[00:06] History of the human race has thousands of
different conquests across ages, regions,
[00:12] and cultures, but it is difficult to find
one that played such a decisive role in the
[00:17] future events as the conquest of Greece by
the Roman Republic, as its effects echoed
[00:23] through the millennia.
[00:25] Welcome to our video that will cover the first
Roman involvement in the Greek affairs, four
[00:30] Macedonian Wars, Seleucid War, Aetolian War
and Achaean War.
[00:36] These long videos take forever to make, so
please kindly consider sharing it in your
[00:39] social media.
[00:42] The year is 231BC and the Mediterranean world
is a land of continuous warfare and political
[00:49] upheaval.
[00:50] Just ten years before, the burgeoning power
of the Roman Republic had defeated Carthage
[00:56] in the First Punic War, establishing naval
dominance on the sea.
[01:01] In the east, the Hellenistic kingdoms - Macedon,
Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire vie
[01:07] for dominance over their border territories.
[01:09] Sandwiched between these greater polities
are a number of smaller states, such as Pergamon
[01:15] and the nominally independent Greek city-states.
[01:18] This is the world of the late 3rd century
BC, but soon a series of conflicts between
[01:24] two rising powers - Rome and Macedon, will
change the fate of the region forever.
[01:30] The which was Illyria - currently modern Albania
and Dalmatia, was regarded in the mid to late
[01:38] third century as a thoroughly barbarian region,
only half civilised by contact with its Greek
[01:44] and Macedonian neighbors.
[01:45] Though contact with the Greek world had led
to a degree of urbanisation in the south and
[01:50] along the coast, the region in a political
sense was still made up of many small tribal
[01:55] chieftains.
[01:57] The population of Illyria had been regarded
since their initial encounters as turbulent
[02:02] and warlike by the more traditionally civilised
peoples who came to know them.
[02:04] From time to time, one of the many Illyrian
tribes would gain a temporary hegemony over
[02:08] most of the others, and in the 230s this was
the Ardiaei.
[02:15] Ruled by their energetic king - Agron, they
had forged a union of not just their own Illyrian
[02:20] peoples, but also prominent figures, such
as Demetrius - the Greek lord of Pharos.
[02:27] Coinciding with the rise of this new Illyrian
power was the collapse of Epirus, whose once
[02:34] formidable strength had waned and whose monarchy
fell.
[02:38] Taking advantage of this weakness, the Illyrians
invaded and eventually managed to seize Epirote
[02:44] territory far south of the traditional border,
climaxing with the seizure of Phoenice, the
[02:50] wealthiest city of the kingdom.
[02:55] Despite these successes however, Agron perished
soon after and was succeeded nominally by
[03:00] his son.
[03:01] In reality, it was his wife Teuta who wielded
true power, quickly being appointed regent
[03:07] for her stepson.
[03:08] Her ascension did not stop Illyrian belligerence,
and in her reign piracy increasingly became
[03:14] a major problem in the Mediterranean.
[03:17] Seizures of more southerly territories in
Epirus had allowed the establishment of more
[03:22] staging points from which brigands could sail.
[03:25] This had been occurring for a long time already,
but the increasing scale of the problem, the
[03:31] increasingly loud complaints of Roman merchants
and the economic impact of piracy on the Republic
[03:36] prompted the senate to act.
[03:41] Uncharacteristically peacefully for the notoriously
bellicose Romans, the initial senatorial reaction
[03:47] in 230BC was not to send in the legions, but
instead to send a diplomatic embassy of two
[03:55] brothers to investigate the situation.
[03:58] In the typically harsh style of Roman diplomacy,
the Coruncanius brothers protested to Teuta
[04:03] about the increasing piracy and demanded that
it cease immediately.
[04:08] The demand was not negotiable and the Illyrians
would have a chance to comply peacefully - otherwise
[04:14] it would be war.
[04:16] Teuta refused this demand, either because
of her inability to control the actions of
[04:23] her decentralised tribal allies or because
she simply did not wish to bend to Roman demands.
[04:29] Whatever the case, this did not please the
Romans, a situation made even worse by the
[04:35] murder of a Roman envoy, possibly by Teuta
herself in the midst of the anger of the meeting
[04:40] or on the journey home by those very pirates
that the embassy had been dispatched to stop.
