How Rome Conquered Greece - Roman History DOCUMENTARY — Full Transcript

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The which was Illyria - currently modern Albania and Dalmatia, was regarded in the mid to late

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third century as a thoroughly barbarian region, only half civilised by contact with its Greek

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and Macedonian neighbors.

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Though contact with the Greek world had led to a degree of urbanisation in the south and

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along the coast, the region in a political sense was still made up of many small tribal

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chieftains.

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The population of Illyria had been regarded since their initial encounters as turbulent

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and warlike by the more traditionally civilised peoples who came to know them.

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From time to time, one of the many Illyrian tribes would gain a temporary hegemony over

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most of the others, and in the 230s this was the Ardiaei.

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Ruled by their energetic king - Agron, they had forged a union of not just their own Illyrian

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peoples, but also prominent figures, such as Demetrius - the Greek lord of Pharos.

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Coinciding with the rise of this new Illyrian power was the collapse of Epirus, whose once

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formidable strength had waned and whose monarchy fell.

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Taking advantage of this weakness, the Illyrians invaded and eventually managed to seize Epirote

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territory far south of the traditional border, climaxing with the seizure of Phoenice, the

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wealthiest city of the kingdom.

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Despite these successes however, Agron perished soon after and was succeeded nominally by

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his son.

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In reality, it was his wife Teuta who wielded true power, quickly being appointed regent

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for her stepson.

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Her ascension did not stop Illyrian belligerence, and in her reign piracy increasingly became

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a major problem in the Mediterranean.

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Seizures of more southerly territories in Epirus had allowed the establishment of more

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staging points from which brigands could sail.

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This had been occurring for a long time already, but the increasing scale of the problem, the

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increasingly loud complaints of Roman merchants and the economic impact of piracy on the Republic

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prompted the senate to act.

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Uncharacteristically peacefully for the notoriously bellicose Romans, the initial senatorial reaction

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in 230BC was not to send in the legions, but instead to send a diplomatic embassy of two

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brothers to investigate the situation.

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In the typically harsh style of Roman diplomacy, the Coruncanius brothers protested to Teuta

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about the increasing piracy and demanded that it cease immediately.

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The demand was not negotiable and the Illyrians would have a chance to comply peacefully - otherwise

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it would be war.

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Teuta refused this demand, either because of her inability to control the actions of

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her decentralised tribal allies or because she simply did not wish to bend to Roman demands.

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Whatever the case, this did not please the Romans, a situation made even worse by the

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murder of a Roman envoy, possibly by Teuta herself in the midst of the anger of the meeting

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or on the journey home by those very pirates that the embassy had been dispatched to stop.

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While the death of the Roman envoy was the immediate trigger for war, the expansion of

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the Ardaei tribe’s power over the region was a deeper geopolitical cause - Rome did

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not want any powerful rival in the Adriatic.

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Late in the campaigning season of 229BC, a massive Roman force of 22,000 and 200 ships

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bore down on the Illyrians.

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Though details of the short campaign are unknown, it is known that the Roman expedition was

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a complete success from north to south.

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Teuta’s appointed governor of the recently conquered island of Corcyra - Demetrius of

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Pharos, went over to the Roman side almost immediately, while the queen regent’s forces

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were defeated in the field.

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By spring of 228 Teuta had been forced into a peace treaty with the Romans, breaking her

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kingdom into weaker segments and forbidding ventures of piracy into the southern Adriatic

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Sea.

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The Romans withdrew their troops and left behind only their amicitia, or ‘friendship’

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- a benign sounding term which would soon apparently become anything but that.

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In essence, being a ‘friend’ of Rome included the de facto conditions of becoming an informal

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client state.

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A primary beneficiary of the peace of 228 was the defector Demetrius of Pharos, who

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was granted a small independent principality of his own, sandwiched between the remnant

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of the Ardiaean kingdom and the Greek cities.

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Despite these gains under Roman auspices, it seems that the ambitious Demetrius was

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not content to remain in his small kingdom, and shortly after the peace was finalised,

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he married Triteuta - the Ardiaean king’s biological mother.

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By becoming the young boy’s formal regent in this act, Demetrius of Pharos effectively

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recreated the powerful Illyrian kingdom abolished by Rome in the First Illyrian War.

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Even more boldly, he began to launch pillaging raids into the territory of Roman allied tribes.

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It could be that Demetrius was ‘testing the water’ and, due to the lack of any Roman

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response, he believed they either could not or did not wish to intervene.

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This was an illusion, as the Romans were instead occupied by the Roman-Gallic War of 226-222BC,

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and it would prove to be a fatal illusion for Demetrius.

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Further trying his luck, Demetrius set out with 90 light galleys in the summer of 220BC

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on a grand piracy expedition, ravaging cities around the Adriatic Sea in blatant violation

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of the treaty eight years before.

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He had finally gone too far, and Rome now decided that their former ally Demetrius now

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posed the same threat to Roman interests that Teuta had, and moreover wished to punish their

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friend for betraying them and not acting like a friend should.

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The disproportionately massive Roman action which began in 219 was probably motivated

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by the Republic’s desire to swiftly and decisively conclude the Illyrian situation

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before a new war with Carthage began, as it seemed like it might.

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Demetrius’ strategy was to hold the fortresses of Dimallum and Pharos itself, but the Romans

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took the former in only seven days, while a rash sortie by Demetrius lost him Pharos.

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The man himself evaded capture because he had placed a squadron of hidden galleys in

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a secret cove, fleeing to them when the battle was lost.

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On these ships he fled to the south, abandoning his family to Roman imprisonment and his men

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to death at Roman hands.

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Not long after, Demetrius reached the Adriatic port town of Actium, where the fleet of a

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great Hellenistic king - Philip V of Macedon, was anchored.

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When he arrived, the king welcome Demetrius heartily and he quickly became a key advisor.

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Meanwhile, the Romans once again withdrew all of their soldiers from the region, leaving

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no military presence.

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They once again left only their friendship behind, but had demonstrated to the great

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Macedonian kingdom to the south that they had the will to intervene in the east.

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Before continuing, we need to reverse time for a moment and briefly examine the history

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of Macedon after its would-be conqueror - Pyrrhus of Epirus, died in Argos.

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The victor in that battle - Antigonus II Gonatas, was firmly in control of Macedon by 272 and

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had also established hegemony over the Greek city-states.

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Having gained the loyalty of his turbulent homeland, Antigonus II did his best to maintain

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it.

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He raised a great sacred mound to honour the graves of the Argead house, reorganised the

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provincial system to increase its efficiency and was vigilant in keeping Macedonian coinage

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a high quality currency.

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Making good use of Macedon’s depleted resources and funds, Antigonus focused on access and

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mobility, extensively utilising the Antigonid fleet and the great naval fortresses of Demetrias,

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Chalcis and Corinth to ferry troops to strategic locations.

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An Athenian-led, Ptolemaic-supported attempt at shaking off Macedonian domination failed

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in the Cheromidian War from 268 to 281.

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Though Antigonus managed to quell this revolt, crucial fortresses such as the Acrocorinth

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were lost during his reign, which finally ended in 239BC with his death.

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His successor - Demetrius II, ruled for a relatively uneventful decade during which

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Macedon’s situation weakened ever further, and he died in 229.

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The late king’s own son - Philip V, was only a child at the time of his father’s

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death, and Macedon could not afford a child ruler in such a perilous time.

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A regent was clearly required for the time being, and a distant Antigonid relation was

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chosen for the task - Antigonus Doson.

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As one of the lesser known but more highly competent Macedonian kings during the 3rd

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century BC, Antigonus Doson began to raise the young Philip as his own son, and at the

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same time energetically set to campaigning in order to beat back Macedon’s enemies.

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He first marched north and expelled the Illyrians from the kingdom, and then struck south and

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crushed the Aetolian League.

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After securing his borders, Antigonus proceeded to renounce all Macedonian claims south of

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the Thermopylae pass, wisely hoping to consolidate and stabilise the situation in Macedon itself.

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The response of the army was to demand that Antigonus accept the title of king.

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While he did this, Philip V’s rights to the throne were not usurped or taken away,

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and Antigonus swiftly appointed him the official heir.

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After another series of victories which including the first ever seizure of Sparta by a foreign

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army, Antigonus III Doson perished in 221, leaving behind a resurgent, stable and increasingly

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powerful Macedon to Philip V, who now ascended to the throne.

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Soon after taking the throne, Philip V and the Macedonian hegemony was once again challenged

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by the Aetolian League and its allies during the Social War of 220-217 - who believed Philip

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was too young to be an effective ruler.

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It was during this war that Demetrius of Pharos arrived at the royal court.

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Cataclysmic events in the west now began to attract wider attention in the Mediterranean

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world.

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The Second Punic War had broken out in 218 and the Carthaginian general Hannibal successfully

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crossed the Alps to invade Italy.

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There, he had already defeated one Roman field army at the Trebia River and, in the June

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of 217 he crushed another at Lake Trasimene in Etruria.

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Hearing of these massive Roman defeats, Philip V now began to consider expansion in the west

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at the expense of an apparently dying Roman Republic.

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This new direction was encouraged by Demetrius of Pharos who, after being expelled from his

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Adriatic dominion by Rome, now argued that Philip should end the Social War, gain control

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of the Illyrian coast and attack Italy himself.

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Accepting the military status quo and ending the war in Greece at Naupactus, Philip then

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drove the Illyrians from Macedon once again and in the winter of 217 had a fleet of 100

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light warships constructed.

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In summer of 216 the king made his first attempt at secured Illyria’s coastal region, but

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fled home upon hearing news of an approaching Roman fleet.

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The decisive Roman defeat at Cannae was another crucial moment, as it prompted Philip to send

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envoys to Hannibal asking for a formal alliance - he no doubt wanted to join the ‘winning’

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side and make gains at Roman expense.

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The story goes that the envoy - Xenophanes, was captured by a Roman praetor on his way

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to speak with Hannibal, but managed to talk his way to freedom by stating that he was

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instead there to make peace with Rome.

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However, the unfortunate Xenophanes was captured again on his way back to Macedon with the

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formal treaty with Hannibal in his possession.

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It was in this manner that the Romans learned of that new threat that faced them.

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Following the conclusion of the Punic-Macedonian treaty, Philip aggressed further with new

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attacks against coastal Illyria, attacking Corcyra in 215.

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This intensified in 214 when a major offensive began - Philip’s land army marched north

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into Illyria through Epirus while 120 Macedonian galleys sailed up the Straits of Otranto.

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In this campaign Philip swiftly seized Oricum and besieged Apollonia, who called to Rome

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for help.

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With a strengthened Adriatic fleet, the Roman commander Laevinus now crossed the sea with

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55 heavy Roman warships, lifted the siege of Apollonia and drove the Macedonians away

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from Oricum - two crucial ports which could have been used as a staging point for an attack

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on Italy.

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After these victorious, Laevinus wintered his fleet in Oricum, while Philip burned his

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ships and retreated overland to Macedon.

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Having been blocked at sea, the Macedonian king attacked instead over the Pindus mountains,

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making significant gains in 213 and 212.

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The inland Dassaretis, Parthini and Atintani tribal settlements fell to him, without a

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significant Roman response.

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The Republic did not have the land troops to spare for a side-venture into the eastern

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Adriatic, as they were still fighting against Hannibal.

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This situation changed during the later part of 212 when Philip was once again able to

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reach the Adriatic.

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Having battered his way through land to the coast, he managed to seize the coastal fortress

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of Lissus, another possible staging point.

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It became clear to the Romans that this eastern threat could no longer be ignored.

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Neutralising Philip at this point was beyond Roman military power alone due to the Carthaginian

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War, so the senate began to use diplomacy as a weapon and started enticing other Greek

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states to do the neutralising for them.

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A treaty was made between the traditionally anti-Macedon Aetolian League and Rome, the

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former being convinced of the alliance because of Roman victories in the Punic War during

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the summer of 211 at Capua and Tarentum.

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Terms were generous for the Aetolians - they would get any captured town or city, but the

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booty would go to the Romans unless the town was jointly taken.

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Another term allowed for the inclusion of other Aetolian allies, such as Sparta, Elis,

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Messenia, the Illyrians and even Pergamum.

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The war itself was a disruptive, indecisive slogging match, with the Romans taking several

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important centres such as Anticyra, but Philip V making gains against the rest of the coalition.

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Attempts at peace talks by non-combatant states failed in 207 due to Rome’s deliberate derailing

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actions, but during 206 and 205 they were gradually forced into peace.

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Though the final treaty ending the war at Phoenice concluded hostilities for now, it

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was clear that Rome’s desire to punish Philip for his attempt at kicking them while they

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were down was not yet sated.

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One thing was certain, however, Rome was ever so slowly winning the Second Punic War and

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would soon be able to harness all of its might against Macedon.

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When Philip V received reports of the final Roman victory at Zama in 202BC, he did not

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stop his belligerent behavior.

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Instead, he began to take advantage of a weakening Egypt, alarming many of his smaller neighbors.

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Since 207, Egypt had been caught in a downward spiral.

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Since the the final division of the Successor Kingdoms at Ipsus, the eastern Mediterranean

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had been kept stable by a balance of power between the three major Hellenistic monarchies

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- Antigonid Macedon, Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire.

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If one of the three was becoming too powerful, the other two functioned as a counter, preventing

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any one power from becoming hegemon and therefore protecting the smaller states of the Hellenistic

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world.

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This system began to break down in 205, when priests of the Egyptian god Amon took advantage

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of native discontent with Ptolemaic rule and proclaimed a new pharaoh.

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This ignited a devastating revolt which detached all of upper Egypt from the regime in Alexandria,

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and the increasing ineffectual government allowed lawlessness to increase unchecked.

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This was not the end of it.

