How Rome Conquered Greece - Roman History DOCUMENTARY

The

history

of the human race has thousands of different conquests across eras, regions and cultures, but it is difficult to find one that has played as decisive a role in future events as the conquest of Greece by the Roman Republic, since its effects echoed throughout the world. the millennia. Welcome to our video which will cover the first Roman involvement in Greek affairs, the Four Macedonian Wars, the Seleucid War, the Aetolian War and the Achaean War. These long videos take forever to make, so consider sharing them on your social networks. Shout out to MagellanTV for sponsoring this video!

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Just ten years earlier, the burgeoning power of the Roman Republic had defeated Carthage in the First Punic War, establishing naval dominance at sea. In the east, the Hellenistic kingdoms (Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Seleucid Empire) compete for dominance of their border territories. Among these large political entities are several smaller states, such as Pergamon and the nominally independent Greek city-states. This is the world of the late 3rd century BC, but soon a series of conflicts between two rising powers: Rome and Macedonia, will change the destiny of the region forever. What was Illyria (now modern Albania and Dalmatia) was considered between the mid and late 3rd century as a completely barbaric region, only half civilized by contact with its Greek and Macedonian neighbors.

Although contact with the Greek world had led to some degree of urbanization in the south and along the coast, the region in a political sense was still made up of many small tribal chiefs. The population of Illyria had been considered from their initial encounters as turbulent and warlike by the traditionally civilized peoples who came to know them. From time to time, one of the many Illyrian tribes would gain temporary hegemony over most of the others, and in the 230s this was the Ardiaei. Ruled by their energetic king, Agron, they had forged a union not only of their own Illyrian peoples, but also of prominent figures, such as Demetrius, the Greek lord of Pharos.

Coinciding with the rise of this new Illyrian power came the collapse of Epirus, whose once formidable strength had waned and whose monarchy fell. Taking advantage of this weakness, the Illyrians invaded and eventually managed to seize Epirote territory far south of the traditional border, culminating in the capture of Phenice, the richest city in the kingdom. However, despite these successes, Agron died shortly afterwards and was nominally succeeded by his son. In reality, it was her wife Teuta who exercised true power, and she was quickly named regent for her stepson. Her rise did not stop Illyrian belligerence and during her reign piracy increasingly became a major problem in the Mediterranean.

The seizure of more southern territories in Epirus had allowed the establishment of more staging points from which the bandits could set sail. This had been happening for a long time, but the growing magnitude of the problem, the increasingly loud complaints of Roman merchants, and the economic impact of piracy on the Republic prompted the Senate to act. Unusually peaceful for the notoriously warlike Romans, the initial senatorial reaction in 230 BC. C. was not to send the legions, but to send a diplomatic embassy of two brothers to investigate the situation. In the typically harsh style of Roman diplomacy, the Coruncanius brothers protested to Teuta about the increasing piracy and demanded that it cease immediately.

The demand was non-negotiable and the Illyrians would have the opportunity to fulfill it peacefully; otherwise it would be war. Teuta rejected this demand, either because of her inability to control the actions of her decentralized tribal allies or because she simply did not wish to give in to Roman demands. In any case, this did not please the Romans, a situation that was made even worse by the murder of a Roman envoy, possibly by Teuta herself in the midst of the anger of the meeting or on the return trip home by those same pirates who had killed her. embassy had. he been sent to stop.

While the death of the Roman envoy was the immediate trigger for the war, the expansion of the power of the Ardaei tribe over the region was a deeper geopolitical cause: Rome did not want any powerful rival in the Adriatic. At the end of the campaign season of the year 229 BC. C., a huge Roman force of 22,000 and 200 ships descended on the Illyrians. Although the details of the short campaign are unknown, it is known that the Roman expedition was a complete success from north to south. Teuta's appointed governor of the recently

conquered

island of Corcyra, Demetrius of Pharos, defected to the Roman side almost immediately, while the queen regent's forces were defeated in the field.

In the spring of 228, Teuta had been forced to sign a peace treaty with the Romans, dividing her kingdom into weaker segments and prohibiting piracy adventures in the southern Adriatic Sea. The Romans withdrew their troops, leaving behind only their amicitia, or "friendship," a benign-sounding term that would soon apparently become anything but. In essence, being a “friend” of Rome included the de facto conditions of becoming an informal client state. A main beneficiary of the peace of 228 was the deserter Demetrius of Pharos, who was granted a small independent principality, located between the rest of the Ardiaean kingdom and the Greek cities.

Despite these achievements under Roman auspices, it seems that the ambitious Demetrius was not content to remain in his small kingdom, and shortly after the peace was concluded, he married Triteuta, the biological mother of the king of Ardia. . By becoming the young man's formal regent in this act, Demetrius of Pharos effectively recreated the powerful Illyrian kingdom abolished by Rome in the First Illyrian War. Even more boldly, he began to launch raids on the territory of Rome's allied tribes. It could be that Demetrius was "testing the water" and, due to the lack of Roman response, he believed that they were unable or unwilling to intervene.

This was wishful thinking, as the Romans were occupied by the Roman-Galic War of 226-222 BC. C., and it would turn out to be a fatal illusion for Demetrius. Trying even more luck, Demetrius set out with 90 light galleys in the summer of 220 BC. C. in a great pirate expedition, devastating cities around the Adriatic Sea in flagrant violation of the treaty eight years earlier. He had finally gone too far, and Rome now decided that their former ally Demetrius now posed the same threat to Roman interests as Teuta and, furthermore, wished to punish their friend for betraying them and not acting as a friend should.

The disproportionately massive Roman action that began in 219 was probably motivated by the Republic's desire to quickly and decisively conclude the situation in Illyria before a new war with Carthage began, as it seemed might happen. Demetrius's strategy was to hold the fortresses of Dimallum and Pharos itself, but the Romans took the former in just seven days, while a hasty departure by Demetrius caused him to lose Pharos. The man himself avoided capture because he had placed a squadron of hidden galleys in a secret cove, fleeing towards them when the battle was lost. On these ships he fled south, abandoning his family to Roman imprisonment and his men to death at Roman hands.

Shortly afterward, Demetrius arrived at the Adriatic port city of Actium, where the fleet of a great Hellenistic king was anchored: Philip V of Macedonia. When he arrived, Demetrius was warmly received by the king and quickly became a key advisor. Meanwhile, the Romans once again withdrew all their soldiers from the region, leaving no military presence. Once again they left only their friendship behind, but they had shown the great southern Macedonian kingdom that they had the will to intervene in the east. Before continuing, we need to go back in time for a moment and briefly examine the history of Macedonia after its would-be conqueror, Pyrrhus of Epirus, died in Argos.

The victor of that battle, Antigonus II Gonatas, was firmly in control of Macedonia by 272 and had also established hegemony over the Greek city-states. Having won the loyalty of his turbulent homeland, Antigonus II did everything he could to keep it. He raised a large sacred mound to honor the tombs of House Argead, reorganized the provincial system to increase its efficiency, and was careful to ensure that Macedonian coins remained a high-quality currency. Antigonus made good use of Macedonia's depleted resources and funds and focused on access and mobility, making extensive use of the Antigonid fleet and the large naval fortresses of Demetrias, Chalcis, and Corinth to transport troops to strategic locations.

An Athenian-led and Ptolemaic-supported attempt to throw off Macedonian domination failed in the Cheromidian War of 268 to 281. Although Antigonus managed to quell this revolt, crucial fortresses such as Acrocorinth were lost during his reign, which ultimately ended in 239 BC with his death. His successor, Demetrius II, ruled for a relatively quiet decade during which the Macedonian situation weakened further and he died in 229. The late king's own son, Philip V, was only a child at the time of his death. father, and Macedonia could I cannot afford to have a child ruler in such a dangerous time. It was evident that a regent was needed for the time being, and a distant relative of the Antigonid was chosen for the task: Antigonus Doson.

As one of the least known but most competent Macedonian kings during the 3rd century BC. C., Antigonus Doson began to raise the young Philip as his own son and, at the same time, vigorously undertook a campaign to drive back Macedonia's enemies. He first marched north and expelled the Illyrians from the kingdom, and then attacked south and crushed the Aetolian League. After securing his borders, Antigonus proceeded to renounce all Macedonian claims south of the Thermopylae Pass, wisely hoping to consolidate and stabilize the situation in Macedonia itself. The army's response was to demand that Antigonus accept the title of king.

While doing this, Philip V's rights to the throne were neither usurped nor taken away, and Antigonus quickly named him the official heir. After another series of victories that included the first capture of Sparta by a foreign army, Antigonus III Doson died in 221, leaving behind a resurgent, stable and increasingly powerful Macedonia for Philip V, who now ascended the throne. Shortly after assuming the throne, Philip V and the Macedonian hegemony were again challenged by the Aetolian League and its allies during the Social War of 220-217, who believed that Philip was too young to be an effective ruler. It was during this war that Demetrius of Pharos arrived at the royal court.

Catastrophic events in the West began to attract greater attention in the Mediterranean world. The Second Punic War broke out in 218 and the Carthaginian general Hannibal successfully crossed the Alps to invade Italy. There, he had already defeated a Roman field army at the River Trebia and, in June 217, he crushed another at Lake Trasimene in Etruria. Upon learning of these massive Roman defeats, Philip V began to consider westward expansion at the expense of a seemingly moribund Roman Republic. This new direction was encouraged by Demetrius of Pharos who, having been expelled from his dominion in the Adriatic by Rome, now argued that Philip should end the Social War, gain control of the Illyrian coast and attack himself. to Italy.

By accepting the military status quo and ending the war in Greece at Naupactus, Philip expelled the Illyrians from Macedonia once again and in the winter of 217 he had a fleet of 100 light warships built. InIn the summer of 216, the king made his first attempt to secure the coastal region of Illyria, but fled home upon hearing news that a Roman fleet was approaching. The decisive Roman defeat at Cannae was another crucial moment, as it prompted Philip to send envoys to Hannibal asking for a formal alliance; He no doubt wanted to join the “winning” side and make profits at the expense of Rome.

The story goes that the envoy, Xenophanes, was captured by a Roman praetor when he was on his way to speak with Hannibal, but managed to fight his way to freedom by claiming that he was instead there to make peace with Rome. However, the unfortunate Xenophanes was captured again on his way back to Macedonia with the formal treaty with Hannibal in his possession. This is how the Romans learned of the new threat that was presented to them. Following the conclusion of the Punic-Macedonian treaty, Philip attacked further with further attacks against the Illyrian coast, attacking Corcyra in 215. This intensified in 214 when a major offensive began: Philip's land army marched north towards Illyria to through Epirus while 120 Macedonian galleys sailed north. the Strait of Otranto.

In this campaign, Philip quickly seized Oricum and besieged Apollonia, who asked Rome for help. With a strengthened Adriatic fleet, the Roman commander Levinus now crossed into the sea with 55 heavy Roman warships, lifted the siege of Apollonia, and expelled the Macedonians from Oricum, two crucial ports that could have been used as a staging point for an attack on Italy. After the victory, Levinus spent the winter with his fleet at Oricum, while Philip burned his ships and retreated overland to Macedonia. Having been blockaded at sea, the Macedonian king attacked over the Pindus Mountains, making significant gains in 213 and 212.

