the Great, the Emperor of the Seleucid Empire, had invaded Greece. The Romans intervened, defeating him at the Battle of Thermopylae and forcing the Seleucid army to retreat to Asia Minor. The Romans pursued Antiochus and the Seleucids across the Aegean Sea; and together with their ally, King Eumenes II of Pergamum, decisively defeated the Seleucid army at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 or 189 BC. Antiochus sued for peace and began settling it with Scipio Asiaticus, the Roman consul.
Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, elected a Roman consul for 189 BC and deployed to Asia, arrived at Ephesus during the spring season. Vulso assumed command of Scipio's army, which was now idle since the Seleucids had been defeated. He was sent to conclude the treaty Scipio was arranging and ensure Antiochus accepted the terms set by the Romans. However, he was not content with the task given to him and started to plan for a new war. He addressed the soldiers, congratulated them on their victory and then proposed a new war against the Gauls of Galatia in Asia Minor. The pretext he used for the invasion was that the Galatians had supplied soldiers to the Seleucid army at the Battle of Magnesia. Historians have cited the ancient Roman historian Livy to argue that the principal reason for the invasion was Vulso's desire to seize the wealth of the Galatians, who had become rich from plundering their neighbors, and to gain glory for himself.
A proposal had been introduced in the Roman Senate to reduce the size of Vulso's army, but it did not pass. Three modern historians have thus argued that the Senate was aware of the likelihood of a war with the Galatians, and that it had allowed the continued deployment of the army either to counterbalance the Seleucids or fill the power vacuum created by their defeat. The historian Esther V. Hansen argues that the Senate had heard representations against the Galatians from both the king of Pergamum and the Greek cities in Asia Minor, and that it had kept the army deployed in Asia Minor in order to deal with the Galatians. For the size of this army, the historian John D. Grainger arrives at a possible range of 30 to 35 thousand total soldiers, including those fielded by the allies.
This was the first war started by a Roman general without the permission of the Senate or the people. Vulso started his preparations for the war by summoning the Pergamese to help. Since the King of Pergamum, Eumenes II, was in Rome at the time, his brother and regent Attalus II took command of the Pergamese army. He joined the Roman army a few days later with 1,000 infantry and 500 cavalry.
March inland
The combined Roman–Pergamese army started their march from Ephesus. They advanced inland, passing Magnesia on the Maeander and the city of Alabanda where they were met by 1,000 infantry and 300 cavalry led by Attalus's brother, Athenaeus. They then marched to Antiochia where they were met by Antiochus' son, Seleucus, who offered food supplies as part of the treaty that was being concluded. The army then marched through the mountainous regions of Caria, Phrygia and Pisidia. The army passed through or encamped at cities like Gordiu Teichos, Tabae and Eriza. Grainger notes that these cities were relatively poorer than those to the immediate north: Aphrodisias, Heraclea at Latmus, Apollonia and Themisonium; he argues that Vulso chose not to pass through these wealthier cities because they were fortified by the Seleucids and an attack on them could trigger a new war. Grainger further argues that Vulso's primary intent in this campaign was to weaken Seleucid allies, not to loot.
The army then advanced into the territory of Cibyra, ruled by Moagetes, who Livy says was a tyrant. Moagetes persuaded Vulso to accept 100 talents of silver as indemnity and promised to provide him with 10,000 medimnoi of wheat. Vulso then crossed the Caularis river, Lake Cabalitis (Lake Söğüt) and arrived in Madamprum/Mandropolis. The army plundered Laco/Lagon (Lagbe), then crossed the River Cobulatus/Colobatus (the upper Istanos Çay), where he was met by ambassadors from Sinda, a town in Pisidia. The ambassadors asked for assistance fighting against the city of Termessos, which had taken over all their country except the capital. The consul accepted their request. He entered Termessian territory, allowing the Termessians to enter his alliance for fifty talents and for their withdrawal from Sindian territory.
Vulso marched for two days via Pogla and Andeda to seize the city of Cormasa in Pisidia, and there seized a large booty. The archaeologist George Ewart Bean posited that Cormasa was the modern village of Eğnes near Burdur, while the historian Alan S. Hall posited that it was located east of the Lysis river, which has been triangulated near modern Çeltikçi. Grainger notes that Vulso did not fully enter Pamphylia and instead chose to travel north. He passed Xyline Come and Darsa, then took the city of Lysinoe before accepting a tribute of fifty talents and 20,000 medimnoi each of barley and wheat from the city of Sagalassus. Grainger argues that 275 talents of silver and 60,000 medimnoi of grain was the minimum total loot during the marches, the food being sufficient for 41 days for about 35,000 soldiers. He notes that Vulso had extracted a substantial amount of money and food from probable Seleucid allies, thus reducing the resources they could have provided to the Seleucids for a new war.