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Matters deteriorated even further in 204 when king Ptolemy IV died prematurely and was succeeded

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by his six year old son - Ptolemy V. Conflicts over the regency of this child king paralysed

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the Alexandrian regime even further and rendered it vulnerable.

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Unfortunately for them, this was the worst time to be weak in such a dog-eat-dog political

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world.

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The First Macedonian War between the Romans and Philip had just ended in the last years

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of the third century, and Seleucid king Antiochus III had returned from his great eastern campaigns.

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Both of these great kings now hungrily eyed the almost defenceless overseas Ptolemaic

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possessions, and Antiochus launched the Fifth Syrian War in 202 in order to seize traditionally

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disputed territories in Cyprus and Coele-Syria.

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The predatory Philip V of Macedon swiftly gained several of the Cyclades Islands and

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established good relations with the many Greek cities on the western coast of Asia Minor.

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Bulldozing his way through the Aegean would not go without consequence, as he quickly

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earned the ire of both Rhodes and Pergamon, smaller states who wished to curb Macedonian

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expansion and declared war in 201.

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Soon after, Philip defeated a joint Rhodian-Pergamene relief attempt at the Siege of Chios with

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heavy losses, and then attacked Pergamon itself.

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Though Philip decisively defeated the land army of his enemy outside the walls, he nevertheless

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failed to take the city.

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Realising that attempts to do so would only drain his forces, Philip instead annexed most

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of Caria and the Rhodian Peraia directly into what was becoming a New Macedonian Empire.

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In the Autumn, Philip’s fleet was attacked at Lade by the Rhodian navy, but managed to

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win anyway.

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During winter of 201, a Rhodian fleet blockaded Philip in the Gulf of Bargylia on Carian coast,

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where the king apparently struggled to feed himself and his army.

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They knew that the king would break out at some point, and also knew they were losing

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the war against Macedon, so the went west for help.

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Ambassadors from the various anti-Macedon states such as Pergamon, Rhodes and Egypt

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travelled to Rome, informing the senate of a secret pact that Philip had signed with

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Antiochus III which would divide Ptolemaic possessions between them.

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It was these smaller, weaker Hellenistic polities which opened the gates for Roman intervention

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into the Greek world, as they saw the main threat to their independence as coming from

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Antiochus and Philip, and not from Rome as is commonly believed.

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As predicted, Philip managed to trick his enemies into letting him escape during spring

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of 200BC, eventually returning to Macedon.

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The northern Aegean campaign continued on land upon his return and the king swept through

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the region until he reached Abydos, which he put under siege.

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Observing this blatant Macedonian aggression, dangerous cooperation between the two Hellenistic

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monarchies and a seemingly resurgent Macedon, the Roman senate asked the people to vote

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them a mandate for war.

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However, the people’s assembly rejected this demand for yet another war due to war

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weariness and the fact that Southern Italy had been devastated in the Second Punic War.

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Not at all demoralised by their initial failure, the senate granted Consul Publius Sulpicius

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Galba the job of winning over the public assembly.

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By comparing the emerging Macedonian threat to the great invaders of Italy - Pyrrhus and

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Hannibal, Galba was successful in persuading the assembly to declare war on Philip V.

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While the Roman military prepared its lines of supply across the Adriatic and Philip continued

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his siege at Abydos, three prominent senatorial emissaries went on a great diplomatic mission

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in the east.

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Their message was clear to all: If Philip refrained from making war on Greeks and compensated

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Pergamon for their losses, there would be peace.

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The Macedonian king brashly rebuffed the Roman envoys and committed to war.

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The Second Macedonian War had begun, and it started with the fall of Abydos, whose citizens

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committed mass suicide due to their reluctance to live under Philip’s rule.

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In late November of 200BC the king returned to Macedonia and learned that 20,000 Romans

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had already landed in Apollonia under Galba, while 50 warships were docked on the island

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of Corcyra.

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Deciding to focus initially on the peripheral threats, Philip campaigned in the Peloponnese.

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At the same time, Consul Galba conducted raids into the Illyrian countryside to prepare for

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the campaign - notoriously sacking Antipatrea so thoroughly that it only recovered in the

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fifth century CE.

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After subsequently failing to invade Macedon through the mountains, a weak and sickly Galba

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was replaced by Publius Villius Tappalus.

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Things went even worse for Villius, as he was immediately faced with a mutiny among

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the legions upon taking command.

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2,000 veterans of the Second Punic War felt they had been away from their farms and families

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for too long, and refused to obey orders.

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The Roman forces were paralysed for a while, but to his credit, Villius listened to their

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complaints and promised to raise them with the senate.

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As the situation cooled somewhat due to his mitigation attempts, Villius marched and encamped

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near a gorge on the Aous river.

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Philip V had also arrived here not long before, setting up on own army in a strong defensive

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position on the main route from Apollonia to Macedon.

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Villius’ command had run its course and immediately after establishing his camp at

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the Aous he was replaced by a vibrant member of the patrician Quinctia family - Titus Quinctius

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Flamininus.

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This passionate, hot tempered and generous philhellene had previously served with success

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as the governor of Tarentum, and in 198 was elected to the consulship despite being too

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young to legally to do so.

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Nevertheless, Flamininus almost immediately set out for the Greek east with 3,000 veteran

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troops accompanying him, ignoring the standard period of honours and administrative duties

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a new Consul would undertake in Rome.

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After reaching the Roman camp at the Aous, Flamininus relieved Villius of command and

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sent an envoy to demand negotiations with Philip, negotiations which would be traditionally

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Roman.

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King and Consul faced off on opposite sides of the swift-flowing Aous, each with their

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respective entourages of advisors and generals behind them.

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Philip attempted to bring Flamininus to a compromise, arguing that the treatment of

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each annexed city would need to be different, proposing a decision by independent tribunal.

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However, Flamininus was not going to accept any compromise, and instead proclaimed that

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his mission was to liberate all Greeks from Macedonian domination.

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To this end, he demanded that Philip first relinquish Thessaly - a possession which had

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been part of Macedon for 120 years.

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This intentionally irrational demand worked, provoking Philip into breaking off negotiations

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and returning to his excellent defensive position.

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The Roman general wasted no time, and ordered his missile troops and light infantry to skirmish

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with Philip’s forces, engaging in projectile duels.

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This distracted the Macedonians and their commander while 4,300 handpicked legionaries,

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guided by an Epirote noble named Charops, moved around a back route up and over the

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mountains.

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Once this flanking force was in place, Flamininus advanced, and the Macedonians fled to avoid

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being trapped in the Roman pincer.

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The loss of Philip’s crucial baggage train was a massive blow, but even worse was the

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loss of confidence that this defeat brought to the Greek allies of Macedon.

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As the king returned with his bloodied army to Macedon, many wavering powers now either

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declared for the Romans or remained neutral, including the Achaean League - Macedon’s

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most powerful Greek ally.

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The subsequent campaign was indecisive for Flamininus, who became bogged down in a siege

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at Atrax and then retired for the winter.

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At the same time, Philip began preparing for a decisive clash in the following year, recruiting

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even youths and old men for war.

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Peace talks failed when the glory-hunting Flamininus’ command was extended, leading

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him to break off negotiations.

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When spring came in 197 Philip marched south and stopped at a town called Pharae, where

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his army began to forage for supplies and even spotted some Roman scouts.

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Learning of the Macedonian presence, Flamininus and his army marched north from Boeotia, hoping

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to intercept Philip before he could withdraw.

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On a bleak, foggy morning, the two armies finally came into proximity of one another

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near a sloping ridge called Cynoscephalae.

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Before the battle begins, let us take a moment to examine the composition of the opposing

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armies which came into contact on the hills of Thessaly…

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Flamininus’ field army consisted of two Roman and two allied legions, totalling around

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20,000 lethal legionary infantry, with many grizzled veterans of the Punic War among them.

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2,000 velites screened this core of the Roman army while 2,500 equite cavalry and even 20

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war elephants protected its flanks.

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Along with these Italian forces, the Roman army also included a substantial contingent

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of Greek allies.

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1,200 light infantry joined the army from Epirus, 800 archers from Crete and 6,000 infantry

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as well as 400 cavalry from the Aetolian League.

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All in all, Flamininus had around 32,000 troops.

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On the other side of the ridge, Philip’s core of 16,000 Sarissa wielding phalangists

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were accompanied by 2,000 elite agema peltasts, 4,000 Illyrian and Thracian mercenaries, 1,500

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Greek hoplite mercenaries and 2,000 Thessalian and Macedonian cavalry.

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Each commander knew that their counterpart was close, but the reduced vision of the fog

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caused disorientation in the two armies.

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Philip set off marching in the morning, sending a group of fast-moving skirmishers to the

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ridge’s summit in order to get a better view.

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As they reached the top, ten Roman cavalry squadrons and 1,000 velites emerged from the

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murk and attacked.

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Both scouting contingents suffered some casualties, but both also managed to get word to their

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commanders of what was happening on the Cynoscephalae ridge.

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Flamininus reacted swiftly, sending 2,000 Aetolian infantry and 500 cavalry to the ridge

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as reinforcements.

30:44

Their arrival swung the balance in favour of the Romans and the Antigonid skirmishing

30:48

force slowly withdrew to the top of the ridge, sending frantic messengers to Philip for help.

30:54

Even though the king did not wish to join battle in such unfavourable terrain, he was

30:59

not going to abandon his scouting party, and sent 3,500 cavalry and mercenary infantry

31:05

to reinforce it.

31:07

This tipped the scales and the new reinforcements now pushed the Romans back down the slope.

31:12

Polybius tells us that they almost routed completely, but this was prevented by skillful

31:18

skirmishing and harassment by the Aetolian allies.

31:23

At this moment in the morning the sun began to burn away the fog and, with the battle

31:28

visible on the slope visible to the Romans, Flamininus and his entire army could see their

31:33

forces losing.

31:34

Witnessing the apparent defeat of the Roman skirmishing force demoralised the main Roman

31:40

army, but their commander handled the situation appropriately.

31:44

After ordering his entire army to form up in battle order, Flamininus addressed his

31:49

troops at the base of the slope.

31:51

He used all of the oratory skills that a prominent politician would have, professing to them

31:56

that “You’ve fought these men before, and you’ve beaten them before!”.

32:03

As this happened, the triumphant Antigonid skirmishers sent jubilant messages back to

32:08

Philip, urging the king to attack while momentum was on their side.

32:12

So, the order was given for the army to deploy in battle order.

32:16

Due to the unprepared nature of the encounter battle, half of Philip’s troops were still

32:22

foraging, and he could only form up half of his forces, ordering his general Nicanor to

32:27

follow up when the others had returned.

32:30

Having formed the right side of his line, the king marched at the head of his phalanx

32:34

up the slope, hoping to rush and rout the Romans with the weight of his phalanx, which

32:39

was screened by the agema peltasts and flanked on the right wing by cavalry.

32:45

On the other side of the ridge, Flamininus advanced only with the left side of his line

32:50

to reinforce the battle which was still going on between the two scouting parties.

32:56

The heavy infantry’s presence in the fight now caused the Macedonians to retreat back

33:00

up the slope - many were killed while others fled back towards their king.

33:06

Two half-armies were now marching up each side of the slope directly towards one another,

33:13

but were still completely unaware that the other was present, due to the fact that a

33:17

slight fog still obscured sound and sight.

33:21

It was because of this that the Roman left may not have seen Philip’s 8,000 strong

33:26

contingent cresting the hill in front of them as they climbed, but now both armies now came

33:31

into view of one another.

33:33

The phalangists quickly organised into a double-depth formation, lowered their sarissas and charged

33:39

down the slope at the unprepared Romans.

33:44

The remnants of Flamininus’ scouting force barely managed to form up before the phalangists

33:49

hit them.

33:51

Metal pike heads clashed against the heavy Roman shields, but the crushing momentum of

33:55

the downhill charging and double-depth phalanx quickly began to force the legionaries back.

34:01

The Antigonid and Roman cavalry clashed on the wing and the light infantry skirmished

34:06

with one another, but the main clash was in the centre.

34:09

Though the Roman left fought bravely and stubbornly did not rout under the pressure, it was slowly

34:15

but surely being chewed up by the bristling pike wall.

34:19

The encounter battle had started well for Philip, it seemed like it was only going to

34:24

get better when Nicanor’s larger contingent began to crest the ridge on the king’s left

34:29

flank, in a rushed marching formation.

34:34

Despite his best attempts at rallying the beleaguered troops on his left from behind

34:38

the line, Flamininus was being pushed back ever closer to the Roman camp.

34:44

Realising his left would soon collapse under the weight of the phalanx, the philhellene

34:48

commander wheeled his horse and galloped over to the unengaged Roman right, which was now

34:53

screened by the war elephants.

34:55

Upon arriving, Flamininus ordered his forces on this side of the battlefield to charge

35:01

at the disorganised men under Nicanors command, most of whom were either arriving or still

35:07

had no formed up.

35:09

phalangists - the core of Philip’s army, were almost useless when not deployed rigidly,

35:14

and the Romans now crushed them.

35:17

Many Macedonian soldiers were killed outright, but many more ran away and were chased by

35:23

the legionaries.

35:24

It appeared though the battle was in balance - Philip had triumphed on the Roman left,

35:29

but Flamininus had crushed Nicanor.

35:33

However, an unnamed Roman tribune, who must have possessed immense respect among the troops,

35:40

now managed to halt 20 maniples, or around 2,500 of the troops on the right wing, probably

35:47

mostly made up of veteran Triarii.

35:50

Realising that things were not going well on the Roman left wing, the unnamed military

35:54

tribune marched his contingent of disciplined troops across the ridge and then struck the

36:00

victorious phalanx of Philip from the rear.