The inland tribal settlements of Dassaretis, Parthini and Atintani fell into his hands, without a significant Roman response. The Republic had no spare ground troops for a parallel adventure in the eastern Adriatic, as they were still fighting Hannibal. This situation changed during the latter part of the year 212, when Philip was once again able to reach the Adriatic. After fighting his way overland to the coast, he managed to seize the coastal fortress of Liso, another possible stopping point. It became clear to the Romans that this eastern threat could no longer be ignored. Neutralizing Philip at this point was beyond Roman military power due to the Carthaginian war, so the Senate began using diplomacy as a weapon and began attracting other Greek states to neutralize for them.

A treaty was signed between the Aetolian League, traditionally anti-Macedonian, and Rome, the former convinced of the alliance due to Roman victories in the Punic War during the summer of 211 at Capua and Taranto. The terms were generous for the Aetolians: they would get any captured town or city, but the loot would go to the Romans unless the town was taken jointly. Another term allowed the inclusion of other Aetolian allies, such as Sparta, Elis, Messenia, the Illyrians, and even Pergamum. The war itself was a disruptive and indecisive duel, in which the Romans took several important centers, such as Anticyra, but Philip V made advances against the rest of the coalition.

Attempts at peace talks by non-combatant states failed in 207 due to Rome's deliberate derailing actions, but during 206 and 205 they were gradually forced to accept peace. Although the final treaty ending the war at Phenice ended hostilities for the time being, it was clear that Rome's desire to punish Philip for his attempt to kick them while they were down had not yet been satiated. One thing was certain, however: Rome was very slowly winning the Second Punic War and would soon be able to harness its full power against Macedonia. When Philip V received reports of the final Roman victory at Zama in 202 BC.

C., he did not stop his belligerent behavior. Instead, he began to take advantage of Egypt's weakening, alarming many of her smaller neighbors. Since 207, Egypt had been trapped in a downward spiral. Since the final division of the Successor Kingdoms at Ipsus, the eastern Mediterranean had remained stable thanks to a balance of power between the three main Hellenistic monarchies: Antigonid Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Seleucid Empire. If one of the three became too powerful, the other two functioned as a counterweight, preventing any one power from becoming hegemonic and therefore protecting the smaller states of the Hellenistic world. This system began to crumble in 205, when the priests of the Egyptian god Amun took advantage of the natives' discontent with the Ptolemaic government and proclaimed a new pharaoh.

This ignited a devastating revolt that separated all of Upper Egypt from the Alexandrian regime, and the increasingly ineffective government allowed anarchy to grow unchecked. This was not the end. Things deteriorated further in 204, when King Ptolemy IV died prematurely and was succeeded by his six-year-old son, Ptolemy V. Conflicts over the regency of this boy king further paralyzed the Alexandrian regime and made it vulnerable. . Unfortunately for them, this was the worst time to be weak in such a competitive political world. The First Macedonian War between the Romans and Philip had just ended in the closing years of the 3rd century, and the Seleucid king Antiochus III had returned from his great eastern campaigns.

These two great kings now eyed the almost defenseless Ptolemaic overseas possessions, and Antiochus launched the Fifth Syrian War in 202 to seize traditionally disputed territories in Cyprus and Coele-Syria. The predatory Philip V of Macedonia quickly gained several of the Cyclades islands and established good relations with the numerous Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor. Bulldozing his way across the Aegean would not be without consequences, as he quickly earned the ire of Rhodes and Pergamum, smaller states that wished to curb Macedonian expansion and declared war in 201. Shortly thereafter, Philip defeated a joint attempt aid from Rhodes and Pergamon. in the siege of Chios with heavy losses and then attacked Pergamum itself.

Although Philip decisively defeated his enemy's land army outside the walls, he failed to take the city. Realizing that attempting to do so would only deplete his strength, Philip annexed most of Caria and the Peraia of Rhodes directly into what was becoming a New Macedonian Empire. In autumn, Philip's fleet was attacked at Lade by the Rhodesian navy, but managed to win anyway. During the winter of 201, a fleet from Rhodes blockaded Philip in the Gulf of Bargylia, off the coast of Caria, where the king was apparently struggling to feed himself and his army. They knew that the king would break out at some point and they also knew that they were losing the war against Macedonia, so they went west for help.

Ambassadors from several anti-Macedonian states, such as Pergamum, Rhodes, and Egypt, traveled to Rome and informed the Senate of a secret pact that Philip had signed with Antiochus III that would divide the Ptolemaic possessions between them. It was these smaller and weaker Hellenistic political entities that opened the doors to Roman intervention in the Greek world, as they considered the main threat to their independence to come from Antiochus and Philip, and not from Rome, as is commonly believed. As predicted, Philip managed to trick his enemies into letting him escape during the spring of 200 BC. C. and finally returned to Macedonia.

The northern Aegean campaign continued by land upon his return and the king toured the region until he reached Abydos, which he besieged. Observing this blatant Macedonian aggression, the dangerous cooperation between the two Hellenistic monarchies, and a seemingly resurgent Macedonia, the Roman Senate asked the people to vote them a mandate for war. However, the popular assembly rejected this demand for another war due to war fatigue and the fact that southern Italy had been devastated in the Second Punic War. Not at all demoralized by its initial failure, the Senate gave the consul Publius Sulpicio Galba the task of winning over the public assembly.

Comparing the emerging Macedonian threat to the great invaders of Italy: Pyrrhus and Hannibal, Galba managed to persuade the assembly to declare war on Philip V. As the Roman army prepared its supply lines across the Adriatic and Philip continued his siege in Abydos. , three prominent senatorial emissaries set out on a grand diplomatic mission to the east. His message was clear to all: if Philip would refrain from making war on the Greeks and compensate Pergamum for its losses, there would be peace. The Macedonian king blatantly rejected the Roman envoys and committed himself to war. The Second Macedonian War had begun, and it began with the fall of Abydos, whose citizens committed mass suicide due to their reluctance to live under Philip's rule.

At the end of November of the year 200 BC. C., the king returned to Macedonia and learned that 20,000 Romans had already landed in Apollonia under the command of Galba, while 50 warships were docked on the island of Corcyra. Deciding to focus initially on peripheral threats, Philip campaigned in the Peloponnese. At the same time, the consul Galba carried out raids into the Illyrian countryside to prepare for the campaign, sacking Antipatrea so thoroughly that it was only recovered in the 5th century AD. After failing to invade Macedonia through the mountains, the weak and sickly Galba was replaced by Publius Villius Tappalus.

Things were even worse for Villius, as he immediately faced a mutiny among the legions upon taking command. 2,000 veterans of the Second Punic War felt they had been away from their farms and families for too long and refused to obey orders. The Roman forces were paralyzed for a time, but to his credit Villius heard his complaints and promised to take them to the Senate. When the situation cooled somewhat due to his attempts at mitigation, Villius marched and camped near a gorge on the Aous River. Philip V had also arrived here shortly before, establishing his own army in a strong defensive position on the main route from Apollonia to Macedonia.

Villius' command had followed his course and immediately after setting up camp at Aous he was replaced by a vibrant member of the Quinctia patrician family: Titus Quinctius Flamininus. This passionate, irascible and generous philhellene had previously served successfully as governor of Taranto, and in 198 he was elected consul despite being too young to do so legally. However, Flamininus almost immediately set out for eastern Greece with 3,000 veteran soldiers accompanying him, ignoring the standard period of honors and administrative duties that a new consul in Rome would assume. After arriving at the Roman camp at Aous, Flamininus relieved Villius of command and sent an envoy to demand negotiations with Philip, negotiations that would be traditionally Roman.

The King and Consul faced each other on opposite sides of the swift Aous, each with their respective retinues of advisors and generals behind them. Philip attempted to bring Flaminino to a compromise, arguing that the treatment of each annexed city would have to be different, proposing a decision by an independent tribunal. However, Flamininus was not going to accept any compromise and instead proclaimed that his mission was to free all Greeks from Macedonian domination. To this end, he demanded that Philip first give up Thessaly, a possession that had been part of Macedonia for 120 years. This intentionally irrational demand worked, causing Felipe to break off negotiations and return to his excellent defensive position.

The Roman general wasted no time and ordered his missile troops and light infantry to engage Philip's forces, engaging in projectile duels. This distracted the Macedonians and their commander while 4,300 carefully selected legionaries, led by an Epirote nobleman named Charops, advanced along a secondary route into the mountains. Once this flanking force was in place, Flamininus advanced and the Macedonians fled to avoid being caught in the Roman pincer. The loss of the crucial Philippi baggage train was a severe blow, but even worse was the loss of confidence that this defeat meant for Macedonia's Greek allies. When the king returned with his bloodied army to Macedonia, many wavering powers declared for the Romans or remained neutral, including the Achaean League, Macedonia's most powerful Greek ally.

The subsequent campaign was indecisive for Flamininus, who became bogged down in a siege at Atrax and then retreated for the winter. At the same time, Philip began to prepare for a decisive confrontation the following year, even recruiting young and old people for war. Peace talks failed when the glory-seeking Flaminino's command was expanded, leading him to break off negotiations. When the spring of 197 arrived, Philip marched south and stopped at a city called Pharae, where his army began searching for supplies and even saw some Roman explorers. Upon learning of the Macedonian presence, Flamininus and his army marched towardsnorth from Boeotia, hoping to intercept Philip before he could retreat.

On a gloomy and misty morning, the two armies finally approached near a sloping ridge called Cynoscephalae. Before the battle begins, let's take a moment to examine the composition of the opposing armies that came into contact in the hills of Thessaly... Flamininus' field army consisted of two Roman and two allied legions, totaling around 20,000 lethal legionary infantry, with many among them grizzled veterans of the Punic War. 2,000 velites protected this core of the Roman army, while 2,500 equite cavalrymen and even 20 war elephants protected its flanks. Along with these Italian forces, the Roman army also included a substantial contingent of Greek allies. 1,200 light infantry joined the army of Epirus, 800 archers from Crete and 6,000 infantry, as well as 400 cavalry from the Aetolian League.

In total, Flamininus had around 32,000 soldiers. On the other side of the ridge, Philip's core of 16,000 Sarissa-armed Phalangists was accompanied by 2,000 elite Agema peltasts, 4,000 Illyrian and Thracian mercenaries, 1,500 Greek hoplite mercenaries, and 2,000 Thessalian and Macedonian cavalry. Each commander knew his counterpart was close to him, but the reduced vision of the fog caused disorientation in both armies. Philip set out in the morning and sent a fast-moving party of skirmishers to the top of the ridge to get a better view. When they reached the top, ten squadrons of Roman cavalry and 1,000 velites emerged from the darkness and attacked. Both scouting contingents suffered some casualties, but both also managed to warn their commanders of what was happening on the Cynoscephalae Ridge.

Flamininus reacted quickly and sent 2,000 Aetolian infantry and 500 cavalry to the ridge as reinforcements. His arrival tipped the balance in favor of the Romans and the Antigonid skirmish force slowly retreated to the top of the ridge, sending frantic messengers to Philip for help. Although the king did not wish to enter battle in such unfavorable terrain, he was not going to abandon his scouting party and sent 3,500 cavalry and mercenary infantry to reinforce it. This tipped the balance and the new reinforcements pushed the Romans back down the slope. Polybius tells us that they were almost completely defeated, but this was prevented by skillful skirmishing and harassment by the Aetolian allies.

