The Battle of the Caecus River was a battle in 241 BC between the

Kingdom of Pergamon The Kingdom of Pergamon or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; grc-x-koine, Δυναστ ...

army commanded by

Attalus I Attalus I ( grc, Ἄτταλος Α΄), surnamed ''Soter'' ( el, , "Savior"; 269–197 BC) ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis (what is now Bergama, Turkey), first as dynast, later as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the fi ...

, and the Galatian tribes who resided in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. The battle took place near the source of the Caecus River and resulted in a victory for the Kingdom of Pergamon.

Context

During the 3rd century BC, there was a large

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

towards

. After passing through

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, they arrived in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, where they survived by raiding the towns along the Mediterranean coast. Many of these towns fell under the protection or direct control of the

, whose king,

Eumenes I Eumenes I ( grc-gre, Εὐμένης) was dynast (ruler) of the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor from 263 BC until his death in 241 BC. He was the son of Eumenes, the brother of Philetaerus, the founder of the Attalid dynasty, and Satyra, daug ...

agreed to pay the Gauls

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

in return for their protection against the barbarians. This situation changed with the ascendancy of

(believed to be the second cousin or the grandnephew of Eumenes I) in the year 241 BC. Attalus I decided against continuing the payment of tribute to the Gauls. Attalus I was the first Pergamonese ruler who dared to go against this precedent. The stoppage of payment led to a military mobilization by both the Pergamonese and the Galatians, eventually leading to war between the two parties.

The battle

There are few surviving references that detail the course of this battle. What is known for certain is that the outcome resulted in a decisive victory for

and the

Consequences

After the victory at the Caecus River,

adopted the surname "Sóter" (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ''Savior'') and officially received the title of King of Pergamon. The victory brought Attalus I a status of legendary fame. One historical account salvaged by

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

which apparently predated and predicted the battle states the following:Pausanias
10.15.3
According to this same author, the "son of the bull", the "one with bull horns" is a reference to Attalus I as the king had a bullish complexion according to him. In recognition of this victory, a monument was erected at the acropolis of

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

that included the famous sculptures the Dying Gaul and the

Ludovisi Gaul The ''Ludovisi Gaul'' (sometimes called "The Galatian Suicide") is an ancient Roman statue depicting a Gallic man plunging a sword into his breast as he holds up the dying body of his wife. This sculpture is a marble copy of a now lost Greek bronz ...

. After the defeat, the

Galatians Galatians may refer to: * Galatians (people) * Epistle to the Galatians, a book of the New Testament * English translation of the Greek ''Galatai'' or Latin ''Galatae'', ''Galli,'' or ''Gallograeci'' to refer to either the Galatians or the Gauls in ...

continued to be a serious threat to the states of

. In fact, they continued to be a threat even after their defeat by Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in the

Galatian War The Galatian War was a war between the Galatian Gauls and the Roman Republic supported by their allies Pergamum in 189 BC. The war was fought in Galatia in central Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey. The Romans had just defeated the Seleucid ...

. From this point until the region's annexation by the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

, they were virtually ignored as they had no access to the sea.

References

{{Reflist Caecus Caecus the Caecus River Ancient Galatia

Context

The battle

Consequences

See also

References