The consul reached the Rhotrine Springs and he was once again met by Seleucus, who took the injured and sick Romans with him to Apamea and provided some guides to the Romans. Vulso, like he did during his previous marches, avoided Seleucid-controlled cities, namely Seleucia Sidera, Apollonia, Lysias and Dokimeion. The Romans instead marched from Acoridos Come to Metropolis, then to Synnada and finally Beudos. Grainger argues that the guides provided by Seleucus were not helping the Romans with navigation but with safe passage. The Romans found the cities on their route deserted; Livy says this was due to fear of the Romans, while Grainger argues it could have been a Seleucid measure to avoid skirmishes and thus protect the truce.
They soon arrived on the border with the Tolistobogii, one of the three Galatian tribes. The consul held an assembly and addressed his troops about the upcoming war. Vulso then sent envoys to Eposognatus, the chief of a section of the Tolistobogii, and the only chief who was friendly with Pergamum. He was the only Galatian chief who had chosen to not ally with the Seleucids and had not sent them troops. Eposognatus did not have power over all members of the Tolistobogii because the Galatians were not a unified polity, their tribes and chiefs could each act independently. The envoys returned and replied that the chief of the Tolistobogii had requested the Romans not to invade his territory. He also claimed that he would attempt to negotiate the surrender of the other chiefs.
The army marched deeper inland from the Alander river and pitched camp near a Galatian stronghold called Cuballum/Caballum, where Vulso had captured what is assumed to be a Galatian oppidum. While they were there, the Galatian cavalry attacked the army's advance guard, drove it back towards the Roman camp and caused significant casualties. The Roman cavalry counterattacked and drove back the Galatians, who might have broken their formations. The Galatian attack might have been intended for reconnaissance. Vulso then arrived in Abbassus, on the border of the Galatian lands; here he began negotiations with Eposognatus, a chief of the Tolistobogii. Meanwhile Vulso and his army marched, within five days, through the Axylon, an area without trees. He built a bridge over the Sangarius River and crossed over to its northern bank, where priests from Pessinus met him and prophesied his victory.
Battle of Mount Olympus
The next day, the Romans and the Pergamese arrived at the city of Gordion and found it deserted; they nevertheless destroyed it. While encamped there, they received a messenger sent by Eposognatus. The messenger reported that Eposognatus had failed in persuading the Galatians not to attack and that they were mustering nearby in the mountains. The Tolistobogii and the Trocmi, the latter under the command of their chief Gaulotos, occupied Mount Olympus; while the Tectosagi occupied another mountain. This information was received from Oroanda, a Phrygian village in the region; Oroanda is thought to be located on the southwest bank of Lake Trogitis, modern day Lake Suğla. The location of Mount Olympus is thought to be either Çile Dağı, a hill located between Gordion and Ancyra; or Alis Daği in northern Galatia, on the border with Bithynia. On Mount Olympus, the Galatians had fortified themselves with a ditch and other defensive works. For the first two days after their arrival, the Romans scouted the mountains. During the Romans' first patrol, they were attacked by Galatian cavalry. The latter were twice the size of the Roman cavalry guarding the patrol, and the Romans were pushed back to their camp. The Galatians had deployed around 4,000 soldiers to hold a hill overlooking the route to Mount Olympus.
On the third day, the Romans attacked the Galatian position with their light infantry from Thrace and Trallia. The Roman auxiliary archers, slingers and javelinists inflicted heavy losses on the poorly armored Galatians, while those who attempted to enter into close combat were overcome by the superior weapons and armor of the Roman velites. When the Roman legionaries finally stormed the Galatian camp, the defenders fled down the mountains; many fell down cliffs or succumbed to attacks by the Roman-allied cavalry at the foothills. Livy's text states that the Galatians lost 40,000 people either killed or captured during this battle. Grainger notes that Livy had doubted these figures, Grainger himself considers them to be exaggerated. A Roman unit arrived at the camp after the battle to retrieve the loot.
Battle of Ancyra
After the Roman victory at Mount Olympus, the Tectosagi under the command of their chief Komboiomaros asked to meet Vulso for a conference halfway between their camp and Ancyra. The main aim of the conference for the Tectosagi was to delay the Roman attack so that their women and children could retreat across the Halys river. Their other aim was to assassinate Vulso at the conference. Enroute to the conference, the Romans saw the Galatian cavalry numbering around 1,000 soldiers charging at them. In the skirmish that followed, the Galatians overpowered Vulso's cavalry escort of 500 men. However, they were driven back when the cavalry numbering around 600 soldiers that had been accompanying the Roman foragers arrived and forced the Galatians to retreat.
The Romans spent the next two days scouting the surrounding area and on the third day they met the Galatian army consisting of about 50,000 to more than 60,000 men; Grainger is sceptical of this number. The Galatian cavalry had been deployed on the flanks but was used as infantry. The Romans started the battle by attacking again with their light infantry. The Galatians were once again attacked by long-range weapons; the Galatian center broke due to the first charge of the legions and fled to their camp. The flanks stood their grounds for longer but were eventually forced to retreat. The Romans chased them and plundered the Galatian camp as the surviving Galatians fled across the river to join the women, children and the Trocmi gathered across the Halys river. Eight thousand Galatians were killed and an unknown number were captured. The location of Mount Magaba, where this battle was fought, is thought to be Elmadağ, a hill around 10 miles (16 km) to the east of modern day Ankara.