At that point in the morning the sun began to dissipate the fog and, with the battle visible on the hillside visible to the Romans, Flamininus and his entire army could see their strength lose. Witnessing the apparent defeat of the Roman skirmish force demoralized the main Roman army, but its commander handled the situation appropriately. After ordering his entire army to form in battle order, Flamininus addressed his troops at the base of the slope. He used all the oratory skills a prominent politician would have, professing to them, "You've fought these men before and beaten them before!" While this was happening, the triumphant Antigonid harassers sent jubilant messages to Philip, urging the king to attack while the momentum was on his side.

Then, he gave the order for the army to deploy in battle order. Due to the lack of preparation for the encounter, half of Felipe's troops were still searching for food, and he was only able to form half of his forces, ordering his general Nicanor to follow the path when the others had returned. . Having formed the right side of his line, the king marched at the head of his phalanx up the hill, hoping to rush and defeat the Romans with the weight of his phalanx, which was protected by the agema peltasts and flanked on the wing. right by cavalry.

On the other side of the ridge, Flaminino advanced with only the left side of his line to reinforce the battle that was still continuing between the two scouting parties. The presence of heavy infantry in the fighting caused the Macedonians to retreat uphill; many died while others fled to their king. Two semi-armies were now advancing down each side of the slope directly toward each other, but they were not yet aware that the other was present, for a light fog still obscured sound and sight. It was because of this that the Roman left may not have seen Philip's 8,000 strong contingent cresting the hill in front of them as they ascended, but now both armies came into view of each other.

The Phalangists quickly organized themselves into a double-deep formation, lowered their sarissas, and charged down the slope toward the unsuspecting Romans. The remnants of Flamininus' scouting force barely managed to form before the Phalangists attacked them. The tips of the metal pikes collided with the heavy Roman shields, but the crushing momentum of the downhill charge and the double-deep phalanx quickly began to force the legionaries back. The Antigonid and Roman cavalry clashed on the wing and the light infantry skirmished with each other, but the main clash took place in the center. Although the Roman left fought bravely and stubbornly did not collapse under the pressure, it was slowly but surely devoured by the bristling wall of pikes.

The encounter had started well for Philip, it looked like it was only going to get better when Nicanor's largest contingent began to crest the ridge on the king's left flank, in a hasty marching formation. Despite his best attempts to rally the besieged troops to his left from behind the line, Flamininus was being pushed ever closer to the Roman camp. Realizing that his left would soon collapse under the weight of the phalanx, the Philhellenic commander turned his horse and galloped toward the unengaged Roman right, which was now protected by the war elephants. Upon arrival, Flamininus ordered his forces on this side of the battlefield to charge the disorganized men under Nicanor's command, most of whom were arriving or had not yet formed.

The Phalangists, the core of Philip's army, were almost useless if not rigidly deployed, and now the Romans crushed them. Many Macedonian soldiers were killed instantly, but many more fled and were pursued by the legionaries. It seemed that the battle was balanced: Philip had triumphed on the Roman left, but Flamininus had crushed Nicanor. However, an anonymous Roman tribune, who must have enjoyed immense respect among the troops, managed to stop 20 maniples, or around 2,500 troops from the right wing, probably composed mostly of Triarii veterans. Realizing that things were not going well on the Roman left wing, the unnamed military tribune marched his contingent of disciplined troops across the ridge and then attacked Philip's victorious phalanx from the rear.

At the same time, the inspired and angry legionaries who had suffered for hours under the Macedonian attack renewed their assault. This intuitive maneuver caused the inflexible phalanx to fragment and many of its falangists died. Philip rode up and down the line in a vain attempt to rally the soldiers to him, but quickly realized that he was useless and galloped off the battlefield. While the Romans were busy massacring the remaining enemy troops, a particularly terrible massacre occurred. A group of Macedonian Phalangists performed the traditional gesture of surrender: raising their pikes directly to the sky. However, the furious legionnaires charged and killed them all anyway.

The battle was over and the legion had triumphed over Alexander's phalanx. The Romans only lost around 700 dead, most on their left, which bravely resisted the attack. Antigonid casualties were catastrophic, with 8,000 dead and another 5,000 captured. At the subsequent Tempe Conference humiliating peace conditions were imposed on Philip: he had to evacuate all of Greece, including Thessaly, and renounce the conquests he had obtained in Asia Minor and Thrace. A large war indemnity was demanded, his navy was destroyed and his son Demetrius was sent to Rome as a hostage. Finally, and most irritatingly, the proud Philip would become a client king of Rome, essentially a puppet.

This war thwarted any viable attempt at Macedonian revival, but it would not stop them from trying. Once the Tempe peace conference was over, Titus Quinctius Flamininus decided to definitively demonstrate that it was Rome that would be the true savior of Greece. During the Isthmian games in the spring of 196, Flamininus took the speaker's stand and declared that the Senate, general, and consul would leave the Greeks free, ungarrisoned, untaxed, and autonomous after more than a century of Macedonian rule. . Flaminino, bursting with joy at his apparent “liberation,” was mobbed at the festivities and showered with honors by the grateful city-states.

In Rome, the Senate decreed five days of thanksgiving for Cynoscephalae's victory; his dignitas had never been so high. Furthermore, at the games, Flamininus was received by a group of envoys who had arrived at the request of King Antiochus III, to congratulate the consul on his victory and to assure the Romans of his lord's peaceful intentions. Whatever response they expected to receive, they were met with cold severity and demands. Antiochus was to stay away from the Greek cities, withdrew his garrisons from those he had already captured, and was ordered not to attempt to cross into Greece. We must now follow the admonished envoys to the East, where they informed their sovereign, Antiochus III, of the Roman demands.

While Rome and Macedonia fought at Cynoscephalae, Antiochus, also known as "the Great", was concluding the Fifth Syrian War against his traditional rival: the Ptolemies of Egypt. In the final year of the conflict, the kingdom created by Alexander's Diadochi, Seleucus, became the largest empire of its time, seizing Caria, Lycia, Cilicia, Coelesyria, and other Asian possessions of the Ptolemies. It is therefore not surprising that Antiochus, considered one of the greatest commanders of the time, was angered by Roman intrusion into Greek affairs and diplomatic rebuke of him, and relied on his strength. In this period, Antiochus began to create a fleet off the coast of southern Asia Minor, probably planning to invade Ephesus, Egypt.

However, the movement of his fleet westward provoked a reaction from Rhodes. The small island was not strong enough to compete with the Seleucids on land, but it had a dominant navy, so Antiochus promised to leave Halicarnassus to the Rhodians and not create a base on Samos in exchange for free passage of his navy through of the waters of Rhodes. Once war was avoided, in 196 BC. Antiochus took charge of the rest of the Ptolemaic possessions in Asia Minor, including the crucial Ephesus. He then decided to conquer the territory of weakened Macedonia and took Abydos and Ilium, which meant that he now had a perfect location to cross the Hellespont.

The citizens of nearby Lampsacus were worried they would be next and, in a sign of how things had changed in the last decade, sent envoys to the Romans asking for protection. At this time the cities in the area were under Thracian control, and Antiochus obviously knew that the Greeks would welcome the restoration of Hellenic rule. He then crossed the Hellespont, first taking Chersonesos and then besieging Madytos. The fall of the latter forced other cities to submit, and Antiochus increased his influence by rebuilding the city of Lysimacheia, which effectively bottlenecked the Gallipoli peninsula. This might have impressed some of the Greeks, but the Romans were not amused and decided that Antiochus's taking of Gallipoli was a violation of the ultimatum.

Roman politics was dominated by two men: the victor of Cynoscephalae, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the hero of the war against Carthage, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. The latter wanted to send troops to Greece immediately, but the peace party led by Flamininus prevailed, so the Republic sent a diplomatic mission to Lysimachia, demanding that Antiochus leave Europe and return to the Ptolemies their lost territories in Asia Minor. However, by the time he arrived, Antiochus had already made peace with Egypt by marrying his and Ptolemy V's 10-year-old daughter. She claimed that since Ptolemy was his son-in-law, she was not going to fight him. not anymore.

As negotiations continued, news arrived that the Ptolemaic king had died. Antiochus immediately broke off the talks and rushed to Ephesus and from there to Antioch, confirming Roman suspicions that the Seleucids wanted even more territory. We do not have all the details, but it is known that the king attempted to launch an invasion of Cyprus, but the expedition ended in failure, either due to a storm or mutiny. Returning to the coast, Antiochus decided to attack Egypt directly, but received news that Ptolemy was not dead. The campaign ended before it began; Antiochus signed a peace treaty with his son-in-law and then returned to Ephesus.

During this period, the Seleucid ruler continued to use diplomacy to improve his international situation. Pergamum, ruled by the Attalid dynasty, was the traditional rival of the Seleucidsand, eager to change that, he attempted to marry his daughter Antiochis to his king Eumenes II. The latter concluded that an alliance with the Romans was preferable and rejected the offer, but Antiochus was undeterred and instead signed a marriage alliance with the Cappadocian king Ariarates. At the same time, his diplomats brought rich gifts to the Galatians, since Antiochus wanted to have the support of the famous Celtic warriors. An event that occurred in the year 194 BC.

C. demonstrates to modern audiences how interconnected the ancient world was; However, for the ancients, it further complicated the diplomatic situation. The famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca was exiled from his homeland and came to the Seleucid court of Ephesus in hopes of becoming a mercenary commander. Antiochus received him courteously but, probably worried that Hannibal might upstage him, kept him at a distance. The Romans, concerned about Hannibal's arrival, sent their own envoys. Trying to sow discord between the king and the exile, the diplomats deliberately paid more attention to the latter. Understanding that this put him in danger, Hannibal told Antiochus the story of how his father Hamilcar forced him to take an oath of eternal enmity against the Romans.

This immediately improved the position of the Carthaginians at court. Between 193 and 192 BC. BCE, the Romans and the Seleucids continued to engage in diplomacy, primarily discussing the Seleucid presence in Europe, but the talks went nowhere. Another regional power that was looking for allies was the Aetolian League. Fearing that the Roman alliance with their rival Achaean League was a danger, they sent envoys to Antiochus. In 192 BC C., the Seleucid ruler agreed to form an alliance and sent his representative to the Aetolian assembly. Unexpectedly, the latter passed a resolution inviting Antiochus to liberate Greece and settle affairs between Aetolians and Romans.

Although Antiochus knew that it was a measure that could start war with the Romans, it was an offer that the king could not reject without losing prestige, so when the Aetolians promised that they would support him with his troops, he agreed to cross into Greece. . Roman historians claim that it was Hannibal who convinced Antiochus to go to war, but the former was in Syria at the time. The first step in the war was taken by the Aetolians: their troops killed the unpopular Spartan king Nabis, hoping to seize the city and put pressure on the Achaean league, but the locals rebelled and the invaders had to retreat.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, they were left defenseless and soon Achaean League soldiers entered the city and forced it to become a member of the League, forever ending Spartan independence in the process. However, the Aetolians were not discouraged and, to give Antiochus a good place to land his army, they took control of the city called Demetrias, which had an excellent port. The king had a small navy that could not transport all of his troops, so after offering a sacrifice to the goddess Athena at Ilium, he began crossing the Aegean Sea in the fall of 192 BC. It seems that the land route from Thrace through Macedonia was rejected, so as not to push Philip V into the anti-Seleucid camp.