36:03

At the same time, the inspired and angry legionaries who had suffered for hours under the Macedonian

36:09

attack renewed their assault.

36:13

This intuitive maneuver caused the inflexible phalanx to fragment and many of its phalangists

36:19

were killed.

36:20

Philip rode up and down the line in a vain attempt to rally his soldiers, but quickly

36:25

realised it was hopeless and galloped off the battlefield.

36:29

As the Romans were busy butchering the remaining enemy troops, a particularly terrible slaughter

36:35

occurred.

36:36

A group of Macedonian phalangists performed the traditional gesture of surrender - raising

36:41

their pikes directly to the sky.

36:44

However, the furious legionaries charged in and killed them all anyway.

36:49

The battle was over and the legion had triumphed over Alexander’s phalanx.

36:54

The Romans only lost around 700 dead, mostly on their left which had bravely stood their

36:59

ground under the attack.

37:02

Antigonid casualties were catastrophic, with 8,000 dead and another 5,000 captured.

37:10

Humiliating peace terms were imposed on Philip at the subsequent Conference at Tempe - he

37:16

had to evacuate all of Greece including Thessaly, and give up conquests he had gained in Asia

37:22

Minor and Thrace.

37:24

A large war indemnity was demanded, his navy was destroyed and his son Demetrius was sent

37:30

to Rome as a hostage.

37:32

Finally and most chafing, proud Philip would become a client king of Rome, essentially

37:38

a puppet.

37:39

This war broke any viable attempts at Macedonian revival, but it would not stop them trying.

37:48

After the peace conference at Tempe had been finalised, Titus Quinctius Flamininus decided

37:53

to prove definitively that it was Rome who would be the true savior of Greece.

37:58

During the Isthmian games of spring 196, Flamininus took to the speaker’s platform, declaring

38:04

that senate, general and consul would leave the Greeks free, ungarrisoned, untaxed and

38:07

autonomous after over a century of Macedonian rule.

38:10

Erupting with jubilation at their apparent ‘liberation’, Flamininus was mobbed at

38:12

the festivities and was showered with honours from the grateful city-states.

38:16

In Rome, the senate decreed five days of thanksgiving for the Cynoscephalae victory, his dignitas

38:23

had never been higher.

38:24

Also, at the games, Flamininus was met by a party of envoys who had come at the behest

38:30

of king Antiochus III, in order to congratulate the consul on his victory and to assure the

38:37

Romans of their liege’s peaceful intentions.

38:40

Whatever reply they were hoping to receive, they instead were met with cold sternness

38:43

and demands . Antiochus was to keep away from the Greek cities, withdrew his garrisons from

38:49

those he had already seized and was ordered not to attempt a crossing into Greece.

38:55

Now, we need to follow the admonished envoys back east, where they informed their sovereign,

39:01

Antiochus III, of the Roman demands.

39:04

While Rome and Macedon were fighting at Cynoscephalae, Antiochus, who was also known as ‘the Great’

39:10

was concluding the Fifth Syrian War against his traditional rival – the Ptolemies of

39:15

Egypt.

39:16

By the last year of the conflict the realm that was created by the Diadochi of Alexander,

39:22

Seleucus, became the biggest empire of its time, taking over Caria, Lycia, Cilicia, Coele-Syria,

39:29

and other Asiatic holdings of the Ptolemies.

39:31

So, it is not a surprise that Antiochus, who was considered one of the best commanders

39:36

of the era, was angry at the Roman intrusion into Greek affairs and the rebuke of his diplomats,

39:43

and was confident in his strength.

39:48

In this period, Antiochus started creating a fleet off the coast of southern Asia Minor,

39:53

probably planning to invade Ephesus Egypt.

39:56

However, his fleet's movement to the west prompted a reaction from Rhodes.

40:02

The small island wasn’t strong enough to compete with the Seleucids on the land but

40:06

had a dominant navy, so Antiochus promised to leave Halicarnassus to the Rhodians and

40:12

not create a base on Samos in exchange for free passage of his navy through Rhodian waters.

40:21

With a war avoided, in 196 BC Antiochus took over the remainder of the Ptolemaic holdings

40:28

in Asia Minor, including the crucial Ephesus.

40:32

He then decided to conquer the territory of the weakened Macedon and took Abydos and Ilium,

40:38

which meant that he now had a perfect location to cross the Hellespont.

40:43

The citizens of the nearby Lampsacus were worried that they were the next and, in a

40:48

sign of how things had changed in the last decade, sent envoys to the Romans asking for

40:53

protection.

40:57

At that point in time the cities in the area were under Thracian control, and Antiochus

41:03

obviously knew that restoring Hellenic rule would be seen favorably by the Greeks.

41:08

So, he traversed the Hellespont, first taking Chersonesos and then besieging Madytos.

41:15

The fall of the latter forced other cities to submit, and Antiochus increased his influence

41:20

by rebuilding the city of Lysimacheia, which effectively bottled up the Gallipoli Peninsula.

41:29

This might have impressed some of the Greeks, but the Romans weren’t amused, deciding

41:34

that Antiochus’ takeover of Gallipoli was a breach of the ultimatum.

41:39

Roman politics was dominated by two men – the victor of Cynoscephalae, Titus Quinctius Flamininus,

41:46

and the hero of the war against Carthage, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.

41:52

The latter wanted to move troops into Greece immediately, but the peace party led by Flamininus

41:57

prevailed, so the Republic sent a diplomatic mission to Lysimachia, demanding that Antiochus

42:03

leave Europe and return the Ptolemies their lost territories in Asia Minor.

42:09

However, by the time it arrived, Antiochus had already agreed on peace with Egypt by

42:16

marrying his daughter and the 10-year-old Ptolemy V. He claimed that as Ptolemy was

42:22

his son-in-law, he was not going to fight him anymore.

42:26

As negotiations continued, news arrived that the Ptolemaic king was dead.

42:32

Antiochus immediately broke off talks and rushed to Ephesus and from there to Antioch,

42:37

confirming the Roman suspicions that the Seleucids wanted even more territory.

42:42

We don’t have all the details, but it is known that the king attempted to launch an

42:46

invasion of Cyprus, but the expedition ended in failure, either due to a storm or a mutiny.

42:54

Returning to the shore, Antiochus decided to attack Egypt directly, but received news

42:59

that Ptolemy wasn’t dead.

43:02

The campaign was over before it began; Antiochus signed a peace treaty with his son-in-law

43:07

and then returned to Ephesus.

43:12

During this period the Seleucid ruler continued using diplomacy to improve his international

43:18

situation.

43:19

Pergamon, ruled by the Attalid dynasty, was the traditional rival of the Seleucids, and

43:25

eager to change that, he attempted to marry his daughter Antiochis to its king Eumenes

43:31

II.

43:32

The latter came to the conclusion that an alliance with the Romans was preferable and

43:37

rejected the offer, but Antiochus was unfazed and entered a marriage alliance with the king

43:43

of Cappadocia Ariarathes instead.

43:46

At the same time, his diplomats brought rich gifts to the Galatians, as Antiochus wanted

43:52

to have the backing of the famed Celtic warriors.

43:58

An event that happened 194 BC proves to the modern audience how interconnected the ancient

44:04

world was, however for the ancients itself it made the diplomatic situation even more

44:10

complicated.

44:12

Famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca was exiled from his homeland and arrived at

44:17

the Seleucid court at Ephesus in the hopes that he could become a mercenary commander.

44:23

Antiochus received him politely but, probably worried that Hannibal might outshine him,

44:28

kept him at arm’s length.

44:31

The Romans, worried about Hannibal’s arrival, sent their own envoys.

44:35

Trying to sow discord between the king and the exile, the diplomats deliberately paid

44:41

more attention to the latter.

44:44

Understanding that this put him in danger Hannibal told Antiochus the story of how his

44:48

father Hamilcar compelled him to swear an oath of eternal enmity against the Romans.

44:54

This immediately improved the Carthaginian’s standing in the court.

45:01

Between 193 and 192 BC the Romans and Seleucids continued engaging in diplomacy, mostly discussing

45:08

the Seleucid presence in Europe, but the talks were going nowhere.

45:13

Another regional power looking for allies was the Aetolian League.

45:17

Fearing that the Roman alliance with their rival Achaean League was a danger, they sent

45:22

envoys to Antiochus.

45:24

In 192 BC, the Seleucid ruler agreed to enter an alliance and sent his representative to

45:31

the Aetolian assembly.

45:33

Unexpectedly, the latter passed a resolution inviting Antiochus to liberate Greece and

45:39

settle affairs between the Aetolians and Romans.

45:42

Although Antiochus knew that it was a move that might ignite the war with the Romans,

45:47

this was an offer the king couldn’t refuse without losing prestige, so when the Aetolians

45:52

promised that they would support him with their troops, he agreed to cross into Greece.

45:58

The Roman historians claim that it was Hannibal who talked Antiochus into going to war, but

46:04

the former was at that point in Syria.

46:09

The first move of the war was made by the Aetolians: Their troops killed the unpopular

46:15

Spartan king Nabis, hoping to take over the city and put pressure on the Achaean league,

46:21

but the locals rebelled and the invaders had to retreat.

46:26

Unfortunately for the Spartans they were left defenseless, and soon soldiers of the Achaean

46:30

League entered the city and forced it to become a member of the League, ending Spartan independence

46:36

forever in the process.

46:38

The Aetolians weren’t discouraged though, and in order to give Antiochus a good place

46:42

to land his army, they took control of the city called Demetrias, which had an excellent

46:48

harbour.

46:49

The king had a small navy that wasn’t able to transport all of his troops, so after offering

46:54

a sacrifice to the goddess Athena at Ilium, he started crossing the Aegean Sea in the

47:00

autumn of 192 BC.

47:03

It seems that the land route from Thrace through Macedon was rejected, to not push Philip V

47:09

into the anti-Seleucid camp.

47:12

Antiochus disembarked at Demetrias and moved south to Lamia, where the Aetolians held their

47:17

assembly.

47:18

Here he was received as a liberating hero and elected the leader of the league.

47:25

Still, the king found himself in an awkward position: The Romans had no troops in the

47:32

region and the liberator of Greece couldn’t attack the Greeks, and thus the Seleucids

47:37

lacked a clear military target.

47:40

In an absence of one, Antiochus once again was looking for allies.

47:45

First, he approached the crucial city of Chalcis, which had been garrisoned by Attalid and Achaean

47:51

troops ever since the end of the 2nd Macedonian War.

47:55

The King attempted to convince the city to join him, but was rebuked, and although he

48:00

had enough troops to take it by force, he decided not to shed the blood of fellow Greeks

48:05

and returned to Demetrias.

48:10

Then he sent envoys to Athens, the Achaeans, Macedon, and the Athamanians.

48:15

The latter were either a Greek or Hellenized tribe who rose to prominence in the turmoil

48:20

of the Diadochi Wars and agreed to help, while Philip V, still reeling from his defeat at

48:26

Cynoscephalae, was biding his time, and the Achaeans decided to retain their alliance

48:32

with Rome.

48:33

Things were much more dramatic on the Athenian front: the oligarchic party wanted to support

48:39

the Romans, the democratic party Antiochus.

48:43

The former invited the forces of the Achaean League, which led to violent street battles,

48:49

during which the Seleucid supporters were defeated.

48:54

Rome knew of the Seleucid activity and the praetor Marcus Baebius was sent to Apollonia

49:00

with more than 20,000 Romans and Italics.

49:04

Despite the fact that they outnumbered Antiochus, the Romans had no intention to look like an

49:10

aggressor, so they didn’t declare war, but Baebius’ presence was enough to keep Macedon

49:16

in check.

49:17

Unfortunately for the Romans, they had to support their allies, and when the garrison

49:21

of Chalcis asked for reinforcements, Baebius sent 500 legionaries their way.

49:27

We can assume that this was the last straw for Antiochus, as he ordered his admiral Polyxenidas

49:34

to block the narrow Euripus strait between Chalcis and mainland Greece, and marched south

49:40

with the remainder of his army.

49:42

By the time the Roman contingent reached the crossing, it was blocked by the Seleucid navy,

49:48

so it continued south to wait for transports at Delium.

49:51

Shortly after this unit was surrounded and destroyed by the Seleucids, beginning the

49:57

war that would be later called the Seleucid War, the Syrian War, and the War of Antiochus.

50:04

Some sources claim that the Romans had already declared war at that point, but the message

50:09

reached Antiochus after the skirmish at Delium.

50:15

Still hopeful to get the Achaeans and the Pergamene to enter into an alliance with him,

50:21

Antiochus allowed the garrison of Chalcis to leave under a truce.

50:25

Soon the rest of Euboea capitulated to the king.

50:28

His next targets were the cities of the Boeotian League, which surrendered quickly, and the

50:34

Thessalian League, created by the Romans after the 2nd Macedonian War.

50:39

Antiochus still attempted to negotiate, however he noticed that the members of the league

50:43

started to mobilize under the cover of these talks, so in early 191 BC, he moved swiftly

50:51

and captured the league's main city, Pherai, massacring its defenders.

50:56

He then moved into the League’s territory, and in a short and decisive campaign took

51:01

over most of the cities in the region, save for the stronghold of Larissa, which was besieged

51:06

by the Seleucids.

51:10

While the siege was ongoing, Antiochus sent 2000 men south to the field of Cynoscephalae.

51:17

In a symbolic gesture, his soldiers buried the Greek dead, whose bones remained on the

51:23

battlefield.

51:24

By doing that the Seleucid ruler was trying to show how full of piety he was in comparison

51:30

to the barbarous Romans, and how much more he cared for the fellow Hellenes than Philip.

51:36

The latter considered this gesture a direct insult and declared his allegiance to Rome.

51:42

Baebius immediately entered negotiations with the Macedonian king, gaining the right of

51:47

military access.

