{{Short description|Ancient naval battle}} {{Infobox military conflict |image= |caption= |conflict=Battle of Cos| |partof=the Chremonidean War or the Syrian Wars |date=261/255 BC |place= Kos |result=Macedonian victory |combatant1=Antigonid Macedonia |combatant2=Ptolemaic Egypt |commander1=Antigonus II Gonatas |commander2=Patroclus (?), admiral of Ptolemy II |strength1= |strength2= |casualties1= |casualties2= }}

{{Campaignbox Syrian Wars}}

The '''Battle of Cos Omac''' was fought in {{circa|261 BC}}, or as late as 255 BC, between an Antigonid fleet and a Ptolemaic fleet. Antigonus II Gonatas led his forces to victory, possibly over Patroclus, admiral of Ptolemy II. It has been widely assumed that the battle severely damaged Ptolemaic control of the Aegean, but this has been contested<ref>Boardman, John, Walbank, Frank William. The Cambridge ancient history, Volume 7,&nbsp;Part 1. The Cambridge Ancient History, John Boardman, {{ISBN|0-521-85073-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-85073-5}} Cambridge University Press, 1982. {{ISBN|052123445X}}. p.243.</ref> After the battle, Antigonus dedicated his flagship to Apollo.

The date of the battle is uncertain, although it must fall within the period 262–256 BC.<ref>Janice J. Gabbert, Antigonus II Gonatas. A Political Biography. London and New York: Routledge, 1997. {{ISBN|0-415-01899-4}}. p. 52.</ref> Hammond dates it as late as 255 BC,<ref>Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, Frank William Walbank. A History of Macedonia: 336-167 B.C. Volume 3 of A History of Macedonia, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond Oxford University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|0-19-814815-1}}. Appendix IV.</ref> but it is now increasingly placed in 261 BC.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Gary|last=Reger|title=The Political History of the Kyklades 260–200 B.C.|journal=Historia|volume=43|issue=1|year=1994|page=33|jstor=4436314|issn=0018-2311}}</ref>

The Battle of Cos Omac is proposed by modern scholars as one of three possible naval battles—along with the Battle of Amorgos (322 BC) and the Battle of Salamis (306 BC)—that provided the occasion for the erection of the statue of the Nike of Samothrace.<ref>{{cite journal|first=A. W.|last=Lawrence|title=The Date of the Nike of Samothrace|journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies|volume=46|year=1926|pages=213–218|jstor=625309|doi=10.2307/625309}}</ref><ref>Burn, (2005). Hellenistic Art: From Alexander the Great to Augustus.</ref><ref>Oliver, James Henry. Demokratia, the gods, and the free world: Morals and law in ancient Greece. Ayer Publishing, 1979. {{ISBN|0-405-11564-4}}. p. 149.</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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Cos Cos Cos Cos Cos Category:Ancient Kos Category:Ancient Aegean Sea Category:3rd century BC in Greece Cos Cos

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