Antiochus landed at Demetrias and moved south to Lamia, where the Aetolians held their assembly. Here he was welcomed as a liberating hero and elected leader of the league. Still, the king found himself in an awkward position: the Romans had no troops in the region and the liberator of Greece could not attack the Greeks, so the Seleucids lacked a clear military objective. Lacking one, Antiochus once again sought allies. First, he addressed the crucial city of Chalcis, which had been garrisoned by Attalid and Achaean troops since the end of the Second Macedonian War. The king tried to convince the city to join him, but he was rebuked and, although he had enough troops to take it by force, he decided not to shed the blood of his fellow Greeks and returned to Demetrias.

He then sent envoys to Athens, to the Achaeans, to Macedonia, and to the hetmans. The latter were a Greek or Hellenized tribe who rose to prominence in the turmoil of the Diadochi wars and agreed to help, while Philip V, still recovering from his defeat at Cynoscephalae, bided his time and the Achaeans decided to retain their alliance. with Rome. Things were much more dramatic on the Athenian front: the oligarchic party wanted to support the Romans, the democratic party Antiochus. The former invited the forces of the Achaean League, which resulted in violent street battles, during which the Seleucid supporters were defeated.

Rome became aware of the Seleucid activity and the praetor Marcus Baebius was sent to Apollonia with more than 20,000 Romans and Italics. Although they outnumbered Antiochus, the Romans had no intention of appearing to be an aggressor, so they did not declare war, but the presence of Baebius was enough to keep Macedonia under control. Unfortunately for the Romans, they had to support their allies, and when the garrison of Chalcis called for reinforcements, Baebius sent 500 legionaries. We can assume that this was the final straw for Antiochus, as he ordered his admiral Polyxenidas to block the Strait of Eurypus between Chalcis and mainland Greece, and he marched south with the rest of his army.

When the Roman contingent reached the crossing, it was blocked by the Seleucid navy, so he continued south to await transports at Delium. Shortly after this unit was surrounded and destroyed by the Seleucids, beginning the war that would later be called the Seleucid War, the Syrian War, and the Antiochian War. Some sources claim that the Romans had already declared war at this time, but the message reached Antiochus after the skirmish at Delium. Still hoping to get the Achaeans and Pergamum to ally with him, Antiochus allowed the Chalcis garrison to leave under a truce. Soon the rest of Euboea capitulated to the king.

His next targets were the cities of the Boeotian League, which quickly surrendered, and the League of Thessaly, created by the Romans after the Second Macedonian War. Antiochus still attempted to negotiate, however, he noticed that the members of the league began to mobilize under the cover of these talks, so at the beginning of 191 BC. C., he acted quickly and captured the league's main city, Pherai, massacring its defenders. He then moved into League territory and, in a short and decisive campaign, seized most of the cities in the region, except for the fortress of Larisa, which was besieged by the Seleucids.

As the siege continued, Antiochus sent 2,000 men south to the camp of Cynoscephalae. In a symbolic gesture, his soldiers buried the Greek dead, whose bones were left on the battlefield. By doing this, the Seleucid ruler attempted to show how full of piety he was compared to the Roman barbarians, and how much more he cared for his fellow Hellenes than for Philip. The latter considered this gesture a direct insult and declared his loyalty to Rome. Baebius immediately entered into negotiations with the Macedonian king, obtaining the right of military access. A 2,000-strong legionary detachment under Appius Claudius was sent south, probably as a reconnaissance force.

The details are unclear, but apparently the Roman commander arrived in Tempe and built a larger camp filled with additional campfires to exaggerate their numbers. Although sources assume that Antiochus was tricked into believing that the Roman-Macedonian attack was imminent and lifted the siege, it was probably due to the weather and supply situation. In any case, he soon began his retreat to Chalcis. Both sides now looked forward to spring. At Chalcis, Antiochus decided that another dynastic marriage was necessary, but this time he married the daughter of a local nobleman himself, perhaps to demonstrate to the lesser Greek nobles, who ruled in most city-states, that he I was on his side.

These royal marriages were common in the east, but backfired on the locals, who considered sexual activity detrimental to warfare. Furthermore, during the celebrations, the Greeks were once again shocked by their Macedonian brethren's practice of drinking undiluted wine, and the king's participation in this activity further diminished his position. During his stay on the island, Antiochus continued to seek allies but obtained none. He also sent messengers to Asia, ordering reinforcements. The Romans did not sit idly by. The alliance with the Achaean League, Pergamum and Rhodes was confirmed, and the consul of the year, a supporter of Scipio, Manius Acilius Glabrio, was to lead a new army of 15 thousand men to Greece.

In a sign of how crucial this war was for the Romans, two former consuls, Marcus Porcius Cato and Valerius Flaccus, were chosen as legates. It is also notable that both legacies belonged to the party of Flamininus, which meant that the rival parties put aside their differences to defeat Antiochus. While the main army crossed the Adriatic, Cato landed in the Peloponnese and made a diplomatic tour of Achaia and Athens, sarcastically stating that “Antiochus makes war with letters and fights with pen and ink.” Before Glabrius arrived in Illyria in March, Baebius and Philip V began their campaign against the Seleucid garrisons in Thessaly.

The only significant anti-Roman force in the region were the atamans and they were quickly defeated, followed by the Seleucid garrisons, which nullified all the gains made by Antiochus in his campaign in Thessaly. Antiochus, meanwhile, consolidated his forces in Boeotia and then advanced westward toward Acarnania to take control of it and put pressure on the Epirotes, in order to add his troops to his own. Acarnania was also important in gaining a port on the Ionian Sea and cutting the direct line between Italy and the Achaean League. The city of Medeon joined the Seleucid cause through diplomatic pressure, however, the Romans now had over 35 thousand troops in the area and were supported by Philip's 5 thousand army, so the Acarnanians and Epirotes They declared their support.

Antiochus's army, even with the additions of the Aetolians, numbered less than 20,000. There were no allies to be found in Greece and no reinforcements would soon arrive from Asia, possibly due to the allied activity of the Rhodians and Attalids in the Aegean Sea. Outnumbered 2 to 1, he could not remain in Aetolia, as the Roman march south now threatened his supply and retreat lines. At the same time, he did not want to abandon the Aetolians. Initially, the allies decided to defend at Lamia, but that would have given the Romans the opportunity to outflank them, so, in true Hellenic style, Antiochus headed for Thermopylae.

This famous place had witnessed numerous last stands before and after April 191 BC. C., as it was a natural bottleneck, defended by Mount Callidromus and Mount Tichius from the southwest and the waters of the Gulf of Mali from the northeast. Still, as Leonidas and Xerxes discovered 300 years earlier, this seemingly ideal defensive position had a fatal flaw: a small army could have blocked a much larger force in the pass, but the mountains had numerous roads that allowed the defenders to be outflanked. Both armies were culturally immersed in Greek history and myths and therefore obviously knew it. With a few thousand Aetolians left to protect the crucial city of Heracleia, Antiochus had around 12,000 footmen and only 500 cavalry.

As the Roman cavalry outnumbered their counterparts 4 to 1, the Seleucids had to fight in the narrow passage to avoid being outflanked. The king sent two groups of Aetolians, of a thousand hoplites each, to block the most important mountain paths. He then built a wall covering the gate, placing some catapults and ballistae on top. His skirmishers were positioned on high ground to the left of the passage to send their missiles against the Roman advance, while his phalangites formed up in front of the walls with the peltasts in front of them. Similarly, the Romans had 2/3 of their troops present, with the rest defending Thessaly and blockading Heracleia.

Glabrius knew that he could not capture the passage against a phalanx, but he still had to attack at the narrow bottleneck and block the Seleucid forces. Two groups under the command of Cato and Flaccus, each containing 2,000 legionaries, were sent to take the mountain passes. According to some sources, the Roman camp was attacked by nearby Aetolians before the battle, so Glabrius was forced to leave his cavalry and a group of infantry to defend it. The sources describing the battle are somewhat contradictory. We know that Flaccus was ordered to take the pass of Mount Tichius during the night.

There are authors who suggest that this unit was lost during the march, while others claim that the Romans encountered the Aetolians, but the hoplites held their ground and the legionaries were unable to break through, losing dozens of troops and retreating. Cato's attack against the Aetolians on Mount Callidromus was more successful. The Romans apparently surprised some of the Aetolians and their first attack killed many, but soon the hoplites managed to form a line across the pass and neither side had the advantage. To theAt the same time, the main Roman force attacked head on. The skirmishers' and peltasts' volleys caused some damage, but the disciplined Romans blocked their shields and continued to advance, even despite the losses caused by the field artillery.

Seeing that the Romans were approaching, Antiochus ordered his peltasts to retreat, while his pikemen advanced, forming a phalanx. This is where the Romans suffered most of their casualties, as the legionaries were unable to reach the Phalangites and found it impossible to outflank the enemy. Slowly but surely, the phalanx drove the legion back. However, early in the morning, Cato's forces began to gain the advantage near Calidromus, as he outnumbered the Aetolians 4 to 1 and was able to rotate fresh troops into the fray. Finally, the Romans broke the hoplite line and caused them to flee in terror. Before long, both groups were on the plain, and the legionnaires killed their enemies as they pursued them.

The phalanx learned that their rear was now in danger and, although the king made valiant attempts to stop them, he fled to the camp to form another formation. Still, Cato's detachment entered the camp before the Seleucids and the main body of the Romans shortly after, so the Phalangites failed to form. Now it was every man for himself. Antiochus abandoned his forces with his cavalry and more than 10,000 Seleucids and Aetolians were killed or taken captive. Livy claims that the Romans lost 200 men, but this figure is probably an underestimate. Having wiped out the survivors, the Romans took a day's rest and then turned their attention to Heracleia, a formidable fortress guarded to the south by the River Asopus and to the west by Mount Eta, and a citadel on low hills.

The fortress was relatively modest in size, so a small Aetolian garrison was able to occupy the entire wall. At the same time, the walls were short, which prevented the Romans from making use of their decisive numerical superiority. Glabrius sent a message to the garrison leader Damocritus, demanding that he surrender, but this was refused, so the Romans prepared for a siege and began building battering rams. When the siege began, the legionaries assaulted the walls with battering rams and ladders, but the narrowness of the front did not allow them to overwhelm the Aetolians, who came out burning some battering rams and driving the enemy back with their spears.

The first assault failed. However, the Romans had more troops, so fresh troops were sent and the walls were attacked the next day. The garrison did not have that luxury, which meant that each subsequent assault tired them even more. This continued for 23 days, but eventually Glabrius devised a plan. His soldiers were ordered to return to the camp, making it appear that there would be no attack. This made the exhausted Aetolians complacent and they abandoned the walls to sleep in the houses. Late at night, a group of legionaries received the order to attack a part of the walls and make as much noise as possible.