51:49

A 2000-strong legionary detachment under Appius Claudius was sent south, probably as a reconnaissance

51:56

force.

51:57

The details are unclear, but apparently the Roman commander arrived at Tempe and built

52:03

a larger camp full of extra campfires to exaggerate his numbers.

52:08

Although sources assume that Antiochus was tricked into thinking that the Roman-Macedonian

52:14

attack was imminent, and raised the siege, it was probably due to the weather and supply

52:19

situation.

52:20

In any case, he soon started his retreat to Chalcis.

52:25

Both sides were now waiting for spring.

52:29

In Chalcis, Antiochus decided that another dynastic marriage was in order, but this time

52:36

he tied a knot himself with a daughter of a local noble, perhaps to prove to the minor

52:42

Greek nobles, who ruled in the majority of city-states, that he was on their side.

52:48

Such royal marriages were common in the east but backfired with the locals, who considered

52:54

sexual activity detrimental to war-making.

52:57

Additionally, during the celebrations, the Greeks were once again shocked by the practice

53:03

of their Macedonian brethren of drinking undiluted wine, and the king’s participation in this

53:09

activity further diminished his standing.

53:13

During his stay on the island, Antiochus continued to look for allies but gained none.

53:18

He also sent messengers to Asia, ordering reinforcements.

53:25

The Romans were not idle.

53:27

The alliance with the Achaean League, Pergamon, and Rhodes was confirmed, and the consul of

53:33

the year, a supporter of Scipio - Manius Acilius Glabrio, was to lead a new 15 thousand man

53:39

army to Greece.

53:41

In a show of how crucial this war was for the Romans, two ex-consuls – Marcus Porcius

53:47

Cato and Valerius Flaccus - were chosen by him as the legates.

53:52

It is also remarkable that both legates belonged to the Flamininus’ party, which meant that

53:58

the rival parties put their differences aside to defeat Antiochus.

54:05

While the main army was crossing the Adriatic, Cato landed in the Peloponnese and went on

54:10

a diplomatic tour of Achaea and Athens, sarcastically claiming that “Antiochus wages war through

54:17

letters and fights with pen and ink”.

54:20

Before Glabrio reached Illyria in March, Baebius and Philip V started their campaign against

54:26

the Seleucid garrisons in Thessaly.

54:28

The only major anti-Roman force in the region were the Athamanians and they were defeated

54:34

quickly, followed by the Seleucid garrisons, which negated all the gains Antiochus made

54:39

in his campaign in Thessaly.

54:43

Antiochus, meanwhile, consolidated his forces in Boeotia and then moved west towards Acarnania

54:50

to take control of it and put pressure on the Epirotes, in order to add their troops

54:55

to his.

54:57

Acarnania was also important in terms of gaining a port in the Ionian Sea and to cut the direct

55:03

line between Italy and the Achaean League.

55:06

The city of Medeon joined the Seleucid cause via diplomatic pressure, however, the Romans

55:12

now had more than 35 thousand troops in the area and were supported by a 5 thousand strong

55:18

army from Philip, so the Acarnanians and Epirotes declared their support for them.

55:25

Antiochus’ army, even with the additions of the Aetolians, numbered less than 20 thousand.

55:31

There were no allies to find in Greece and no reinforcements from Asia were coming soon,

55:38

possibly due to the allied Rhodian and Attalid activity in the Aegean Sea.

55:43

Outnumbered 2-to-1, he couldn’t stay in Aetolia, as the Roman march south was now

55:49

threatening his supply and retreat lines.

55:52

At the same time, he didn’t want to abandon the Aetolians.

55:56

Initially, the allies decided to defend at Lamia, but that would have given the Romans

56:02

an opportunity to outflank them, so in a true Hellenic fashion, Antiochus moved for Thermopylae.

56:11

This famous location had seen numerous last stands before and after April 191 BC, as it

56:17

was a natural choke point, defended by Mount Callidromus and Mount Tichius from the southwest

56:23

and the waters of the Malian Gulf from the northeast.

56:27

Still, as Leonidas and Xerxes discovered 300 years before, this seemingly ideal defensive

56:34

position had a fatal flaw: A small army could have bottlenecked a much larger force in the

56:40

passage, but the mountains had numerous paths making it possible to outflank the defenders.

56:47

Both armies were culturally steeped in Greek history and mythos and so obviously knew of

56:52

this.

56:55

With a few thousand Aetolians left to guard the crucial town of Heraclea, Antiochus had

57:01

around 12 thousand footmen and only 500 horsemen.

57:05

As the Roman cavalry outnumbered their counterparts 4-to-1, the Seleucids had to fight at the

57:11

narrow passage to avoid being outflanked.

57:14

The king sent 2 groups of Aetolians 1 thousand hoplites apiece to block off the most prominent

57:21

mountain paths.

57:22

He then built a wall covering the gate, placing a few catapults and ballistae on top.

57:28

His skirmishers were positioned on the high ground to the left of the passage in order

57:32

to send their missiles against the advancing Romans, while his phalangites formed up in

57:37

front of the walls with the peltasts in ahead of them.

57:42

Similarly, the Romans had 2/3 of their troops present, with the rest defending Thessaly

57:49

and blockading Heraclea.

57:51

Glabrio knew that he couldn't capture the passage against a phalanx, but still had to

57:56

attack at the narrow chokepoint and tie-up the Seleucid forces.

58:00

Two groups under Cato and Flaccus, each 2 thousand legionaries strong, were sent to

58:06

take the mountain passes.

58:09

According to some sources, the Roman camp was raided by the nearby Aetolians before

58:14

the battle, so Glabrio was forced to leave his cavalry and a group of infantry to defend

58:19

it.

58:22

Sources depicting the battle are somewhat conflicted.

58:26

We know that Flaccus was ordered to take the pass at Mount Tichius during the night.

58:30

There are authors who suggest that this unit lost its way during the march, while others

58:36

claims that the Romans met Aetolians, but the hoplites were steadfast and the legionaries

58:41

weren’t able to break through, losing dozens of troops and falling back.

58:46

Cato’s onslaught against the Aetolians at the Mount Callidromus was more successful.

58:51

Apparently, the Romans caught some of the Aetolians asleep and their first strike killed

58:56

many, but soon the hoplites managed to form a line across the pass and neither side had

59:03

an advantage.

59:06

Simultaneously, the main Roman force attacked head-on.

59:10

The volleys of the skirmishers and peltasts did a certain amount of damage, but the disciplined

59:15

Romans locked their shields and continued moving forward, even despite the losses caused

59:21

by the field artillery.

59:22

Seeing that the Romans were getting close, Antiochus ordered his peltasts to fall back,

59:28

while his pikemen moved forward forming a phalanx.

59:32

That is where the Romans suffered most of their casualties, as the legionaries weren’t

59:36

able to reach the phalangites and it was impossible for them to outflank the foe.

59:41

Slowly, but surely the phalanx pushed the legion back.

59:46

However, by the early morning, the forces of Cato started to gain upper hand near Calidromus,

59:54

as he outnumbered the Aetolians 4-to-1 and was able to rotate fresh troops into the fray.

1:00:00

Eventually, the Romans broke the hoplite line and sent it fleeing in terror.

1:00:05

Shortly, both groups were on the plain, with the legionaries killing their foes in pursuit.

1:00:11

The phalanx learned that it’s rear was now in danger and even though the king made brave

1:00:16

attempts to stop them, fled to the camp in order to form another formation.

1:00:20

Still, Cato’s detachment entered the camp before the Seleucids and the main body of

1:00:26

the Romans shortly after, so the phalangites failed to get into formation.

1:00:31

It was now every man for himself.

1:00:34

Antiochus abandoned his forces with his cavalry and more than 10 thousand Seleucids and Aetolians

1:00:39

were either killed or taken captive.

1:00:42

Livy claims that the Romans lost 200 men, but this number is probably understated.

1:00:51

After finishing off the survivors, the Romans took a day to rest and then turned their attention

1:00:56

against Heraclea, a formidable fortress with its south protected by the River Asopos, and

1:01:03

its west by Mount Oeta, and a citadel on low hills.

1:01:07

The fortress was relatively modest in size, so a small Aetolian garrison was able to man

1:01:13

the whole wall.

1:01:14

At the same time, the walls were short which meant that the Romans weren’t able to use

1:01:19

their decisive numerical superiority.

1:01:25

Glabrio sent a message to the leader of the garrison, Damocritus, demanding they surrender,

1:01:30

but this was refused, so the Romans prepared for a siege and started constructing battering

1:01:36

rams.

1:01:37

When the siege began, the legionaries assaulted the walls with rams and ladders, but the narrowness

1:01:42

of the front didn’t allow them to overwhelm the Aetolians, and the latter sallied out,

1:01:47

burning some of the rams, and shoving the enemy back with their spears.

1:01:52

The first assault failed.

1:01:54

However, the Romans had more troops, so fresh troops were sent forth and the walls were

1:02:01

attacked on the next day.

1:02:03

The garrison didn’t have this luxury, which meant that each subsequent assault tired them

1:02:09

even more.

1:02:10

This continued for 23 days, but eventually, Glabrio devised a plan.

1:02:16

His soldiers were ordered to return to the camp, making it look like there would be no

1:02:21

attack.

1:02:22

This made the exhausted Aetolians complacent and they vacated the walls to sleep in the

1:02:28

houses.

1:02:29

Late at night, a group of legionaries was ordered to attack a portion of the walls and

1:02:33

make as much noise as possible.

1:02:35

Glabrio also commanded his legate Tiberius Sempronius to move his contingent to another

1:02:41

sector of the fortifications.

1:02:42

The noise woke up the Aetolians and they started running, reaching the walls in time to rebuke

1:02:49

the Romans, but the other group was already scaling the ramparts using the ladders.

1:02:54

Seeing that, the Aetolians vacated their positions and retreated to the citadel.

1:03:02

The Roman commander allowed his soldiers to loot the city, but after it was done began

1:03:07

devising plans to take the citadel.

1:03:10

His engineers started building siege engines on the nearby hill to bombard the defenders,

1:03:15

while the rest of the troops formed up surrounding them.

1:03:18

The Aetolians had almost no food left, but, most importantly, no way to counter the catapults,

1:03:25

so Damocritus capitulated.

1:03:26

We don’t have the numbers, but it is possible that the Romans lost more troops taking Heraclea

1:03:33

than during the battle of Thermopylae.

1:03:38

After the defeat at Thermopylae the king retreated to Chalcis.

1:03:42

There was a possibility he could defend the island of Euboea and keep it as a foothold,

1:03:48

but it was scrapped when Glabrio moved south, forcing the Boeotian league to submit, and

1:03:53

the Roman navy commanded by Aulus Atilius destroyed the Seleucid supply convoy around

1:03:59

Andros.

1:04:00

So, the king started his journey back to Asia in May of 191 BC.

1:04:06

There were many reasons Antiochus was defeated in Greece, but it boils down to these key

1:04:11

factors: Roman diplomacy and logistics were superior, while the majority of Greeks didn’t

1:04:17

buy into the notion that the Seleucid king was liberating them from the Romans, and even

1:04:23

his Aetolian allies didn’t commit all of their forces.

1:04:29

Glabrio did not have a force big enough to follow the king across the sea and he had

1:04:34

to concentrate against the Aetolians.

1:04:36

He moved north again and took Lamia, putting even more pressure on the League.

1:04:42

The latter sent messengers to Antiochus in June, asking for him to return or send money,

1:04:48

so they could continue fighting.

1:04:50

Money wasn’t a problem for the wealthy king, and so the envoys returned to Greece with

1:04:56

funds.

1:04:58

Despite the fact that the money helped the Aetolians regain their resolve, the Seleucid

1:05:03

cause in Greece was getting weaker.

1:05:05

The small garrisons of Demetrias and Elis were forced to evacuate, with Elis and Messenia

1:05:11

falling into Achaean control, while Glabrio besieged Naupaktos, deep inside Aetolian territory

1:05:17

in July.

1:05:19

The siege continued for two months, but then Flamininus arrived and yet again negotiated

1:05:24

a ceasefire.

1:05:25

Aetolian messengers and Flamininus then traveled to Rome in the hopes of signing a peace treaty,

1:05:31

while Glabrio’s army went to its winter quarters.

1:05:36

Meanwhile, events were transpiring on the sea.

1:05:41

Seleucid admiral Polyxenidas had around 40 warships and 60 smaller vessels, and he was

1:05:47

ordered by Antiochus to watch out for a possible naval invasion, while the king himself moved

1:05:53

with 30 thousand troops to Lysimachia to defend his gains in Thrace.

1:05:58

The details are scarce, but by August, Polyxenidas had around 200 ships, 70 of them bigger warships,

1:06:05

probably quadriremes.

1:06:07

The new Roman admiral in the area was the praetor Gaius Livius Salinator.

1:06:12

He took command of the navy which had been in the docks ever since the Second Punic Wars

1:06:18

and started sailing to unite with Atilius’ navy.

1:06:22

As this was before the ceasefire was agreed upon, Livius raided the Aetolian controlled

1:06:27

Kefalonia and Zakynthos along the way, putting even more pressure on the league.

1:06:32

In August he reached Attica, and his fleet now had more than 100 vessels, 80 of them

1:06:38

large warships.

1:06:42

Both sides knew what they had to do: The Romans needed to unite with their Pergamene and Rhodian

1:06:48

allies to have equal numbers, while Polyxenidas’ best hope to win was to prevent that from

1:06:54

happening and take on each of the enemies separately.

1:06:58

In September the Seleucid navarch learned that the Attalids had repositioned their navy

1:07:03

to Elaea, and that Livius was to the north of Delos, and he decided to move himself to

1:07:09

Phokaia.

