Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Battle of Chaeronea

Battle of Chaeronea was a battle fought in 86 BC at Chaeronea, in what is now Greece. It was part of First Mithridatic War, which ran from 89 BC to 85 BC. The recorded result: Roman victory. Recorded strength: 30,000 men against 60,000 men; 90 scythed chariots.

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Battle of Cheroneia (86 BC) between L.Cornelius Sulla and Archelaos (Mithridate's general)
Battle of Cheroneia (86 BC) between L.Cornelius Sulla and Archelaos (Mithridate's general). Cristiano64, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought86 BC
WhereChaeronea, Greece38.501N, 22.864E
OutcomeRoman victory
BelligerentsRoman RepublicagainstKingdom of Pontus
Part ofFirst Mithridatic War89 BC to 85 BC

Where it sits in First Mithridatic War

Battle of the River Amnias, 89 BCBattle of Protopachium, 89 BCBattle of Mount Scorobas, 88 BCSiege of Rhodes, 88 BCBattle of Delos, 88 BCBattle of Chaeronea, 87 BCSiege of Athens, 87 BCBattle of Chaeronea, 86 BCBattle of Orchomenus, 86 BCBattle of Tenedos, 86 BC89 BC86 BCBattle of Chaeronea, 86 BC
10 placed engagements of First Mithridatic War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date86 BC (year precision)
PlaceChaeronea, Greece
38.501N, 22.864E
KindBattle, ancient
Strength30,000 men60,000 men; 90 scythed chariots
Casualties and losses12 killed, according to Sulla (greatly disputed)All but 10,000, according to Plutarch (disputed)
Commanders
  • Sulla
  • Lucius Licinius Murena (praetor 88 BC)
Battle of ChaeroneaBattle of ChaeroneaBattle of ChaeroneaBattle of ChaeroneaSiege of LivadiaBattle of TegyraBattle of OrchomenusSiege of LivadiaBattle of TegyraAthensPatraLarissaIoaninaAgrinioTripoliPirgosErmoupoli100 km38.501N, 22.864E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Chaeronea
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Chaeronea today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-30. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 112 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 104 to 541 m, 437 m of relief, steep country and today it is 46% cropland, 21% grassland, 16% tree cover.

cropland: 46%grassland: 21%tree cover: 16%shrubland: 15%cropland 46%grassland 21%tree cover 16%shrubland 15%
west to east, 10.0 km105 to 205 mnorth to south, 10.0 km111 to 483 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between 338 BC and 86 BC.

In the same war

Battle of Chaeronea is one of 166 engagements of the 1st century BC in the atlas and one of 529 in present-day Greece.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q233352, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Chaeronea (86 BC), revision 1385295021, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.