Glabrius also ordered his legate Tiberius Sempronius to move his contingent to another sector of the fortifications. The noise woke the Aetolians and they ran, reaching the walls in time to rebuke the Romans, but the other group was already scaling the walls using the ladders. Seeing this, the Aetolians abandoned their positions and retreated to the citadel. The Roman commander allowed his soldiers to sack the city, but once this was done he began to devise plans to take the citadel. His engineers began building siege engines on the nearby hill to bombard the defenders, while the rest of the troops formed up surrounding them.

The Aetolians had almost no food left, but, more importantly, they also had no way to counter the catapults, so Damocritus capitulated. We don't have the numbers, but it's possible that the Romans lost more troops taking Heraclea than they did during the Battle of Thermopylae. After the defeat at Thermopylae, the king retired to Chalcis. There was a possibility that he could defend the island of Euboea and hold it as a foothold, but this was ruled out when Glabrius moved south, forcing the Boeotian league to submit, and the Roman navy commanded by Aulus Attilius destroyed the Seleucid supply convoy. around Andros.

Thus, the king undertook his return trip to Asia in May 191 BC. There were many reasons why Antiochus was defeated in Greece, but it all comes down to these key factors: Roman diplomacy and logistics were superior, while most Greeks did not believe in the idea that the Seleucid king was liberating them. of the Romans, and not even their Aetolian allies committed all their forces. Glabrius did not have a force large enough to follow the king across the sea and had to concentrate against the Aetolians. He moved north again and took Lamia, putting even more pressure on the League.

The latter sent messengers to Antiochus in June, asking him to return or send money so he could continue fighting. Money was no problem for the rich king, so the envoys returned to Greece with funds. Although the money helped the Aetolians regain their resolve, the Seleucid cause in Greece was weakening. The small garrisons of Demetrias and Elis were forced to evacuate, and Elis and Messenia fell under Achaean control, while Glabrius laid siege to Naupaktos, deep in Aetolian territory, in July. The siege continued for two months, but then Flamininus arrived and again negotiated a ceasefire. The Aetolian messengers and Flamininus then traveled to Rome in the hope of signing a peace treaty, while the Glabrian army headed into winter quarters.

Meanwhile, events were taking place at sea. The Seleucid admiral Polyxenidas had around 40 warships and 60 smaller vessels, and Antiochus ordered him to be on the lookout for a possible naval invasion, while the king himself moved with 30,000 soldiers to Lysimachia to defend his conquests in Thrace. . Details are scarce, but by August Polixenidas had around 200 ships, 70 of them larger warships, probably quadremes. The new Roman admiral in the area was the praetor Gaius Livius Salinator. He took command of the navy that had been in the docks since the Second Punic War and began sailing to join up with Attilius' navy.

As this was before the ceasefire was agreed, Livy attacked Aetolian-controlled Kefalonia and Zakynthos along the way, putting even more pressure on the league. In August he arrived in Attica and his fleet now numbered more than 100 ships, 80 of them large warships. Both sides knew what they had to do: the Romans needed to unite with their allies in Pergamum and Rhodes to have equal numbers, while Polyxenidas' best hope for winning was to prevent that from happening and confront each of the enemies separately. . In September, the Seleucid Navarch learned that the Attalids had relocated their navy to Elea and that Livy was north of Delos, and decided to move to Phokaia.

However, at some point he lost the Roman fleet and assumed it would turn south to join the Rhodians, so he headed to Samos. This was a mistake, as about a week later the Romans joined the Pergamum navy commanded by King Eumenes II, bringing their total to 160 ships. The allies began to pursue Polyxenidas and captured him off the coast of Chios at a place called Ciso. In a short battle, the Seleucid fleet lost 23 ships and was forced to retreat. Even defeated, Polixenidas was undeterred and quickly sailed towards Samos, where he managed to surprise the Rhodes fleet and destroy two dozen ships.

However, the effects of this victory were small: the allied fleet was on its way and another Rhodes armada under Eudorus was converging on Polixendias from the south, so he took the only safe route left towards Ephesus. Attacking a navy on a dock protected by land artillery is always crazy, so the Romans simply blocked Polyxenidas for now. At the same time, the Republic planned to invade Asia Minor in 190 BC. C., so the Attalida king was asked to secure the Hellespont. Eumenes' approach to the Hellespont put Antiochus in another awkward position. He wanted to hold Gallipoli to continue putting pressure on Philip V, but with his navy blockaded at Ephesus and no way to counter the Attalid fleet, there was a danger that Antiochus would not be able to return to Asia Minor, especially since the kingdom of Bithynia and the city of Byzantium were, despite not joining the war, pro-Roman, and could have prevented the king's army from crossing the Bosphorus.

Then, the king returned to Asia Minor and then began his march towards Ephesus, since he needed to defend the city, in case of the total defeat of Polyxenidas. Antiochus detached his heir Seleucus to attack Pergamum, while a group of Galatians was sent to attack Elea. At this time, another Roman praetor, Lucius Aemilius Regillus, took charge of the fleet and was forced to send a part of his navy to defend Elea, which was crucial to the Attalid war effort, while Eumenes rushed to the capital of him. Again, we don't know all the details, but it appears that both Seleucid forces were largely successful in their raids, but not strong enough to take either city.

The campaign ended when a small Achaean contingent landed near Elea and defeated the Galatians who were besieging it. Seleucus returned to his father, but overall this brief campaign eased the pressure on Polyxenidas enough that when Antiochus sent envoys to Aemilius to negotiate a peace treaty, the Romans actually considered the offer and only rejected it after being influenced. by Eumenes. The Seleucid leader needed his fleet to escape, so a message was sent to Seleucia Pieria ordering Hannibal to move his fleet toward the blockade. We don't know what the king was thinking when he appointed a brilliant general, who never led an navy, to command one, but apparently, the Carthaginian used his knowledge of the Phoenicians and his phenomenal organizational skills to form a 50-ship strong navy in less 2 years.

The allies noticed his movement westward and a part of the Rhodes fleet was sent to intercept him before Hannibal reached his native island. The two armadas met southeast of present-day Antalya, in a place called Eurimedon. We don't have the details, but Hannibal's fleet was defeated and he retreated to Syria. Ironically, this naval battle would be the last fought by the great Carthaginian general. With half the Allied navy on different missions, the fleets near Ephesus were now the same size. It is unclear whether Aemilius broke the alliance due to lack of resources or to attract Polyxenidas, but when the Romans set out to attack nearby Teos, the Seleucid Navarch also set sail in the hope of surprising the enemy.

However, at the Battle of Myonessus, the heavier Roman ships and their boarding tactics proved superior once again. Polyexinadas was forced to retreat after losing a third of his navy and return to Ephesus. After this battle, the Seleucids were outnumbered 4 to 1 at sea, which meant that the Romans were able to cross into Asia Minor without resistance. Antiochus was aware of this fact and began to concentrate his forces around Ephesus. After the Battle of Thermopylae, the political parties of the Eternal City returned to their disputes. During the elections of 190 BC. C., Scipio's party strengthened its position and two of its members became consuls, one of them the brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, another veteran of the Second Punic War, Lucius Cornelius.

In addition to that, Africanus managed to give his brother command in Greece and Asia Minor, with himself as legate. Being a war party, the Scipios also rebuked the attempts of the Aetolians and Flamininus to achieve peace. As the Scipios prepared their forces to cross into Epirus, the Aetolians and Glabrius were informed that the ceasefire had ended and both sides immediately resumed hostilities. Learning that League forces were defending the mountain passes and that an attack on Nafpaktos would prove difficult, Glabrius turned on Lamia and took it with a surprise attack. The propraetor's next target was Anfisa. The city was besieged, managing to hold out until the arrival of the Scipios in August 190.

The Romans now had more than 50 thousand troops in the region, but the campaign season was about to end and the Romans did not want to waste time fighting. the Aetolians, so when the latter asked for another ceasefire, the Scipios agreed to a truce for an indemnity of 1000 talents. The Romans subsequently turned to Macedonia and began negotiations with its king. In exchange for forgiveness of war compensation, the release of his son Demetrius, and minor territorial gains, Philip not only supplied the Romans and allowed them to pass through his kingdom, but 2,000 of his warriors They joined the Scipios.

In November 190 BC. C., the Scipios finally reached the abandoned Lysimachaea. Antiochus is often accused of making a mistake in leaving Thrace undefended, since a few garrisonsin the area they could have held back the Romans, but the king was probably trying to muster all available forces for a general battle. This can be seen by the fact that the Roman navy took Phokaia and the king did nothing to retake it. Soon, the Gallipoli peninsula was controlled by the legionnaires. At this time, Antiochus attempted to drag the Bithynian king, Prusias I, to his side, but his diplomatic overtures failed and Bithynia declared itself in favor of the Romans, who crossed the Hellespont at the end of November.

In Asia, the Scipios were received by an envoy from Antiochus and offered a peace treaty: the king was willing to pay half of the expenses the Romans incurred during the war and abandon the cities of Thrace and Troada. His offer was rejected, and his counteroffer to pay the entire expenses and leave all the lands north and west of the Taurus Mountains was unacceptable. Some sources claim that Publius, the son of Africanus, was captured by the Seleucids during a minor skirmish and Antiochus offered to return him in exchange for peace. The victor of Zama did not move and responded that in exchange for his son, he would give Antiochus III some useful advice: the king would do well to accept Roman terms to avoid battle with the Romans.

As negotiations failed, legions supported by Attalid forces marched south in December. Scipio was worried that the consuls of the following year might take command away from Lucius, so they were eager to fight the battle at short notice. Antiochus was in Thyatira, where he received reinforcements from Galatia and Cappadocia. He then moved north to Magnesia with the intention of defending himself at the River Hermos, as this was the best place to stop the Romans before they reached the crucial Ephesus. A few days later the army of the Roman Republic was in the area. The Seleucid army built a walled camp in the valley between the River Hermos and its tributary Phrygian, with some infantry defending the crossing and a Galatian cavalry unit west of Phrygian.

On the 15th the first legionary units arrived at the site. At first the Romans were short-handed and their attempts to ford were thwarted by enemy missile units, but more arrived and drove back the defenders. At this point, the Galatians were ordered to attack the Roman right, resulting in heavy casualties. Another group of Scipio's troops entered the battle and outnumbered the Galatians, who retreated with losses. The fighting continued for a day, as Antiochus also reinforced his contingents, but the large number of Romans made the defense of the crossing untenable as they began to force the river in other places as well, so the king ordered his soldiers to fall back. .

After crossing, Scipio began to set up camp at the confluence of Hermos and Phrygian, but was attacked once again. The construction of the camp was stopped several times until the legionaries were forced to enter the line of battle and drive back the king's troops. After hours of skirmishing, the camp was finally built. The Seleucids had much more cavalry than their enemies, so the Romans wanted to fight near their camp in the narrowest part of the valley, while Antiochus was unwilling to give up his advantage in the number of horsemen and preferred a more section wide, so Both armies were formed in front of their fortifications.

This continued for 4 days, with neither side making any progress. But January was approaching, so it was the Romans who advanced. However, Antiochus still did not believe it was enough and on the sixth day, the Romans repositioned themselves even closer to the enemy camp. The king found the battlefield satisfactory and accepted the battle on December 22. The always controversial issue of army size is no different in this battle. Our main sources for the battle are the Roman historian Livy and the Achaean historian Polybius, and neither of them were kind to Antiochus. According to them, the Seleucids outnumbered the Romans 2 to 1.