1:07:10

However, at some point he lost the Roman fleet and assumed that it turned south to join the

1:07:16

Rhodians, so he went for Samos.

1:07:19

This was a mistake, as a week or so later the Romans coalesced with the Pergamene navy

1:07:25

commanded by king Eumenes II, bringing their total to 160 ships.

1:07:33

The allies started chasing Polyxenidas and caught him off the coast of Chios at a place

1:07:38

called Cissus.

1:07:39

In a short battle, the Seleucid fleet lost 23 ships and was forced to retreat.

1:07:46

Even defeated, Polyxenidas was undeterred and sailed fast towards Samos, where he managed

1:07:52

to surprise the Rhodian fleet and destroy 2 dozen vessels.

1:07:56

However, the effects of this victory were small – the allied fleet was on its way

1:08:02

and another navy from Rhodes under Eudorus was converging on Polyxendias from the south,

1:08:08

so he took the only remaining safe route to Ephesus.

1:08:14

Attacking a navy in a dock protected by land artillery is always folly, so the Romans just

1:08:20

blockaded Polyxenidas for now.

1:08:22

At the same time, the Republic was planning to invade Asia Minor in 190 BC, so the Attalid

1:08:29

king was asked to secure the Hellespont.

1:08:32

Eumenes’ approach to the Hellespont put Antiochus into another awkward position.

1:08:38

He wanted to keep Gallipoli in order to continue putting pressure on Philip V, but with his

1:08:43

navy blockaded in Ephesus and with no way to counter the Attalid fleet, there was a

1:08:49

danger that Antiochus wouldn’t be able to return to Asia Minor, especially since the

1:08:54

kingdom of Bithynia and the city of Byzantion were, despite not joining the war, pro-Roman,

1:09:01

and could have prevented King’s army from crossing the Bosporos.

1:09:05

So, the king moved back to Asia Minor and then started his march towards Ephesus, as

1:09:11

he needed to defend the city, in case of Polyxenidas’ total defeat.

1:09:18

Antiochus detached his heir Seleucus to attack Pergamon, while a group of Galatians was sent

1:09:24

to attack Elaea.

1:09:25

By that time, another Roman praetor - Lucius Aemilius Regillus took over the fleet and

1:09:31

he was forced to send a portion of his navy to defend Elaea, which was crucial for the

1:09:36

Attalid war effort, while Eumenes rushed to his capital.

1:09:40

Again, we don’t know all the details, but it seems that both Seleucid forces were largely

1:09:45

successful in their raiding, but not strong enough to take either city.

1:09:51

The campaign ended when a small Achaean contingent landed near Elaea and defeated the Galatians

1:09:57

besieging it.

1:09:58

Seleucus returned to his father, but overall, this short campaign alleviated the pressure

1:10:04

on Polyxenidas enough for when Antiochus sent envoys to Aemilius to negotiate a peace treaty,

1:10:10

the Romans really considered the offer and only declined after being influenced by Eumenes.

1:10:18

The Seleucid leader needed his fleet to break out, so a message was sent to Seleucia Pieria

1:10:24

ordering Hannibal to move his navy towards the blockade.

1:10:27

We don’t know what the king was thinking when he appointed a brilliant general, who

1:10:33

never led a navy, to command one, but apparently, the Carthaginian used his knowledge of Phoenician

1:10:40

and phenomenal organizational skills to form a strong 50 vessel navy in less than 2 years.

1:10:46

His movement west was noticed by the allies and a portion of the Rhodian fleet was sent

1:10:52

to intercept him before Hannibal reached their home island.

1:10:56

The two navies met to the southeast of modern Antalya, at a place called Eurymedon.

1:11:01

We don’t have the specifics, but Hannibal’s fleet was defeated and he retired to Syria.

1:11:07

Ironically, this naval battle would be the last ever fought by the great Carthaginian

1:11:13

general.

1:11:16

With half of the allied navy on different missions, the fleets near Ephesus were now

1:11:21

equal in size.

1:11:22

It is not clear if Aemilius broke it off due to the lack of resources or in order to lure

1:11:28

Polyxenidas out, but when the Romans left to raid nearby Teos, the Seleucid navarch

1:11:34

also sailed out, in hopes of surprising the enemy.

1:11:38

However, at the battle of Myonessus, the heavier Roman ships and their boarding tactics proved

1:11:44

to be superior yet again.

1:11:46

Polyexinadas was forced to disengage after losing a third of his navy and returned to

1:11:52

Ephesus.

1:11:53

After this battle, the Seleucids were outnumbered 4-to-1 in the sea, which meant that the Romans

1:11:59

could cross into Asia Minor without resistance.

1:12:03

Antiochus was aware of this fact and started concentrating his forces around Ephesus.

1:12:11

In the aftermath of the battle of Thermopylae, the political parties of the Eternal city

1:12:16

returned to their bickering.

1:12:19

During the elections of 190 BC, Scipio’s party strengthened its position and two of

1:12:25

its members became consuls, one of them the brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

1:12:30

– another veteran of the 2nd Punic War, Lucius Cornelius.

1:12:35

On top of that, Africanus managed to get his brother the command in Greece and Asia Minor,

1:12:41

with himself as a legate.

1:12:43

Being a war party, the Scipios also rebuked the attempts of the Aetolians and Flamininus

1:12:49

to achieve peace.

1:12:53

While the Scipios were preparing their forces to cross to Epirus, the Aetolians and Glabrio

1:12:59

were informed that the ceasefire was over, and both sides immediately resumed hostilities.

1:13:05

Learning that the League’s forces were defending the mountain passages and an attack on Naupaktos

1:13:11

would prove difficult, Glabrio turned against Lamia, taking it with a surprise attack.

1:13:18

The propraetor’s next target was Amphissa.

1:13:21

The city was besieged, managing to resist until the Scipios arrived in August of 190.

1:13:27

The Romans now had more than 50 thousand troops in the region, but the campaigning season

1:13:33

was about to be over and the Romans didn’t want to spend time fighting the Aetolians,

1:13:39

so when the latter asked for another ceasefire, the Scipios agreed to a truce for an indemnity

1:13:44

of 1000 talents.

1:13:48

Afterwards, the Romans turned towards Macedon and started negotiations with its king.

1:13:55

In exchange for forgiveness of the war indemnity, the release of his son Demetrius, and minor

1:14:01

territorial gains, Philip not only supplied the Romans and allowed them to pass through

1:14:06

his kingdom, but 2 thousand of his warriors joined the Scipios.

1:14:11

In November of 190 BC the Scipios finally reached the abandoned Lysimacheia.

1:14:18

Antiochus is often accused of making a mistake when he left Thrace undefended, as a few garrisons

1:14:24

in the area could have slowed down the Romans, but the king was probably trying to get all

1:14:30

available forces together for a general battle.

1:14:33

That can be seen from the fact that the Roman navy took Phokaia and the king didn’t do

1:14:39

anything to retake it.

1:14:40

Shortly the Gallipoli peninsula was controlled by the legionaries.

1:14:46

At this point in time, Antiochus attempted to drag the king of Bithynia, Prusias I, to

1:14:53

his side, but his diplomatic overtures failed and Bithynia declared for the Romans, who

1:15:00

crossed the Hellespont in late November.

1:15:02

In Asia, the Scipios were greeted by an envoy from Antiochus and were offered a peace treaty:

1:15:09

the king was ready to pay half of the expenses the Romans incurred during the war and leave

1:15:15

the cities in Thrace and Troada.

1:15:17

His offer was rejected and the counteroffer to pay the expenses in full and leave all

1:15:24

the lands to the north and west of the Taurus mountains was unacceptable.

1:15:29

Some sources claim that Africanus’ son Publius was captured by the Seleucids during a minor

1:15:34

skirmish and Antiochus offered to return him in exchange for peace.

1:15:39

The victor of Zama didn’t budge and replied that in return for his son, he would give

1:15:45

Antiochus III a bit of useful advice: the King would be wise to agree to Roman terms

1:15:51

to avoid battle with the Romans.

1:15:56

With the negotiations failing the legions supported by the Attalid forces marched south

1:16:02

in December.

1:16:03

Scipios were worried that Lucius’ command might be taken away by the next year’s consuls,

1:16:09

so they were eager to fight the battle before long.

1:16:13

Antiochus was at Thyatira where he received reinforcements from Galatia and Cappadocia.

1:16:19

He then relocated to the north of Magnesia planning to defend at the Hermos river, as

1:16:24

this was the best place to stop the Romans before they reached the crucial Ephesus.

1:16:29

A few days later the army of the Roman Republic was in the area.

1:16:36

The Seleucid army constructed a walled camp in the valley between river Hermos and its

1:16:41

tributary Phrygius, with some of the infantry defending the crossing and a unit of Galatian

1:16:47

cavalry to the west of Phrygius.

1:16:50

On the 15th, the first legionary units arrived at the scene.

1:16:54

Initially, the Romans lacked numbers, and their attempts at fording were frustrated

1:16:59

by the enemy missile units, but more of them were arriving and pushing the defenders back.

1:17:05

At this point, the order was given to the Galatians to attack the Roman right, leading

1:17:11

to heavy casualties.

1:17:13

Another group of Scipio’s troops entered the battle and their numbers overwhelmed the

1:17:17

Galatians, who retreated with losses.

1:17:21

The clashes continued for a day, as Antiochus also bolstered his contingents, but the sheer

1:17:27

numbers of the Romans made the defense of the crossing untenable since they started

1:17:32

forcing the river in other places, too, so the king ordered his soldiers back.

1:17:40

After moving across, Scipios started erecting a camp at the confluence of Hermos and Phrygius,

1:17:46

but were attacked yet again.

1:17:48

The building of the camp was stopped a few times until the legionaries were forced to

1:17:53

get into a battle line and push the king’s troops back.

1:17:57

After hours of skirmish, the camp was finally built.

1:18:03

The Seleucids had much more cavalry than their foes, so the Romans wanted to fight near their

1:18:08

camp in the narrowest part of the valley, while Antiochus wasn’t keen on giving up

1:18:14

his advantage in the number of horsemen and preferred a wider section, so both armies

1:18:19

formed up in front of their fortifications.

1:18:22

This continued for 4 days, with neither side moving forward.

1:18:28

But January was coming, so it was the Romans who advanced.

1:18:32

However, Antiochus still didn’t think that it was enough and on the 6th day, the Romans

1:18:38

repositioned even closer to the enemy camp.

1:18:41

The king considered the battlefield satisfactory and accepted the battle on the 22nd of December.

1:18:50

The always controversial topic of the sizes of the armies is no different for this battle.

1:18:56

Our main sources for the battle are Roman historian Livy and the Achaean historian Polybius

1:19:02

and neither was kind to Antiochus.

1:19:05

According to them, the Seleucids outnumbered the Romans 2-to-1.

1:19:10

It seems that both think that 25 thousand or so legionaries remained in Greece, but

1:19:16

further events that we will talk about disproves this and modern historians think that armies

1:19:22

were equal in size, each around 70 thousand.

1:19:28

Scipio commanded an army made up of 20 thousand Romans, 40 thousand Italian allies, and more

1:19:35

than 10 thousand Achaeans, Macedonians, Thracians, and Pergamene, among them 20 thousand hastati,

1:19:41

20 thousand principes, 8 thousand triarii, and a few thousand velites.

1:19:47

They were supported by 4000 cavalry, majority among them the Roman and Italic Equites and

1:19:53

1000 Attalid heavy cavalry, 3000 Pergamene and Achaean peltasts, 2000 Macedonian phalangites,

1:20:00

and others.

1:20:02

The Romans had 16 North African elephants, but Scipio decided not to use them against

1:20:08

the bigger and more ferocious Seleucid Indian elephants.

1:20:15

Opposing them were 34 thousand heavy footmen, including 16,000 phalangites, 10 thousand

1:20:21

silver shield hypaspists, 3 thousand Galatian and 2 thousand Cappadocian swordsmen, and

1:20:27

23 thousand light and missile infantry, among them peltasts, Cretan archers, and Illyrian

1:20:34

skirmishers.

1:20:35

As we mentioned before, Antiochus’ army had more cavalry than their foe: 8 thousand

1:20:41

heavy cavalry made up of Armenian and Iranian cataphracts, Median agema, hetairoi from the

1:20:48

Macedonian elite, and 4000 light horsemen from Galatia, Dacia, Dahae, Arabia, and Greek

1:20:54

Asia Minor fighting as Tarentines.

1:20:57

The king also had 54 elephants and an unknown number of scythed chariots.

1:21:04

The Roman center and left wing, which was defended by the Phrygius, consisted of the

1:21:11

legionaries in 3 lines – a traditional triplex acies in checkerboard pattern, with the left

1:21:17

reinforced by 1000 Roman horsemen and the elephants in reserve behind the center.

1:21:24

The right anchored by the Hermos had Achaean and Pergamene peltasts in the first rank and

1:21:30

3 thousand cavalrymen in the second.

1:21:32

Various units of skirmishers and velites formed the vanguard, while the Macedonian and Thracian

1:21:38

allies remained to defend the camp, commanded by the military tribune Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

1:21:45

The consul Lucius Scipio commanded the center, king Eumenes the right, and the former consul

1:21:51

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus the left.

1:21:55

Scipio Africanus had suffered from sickness for weeks, so it seems that it was his brother

1:22:00

Lucius who was the overall commander.

1:22:05

On the other side of the plain, the Seleucid center commanded by general Zeuxis was built

1:22:10

around all the phalangites and Galatian infantry, divided into units of 1500 footmen with 2

1:22:17

elephants between each battalion, for a total of 22 beasts.

1:22:22

Antiochus himself commanded the right wing with 4000 heavy cavalry in the first line,

1:22:28

16 elephants and light Dahae cavalry behind them, with the Silver Shields behind them.