[04:46] While the death of the Roman envoy was the
immediate trigger for war, the expansion of
[04:50] the Ardaei tribe’s power over the region
was a deeper geopolitical cause - Rome did
[04:56] not want any powerful rival in the Adriatic.
[05:02] Late in the campaigning season of 229BC, a
massive Roman force of 22,000 and 200 ships
[05:10] bore down on the Illyrians.
[05:12] Though details of the short campaign are unknown,
it is known that the Roman expedition was
[05:18] a complete success from north to south.
[05:21] Teuta’s appointed governor of the recently
conquered island of Corcyra - Demetrius of
[05:25] Pharos, went over to the Roman side almost
immediately, while the queen regent’s forces
[05:31] were defeated in the field.
[05:33] By spring of 228 Teuta had been forced into
a peace treaty with the Romans, breaking her
[05:39] kingdom into weaker segments and forbidding
ventures of piracy into the southern Adriatic
[05:44] Sea.
[05:47] The Romans withdrew their troops and left
behind only their amicitia, or ‘friendship’
[05:52] - a benign sounding term which would soon
apparently become anything but that.
[05:58] In essence, being a ‘friend’ of Rome included
the de facto conditions of becoming an informal
[06:04] client state.
[06:08] A primary beneficiary of the peace of 228
was the defector Demetrius of Pharos, who
[06:14] was granted a small independent principality
of his own, sandwiched between the remnant
[06:19] of the Ardiaean kingdom and the Greek cities.
[06:23] Despite these gains under Roman auspices,
it seems that the ambitious Demetrius was
[06:28] not content to remain in his small kingdom,
and shortly after the peace was finalised,
[06:33] he married Triteuta - the Ardiaean king’s
biological mother.
[06:38] By becoming the young boy’s formal regent
in this act, Demetrius of Pharos effectively
[06:43] recreated the powerful Illyrian kingdom abolished
by Rome in the First Illyrian War.
[06:51] Even more boldly, he began to launch pillaging
raids into the territory of Roman allied tribes.
[06:57] It could be that Demetrius was ‘testing
the water’ and, due to the lack of any Roman
[07:02] response, he believed they either could not
or did not wish to intervene.
[07:07] This was an illusion, as the Romans were instead
occupied by the Roman-Gallic War of 226-222BC,
[07:13] and it would prove to be a fatal illusion
for Demetrius.
[07:22] Further trying his luck, Demetrius set out
with 90 light galleys in the summer of 220BC
[07:28] on a grand piracy expedition, ravaging cities
around the Adriatic Sea in blatant violation
[07:34] of the treaty eight years before.
[07:36] He had finally gone too far, and Rome now
decided that their former ally Demetrius now
[07:42] posed the same threat to Roman interests that
Teuta had, and moreover wished to punish their
[07:48] friend for betraying them and not acting like
a friend should.
[07:55] The disproportionately massive Roman action
which began in 219 was probably motivated
[08:00] by the Republic’s desire to swiftly and
decisively conclude the Illyrian situation
[08:06] before a new war with Carthage began, as it
seemed like it might.
[08:11] Demetrius’ strategy was to hold the fortresses
of Dimallum and Pharos itself, but the Romans
[08:17] took the former in only seven days, while
a rash sortie by Demetrius lost him Pharos.
[08:24] The man himself evaded capture because he
had placed a squadron of hidden galleys in
[08:29] a secret cove, fleeing to them when the battle
was lost.
[08:33] On these ships he fled to the south, abandoning
his family to Roman imprisonment and his men
[08:38] to death at Roman hands.
[08:43] Not long after, Demetrius reached the Adriatic
port town of Actium, where the fleet of a
[08:48] great Hellenistic king - Philip V of Macedon,
was anchored.
[08:53] When he arrived, the king welcome Demetrius
heartily and he quickly became a key advisor.
[08:59] Meanwhile, the Romans once again withdrew
all of their soldiers from the region, leaving
[09:04] no military presence.
[09:05] They once again left only their friendship
behind, but had demonstrated to the great
[09:10] Macedonian kingdom to the south that they
had the will to intervene in the east.
[09:18] Before continuing, we need to reverse time
for a moment and briefly examine the history
[09:23] of Macedon after its would-be conqueror - Pyrrhus
of Epirus, died in Argos.