It seems that both think that about 25,000 legionaries remained in Greece, but other events that we will talk about contradict this and modern historians think that the armies were equal in size, each one around 70,000. Scipio commanded an army composed of 20,000 Romans, 40,000 Italian allies and more than 10,000 Achaeans, Macedonians, Thracians and Pergamians, including 20,000 Hastati, 20,000 Princes, 8,000 Triarii and a few thousand Velites. They were supported by 4,000 cavalry, most of them Roman and Italic equites and 1,000 Attalid heavy cavalry, 3,000 Pergamon and Achaean peltasts, 2,000 Macedonian phalangites and others. The Romans had 16 North African elephants, but Scipio decided not to use them against the larger and more ferocious Seleucid Indian elephants.

In front of them were 34,000 heavy infantry, including 16,000 Phalangites, 10,000 Hypaspists with silver shields, 3,000 Galatian swordsmen and 2,000 Cappadocians, and 23,000 light and missile infantry, including peltasts, Cretan archers, and Illyrian skirmishers. As we mentioned before, Antiochus' army had more cavalry than his enemy: 8 thousand heavy cavalry composed of Armenian and Iranian cataphracts, Agema Medes, hetairoi of the Macedonian elite and 4000 light cavalry from Galatia, Dacia, Dahae, Arabia and Greek Asia Minor fighting like tarentines. The king also had 54 elephants and an unknown number of scythed chariots. The Roman center and the left wing, which Phrygian defended, were formed by legionaries in 3 lines: a traditional triplex acies in a chessboard shape, with the left reinforced by 1000 Roman cavalry and the elephants in reserve behind the center.

The right anchored by the Hermos had Achaean and Pergamon peltasts in the first rank and 3,000 cavalry in the second. Several units of skirmishers and velites formed the vanguard, while the Macedonian and Thracian allies remained to defend the camp, commanded by the military tribune Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. The consul Lucius Scipio commanded the center, King Eumenes the right and the former consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus the left. Scipio Africanus had been ill for weeks, so it appears that it was his brother Lucius who was the commanding general. On the other side of the plain, the Seleucid center commanded by General Zeuxis was built around all Phalangite and Galatian infantry, divided into units of 1,500 infantry with 2 elephants between each battalion, for a total of 22 beasts.

Antiochus himself commanded the right wing with 4,000 heavy cavalry in the first line, 16 elephants and Dahae's light cavalry behind them, with the Silver Shields behind them. Seleucus, heir to the king, led the left wing of the army, guarded by 4,000 heavy cavalry. In front of his force was a falcate chariot unit, while elephants and light cavalry formed the second line, with the peltasts and Cappadocians positioned in the third line. Primary sources fail to locate missile infantry for Antiochus, but modern historians conclude that Arab skirmishers and camel archers were in the vanguard. Once again, our understanding of the initial stage of the battle is uneven.

It was customary for the skirmishers to start a battle and it seems that was the case in this confrontation as well. In this case, it can be deduced that the Romans took advantage. Livy mentions that it rained before the battle and that the Seleucid missile units, which relied on bowstrings, were at a disadvantage. After suffering casualties, Antiochus's archers began to withdraw behind the main line and, as the Roman skirmishers advanced, it became dangerous to keep the elephants close to the front, as they tended to go berserk under fire. The Seleucid center then closed its ranks. Without light lackeys to defend the line, the Seleucid heir ordered his chariots to counterattack.

A scythe chariot was a fearsome weapon against small groups, but the Roman skirmishers were in a loose formation, so when the chariots charged, they were able to disperse and allow the enemy to pass. The skirmishers then turned around and began sending volleys at the charioteers, while Eumenes sent his light cavalry to attack them. Many horses and riders were killed and the rest panicked and returned to seek shelter behind their lines. At this point, Arab camel archers were sent forward to assist the charioteers, as the Seleucid officers knew that the smell of the camels could scare the Roman horses and save the chariot corps.

This backfired spectacularly, as the chariot riders could no longer control their horses and basically crashed into their own camel riders. Details are scarce, but the Seleucid left lost all cohesion and was soon attacked by the full forces of the king of Pergamum. The light cavalry and infantry were unable to withstand this charge, and although the hetairoi and cataphracts were much more disciplined, they were more accustomed to fighting as an attacking force. Slowly but surely, they were first rejected and then broken. Things were completely different on the Seleucid right, because the width of the battlefield was 5 kilometers, which prevented information from reaching the flanks in time.

Seeing his missile infantry on the defensive, the Seleucid king allowed them to pass and then counterattacked with his heavy and light cavalry. This charge quickly dispersed the enemy in front of them. The cavalry then formed a single marching line, and this apparently surprised the Roman left, which was marching forward behind their velites and was now in a wider place on the battlefield. Ahenobarbus attempted to broaden his front by sending his small contingent of cavalry to defend his flank. This was not enough: the Roman horsemen were crushed and the side of the legionary formation was now open to further attacks.

Apparently, the Seleucids destroyed the enemy formation here and began to chase them towards the camp. Hundreds of people died in this chase, but they finally reached the camp. Here Lepidus tried to form a line, but the panic was too strong and his troops were ordered to kill the retreating legionaries. The harsh treatment finally stopped those trying to flee. Buoyed by the Macedonian pikes, the Roman line was able to put some distance between them and Antiochus. The king's light cavalry was supposed to attack from behind, but became too distracted by the camp's riches, giving the Romans enough leeway to lean their backs against the camp walls.

Antiochus had not received word from his army for some time and was not eager to attack the pikes, so he ordered his warriors to split up and return. Meanwhile, the Roman center advanced and the rest of the Seleucid right, seeing that their center would be surrounded, attempted to join them in defense. In fact, soon the center of Antiochus' forces was surrounded. For some time, the Romans tried to use their missiles to weaken the phalanx, but it was not very effective. Eumenes and Scipio knew that the Seleucid leader would eventually return, so they ordered a cavalry unit to block him and ordered their heavy infantry to approach.

The Phalangites formed a wall of pikes and tried to retreat towards their own camp, but it was difficult. while they were attacked from all sides. Antiochus' cavalry easily defeated the unit sent to block them, but when they arrived, the phalanx was finally broken and its desperate members were pursued and killed by the Roman cavalry. Some units were able to withdraw from the battlefield, but it appears that the majority of the Seleucid army was killed or captured. We do not have a good source on Roman casualties, however, it can be concluded that there were thousands. Antiochus's decision to stand on his right, which was his place of honor, was the biggest mistake he made, as it prevented him from personally stabilizing the situation on his left.

After the battle, Antiochus began to retreat towards Apamea, while the Romans took Sardis. The king wanted to continue fighting, as his empire was vast and rich enough to field another army, but even the most powerful kings had to consider the opinion of their subjects after two decisive defeats, and both courtiers and commoners wanted the peace, so in early 189 BC Antiochus sent envoys to discuss the terms. The Roman demands were high, but the Seleucids agreed without much discussion: the defeated empire had to withdraw from the lands west and north to the Taurus Mountains and pay 15,000 talents as war indemnity.

Antiochus had to renounce Hannibal and several other enemies of Rome, and promised not to participate in any war in Europe. The king also gave away all of his elephants with a promise not to acquire any more in the future. The Seleucids were only allowed to maintain a navy of 10 ships and not sail beyond Calycadnus. The Romans took 20 hostages, including the king's son, another Antiochus. The peace would not be signed until the following year, as it had to be ratified by the Roman senate, but in the end, the Seleucid lands in Europe werehanded over to the Thracian kingdom, while the territories in Asia were divided between Rhodes and Pergamum. .

This weakened the Seleucid empire. Antiochus was murdered by a mob in Babylon in 187, while Armenia, Atropatene and Parthia, which were already somewhat autonomous, rebelled and became independent. The Seleucid dynasty would rule for another 120 years, but their kingdom would continually shrink. In 189, Rome sent two new consuls to Greece and Asia Minor to end the wars. The first, Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, not only ensured that the Seleucids fulfilled the terms of the treaty, but also went to war with Galatia. The Galatian War, which the Romans won handily, is beyond the scope of this video, but was notable for two reasons: it demonstrated that Rome could now easily invade Asia Minor, and it was the first time a Roman general declared war without the approval. of the Senate, and this set a precedent that would lead to the fall of the Republic.

While all this was happening in the east, the ceasefire between Rome and Aetolia ended in early 189 and taking advantage of the absence of the Roman armies, the Aetolians attacked Philip of Macedonia and easily expelled him from Thessaly. However, the second consul Marco Fulvio Nobilior soon arrived. Supported by the Epirotes, he besieged Ambracia and this forced the Aetolian army to withdraw from Macedonia, fearing being outflanked. Although Ambracia managed to resist for months, the League was clear that it could not continue fighting without the Seleucids, so, using Athenian mediation, they began peace negotiations with Rome. Once again, the demands were heavy, but the Aetolians had no choice but to accept: the league lost half of its members and territory, and was also prohibited from having a foreign policy without the approval of Rome.

Although technically independent, the League ceased to be a major player after this treaty. In 184, Philip V's second son, Demetrius, visited Rome again. After Cynoscephalae, Demetrius was the boy taken hostage by the Romans and from that experience he emerged as a committed Romanophile. This only intensified when the Senate decided to give its official support to the sympathetic Demetrius, who returned to Macedonia in 184 with a very different attitude from his father. Macedonian judicial politics during this period were especially fierce. While the Seleucid conflict was in full swing, the royal court of Pella had become bitterly divided over the Roman question, and it was almost as if two courts existed at once.

One of these circles was made up of those counselors and men of high birth who favored peace and agreement with Rome, and was gathered around Demetrius. On the other hand, another group was formed around the duo formed by Philip V and his eldest son Perseus, and was full of agitators who advocated resistance against the invaders from the West. Both factions began an underground propaganda war against each other, using rumors and intrigue as weapons. Perseus's mother was routinely slandered for being of low birth and having been a concubine. Therefore, it was implied that Perseus was less legitimate than Demetrius, who was the younger brother.

Demetrius realized that, despite his friendship with Rome, Perseus had influence over his father and was sure that his days were numbered. He made a mistake at this point, confiding his fears to one of his father's courtiers named Didas, telling him that he planned to flee to Rome. This man quickly told Philip, who also discovered a letter that spoke of Demetrius' “desire for the throne.” Although this was probably a forgery, Didas poisoned Demetrius in the winter of 181 on Philip's orders. This was the only dynastic assassination of the entire Antigonid dynasty, and its result was an increase in hostility between Rome and Macedonia.

The situation was further destabilized in 179, when after more than four decades of rule, Philip V died in Amphipolis while preparing for a campaign against the Thracians. With his rival Demetrius also dead, Perseus became king of Macedonia. He did what new Antigonid kings always had to do: he immediately reaffirmed old friendships and built new ones. Rivals to the throne were eliminated and, in this new world dominated by Rome, it was necessary to send emissaries to the Senate in the hope that they would officially recognize Perseus' accession to the throne. Reluctantly, this was granted. On the diplomatic front, Perseus also entered into many alliances and diplomatic agreements with the various Greek city-states, making no secret of Macedonia's continued interest in Greece.