1:22:34

The Kings heir’s Seleucus was leading the left-wing of the army, guarded by 4000 heavy

1:22:40

horsemen.

1:22:41

In front of his force was a unit of scythed chariots, while the elephants and the light

1:22:47

cavalry formed the 2nd line, with the peltasts and Cappadocians positioned in the third line.

1:22:53

The primary sources fail to place the missile infantry for Antiochus, but modern historians

1:22:59

conclude that the skirmishers and the Arab camel archers were in the vanguard.

1:23:06

Again, our understanding of the early stage of the battle is uneven.

1:23:11

It was customary for the skirmishers to open a battle and it seems that it was the case

1:23:16

in this engagement too.

1:23:18

In this case, it is possible to deduce that the Romans gained an upper hand.

1:23:23

Livy mentions that it rained prior to the battle and that the Seleucid missile units,

1:23:28

who relied on bowstrings, were at a disadvantage.

1:23:32

After suffering casualties, Antiochus’ archers started retreating behind the main line and

1:23:38

as the Roman skirmishers moved forward, it became dangerous to keep the elephants close

1:23:43

to the front, as they tended to become frenzied under fire.

1:23:47

The Seleucid center then closed its ranks.

1:23:53

With no light footmen to defend the line, the Seleucid heir ordered his chariots to

1:23:58

counterattack.

1:23:59

A scythed chariot was a fearsome weapon against tight groups, but the Roman skirmishers were

1:24:04

in a loose formation, so when the chariots charged, they were able to disperse and allow

1:24:10

the enemy through.

1:24:12

Skirmishers then turned and started sending volleys into the charioteers, while Eumenes

1:24:17

then sent his light cavalry to attack them.

1:24:21

Many horses and riders were killed and the rest panicked and turned back to find refuge

1:24:26

behind their lines.

1:24:28

At this point, the Arab camel archers were sent forward to assist the charioteers, as

1:24:33

the Seleucid officers knew that the camel’s scent might scare the Roman horses and save

1:24:39

the chariot corps.

1:24:43

This backfired spectacularly, as the chariot riders were not able to control their horses

1:24:48

anymore and basically smashed into their own camel riders.

1:24:52

The details are scarce, but the Seleucid left lost all cohesion and soon was attacked by

1:24:58

the full force of the king of Pergamon.

1:25:01

The light cavalry and the infantry weren’t able to withstand this charge, and even though

1:25:06

the hetairoi and cataphracts were much more disciplined, they were more used to fighting

1:25:11

as an attacking force.

1:25:13

Slowly but surely, they were first pushed back, and then broken.

1:25:20

Things were completely different on the Seleucid right, owing to the fact that the width of

1:25:25

the battlefield was 5 kilometers, which prohibited information from reaching the flanks in time.

1:25:32

Seeing his missile infantry on the backfoot, the Seleucid king allowed them to pass and

1:25:38

then counterattacked with his heavy and light cavalry.

1:25:42

This charge quickly scattered the enemy in front of them.

1:25:45

The cavalry then got into a single line on the go, and that seemingly shocked the Roman

1:25:50

left, who were marching forward behind their velites and now were in a wider place on the

1:25:56

battlefield.

1:25:57

Ahenobarbus attempted to widen his front by sending his small cavalry contingent to defend

1:26:03

the flank.

1:26:04

This wasn’t enough: the Roman horsemen were crushed and the side of the legionary formation

1:26:09

was now open to further attacks.

1:26:13

Apparently, the Seleucids destroyed the enemy formation here and started chasing them towards

1:26:19

the camp.

1:26:20

Hundreds died in this chase, but eventually they reached the camp.

1:26:25

Here Lepidus attempted to form a line, but the panic was too strong and his troops were

1:26:30

ordered to kill the retreating legionaries.

1:26:33

The harsh treatment finally stopped those attempting to run.

1:26:37

Buoyed by the Macedonian pikes the Roman line was able to put some distance between them

1:26:42

and Antiochus.

1:26:44

The king’s light cavalry was supposed to attack from behind, but got too distracted

1:26:49

by the riches of the camp, which gave the Romans enough leeway to put their back against

1:26:54

the walls of the camp.

1:26:55

Antiochus hadn’t received any news from his army for some time and wasn’t eager

1:27:01

to attack the pikes, so he ordered his warriors to break off and return.

1:27:06

Meanwhile, the Roman center pushed forward, and the remainder of the Seleucid right, seeing

1:27:13

that their center would be surrounded, attempted to join them in defense.

1:27:18

Indeed, soon the center of the Antiochus’ force was encircled.

1:27:22

For some time, the Romans tried to use their missiles to weaken the phalanx, but it wasn’t

1:27:27

too effective.

1:27:29

Eumenes and Scipio knew that the Seleucid leader would eventually return, so they ordered

1:27:34

a unit of cavalry to block him and commanded their heavy infantry to close in.

1:27:39

The phalangites formed a pike wall and attempted to retreat towards their own camp, but it

1:27:45

was difficult while they were attacked from all sides.

1:27:49

Antiochus’s cavalry easily broke the unit sent to block them, but by the time they arrived,

1:27:56

the phalanx was finally broken and its desperate members were chased and killed by the Roman

1:28:02

cavalry.

1:28:03

Some units were able to retreat from the battlefield, but it seems that the majority of the Seleucid

1:28:09

army was either killed or captured.

1:28:11

We don’t have a good source for the Roman casualties, however, it can be concluded that

1:28:16

they were in the thousands.

1:28:18

Antiochus’ decision to place himself on the right, which was the place of honor, was

1:28:24

the biggest mistake he made, as it precluded him from personally stabilizing the situation

1:28:29

on his left.

1:28:33

In the aftermath of the battle, Antiochus started retreating towards Apamea, while the

1:28:39

Romans took Sardis.

1:28:41

The king wanted to continue fighting, as his empire was vast and rich enough to field another

1:28:47

army, but even the mightiest kings should consider the opinion of their subjects after

1:28:52

two decisive defeats, and both the courtiers and commoners wanted peace, so in early 189

1:29:00

BC Antiochus sent envoys to discuss the terms.

1:29:04

The Roman demands were steep, but the Seleucids agreed without much discussion: The defeated

1:29:10

empire had to withdraw from lands to the west and north to the Taurus mountains and pay

1:29:16

15,000 talents as war indemnity.

1:29:19

Antiochus had to give up Hannibal and a number of other enemies of Rome, and promised not

1:29:20

to participate in any wars in Europe.

1:29:21

The king also gave away all of his elephants with a promise not to procure more in the

1:29:25

future.

1:29:26

The Seleucids were only allowed to keep a navy of 10 ships and not to sail beyond Calycadnus.

1:29:33

The Romans took 20 hostages, including the son of the king – another Antiochus.

1:29:42

The peace would not be signed until the next year, as it had to be ratified by the Roman

1:29:47

senate, but in the end, the Seleucid lands in Europe were given to the Thracian kingdom,

1:29:53

while the territories in Asia were divided between Rhodes and Pergamon.

1:29:58

This weakened the Seleucid empire.

1:30:01

Antiochus was killed by a mob in Babylon in 187, while Armenia, Atropatene, and Parthia,

1:30:08

who were already somewhat autonomous, rebelled and became independent.

1:30:14

The Seleucid dynasty would rule for another 120 years, but their realm would continuously

1:30:21

shrink.

1:30:24

In 189, Rome sent two new consuls to Greece and Asia Minor to finish the wars.

1:30:31

The first - Gnaeus Manlius Vulso not only made sure that the Seleucids fulfilled the

1:30:37

terms of the treaty, but also went to war with Galatia.

1:30:41

The Galatian War, that the Romans won handily, is beyond the scope of this video, but it

1:30:48

was remarkable for two reasons: it showed that Rome could now easily invade Asia Minor,

1:30:54

and was the first time a Roman general declared war without the approval of the Senate, and

1:31:00

this set a precedent that would lead to the downfall of the Republic.

1:31:08

While all that was happening in the east, the ceasefire between Rome and Aetolia ended

1:31:13

in early 189 and using the absence of the Roman armies, the Aetolians attacked Philip

1:31:20

of Macedon and easily pushed him out of Thessaly.

1:31:24

However, soon the second consul Marcus Fulvius Nobilior arrived.

1:31:29

Supported by the Epirotes, he besieged Ambracia and that forced the Aetolian army to retreat

1:31:35

from Macedon, as they were worried about being outflanked.

1:31:40

Although Ambracia managed to resist for months, it was clear to the League that it won’t

1:31:45

be able to fight on without the Seleucids, so using Athenian mediation they started peace

1:31:51

negotiations with Rome.

1:31:53

Again, the demands were heavy, but the Aetolians had no other choice but to accept: The league

1:32:00

lost half of its members and territory, and also was prohibited from having a foreign

1:32:05

policy without Rome’s approval.

1:32:08

Although technically independent, the League stopped being a major player after this treaty.

1:32:15

In 184 the second son of Philip V - Demetrius, went on a return visit to Rome.

1:32:20

After Cynoscephalae Demetrius was the boy taken as a hostage by the Romans and he had

1:32:24

emerged from that experience a committed Romanophile.

1:32:27

This only intensified when the senate decided to give the sympathetic Demetrius their official

1:32:30

support, and he returned to Macedon in 184 with a very different attitude to his father.

1:32:33

Macedonian court politics during this period were especially fierce.

1:32:34

While the Seleucid conflict was raging, the royal court in Pella had become bitterly divided

1:32:37

over the Roman issue, and it was almost as if two courts existed at once.

1:32:39

One of these circles consisted of those advisors and highborn men who favoured peace and accomodation

1:32:44

with Rome, and was gathered around Demetrius.

1:32:45

On the other hand, another group formed around the duo of Philip V and his eldest son Perseus,

1:32:51

and was packed with firebrands who advocated resistance against the invaders from the west.

1:32:58

Both factions began an underhand war of propaganda against one another, using rumour and intrigue

1:33:02

as weapons.

1:33:03

Perseus’ mother was routinely slandered as being of low birth and a one-time concubine.

1:33:06

Therefore, it was implied that Perseus was less legitimate than Demetrius, who was the

1:33:11

younger sibling.

1:33:12

Demetrius realised that, despite his friendliness with Rome, Perseus had influence with his

1:33:13

father and became certain that his days were numbered.

1:33:14

He made a mistake at this point, confiding his fears to one of his father’s courtiers

1:33:15

named Didas, telling him he planned to flee to Rome.

1:33:18

This man promptly told Philip, who also discovered a letter speaking of Demetrius’ ‘lust

1:33:24

for the throne’.

1:33:26

Despite it probably being a forgery, Didas poisoned Demetrius in the winter of 181 on

1:33:32

the order of Philip.

1:33:33

This was the only dynastic murder of the entire Antigonid dynasty, and its outcome was a surge

1:33:35

in hostility between Rome and Macedon.

1:33:40

The situation destabilised even further in 179, when after over four decades of rule,

1:33:48

Philip V passed away in Amphipolis while preparing for a campaign against the Thracians.

1:33:54

With his rival Demetrius also dead, Perseus became the king of Macedon.

1:33:59

He did what new Antigonid kings always had to, immediately reaffirming old friendships

1:34:05

and building new ones.

1:34:08

Rivals to the throne were eliminated and, in this new Rome-dominated world, it was necessary

1:34:14

to send emissaries to the senate hoping for their official recognition of Perseus’ accession

1:34:20

to the throne.

1:34:21

Reluctantly, this was granted.

1:34:26

On the diplomatic front, Perseus also entered into many alliances and diplomatic arrangements

1:34:32

with the various Greek city-states, making no secret of Macedon’s continuing interest

1:34:34

in Greece.

1:34:35

Naturally, this was to the great annoyance of the Romans.

1:34:37

Furthermore, to the east, Perseus astutely married his sister to Prusias II of Bithynia

1:34:44

and the king himself married the daughter of Seleucid monarch Seleucus IV.

1:34:49

So in addition to playing nice with the Greeks, Perseus was also swiftly gaining a network

1:34:56

of useful allies in Asia Minor, much to the increasing anger of Pergamon, which was excluded

1:35:02

from these affairs.

1:35:06

Its king - Eumenes II, played his kingdom’s usual part as a sycophantic informant to their

1:35:12

Roman lords in the west.

1:35:13

Initial insistences and warnings by Eumenes to the Roman senate fell on receptive ears,

1:35:18

primarily because they wished to keep their hegemony over Greece.

1:35:21

In 175 and 174, repeated Roman warnings to Perseus refused to cow the young king.

1:35:27

Moreover, he performed a grand spectacle of marching his entire army on a peaceful parade

1:35:33

through Delphi - the sacred centre of the Greek world.

1:35:37

The message was clear: HE was the protector of the Greeks, not the Romans.

1:35:46

Increasingly urgent embassies from Pergamon began to beseech the Roman senate for help,

1:35:51

and in early 172 Eumenes himself came to plead his case.

1:35:57

He not only repeated previous claims that Perseus had simply inherited his father’s

1:35:58

preparations and resolution for war against Rome, but also claimed that the peace since

1:35:59

189 had allowed Macedon to fully recover its strength.

1:36:02

Finally, the Pergamene king played his trump card, stating to the Romans that “I felt

1:36:07

it would be utterly disgraceful if I failed to reach Italy to warn you, before he arrived

1:36:12

here with his army.”.

1:36:14

Cynically playing on the tradition post-Hannibalic fear of invasions in their homeland, Eumenes

1:36:19

got his way.

1:36:22

The subsequent diplomatic pressure and investigations into Perseus’ conduct would turn into a

1:36:28

self-fulfilling prophecy, as the king could see the senate was intent on destroying him.

1:36:33

Therefore, he was required to take steps to be ready for them, it was his only choice.