[09:28] The victor in that battle - Antigonus II Gonatas,
was firmly in control of Macedon by 272 and
[09:36] had also established hegemony over the Greek
city-states.
[09:40] Having gained the loyalty of his turbulent
homeland, Antigonus II did his best to maintain
[09:46] it.
[09:47] He raised a great sacred mound to honour the
graves of the Argead house, reorganised the
[09:52] provincial system to increase its efficiency
and was vigilant in keeping Macedonian coinage
[09:58] a high quality currency.
[10:03] Making good use of Macedon’s depleted resources
and funds, Antigonus focused on access and
[10:09] mobility, extensively utilising the Antigonid
fleet and the great naval fortresses of Demetrias,
[10:15] Chalcis and Corinth to ferry troops to strategic
locations.
[10:20] An Athenian-led, Ptolemaic-supported attempt
at shaking off Macedonian domination failed
[10:25] in the Cheromidian War from 268 to 281.
[10:30] Though Antigonus managed to quell this revolt,
crucial fortresses such as the Acrocorinth
[10:36] were lost during his reign, which finally
ended in 239BC with his death.
[10:42] His successor - Demetrius II, ruled for a
relatively uneventful decade during which
[10:48] Macedon’s situation weakened ever further,
and he died in 229.
[10:56] The late king’s own son - Philip V, was
only a child at the time of his father’s
[11:01] death, and Macedon could not afford a child
ruler in such a perilous time.
[11:06] A regent was clearly required for the time
being, and a distant Antigonid relation was
[11:11] chosen for the task - Antigonus Doson.
[11:15] As one of the lesser known but more highly
competent Macedonian kings during the 3rd
[11:20] century BC, Antigonus Doson began to raise
the young Philip as his own son, and at the
[11:26] same time energetically set to campaigning
in order to beat back Macedon’s enemies.
[11:33] He first marched north and expelled the Illyrians
from the kingdom, and then struck south and
[11:39] crushed the Aetolian League.
[11:42] After securing his borders, Antigonus proceeded
to renounce all Macedonian claims south of
[11:47] the Thermopylae pass, wisely hoping to consolidate
and stabilise the situation in Macedon itself.
[11:54] The response of the army was to demand that
Antigonus accept the title of king.
[12:00] While he did this, Philip V’s rights to
the throne were not usurped or taken away,
[12:04] and Antigonus swiftly appointed him the official
heir.
[12:11] After another series of victories which including
the first ever seizure of Sparta by a foreign
[12:16] army, Antigonus III Doson perished in 221,
leaving behind a resurgent, stable and increasingly
[12:23] powerful Macedon to Philip V, who now ascended
to the throne.
[12:28] Soon after taking the throne, Philip V and
the Macedonian hegemony was once again challenged
[12:34] by the Aetolian League and its allies during
the Social War of 220-217 - who believed Philip
[12:41] was too young to be an effective ruler.
[12:44] It was during this war that Demetrius of Pharos
arrived at the royal court.
[12:51] Cataclysmic events in the west now began to
attract wider attention in the Mediterranean
[12:57] world.
[12:58] The Second Punic War had broken out in 218
and the Carthaginian general Hannibal successfully
[13:04] crossed the Alps to invade Italy.
[13:07] There, he had already defeated one Roman field
army at the Trebia River and, in the June
[13:12] of 217 he crushed another at Lake Trasimene
in Etruria.
[13:18] Hearing of these massive Roman defeats, Philip
V now began to consider expansion in the west
[13:23] at the expense of an apparently dying Roman
Republic.
[13:27] This new direction was encouraged by Demetrius
of Pharos who, after being expelled from his
[13:33] Adriatic dominion by Rome, now argued that
Philip should end the Social War, gain control
[13:39] of the Illyrian coast and attack Italy himself.
[13:45] Accepting the military status quo and ending
the war in Greece at Naupactus, Philip then
[13:51] drove the Illyrians from Macedon once again
and in the winter of 217 had a fleet of 100
[13:57] light warships constructed.
[13:59] In summer of 216 the king made his first attempt
at secured Illyria’s coastal region, but
[14:06] fled home upon hearing news of an approaching
Roman fleet.
