She had the flag tied around her belt loop. Him grabbing it not only would have ripped her out the tree but it also wouldn't have untied the flag. He'd have to do that manually.
Ya sorry >.< I knew it kind of wasn't that's why I threw in that the romans weren't far off the border. Also, after the amount that the Romans have trampled the Greek, I think they deserved a win ;P
He could have climbed up there. But she knew that that was an advantage that she had and like you said she used it to her advantage. It would have been unfair if she stayed on the ground and went head to head with him. She knew it was probably best to avoid that. So she did.