1:36:35

Philip V may have been the aggressor in the previous war, but now the Romans were hungry

1:36:40

for conflict with Perseus.

1:36:42

Roman envoys sent to negotiate a truce with the Macedonian king then boasted of deceiving

1:36:48

him into thinking there was even a chance of peace.

1:36:50

In fact, the truce was purely a measure in order to gain more time for the Romans to

1:36:56

prepare for war, as they refitted a fleet of old ships and embarked a powerful army

1:37:02

from Brundisium to Apollonia.

1:37:05

This Roman ‘new cunning’ of deception and underhanded tactics was not met with approval

1:37:12

from all quarters.

1:37:14

More traditionalist senators remembered a time when the Romans treated their enemies

1:37:18

as honoured and honourable men.

1:37:20

It turned out that such methods were no way to run an empire.

1:37:25

Whatever the case, the Roman senate had decided that the only way to maintain their position

1:37:30

in Greece was to have no equals at all.

1:37:33

The Antigonid monarchy had to disappear, and the Third Macedonian War began.

1:37:42

Roman consul Publius Licinius Crassus crossed the Adriatic in the late summer of 171BC in

1:37:49

order to take control of the legions there.

1:37:52

At the same time, Eumenes of Pergamon arrived at Chalcis with his fleet, disembarking with

1:37:58

6,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry of his own.

1:38:01

At sea the Romans had unquestioned mastery of the Aegean sea, so they dismissed the allied

1:38:07

vessels, only retaining Eumenes’ assistance.

1:38:09

They only wanted the help of those allies who they knew were most loyal, and were hesitant

1:38:12

to be indebted to friends such as the Rhodians who would probably want peacetime gains for

1:38:14

their wartime performance.

1:38:15

Meanwhile, Perseus advanced south into Thessaly - ravaging lands on the way, and encamped

1:38:19

just to the south of Mount Ossa, having taken command of the army his father had begun to

1:38:24

rebuild.

1:38:26

At the same time, Licinius secured the Greek west coast and advanced into Thessaly via

1:38:31

Athamania.

1:38:33

When the consul arrived at the Greek city of Larissa, he encamped just outside the town

1:38:38

by a hill called Callinicus, where he was reinforced by Eumenes’ Pergamene forces.

1:38:46

As the Macedonians had grown bolder due to their opposed ravaging of the Thessalian countryside,

1:38:51

Perseus decided to match them toward the Roman camp, erecting their own around five miles

1:38:57

away.

1:38:58

After resting his army for the night, Perseus drew up his line into formation and marched

1:39:04

his cavalry, as well as the light infantry forwards.

1:39:07

The phalangists stayed behind in reserve.

1:39:10

Odrysian king Cotys IV commanded the Thracian cavalry and interspersed light infantry on

1:39:16

the left flank, while Macedonian horsemen and Cretan skirmishers on the right were led

1:39:21

by Midon of Beroea.

1:39:23

Both wings were flanked by the King’s Cavalry and auxiliary infantry from various foreign

1:39:29

nations, while the centre was made up of Perseus’ elite agema, the sacred cavalry and 400 slingers

1:39:35

in front.

1:39:37

Opposite the Macedonians, Licinius’ field army formed up its heavy infantry safely behind

1:39:44

their camp’s ramparts, sending their own cavalry and skirmishers out to meet the enemy.

1:39:50

The Roman right wing, commanded by Caius Licinius Crassus consisted of the Italian equites with

1:39:57

velites scattered between them, while the left under Valerius Laevinus commanded the

1:40:02

Greek allied cavalry and infantry on the left.

1:40:06

In the centre, Quintus Mucius led a force of Gauls, Thessalians and other volunteer

1:40:10

cavalry.

1:40:14

Missile fire from javelins and sling stones opened the battle, causing light casualties

1:40:19

on both sides before Cotys’ Thracian horsemen charged.

1:40:23

They fought like wild beasts, according to Livy, and swiftly smashed through the Roman

1:40:28

right wing cavalry.

1:40:30

At the same time, Perseus and his elite agema troops broke the Roman centre.

1:40:35

Believing he could turn the battle into a decisive engagement, Perseus was about to

1:40:40

order his phalanx into the battle, but was persuaded not to take such a risk by Euander

1:40:46

the Cretan.

1:40:47

Thanking Euander for his wise counsel and taking the victory where he could, Perseus

1:40:52

withdrew back to his camp.

1:40:54

200 Roman cavalry and 2000 infantry had died, and only 60 of Perseus’ men had died.

1:41:03

Further skirmishes followed this battle, but the campaigning season of 171 was essentially

1:41:11

over.

1:41:12

The Romans proceeded to occupy themselves by brutally razing the anti-Roman cities in

1:41:15

Boeotia.

1:41:16

Haliartus was completely annihilated after a short siege, 2,500 men were sold into slavery

1:41:23

and the town remained desolate for decades afterwards.

1:41:28

This type of increasingly notorious Roman savagery in Greece, along with Perseus’

1:41:33

victory at Callinicus, made the Macedonian king appear to be a Champion of the Greeks.

1:41:39

Most who believed this were still too frightened of Rome to take action, but the Molossians

1:41:45

of Epirus did defect.

1:41:49

One setback after another appeared to be striking the Romans in this conflict, and this was

1:41:54

only compounded when Perseus launched a successful raid on the Roman fleet at Oreus, destroying

1:42:00

ships and spoiling grain supplies.

1:42:02

Despite these republican failures and Macedonian successes, Perseus knew that he could not

1:42:05

grind Rome to victory, he needed a decisive victory in battle.

1:42:12

By the end of 169, Rome’s position in Greece appeared precarious, and only the arrival

1:42:18

of the new consul - Lucius Aemilius Paullus in 168 BC breathed fresh life into the floundering

1:42:25

Roman cause in Greece.

1:42:26

The first century Greek biographer Plutarch informs us that this scion of the prominent

1:42:27

Aemilii patrician family did not even want to be consul at this point, as he had already

1:42:28

failed during his run for a second term.

1:42:29

However, his previous victories against the Lusitani and Inguani tribes had not been forgotten.

1:42:30

The senate believed him to be the best candidate on their list to bring order to Greece once

1:42:31

again.

1:42:32

Eventually, overwhelmed by the constant requests for him to stand for office, Aemilius was

1:42:33

elected and immediately given the Macedonian command.

1:42:34

Plutarch also tells us that after his election as consul for 168, Aemilius went home to find

1:42:35

his daughter in distress.

1:42:36

Naturally, the father asked what was the matter.

1:42:37

His daughter, embracing Aemilius with sad tears in her eyes, told the consul that their

1:42:38

little dog was dead.

1:42:39

That dog’s name, so the story goes, was Perseus.

1:42:40

Possibly apocryphal stories aside, the force which Aemilius took command of was large:

1:42:41

two especially strengthened Roman and allied legions totalling around 22,000 legionary

1:42:42

heavy infantry.

1:42:43

The allied legions now comprised various peoples who, until recently, had been long standing

1:42:44

enemies of Rome, such as the Etruscans and Samnites.

1:42:45

Supporting the heavy troops were thousands more light infantry, including velites, Pergamene

1:42:49

troops and Greek allies.

1:42:52

4,000 cavalry also mounted up in the Roman army, including a thousand of the infamous

1:42:57

Numidian cavalry under their prince Misagenes.

1:43:01

With the North African troops also came 22 imposing war elephants.

1:43:07

Perseus meanwhile had around 44,000 foot and 4,000 horse on his side of the field.

1:43:15

21,000 of the infantry comprised the fearsome phalangists with their Sarissa pikes and phalanx

1:43:20

formation, which reached a mile in length.

1:43:24

Supporting this moving wall of pikes were light troops, auxiliaries such as the Thracian

1:43:29

javelinmen and Illyrian archers.

1:43:33

After advancing into Thessaly in the summer of 168, Aemilius marched south, meeting Perseus

1:43:39

at the foot of mount Olympus, where he had drawn up his army in a highly defensible position.

1:43:47

The Antigonids were dug in on the west bank of the Elpeus river, just east of the mountain

1:43:53

and had easy access to the nearby town of Dium.

1:43:57

With typical Roman grit, it seems like the fact that Perseus had such a position did

1:44:03

not bother the legionaries and, eager to redeem their honour after Callinicus, urged Aemilius

1:44:09

to attack immediately As a retort, Aemilius told his men to mind their place and underlined

1:44:16

the fact that they would fight when and how he told them to.

1:44:23

In order to dislodge Perseus from his defensive position, Aemilius assigned a subordinate

1:44:28

- Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, to launch a feint towards the sea with 3,500 allied

1:44:35

infantry and 5,000 legionaries.

1:44:39

Under the cover of darkness, he would march through an unguarded pass in order to surprise

1:44:43

Perseus.

1:44:45

This might have gotten the jump on Macedon’s king, but a Cretan auxiliary in the Roman

1:44:50

army defected and informed his fellow Greeks of the Roman plan.

1:44:57

Reacting immediately to this alarming news, Perseus sent a general named Milo with 2,000

1:45:03

Macedonians and 10,000 Thracian mercenaries to oppose the Roman passage.

1:45:08

Though Nasica hadn’t expected this resistance, upon his arrival in the pass he ordered a

1:45:14

charge.

1:45:15

The mountain fighting in the narrow defiles and passages was bloody and brutal, and Nasica

1:45:20

himself supposedly came toe to toe with a fearsome Thracian soldier, slaying him with

1:45:27

the pilum javelin.

1:45:28

Rome’s legionaries doggedly stabbed and slashed their way through the mountain pass,

1:45:33

routing the Macedonians, who then fled back to the main army and informed Perseus of the

1:45:39

defeat.

1:45:40

Realising that the loss of this mountain pass would render his position vulnerable, the

1:45:44

king immediately decamped and marched away from the mountain.

1:45:49

While Aemilius moved through the mountain pass and emerged onto the foothills around

1:45:53

Mount Olocrus, Perseus drew up his army behind a river on the plain below, near the town

1:45:59

of Pydna.

1:46:02

The handpicked field of battle was fantastic for the Macedonian phalanx, and Perseus’

1:46:09

position atop a small ridge and behind the river gave him a distinct advantage.

1:46:14

Aemilius knew this and so did not advance just yet, remaining in his camp on the hills.

1:46:21

The general’s officers, especially Nasica, quickly became restless and wanted to attack

1:46:26

immediately.

1:46:27

Stoically, Aemilius smiled and advised Nasica not to be so hasty, informing him of the folly

1:46:34

of attacking a phalanx on such ground.

1:46:39

The Romans did not waste their time, and constructed a marching camp for that night.

1:46:45

When darkness had fallen and the soldiers were resting around the various campfires

1:46:49

and sleeping in their tents, the moon suddenly grew dark, its white colour shifting to a

1:46:55

dull red.

1:46:56

The superstitious men in the Macedonian camp were deeply affected and surprised by what

1:47:02

was apparently a bad omen.

1:47:04

A moon which seemed to bleed red, had Zeus abandoned them?

1:47:10

At the same time, the equally pious Romans did not react as badly, why was this?

1:47:15

A military tribune of the Roman army - Caius Sulpicius Gallus, was a learned Astronomer.

1:47:22

The day before, he approached his general and gained his permission to assembly the

1:47:27

soldiers, informing them that such an event - that we know as a solar eclipse, would occur

1:47:33

on the following night.

1:47:34

He urged the soldiers not to see such a thing as an ill omen, as it was a regular, predictable

1:47:40

and natural thing.

1:47:42

Therefore, when the eclipse did occur, the Roman soldiers simply followed their commander

1:47:47

in offering sacrifices to the Greek gods, promising to hold games in Heracles’ honour.

1:47:53

The gestures worked and the Roman soldier’s morale was unaffected.

1:48:00

With both leaders engaging one another in a dangerous staring contest, it would take

1:48:05

a spark for the flames to ignite.

1:48:08

Said spark came in the form of a misbehaving mule.

1:48:12

In order to fill up jugs of water for the thirsty Roman soldiers, who wore heavy armour,

1:48:17

a small train of mules was led down to a stream below the foothills by lighter troops.

1:48:23

Like the stubborn creatures they are, one of the parched pack animals supposedly scented

1:48:28

the water and bolted away from its handlers.

1:48:31

The water-gatherers ran after it, and discovered that a group of Perseus’ Thracian troops

1:48:36

were doing the same.

1:48:38

Moreover, the enemy was attempting to steal their mule.

1:48:42

The irritated, frustrated and scorching Roman soldiers were not going to give up that mule,

1:48:48

and a brawl broke out over the animal.

1:48:51

Runners on both sides went to get help, while the mule probably just ran off.

1:48:56

Perseus saw an opportunity to draw the Romans down from the uneven foothills of Mount Olocrus,

1:49:04

and marched his entire army out of the camp and straight towards the brawl at the stream.

1:49:10

The Romans could see what was going on from their camp, and they were furious, demanding

1:49:15

angrily to be allowed to march out and fight.

1:49:18

Aemilius risked mutiny if he refused and so, gave the signal to form up.

1:49:24

After only allowing his legions a brief amount of time to form up, he swiftly commanded the

1:49:29

advance, aiming to save the men at the stream.

1:49:34

At that moment, the marching phalangists were given the order to lower their pikes.

1:49:40

In unison, the first five ranks held their sarissae horizontally, and the ranks behind

1:49:46

kept them at a 45 degree angle.

1:49:49

Then, they advanced.

1:49:51

Against the barely armoured Roman light troops, whose main job was to skirmish at a distance,

1:49:57

the phalangists met almost no serious resistance, and simply tore through the enemy ranks.

1:50:04

Valiantly trying to buy the Romans more time, an auxiliary tribal leader named Salvius obtained

1:50:10

his unit’s standard and threw it into the phalanx.