[14:12] The decisive Roman defeat at Cannae was another
crucial moment, as it prompted Philip to send
[14:17] envoys to Hannibal asking for a formal alliance
- he no doubt wanted to join the ‘winning’
[14:23] side and make gains at Roman expense.
[14:27] The story goes that the envoy - Xenophanes,
was captured by a Roman praetor on his way
[14:32] to speak with Hannibal, but managed to talk
his way to freedom by stating that he was
[14:36] instead there to make peace with Rome.
[14:39] However, the unfortunate Xenophanes was captured
again on his way back to Macedon with the
[14:44] formal treaty with Hannibal in his possession.
[14:47] It was in this manner that the Romans learned
of that new threat that faced them.
[14:55] Following the conclusion of the Punic-Macedonian
treaty, Philip aggressed further with new
[15:00] attacks against coastal Illyria, attacking
Corcyra in 215.
[15:05] This intensified in 214 when a major offensive
began - Philip’s land army marched north
[15:11] into Illyria through Epirus while 120 Macedonian
galleys sailed up the Straits of Otranto.
[15:19] In this campaign Philip swiftly seized Oricum
and besieged Apollonia, who called to Rome
[15:24] for help.
[15:28] With a strengthened Adriatic fleet, the Roman
commander Laevinus now crossed the sea with
[15:33] 55 heavy Roman warships, lifted the siege
of Apollonia and drove the Macedonians away
[15:39] from Oricum - two crucial ports which could
have been used as a staging point for an attack
[15:44] on Italy.
[15:46] After these victorious, Laevinus wintered
his fleet in Oricum, while Philip burned his
[15:50] ships and retreated overland to Macedon.
[15:56] Having been blocked at sea, the Macedonian
king attacked instead over the Pindus mountains,
[16:02] making significant gains in 213 and 212.
[16:06] The inland Dassaretis, Parthini and Atintani
tribal settlements fell to him, without a
[16:12] significant Roman response.
[16:14] The Republic did not have the land troops
to spare for a side-venture into the eastern
[16:19] Adriatic, as they were still fighting against
Hannibal.
[16:22] This situation changed during the later part
of 212 when Philip was once again able to
[16:28] reach the Adriatic.
[16:30] Having battered his way through land to the
coast, he managed to seize the coastal fortress
[16:35] of Lissus, another possible staging point.
[16:38] It became clear to the Romans that this eastern
threat could no longer be ignored.
[16:47] Neutralising Philip at this point was beyond
Roman military power alone due to the Carthaginian
[16:52] War, so the senate began to use diplomacy
as a weapon and started enticing other Greek
[16:57] states to do the neutralising for them.
[17:00] A treaty was made between the traditionally
anti-Macedon Aetolian League and Rome, the
[17:06] former being convinced of the alliance because
of Roman victories in the Punic War during
[17:10] the summer of 211 at Capua and Tarentum.
[17:14] Terms were generous for the Aetolians - they
would get any captured town or city, but the
[17:19] booty would go to the Romans unless the town
was jointly taken.
[17:24] Another term allowed for the inclusion of
other Aetolian allies, such as Sparta, Elis,
[17:29] Messenia, the Illyrians and even Pergamum.
[17:35] The war itself was a disruptive, indecisive
slogging match, with the Romans taking several
[17:40] important centres such as Anticyra, but Philip
V making gains against the rest of the coalition.
[17:47] Attempts at peace talks by non-combatant states
failed in 207 due to Rome’s deliberate derailing
[17:54] actions, but during 206 and 205 they were
gradually forced into peace.
[17:59] Though the final treaty ending the war at
Phoenice concluded hostilities for now, it
[18:05] was clear that Rome’s desire to punish Philip
for his attempt at kicking them while they
[18:10] were down was not yet sated.
[18:12] One thing was certain, however, Rome was ever
so slowly winning the Second Punic War and
[18:18] would soon be able to harness all of its might
against Macedon.
[18:23] When Philip V received reports of the final
Roman victory at Zama in 202BC, he did not
[18:32] stop his belligerent behavior.
[18:34] Instead, he began to take advantage of a weakening
Egypt, alarming many of his smaller neighbors.
[18:41] Since 207, Egypt had been caught in a downward
spiral.
