Battle of Chios

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Battle of Chios
partof= the Cretan War


caption=
date= 201 BC
place= Off the shore of Chios
result= Allied victory
combatant1=Macedon
combatant2=Rhodes Pergamum Byzantium Cyzicus
commander1=Philip V of Macedon
commander2=Attalus I Theophiliscus of Rhodes †
strength1=Around 200 ships
strength2=Around 100 ships
casualties1=92 ships sunk
7 captured
9,000 dead
2,000 captured
casualties2=Rhodes:
3 ships sunk
60 dead
Pergamum:
3 ships sunk
2 captured
70 dead
Allies:
600 captured

The Battle of Chios (201 BC) was fought between the fleet of Philip V of Macedon against the combined fleet of Rhodes, Pergamum, Byzantium and Cyzicus.

The Cretan War had started in 205 BC when the Macedonians and their pirate and Cretan allies had started attacking Rhodian ships as Rhodes had the richest merchant fleet in the Aegean. The navies of Rhodes' allies Pergamum, Byzantium and Cyzicus joined the Rhodian fleet and then defeated the Macedonian fleet off Chios.

Prelude

With the First Macedonian War over, Philip started to rebuild his fleet to a size that could challenge the fleets of the Rhodians, Pergamese and Ptolemies.Green, "Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age", 305] Philip wanted to crush the dominant naval power in the Aegean, his ally Rhodes.Detorakis, "A History of Crete, 305] He formed alliances with Aetolian and Spartan pirates as well as a few powerful Cretan city states.

Battle

Aftermath

Notes

References

Primary Sources

*Polybius, translated by Frank W. Walbank, (1979). The Rise of the Roman Empire. New York: Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044362-2.

econdary Sources

*Peter Green, (1990). Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-500-01485-X.
*Theocharis Detorakis, (1994). A History of Crete. Heraklion: Heraklion. ISBN 960-220-712-4.

External links

* [http://www.fragrant-chios.com Chios, Greece] Information about Chios island.