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High Aspirations from Gaul |
Warfare
(- threads, 16 posts)
 The March on Delphi
Historical Thread
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Discussion of the 2nd Brennus and his march on Delphi
In about 281 BC, it is said that a second Brennus came onto the world stage and marched on Delphi. In what many Greek and Roman historians accuse of sacrilige, Brennus was reported as sacking the Temple of Apollo, and looted everything he could find. Many differing opinions pop up about this battle. The Greeks reported that the Gods came down and assisted in the battle. According to Pausanias in his Description of Greece:
But Brennus and his army were faced by the Greeks at Delphi and by the hostile portents of the god, which were swift and conspicuous to a degree that to my knowledge has no other instance. All the ground where the Gaulish army was quaked violently nearly all day, with continuous thundering and lightning. The Celts were dumbfounded by this lightning, and unable to hear when orders were given; flashes from heaven would not only strike a man down, but set fire to other men and their shields all round him. It was then that visions of the divine heroes appeared against them, Hyperochus and Laodocus and Pyrrhus, and some say a fourth, Phylacus, a hero of the Delphian district. Among the many Phocians who died in the battle was Aleximachus, who in that battle by the fine edge of his youth, by the power of his body, and the strength of his spirit contributed more than any other Greek to the massacre of barbarians. [Later,] the Phocians made a portrait of Aleximachus and sent it to Delphi for Apollo.