[18:46] Since the the final division of the Successor
Kingdoms at Ipsus, the eastern Mediterranean
[18:49] had been kept stable by a balance of power
between the three major Hellenistic monarchies
[18:54] - Antigonid Macedon, Ptolemaic Egypt and the
Seleucid Empire.
[19:00] If one of the three was becoming too powerful,
the other two functioned as a counter, preventing
[19:03] any one power from becoming hegemon and therefore
protecting the smaller states of the Hellenistic
[19:06] world.
[19:08] This system began to break down in 205, when
priests of the Egyptian god Amon took advantage
[19:14] of native discontent with Ptolemaic rule and
proclaimed a new pharaoh.
[19:20] This ignited a devastating revolt which detached
all of upper Egypt from the regime in Alexandria,
[19:26] and the increasing ineffectual government
allowed lawlessness to increase unchecked.
[19:27] This was not the end of it.
[19:28] Matters deteriorated even further in 204 when
king Ptolemy IV died prematurely and was succeeded
[19:35] by his six year old son - Ptolemy V. Conflicts
over the regency of this child king paralysed
[19:41] the Alexandrian regime even further and rendered
it vulnerable.
[19:43] Unfortunately for them, this was the worst
time to be weak in such a dog-eat-dog political
[19:47] world.
[19:48] The First Macedonian War between the Romans
and Philip had just ended in the last years
[19:51] of the third century, and Seleucid king Antiochus
III had returned from his great eastern campaigns.
[19:56] Both of these great kings now hungrily eyed
the almost defenceless overseas Ptolemaic
[20:02] possessions, and Antiochus launched the Fifth
Syrian War in 202 in order to seize traditionally
[20:09] disputed territories in Cyprus and Coele-Syria.
[20:16] The predatory Philip V of Macedon swiftly
gained several of the Cyclades Islands and
[20:21] established good relations with the many Greek
cities on the western coast of Asia Minor.
[20:25] Bulldozing his way through the Aegean would
not go without consequence, as he quickly
[20:28] earned the ire of both Rhodes and Pergamon,
smaller states who wished to curb Macedonian
[20:31] expansion and declared war in 201.
[20:34] Soon after, Philip defeated a joint Rhodian-Pergamene
relief attempt at the Siege of Chios with
[20:40] heavy losses, and then attacked Pergamon itself.
[20:43] Though Philip decisively defeated the land
army of his enemy outside the walls, he nevertheless
[20:49] failed to take the city.
[20:52] Realising that attempts to do so would only
drain his forces, Philip instead annexed most
[20:56] of Caria and the Rhodian Peraia directly into
what was becoming a New Macedonian Empire.
[21:05] In the Autumn, Philip’s fleet was attacked
at Lade by the Rhodian navy, but managed to
[21:10] win anyway.
[21:12] During winter of 201, a Rhodian fleet blockaded
Philip in the Gulf of Bargylia on Carian coast,
[21:18] where the king apparently struggled to feed
himself and his army.
[21:23] They knew that the king would break out at
some point, and also knew they were losing
[21:27] the war against Macedon, so the went west
for help.
[21:31] Ambassadors from the various anti-Macedon
states such as Pergamon, Rhodes and Egypt
[21:33] travelled to Rome, informing the senate of
a secret pact that Philip had signed with
[21:38] Antiochus III which would divide Ptolemaic
possessions between them.
[21:44] It was these smaller, weaker Hellenistic polities
which opened the gates for Roman intervention
[21:49] into the Greek world, as they saw the main
threat to their independence as coming from
[21:53] Antiochus and Philip, and not from Rome as
is commonly believed.
[21:59] As predicted, Philip managed to trick his
enemies into letting him escape during spring
[22:04] of 200BC, eventually returning to Macedon.
[22:09] The northern Aegean campaign continued on
land upon his return and the king swept through
[22:14] the region until he reached Abydos, which
he put under siege.
[22:19] Observing this blatant Macedonian aggression,
dangerous cooperation between the two Hellenistic
[22:24] monarchies and a seemingly resurgent Macedon,
the Roman senate asked the people to vote
[22:28] them a mandate for war.
[22:29] However, the people’s assembly rejected
this demand for yet another war due to war
[22:34] weariness and the fact that Southern Italy
had been devastated in the Second Punic War.
[22:39] Not at all demoralised by their initial failure,
the senate granted Consul Publius Sulpicius
[22:41] Galba the job of winning over the public assembly.