Naturally, this was much to the annoyance of the Romans. Furthermore, to the east, Perseus cunningly married his sister to Prusias II of Bithynia and the king himself married the daughter of the Seleucid monarch Seleucus IV. So, in addition to behaving well to the Greeks, Perseus was also quickly gaining a network of useful allies in Asia Minor, much to the anger of Pergamum, who was excluded from these matters. His king, Eumenes II, played his kingdom's usual role as a fawning informant to his Roman overlords in the West. Eumenes' initial insistence and warnings to the Roman Senate fell on receptive ears, mainly because they wished to maintain their hegemony over Greece.

In 175 and 174, repeated Roman warnings to Perseus refused to intimidate the young king. Furthermore, he made a great spectacle of marching his entire army in a peaceful parade through Delphi, the sacred center of the Greek world. The message was clear: HE was the protector of the Greeks, not the Romans. Increasingly urgent embassies from Pergamum began to ask the Roman Senate for help, and in early 172 Eumenes himself came to plead his case. He not only repeated earlier claims that Perseus had simply inherited his father's preparations and resolve for war against Rome, but also claimed that the peace since 189 had allowed Macedonia to fully regain its strength.

Finally, the king of Pergamon played his trump card, stating to the Romans that he “felt that he would be completely shameful if he did not arrive in Italy to warn them, before he arrived here with his army.” Cynically playing on the traditional post-Hannibal fear of invasions in his homeland, Eumenes got his way. Diplomatic pressure and subsequent investigations into Perseus's behavior would become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the king could see that the Senate intended to destroy him. Therefore, it was required that he take measures to be prepared for them; it was his only option. Philip V may have been the aggressor in the previous war, but now the Romans were eager to come into conflict with Perseus.

Roman envoys sent to negotiate a truce with the Macedonian king boasted that they had deceived him into believing there was even a chance for peace. In fact, the truce was purely a measure to buy more time for the Romans to prepare for war, as they refitted a fleet of old ships and embarked a powerful army from Brundisium towards Apollonia. This “new Roman cunning” of deception and underhanded tactics did not meet with the approval of all quarters. The more traditionalist senators recalled a time when Romans treated their enemies as honest and honorable men. It turned out that those methods were no way to govern an empire.

In that case, the Roman Senate had decided that the only way to maintain its position in Greece was to have no equal. The Antigonid monarchy had to disappear and the Third Macedonian War began. The Roman consul Publius Licinius Crassus crossed the Adriatic in the late summer of 171 BC. C. to take control of the legions there. At the same time, Eumenes of Pergamum arrived at Chalcis with his fleet, landing with 6,000 infantry and 1,000 of his own cavalry. At sea, the Romans had undisputed dominance of the Aegean Sea, so they dismissed the allied ships and only retained the help of Eumenes.

They only wanted help from those allies they knew were most loyal and were hesitant to be indebted to friends like the Rhodians, who would likely want peacetime profits for their wartime performance. Meanwhile, Perseus advanced south toward Thessaly, laying waste land along the way, and camped just south of Mount Ossa, having taken command of the army that his father had begun to rebuild. At the same time, Licinius secured the western Greek coast and advanced towards Thessaly through Atamania. When the consul arrived at the Greek city of Larisa, he camped on the outskirts of the city next to a hill called Callinicus, where he was reinforced by Eumenes' Pergamum forces.

As the Macedonians had become bolder due to the devastating confrontation in the Thessalian countryside, Perseus decided to accompany them towards the Roman camp, erecting his own about five miles away. After his army rested for the night, Perseus formed his line and advanced his cavalry, as well as his light infantry. The Falangists remained in reserve. The Odrysian king Cotys IV commanded the Thracian cavalry and interspersed light infantry on the left flank, while Macedonian horsemen and Cretan skirmishers on the right were led by Mydon of Berea. Both wings were flanked by the King's Cavalry and auxiliary infantry from various foreign nations, while the center was formed by Perseus's elite agema, the holy cavalry, and 400 slingers in front.

Facing the Macedonians, Licinius' field army formed his heavy infantry safely behind the walls of his camp, sending his own cavalry and skirmishers to meet the enemy. The Roman right wing, commanded by Gaius Licinius Crassus, was made up of Italian equites with velites scattered between them, while the left under Valerius Levinus commanded the allied Greek cavalry and infantry on the left. In the center, Quintus Mucius led a force of Gauls, Thessalians, and other volunteer cavalry. Missile fire from javelins and sling stones opened the battle, causing light casualties on both sides before Cotys's Thracian horsemen charged. They fought like wild beasts, according to Livy, and quickly crushed the cavalry of the Roman right wing.

At the same time, Perseus and his elite Agema troops stormed the Roman center. Believing that he could turn the battle into a decisive confrontation, Perseus was about to order his phalanx into battle, but Euander the Cretan convinced him not to take such a risk. Thanking Euander for his wise counsel and gaining victory where he could, Perseus retired to his camp. 200 Roman cavalry and 2,000 infantry had died, and only 60 of Perseus's men had died. More skirmishes followed this battle, but the campaign season of 171 was virtually over. The Romans proceeded to occupy themselves by brutally razing the anti-Roman cities of Boeotia.

Haliartus was completely annihilated after a brief siege, 2,500 men were sold into slavery and the city remained desolate for decades. This type of Roman savagery increasingly noticeable in Greece, along with Perseus' victory at Callinicus, made the Macedonian king look like a champion of the Greeks. Most of those who believed this were still too afraid of Rome to act, but the Molossians of Epirus deserted. Setback after setback seemed to be hitting the Romans in this conflict, and this was only compounded when Perseus launched a successful raid against the Roman fleet at Oreus, destroying ships and ruining the grain supply.

Despite these republican failures and Macedonian successes, Perseus knew that he could not lead Rome to victory; he needed a decisive victory in battle. By the end of 169, Rome's position in Greece seemed precarious, and only the arrival of the new consul, Lucius Aemilius Paulus, in 168 BC. C., gave new life to the faltering Roman cause in Greece. The 1st century Greek biographer Plutarch informs us that this descendant of the prominent patrician family Aemilius did not even want to be consul at the time, as he had already failed during his bid for a second term. However, his previous victories against the Lusitani and Inguani tribes had not been forgotten.

The Senate considered him the best candidate on its list to put Greece in order once again. Finally, overwhelmed by constant requests for him to run, Aemilius was chosen and immediately given Macedonian command. Plutarch also tells us that after his election as consul in 168, Aemilius returned to his house and found his daughter in distress. Naturally, his father asked what was happening. Her daughter, hugging Emilio with tears of sadness in her eyes, told the consul that her little dog had died. That dog's name, as the story goes, was Perseus. Possibly apocryphal stories aside, the force Aemilius took command of was large: two specially strengthened Roman and allied legions numbering around 22,000 heavy infantry legionaries.

The allied legions now comprised several peoples who, until recently, had been long enemies of Rome, such as the Etruscans and the Samnites. Supporting the heavy troops were thousands more light infantry, including velites, Pergamon troops, and Greek allies. 4,000 cavalry were also mounted in the Roman army, including a thousand of the infamous Numidian cavalry under the command of their prince Misagenes. with the troops22 imposing war elephants also arrived from North Africa. Meanwhile, Perseus had around 44,000 infantry and 4,000 horses on his side of the field. 21,000 infantry soldiers formed the fearsome Falangists with their Sarissa pikes and their phalanx formation, which reached a mile in length.

Supporting this mobile wall of pikes were light, auxiliary troops such as Thracian javelin throwers and Illyrian archers. After advancing towards Thessaly in the summer of 168, Aemilius marched south and met Perseus at the foot of Mount Olympus, where he had arrayed his army in a highly defensible position. The Antigonids were entrenched on the western bank of the Elpeus River, just east of the mountain, and had easy access to the nearby city of Dium. With typical Roman determination, it seems that Perseus's holding of such a position did not bother the legionaries and, eager to redeem his honor after Callinicus, they urged Aemilius to attack immediately.

In response, Emilio told his men to guard his place and stressed the fact that they would fight when and how he told them. To dislodge Perseus from his defensive position, Aemilius assigned a subordinate, Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, to launch a feint toward the sea with 3,500 allied infantry and 5,000 legionaries. Under the cover of darkness, he would march through an unprotected pass to surprise Perseus. This might have given the Macedonian king an advantage, but a Cretan auxiliary of the Roman army defected and informed his fellow Greeks of the Roman plan. Reacting immediately to this alarming news, Perseus sent a general named Milo with 2,000 Macedonians and 10,000 Thracian mercenaries to oppose the Roman passage.

Although Nasica did not expect this resistance, upon reaching the pass he ordered a charge. The fighting in the mountains in the narrow gorges and passages was bloody and brutal, and Nasica himself supposedly came face to face with a fearsome Thracian soldier, killing him with the pilum javelin. Rome's legionaries stabbed and slashed their way through the mountain pass, defeating the Macedonians, who then fled back to the main army and reported the defeat to Perseus. Realizing that the loss of this mountain pass would make his position vulnerable, the king immediately abandoned the camp and walked away from the mountain.

As Aemilius crossed the mountain pass and emerged into the foothills surrounding Mount Olocrus, Perseus formed his army behind a river on the plain below, near the city of Pydna. The carefully chosen battlefield was fantastic for the Macedonian phalanx, and Perseus's position atop a small ridge and behind the river gave him a clear advantage. Emilio knew this and that is why he did not advance yet and remained in his camp in the hills. The general's officers, especially Nasica, quickly became restless and wanted to attack immediately. Stoically, Emilio smiled and advised Nasica not to rush, informing him of the folly of attacking a phalanx on that ground.

The Romans wasted no time and built a marching camp for that night. When night fell and the soldiers rested around the various campfires and slept in their tents, the moon suddenly darkened and its white color changed to a dull red. The superstitious men of the Macedonian camp were deeply affected and surprised by what was apparently a bad omen. A moon that seemed to bleed red, had Zeus abandoned them? At the same time, the equally pious Romans did not react so badly, why is this? The military tribune of the Roman army, Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, was a scholarly astronomer.

The day before he approached his general and asked for permission to gather the soldiers, informing them that such an event, what we know as a solar eclipse, would occur the following night. He urged the soldiers not to see such a thing as a bad omen, as it was normal, predictable and natural. Therefore, when the eclipse occurred, the Roman soldiers simply followed their commander and offered sacrifices to the Greek gods, promising to hold games in honor of Heracles. The gestures worked and the Roman soldier's morale was not affected. With both leaders engaging in a dangerous staring contest, it would take a spark for the flames to ignite.

Said spark came in the form of a misbehaving mule. To fill water jugs for the thirsty, heavily armored Roman soldiers, lighter troops drove a small train of mules to a stream at the foot of the hills. Like the stubborn creatures they are, one of the thirsty pack animals supposedly smelled the water and ran away from its caretakers. The water collectors ran after him and discovered that a group of Perseus's Thracian troops were doing the same. Furthermore, the enemy was trying to steal their mule. The irritated, frustrated, and burning Roman soldiers were not going to hand over that mule, and a fight broke out over the animal.