1:50:13

This galvanised the pressured soldiers, and they furiously tried to get it back.

1:50:19

This resulted in massive casualties, but slowed the advance of the phalanx and allowed some

1:50:24

men to escape.

1:50:27

Aemilius’ main force was now closing in, and the swarm of velites and other skirmishers

1:50:33

threw their missiles at the phalanx, mostly to no effect.

1:50:37

The legionary heavy infantry, having witnessed the slaughter of their more lightly armoured

1:50:42

comrades, became frightened and began to slow down.

1:50:45

They saw the sheer size of the steamroller that approached them and their morale started

1:50:51

to wane.

1:50:52

Aemilius had to act right now, otherwise his shortsword armed men were going to be slaughtered

1:50:57

on the flat ground.

1:50:59

So, the general ordered an immediate withdrawal and ceded the plains to Perseus, moving for

1:51:05

the foothills once again.

1:51:06

Owing to the phenomenal discipline of the Roman legions, the retreat was carried out

1:51:12

successfully, and Aemilius now had some breathing room to attack.

1:51:16

Wheeling his horse to the right flank, he ordered the wing of 34 elephants to charge

1:51:21

forward, with a mass of cavalry behind them.

1:51:27

The Thracian and mercenary skirmishers immediately in the path of this charge were ideal troops

1:51:32

for dealing with elephants, but they were exhausted and failed to concentrate enough

1:51:37

missiles.

1:51:38

The elephant vanguard caught them on a bad day, and they carved a bloody hole into Perseus’

1:51:44

left wing.

1:51:45

The cavalry then streamed around the elephants and mopped up those that were left, leaving

1:51:50

the agema on the leftmost edge of the phalanx completely exposed.

1:51:57

The victorious Roman right wing chased the retreating skirmishers, and then slowly began

1:52:02

to reform slightly behind Perseus’ line.

1:52:06

Throughout this battle on the edge of the field, the phalanx had been pursuing the withdrawing

1:52:11

legions into the foothills and onto rough ground.

1:52:15

With the infantry screen already gone, the rightmost legionary unit swung inward and

1:52:21

drove into the phalanx’s vulnerable left.

1:52:24

At the same time, gaps gradually began to open in the phalanx due to the increasing

1:52:29

uneven terrain.

1:52:30

Aemilius took full advantage of this, riding up and down the line, shouting at his men

1:52:35

to attack.

1:52:37

Whether or not he was heard, the Roman centurions knew what they were doing, and led their men

1:52:42

into the now-exposed arteries of the Macedonian phalanx.

1:52:48

The pressure now began to mount.

1:52:51

Fighting in unfavourable close quarters combat and hit on the flank, the phalanx began to

1:52:57

slowly fragment.

1:52:58

Aemilius, who had retreated to a position of command on the heights, saw small streams

1:53:04

of Antigonid troops fleeing from the rear of the infantry block.

1:53:08

The coup de grâce was delivered by the now-regrouped Roman right flank.

1:53:12

The elephants and cavalry now charged at the disintegrating army of Perseus’ and utterly

1:53:18

routed it.

1:53:20

Last to fall were the 3,000 elite agema of Perseus.

1:53:24

Not a single one of these valiant men fled and they fought to the last men, while their

1:53:29

king fled on his horse.

1:53:31

One of the greatest phalanxes ever had been crushed, and Alexander the Great’s military

1:53:37

legacy was finally buried, the legion would rule the field of battle from this point on.

1:53:45

20,000 of Perseus’ troops were killed and 11,000 more were captured, including Perseus

1:53:50

himself.

1:53:51

This man, who was to be the final Antigonid king, was captured after hiding his crown,

1:53:53

removing his royal robes and taking refuge in a temple on Samothrace.

1:53:54

When brought before Aemilius, Perseus wept pitifully, much to the Roman general’s disgust.

1:53:55

Given the ‘title’ of Macedonicus by the senate, the victorious general was voted a

1:54:00

triumph and rode through Rome on his chariot.

1:54:03

The treasures of Macedon and his victorious troops marched behind him.

1:54:08

Finally, Perseus followed them in chains, still sobbing.

1:54:10

Macedon proved to be too dangerous for Rome to allow it to remain independent, so in the

1:54:15

aftermath of the war, the Antigonid monarchy was dissolved into four semi-states, or merides,

1:54:22

each with a capital, and elected officials, but subject to the laws imposed by the Romans.

1:54:29

The regions were allowed to keep small garrisons along the borders with outside tribes, but

1:54:34

not allowed to have an independent foreign policy, or engage in trade between them and

1:54:40

intermarry.

1:54:41

Their economy was further weakened by an excessive tribute paid to Rome, as well as a ban on

1:54:47

gold and silver mining, logging, and shipbuilding.

1:54:51

On top of that, the Romans enacted revenge on the Molossians who supported Perseus.

1:54:56

70 of their cities were destroyed and 150 thousand Epirotes were enslaved.

1:55:03

All this caused resentment and impoverishment, which made the populace anti-Roman.

1:55:09

Soon those who would use this appeared on the horizon.

1:55:15

A youth called Andriskos, born in Adramyttium in Asia Minor, had an uncanny resemblance

1:55:21

to the late Macedonian king Perseus, and in 150 BC he started telling everyone who would

1:55:28

listen that he was the king’s son Philip and that he was planning to restore Antigonid

1:55:34

rule over Macedon.

1:55:37

Andriskos traveled to Macedon but failed to garner any support, as the local nobles were

1:55:43

happy with Roman rule.

1:55:46

He then attempted to get the assistance of the Seleucid ruler Demetrius I, but the latter

1:55:51

had his internal problems and didn’t want to anger the Romans, so the pretender was

1:55:56

sent into Roman custody.

1:55:59

The Senate didn’t consider Andriskos to be dangerous, so he was sent to Magna Graecia

1:56:04

to live in custody, but managed to run away and ended up in Miletus.

1:56:09

He once again started looking for supporters and gained them among the anti-Roman locals.

1:56:19

Andriskos then traveled to Thrace, where the local chiefs, worried about the strengthening

1:56:24

Roman influence, supported him, giving him a small army.

1:56:28

We don’t know all the details but in early 149 BC, the pretender entered Macedon.

1:56:36

The nobles attempted to gather a force to stop him, but their armies were defeated somewhere

1:56:41

in Odomantice.

1:56:42

Thus, Andriskos became the king as Philip VI and restored the Macedonian monarchy.

1:56:50

Pro-roman nobles lost their standing, while the general population celebrated their independence.

1:56:56

The Fourth Macedonian War had begun.

1:57:02

In the same year, he invaded the Roman-allied Thessalian league.

1:57:06

The timing was perfect, as the best generals of the Republic were busy besieging Carthage

1:57:12

during the Third Punic War and fighting in the Lusitanian War in Spain.

1:57:18

The Roman commander in the area, Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, marched for Thessaly and started

1:57:25

negotiating with Andriskos, hoping to buy time for his Achaean allies and the nearby

1:57:30

Pergamene garrisons to join him.

1:57:32

Indeed, the general was reinforced by these allies and even one legion from Italy.

1:57:38

This was a signal to Andriskos that his enemies were getting stronger, so he attacked and

1:57:44

crushed the allies, taking over most of Thessaly.

1:57:48

Inspired, Andriskos sent envoys to Carthage offering the revival of the old alliance.

1:57:57

The winter stopped the hostilities, but the Romans were, as usual, full of energy.

1:58:03

A veteran of the Third Macedonian War, praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was ordered to

1:58:09

form another army, and in early 148 his legions embarked on Pergamene transports.

1:58:15

In the past, the Roman armies landed in Epirus and then moved into the Greek heartland from

1:58:22

there, but Metellus decided to outsmart his opponent and made landfall in Macedon, making

1:58:29

his way south.

1:58:30

This threatened Andriskos’ kingdom and forced him to double time towards the enemy.

1:58:38

The two sides met at the same place the fate of the Third Macedonian War was sealed 20

1:58:44

years ago - Pydna.

1:58:45

Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the battle and even the number of combatants

1:58:51

is a mystery.

1:58:52

The battle started when the cavalry vanguards of the two armies met each other, and the

1:58:58

Macedonian horsemen had the upper hand, sending their counterparts fleeing.

1:59:02

Emboldened by that Andriskos sent some of his troops back to Thessaly in order to continue

1:59:08

the conquest.

1:59:10

Soon the main bodies of the armies were close and the infantry clashed in the center.

1:59:16

Once again, the details are lost to time and it is unknown if the Macedonians fought in

1:59:21

their traditional phalanx, but initially the two groups of footmen fought to a standstill

1:59:27

and it seemed that the battle would come down to the battle between horsemen.

1:59:32

That is when Andriskos was betrayed by the commander of the cavalry, a nobleman named

1:59:37

Telestos.

1:59:38

The Macedonian center was attacked from all sides and was almost completely crushed.

1:59:47

After the battle, Andriskos attempted to flee to Thrace, but his allies didn’t want to

1:59:52

draw the ire of the victors even more.

1:59:55

Andriskos was captured and given to the Romans, who sent him to Italy, where he was executed.

2:00:01

This was the end of the Fourth Macedonian War.

2:00:05

This time Macedon didn’t even get a semblance of independence.

2:00:10

Commanded by the Senate, Metellus turned Macedon, Epirus, Southern Illyria, and Ionian islands

2:00:16

into the province of Macedonia and became its first governor.

2:00:23

However, the situation was getting volatile elsewhere in Greece.

2:00:28

Sparta, now led by Menalcidas, had been trying to break away from the Achaean League for

2:00:33

some time.

2:00:35

In 147 BC, their delegation went to Rome to ask the Senate for assistance, but before

2:00:42

the Romans were able to respond, Spartan territory was invaded by the strategos of the League,

2:00:48

Damocritus.

2:00:49

Menalcidas was defeated, but the Achaeans failed to take the city itself.

2:00:55

For that Damocritus was deposed and replaced by the even more extreme Diaeus.

2:01:03

That is when a Roman embassy arrived to meet with the Achaean assembly.

2:01:07

Unexpectedly for the Achaeans, the embassy not only supported Sparta’s independence

2:01:13

but also demanded Argos, Corinth, and Orchomenus, possibly to spark a conflict.

2:01:19

The Achaeans obviously refused and sent their own embassy to Rome demanding the resolution

2:01:24

to be rescinded.

2:01:26

The Senate said no.

2:01:27

It was clear that the Achaean league and other Greeks were angry at the Roman takeover of

2:01:33

Macedon and Epirus, so, joined by the Boeotians and Euboeans, in 146 BC they declared war

2:01:40

on the Roman Republic, starting the Achaean War.

2:01:46

Another anti-Roman strategos - Critolaos - was elected and his army, supported by the Thebans,

2:01:53

marched for Thessaly.

2:01:54

However, before they were able to reach Thermopylae, the Roman army under Metellus caught them

2:02:00

at a place called Scarpheia in Locris.

2:02:02

The Greeks didn’t expect a battle; their army was crushed and the general killed.

2:02:08

Afterwards, the Roman governor continued south.

2:02:12

The Argives attempted to stop his advance in Chaeronea, but were crushed.

2:02:17

Diaeus took over command in Achaea and in a short time managed to create a 16,000 strong

2:02:25

army, hoping to defend at the isthmus of Corinth.

2:02:29

Unfortunately for him, the Roman army was reinforced by the consul Lucius Mummius, as

2:02:34

well as a Pergamene detachment, bringing its numbers to 27 thousand.

2:02:40

The two sides met at a place called Leukapetra.

2:02:46

Once again, we don’t have much in terms of details.

2:02:49

Apparently, the Romans didn’t want to charge across the narrow isthmus, even despite outnumbering

2:02:55

the enemy 2-to-1.

2:02:56

For some time, the Roman army remained in the camp and it seems that they got complacent,

2:03:02

as Diaeus was able to use his light infantry to attack the camp and inflict heavy casualties.

2:03:10

The next day, the Romans marched directly towards the enemy and as they were supported

2:03:16

by the Pergamene navy, Diaeus was forced to accept the battle.

2:03:20

The two infantry bodies clashed in the center and the Achaeans managed to stop the legionaries.

2:03:26

However, Diaeus had very few horsemen and the Romans used that - on both flanks Mummius’

2:03:34

cavalry destroyed their counterparts and then attacked the Greek infantry from all sides.

2:03:39

The battle was effectively over and the whole Achaean army was crushed.

2:03:46

In the aftermath, the Romans razed Corinth, similar to Carthage months prior - all men

2:03:52

were killed, all women and children enslaved, and the city was burned to the ground.

2:03:59

This left Rome without trading rivals in the Mediterranean and as no military power could

2:04:04

oppose the Republic, the Achaean League, Aetolian League, and others were disbanded and the

2:04:10

entire region was added to the Province of Macedonia.

2:04:14

Greece would remain under Roman control for centuries, despite 2 more rebellions in Macedon

2:04:21

and an attempt by Greek cities to support Pontus during the First Mithridatic War.

2:04:28

The Roman takeover of Greece was a prime example of the imperial Divide et Impera principle:

2:04:35

the Republic managed to ally with one faction against the other and keep all of the cities,

2:04:41

states, and leagues constantly divided, until it was time to conquer everything.

2:04:46

Still, Greek culture flourished and over the next 2000 years became a crucial part of the

2:04:53

Pax Romana, Christianity, the Muslim Golden Age, and then the Renaissance and the Age

2:04:59

of Enlightenment.

2:05:01

We will talk about Greek and Roman history more in our future videos.

2:05:05

Please, consider liking, commenting, and sharing - it helps immensely.

2:05:09

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2:05:14

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How Rome Conquered Greece - Roman History DOCUMENTARY

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