A Mediterranean Empire
Part Two: Rome enters the Greek East
Rome and the Mediterranean
Alexander’s Legacy:
The Hellenistic World
Antigonid Macedonia
Seleucid Syria
Ptolemaic Egypt
Lesser Kingdoms and Independent States:
Pergamum, Rhodes, Bithynia, Bactria
“Wild Cards” in Greece: Achaean and
Aetolian Confederations
Hellenistic Powers:
Seleucid Syria, Ptolemaic Egypt, Antigonid Macedonia
Rome’s First Step into the Greek World:
The First Illyrian War (229-228 BCE)
Illyrian Aggression against Italian maritime trade
(Agron and Teuta)
The Roman commission of the Coruncanii
The Campaign of Spring 229 (20,000 infantry and
2,000 cavalry)
Treaty with Queen Teuta (Polybius 2.12):
Indemnity (unspecified)
Evacuate large portions of Illyria
Forbidden to sail beyond Lissus with more than two
galleys
“When [the treaty with Queen Teuta] had been concluded,
Postumius sent envoys to the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues.
On their arrival these officers first explained the reasons which
had led to the war and caused the Romans to cross the Adriatic,
next they gave a report of what had been accomplished in the
campaign, and lastly they read out the treaty which they had
made with the Illyrians. The envoys were received with
courtesy by both the leagues, after which they returned by sea
to Corcyra. The conclusion of this treaty had delivered the
Greeks from a fear which had hung over them all, for the
Illyrians were not merely the opponents of this people or that,
but the common enemies of all alike.”
Polybius, 2.12
Rome and Macedonia
Philip V and Hannibal, the pact of 215 BCE
The First Macedonian War (214-205 BCE),
minimal Roman effort (Peace of Phoenice)
The Second Macedonian War (200-196 BCE)
Rhodes and Pergamum complain of Philip’s
aggression in eastern Mediterranean (alliance with
Seleucid Syria against weakened Ptolemies, 203-202)
Cynoscephalae (197) demonstrates superiority of
manipular formation over phalanx
Flamininus’ Isthmian Proclamation, 196 BCE (Greek
Freedom)
“And you will render assistance to us in the war in
which we are engaged with the Romans until the
gods vouchsafe the victory to us and to you, and you
will give us such help as we have need of or as we
agree upon.”
Polybius, Histories, 7.9
Carthaginian-Macedonian Alliance of 215 BCE
Antiochene War, 192-189 BCE
Antiochus III the Great, King of Seleucid
Syria
“Spear-Won” Empire
The Eastern Campaign
Disgruntled Aetolians and the “Treaty of
Laevinus” (212/211 BCE)
The Battle at Magnesia
Scipios command Roman forces
Laevinus Treaty, 212/211 BCE
“If any cities of those [enemy] nations are seized by force by
the Romans, as far as the Roman people are concerned the
Aetolian people may take possession of those cities and those
territories; whatever [movable] property the Romans capture
the Romans shall possess. If any of those cities are captured by
the Romans and the Aetolians jointly, as far as the Roman
people are concerned the Aetolians may take possession of
those cities and their territories; whatever they [jointly] capture
besides the city, they shall share it equally. If any of those
cities capitulates or surrenders [without resistance] to the
Romans or the Aetolians, as far as the Roman people are
concerned those men and cities and their territories may be
admitted by the Aetolians into their league.”
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, XIII, no. 382
Third Macedonian War, 172-167 BCE
King Perseus of Macedonia, son of Philip V
Addresses socio-economic problems in Greece,
including debt relief
Eumenes II of Pergamum stirs up Roman
suspicions against Perseus
Roman propaganda represents Perseus as a social
revolutionary
The Battle at Pydna, 168 BCE
The 1,000 hostages (Polybius)
The Four “Independent” Macedonian
Republics
Rome:Greece::Patron:Client
Flamininus’ Isthmian Proclamation (196 BCE)—Catch
22?
Classic Misunderstandings: Rome and Aetolia (The
Macedonian-Aetolian Peace Treaty of 206; Glabrio,
Phaneas, deditio, and chains)
Rhodes and Pergamum as Arbiters
Rhodes and the free port at Delos
Romans foster internal discord at Pergamum
Antiochus IV Epiphanes and “The Day of Eleusis” in
168 (Polyb. 29.27.1-9)
Andriscus and the Macedonian Revolt, 149 BCE
Achaean War, Roman sacking of Corinth, 146 BCE
The Third Punic War, Sack of Carthage in 146 BCE
C. Popillius Laenas, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and “The
Day of Eleusis,” 168 BCE
“At the time when Antiochus approached Ptolemy and meant to
occupy Pelusium, Caius Popillius Laenas, the Roman commander,
on Antiochus greeting him from a distance and then holding out
his hand, handed to the king…the copy of the senatorial decree,
and told him to read it first…But when the king…said he would
like to communicate with his friends…Popillius acted in a manner
which was thought to be offensive and exceedingly arrogant. He
was carrying a stick cut from a vine, and with this he drew a circle
round Antiochus and told him he must remain inside this circle
until he gave his decision…The king was astonished at this
authoritative proceeding, but, after a few minutes hesitation, said
he would do all that the Romans demanded.”
Polybius, 29.27.1-6