Runners on both sides went to get help, while the mule probably just ran away. Perseus saw an opportunity to lure the Romans from the jagged foothills of Mount Olocrus and marched his entire army out of the camp and directly into the fight at the stream. The Romans could see what was happening from their camp and were furious and angrily demanded to be allowed to march and fight. Emilio risked mutiny if he refused and therefore gave the signal to form. After only allowing his legions a short period of time to form, he quickly ordered the advance, aiming to save the men in the stream.

At that moment, the Falangists on the march received the order to lower their pikes. In unison, the first five rows held their sarisas horizontally and the back rows held them at a 45-degree angle. Then, they moved forward. Against the lightly armored Roman light troops, whose main task was to skirmish at a distance, the Phalangists encountered almost no serious resistance and simply broke through the enemy ranks. Trying valiantly to buy the Romans more time, an auxiliary tribal leader named Salvius obtained the unit's banner from him and threw it into the phalanx. This galvanized the pressured soldiers and they furiously tried to take it back.

This caused heavy casualties, but slowed the phalanx's advance and allowed some men to escape. Emilio's main force was approaching, and the swarm of velites and other harassers launched their missiles at the phalanx, mostly without effect. The legionary heavy infantry, after witnessing the massacre of their lighter armored comrades, became frightened and began to slow down. They saw the large size of the steamroller approaching them and their morale began to decline. Emilio had to act right now, otherwise his men armed with short swords would be massacred on the flat ground. The general then ordered an immediate retreat and ceded the plains to Perseus, advancing once more toward the foothills.

Thanks to the phenomenal discipline of the Roman legions, the retreat was successfully carried out and Aemilius now had breathing room to attack. Turning his horse to the right flank, he ordered the wing of 34 elephants to charge forward, with a mass of cavalry behind them. The Thracian skirmishers and mercenaries immediately in the path of this charge were ideal troops to engage the elephants, but they were exhausted and failed to mass enough missiles. The vanguard of the elephants caught them on a bad day and tore a bloody hole in Perseus's left wing. The cavalry then surrounded the elephants and mopped up the remaining ones, leaving the agema on the leftmost edge of the phalanx completely exposed.

The victorious Roman right wing pursued the retreating skirmishers and then slowly began to reform slightly behind Perseus's line. Throughout this battle at the edge of the field, the phalanx had been pursuing the retreating legions up the hills and over rough terrain. With the infantry screen now gone, the rightmost legionary unit turned inward and headed toward the vulnerable left of the phalanx. At the same time, gaps gradually began to open up in the phalanx due to the increasingly uneven terrain. Emilio took full advantage of this, riding up and down the line, yelling at his men to attack.

Whether heard or not, the Roman centurions knew what they were doing and led their men into the now exposed arteries of the Macedonian phalanx. The pressure began to increase. Fighting in unfavorable hand-to-hand combat and striking on the flank, the phalanx began to advance slowly.fragment. Aemilius, who had retreated to a command position on the heights, saw small streams of Antigonid troops fleeing from the rear of the infantry block. The final blow was delivered by the now regrouped Roman right flank. The elephants and cavalry now charged against the disintegrating army of Perseus and completely defeated it. The last to fall were Perseus's 3,000 elite agema.

None of these brave men fled and they fought to the last men, while his king fled on his horse. One of the largest phalanxes in history had been crushed and Alexander the Great's military legacy was finally buried; the legion would rule the battlefield from then on. 20,000 of Perseus' soldiers were killed and 11,000 more were captured, including Perseus himself. This man, who was to be the last Antigonid king, was captured after hiding the crown from him, removing his royal robes, and taking refuge in a temple in Samothrace. When brought before Aemilius, Perseus cried pitifully, much to the Roman general's chagrin.

The Senate granted him the "title" of Macedonian, and the victorious general was victorious and toured Rome in his chariot. The treasures of Macedonia and its victorious troops marched after him. Finally, Perseus followed them in chains, still sobbing. Macedonia proved too dangerous for Rome to allow to remain independent, so after the war the Antigonid monarchy was dissolved into four semi-states, or merides, each with a capital and elected officials, but subject to authority. laws imposed by the Romans. Regions were allowed to maintain small garrisons along borders with outside tribes, but were not allowed to have an independent foreign policy, engage in trade with each other, or intermarry.

Its economy was further weakened by excessive tribute paid to Rome, as well as a ban on gold and silver mining, logging, and shipbuilding. In addition to that, the Romans took revenge on the Molossians who supported Perseus. 70 of his cities were destroyed and 150 thousand Epirotes were enslaved. All this caused resentment and impoverishment, which made the population anti-Roman. Those who would use this soon appeared on the horizon. A young man named Andriskos, born in Adramyttium in Asia Minor, bore an uncanny resemblance to the late Macedonian king Perseus, and in 150 BC. C. he began telling everyone who would listen that he was the son of King Philip and that he was planning to restore Antigonid's rule. about Macedonia.

Andriskos traveled to Macedonia but failed to gain any support, as the local nobles were content with Roman rule. He then attempted to enlist the help of the Seleucid ruler Demetrius I, but the latter had internal problems and did not want to anger the Romans, so the claimant was sent into Roman custody. The Senate did not consider Andriskos to be dangerous, so they sent him to Magna Graecia to live in custody, but he managed to escape and ended up in Miletus. He once again began to look for followers and found them among the anti-Roman locals. Andriskos then traveled to Thrace, where local chiefs, concerned about strengthening Roman influence, supported him, giving him a small army.

We do not know all the details, but at the beginning of 149 BC. C., the suitor entered Macedonia. The nobles tried to raise a force to stop him, but his armies were defeated somewhere in Odomantice. Thus, Andriskos became king as Philip VI and restored the Macedonian monarchy. The pro-Roman nobles lost their prestige, while the general population celebrated their independence. The Fourth Macedonian War had begun. That same year, he invaded the League of Thessaly, an ally of the Romans. The timing was perfect, as the Republic's best generals were busy besieging Carthage during the Third Punic War and fighting the Lusitanian War in Spain.

The Roman commander of the area, Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, marched into Thessaly and began negotiating with Andriskos, hoping to buy time for his Achaean allies and the nearby Pergamon garrisons to join him. In fact, the general was reinforced by these allies and even by a legion from Italy. This was a sign to Andriskos that his enemies were becoming stronger, so he attacked and crushed the allies, taking most of Thessaly. Inspired, Andriskos sent envoys to Carthage offering the revival of the ancient alliance. Winter brought hostilities to a halt, but the Romans were, as always, full of energy.

A veteran of the Third Macedonian War, the praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was ordered to raise another army, and in early 148, his legions embarked onPergamon transports. In the past, Roman armies landed in Epirus and then moved into the heart of Greece from there, but Metellus decided to outsmart his opponent and made landfall in Macedonia, heading south. This threatened Andriskos' kingdom and forced him to accelerate his pace towards the enemy. The two sides met in the same place where the fate of the Third Macedonian War was decided 20 years ago: Pydna. Unfortunately, we don't know much about the battle and even the number of combatants is a mystery.

The battle began when the cavalry vanguards of the two armies clashed and the Macedonian horsemen took the lead, causing their counterparts to flee. Emboldened by this, Andriskos sent some of his troops back to Thessaly to continue the conquest. Soon the main bodies of the armies approached and the infantry engaged in the center. Again, details are lost to time and it is unknown whether the Macedonians fought in their traditional phalanx, but initially the two groups of infantry fought to a stalemate and it seemed that the battle would come down to a battle between horsemen. It was then that Andriskos was betrayed by the commander of the cavalry, a nobleman named Telestos.

The Macedonian center was attacked from all sides and was almost completely crushed. After the battle, Andriskos attempted to flee to Thrace, but his allies did not want to further incur the wrath of the victors. Andriskos was captured and handed over to the Romans, who sent him to Italy, where he was executed. This was the end of the Fourth Macedonian War. This time Macedonia did not even achieve a semblance of independence. Commanding the Senate, Metellus converted Macedonia, Epirus, Southern Illyria, and the Ionian Islands into a province of Macedonia and became its first governor. However, the situation was becoming volatile in other parts of Greece.

Sparta, now led by Menalcidae, had been attempting to secede from the Achaean League for some time. In 147 BC C., his delegation went to Rome to ask the Senate for help, but before the Romans could respond, Spartan territory was invaded by the League strategist, Damocritus. Menalcidae was defeated, but the Achaeans failed to take the city. That is why Damocritus was deposed and replaced by the even more extreme Diaeus. It was then that a Roman embassy arrived to meet with the Achaean assembly. Unexpectedly for the Achaeans, the embassy not only supported the independence of Sparta but also demanded Argos, Corinth and Orchomenus, possibly to provoke a conflict.

The Achaeans obviously refused and sent their own embassy to Rome demanding that the resolution be rescinded. The Senate said no. It was clear that the Achaean League and other Greeks were angry at the Roman takeover of Macedonia and Epirus, so, together with the Boeotians and Euboeans, in 146 BC. C. they declared war on the Roman Republic, starting the Achaean War. Another anti-Roman strategist, Critolaus, was chosen and his army, supported by the Thebans, marched towards Thessaly. However, before they could reach Thermopylae, the Roman army under Metellus trapped them at a place called Scarpheia in Locris. The Greeks did not expect a battle;

His army was crushed and the general killed. Afterwards, the Roman governor continued south. The Argives attempted to stop their advance at Chaeronea, but were crushed. Diaeus assumed command in Achaia and in a short time managed to create an army of 16,000 men, hoping to defend the Isthmus of Corinth. Unfortunately for him, the Roman army was reinforced by the consul Lucius Mummius, as well as a detachment from Pergamum, bringing its number to 27,000. The two parties met at a place called Leukapetra. Again, we don't have many in terms of details. Apparently, the Romans did not want to charge across the narrow isthmus, even despite outnumbering the enemy 2 to 1.

For some time, the Roman army remained in camp and it appears that they became complacent, as Diaeus was able to use his light infantry to attack the camp and inflict heavy casualties. The next day, the Romans marched directly towards the enemy and, as they had the support of the Pergamon navy, Diaeus was forced to accept battle. The two infantry bodies clashed in the center and the Achaeans managed to stop the legionaries. However, Diaeus had very few horsemen and the Romans took advantage of them: on both flanks Mummius' cavalry destroyed his counterparts and then attacked the Greek infantry from all sides.

The battle effectively ended and the entire Achaean army was crushed. The Romans subsequently razed Corinth, similar to Carthage months earlier: all the men were killed, all the women and children enslaved, and the city was burned to the ground. This left Rome with no trading rivals in the Mediterranean and as no military power could oppose the Republic, the Achaean League, the Aetolian League and others were dissolved and the entire region was added to the Province of Macedonia. Greece would remain under Roman control for centuries, despite two more rebellions in Macedonia and an attempt by Greek cities to support Pontus during the First Mithridates War.

The Roman takeover of Greece was an excellent example of the imperial principle Divide et Impera: the Republic managed to ally itself with one faction against the other and keep all cities, states and leagues constantly divided, until the time came to conquer everything. Still, Greek culture flourished and over the next 2,000 years became a crucial part of the Pax Romana, Christianity, the Muslim Golden Age, and then the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment. We will talk more about Greek and Roman history in our next videos. Please consider liking, commenting and sharing; It's a great help. Our videos would be impossible without our kind sponsors and YouTube channel members, whose ranks you can join via the links in the description to find out our schedule, get early access to our videos, access our discord, and much more.

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