[22:44] By comparing the emerging Macedonian threat
to the great invaders of Italy - Pyrrhus and
[22:50] Hannibal, Galba was successful in persuading
the assembly to declare war on Philip V.
[22:56] While the Roman military prepared its lines
of supply across the Adriatic and Philip continued
[23:01] his siege at Abydos, three prominent senatorial
emissaries went on a great diplomatic mission
[23:07] in the east.
[23:08] Their message was clear to all: If Philip
refrained from making war on Greeks and compensated
[23:14] Pergamon for their losses, there would be
peace.
[23:19] The Macedonian king brashly rebuffed the Roman
envoys and committed to war.
[23:27] The Second Macedonian War had begun, and it
started with the fall of Abydos, whose citizens
[23:33] committed mass suicide due to their reluctance
to live under Philip’s rule.
[23:38] In late November of 200BC the king returned
to Macedonia and learned that 20,000 Romans
[23:45] had already landed in Apollonia under Galba,
while 50 warships were docked on the island
[23:50] of Corcyra.
[23:54] Deciding to focus initially on the peripheral
threats, Philip campaigned in the Peloponnese.
[24:00] At the same time, Consul Galba conducted raids
into the Illyrian countryside to prepare for
[24:05] the campaign - notoriously sacking Antipatrea
so thoroughly that it only recovered in the
[24:12] fifth century CE.
[24:13] After subsequently failing to invade Macedon
through the mountains, a weak and sickly Galba
[24:19] was replaced by Publius Villius Tappalus.
[24:25] Things went even worse for Villius, as he
was immediately faced with a mutiny among
[24:29] the legions upon taking command.
[24:32] 2,000 veterans of the Second Punic War felt
they had been away from their farms and families
[24:37] for too long, and refused to obey orders.
[24:41] The Roman forces were paralysed for a while,
but to his credit, Villius listened to their
[24:46] complaints and promised to raise them with
the senate.
[24:49] As the situation cooled somewhat due to his
mitigation attempts, Villius marched and encamped
[24:51] near a gorge on the Aous river.
[24:54] Philip V had also arrived here not long before,
setting up on own army in a strong defensive
[24:59] position on the main route from Apollonia
to Macedon.
[25:05] Villius’ command had run its course and
immediately after establishing his camp at
[25:10] the Aous he was replaced by a vibrant member
of the patrician Quinctia family - Titus Quinctius
[25:17] Flamininus.
[25:18] This passionate, hot tempered and generous
philhellene had previously served with success
[25:24] as the governor of Tarentum, and in 198 was
elected to the consulship despite being too
[25:30] young to legally to do so.
[25:31] Nevertheless, Flamininus almost immediately
set out for the Greek east with 3,000 veteran
[25:33] troops accompanying him, ignoring the standard
period of honours and administrative duties
[25:36] a new Consul would undertake in Rome.
[25:45] After reaching the Roman camp at the Aous,
Flamininus relieved Villius of command and
[25:50] sent an envoy to demand negotiations with
Philip, negotiations which would be traditionally
[25:55] Roman.
[25:56] King and Consul faced off on opposite sides
of the swift-flowing Aous, each with their
[26:01] respective entourages of advisors and generals
behind them.
[26:05] Philip attempted to bring Flamininus to a
compromise, arguing that the treatment of
[26:10] each annexed city would need to be different,
proposing a decision by independent tribunal.
[26:16] However, Flamininus was not going to accept
any compromise, and instead proclaimed that
[26:22] his mission was to liberate all Greeks from
Macedonian domination.
[26:26] To this end, he demanded that Philip first
relinquish Thessaly - a possession which had
[26:31] been part of Macedon for 120 years.
[26:35] This intentionally irrational demand worked,
provoking Philip into breaking off negotiations
[26:40] and returning to his excellent defensive position.
[26:46] The Roman general wasted no time, and ordered
his missile troops and light infantry to skirmish
[26:51] with Philip’s forces, engaging in projectile
duels.
[26:55] This distracted the Macedonians and their
commander while 4,300 handpicked legionaries,
[27:01] guided by an Epirote noble named Charops,
moved around a back route up and over the
[27:07] mountains.
[27:08] Once this flanking force was in place, Flamininus
advanced, and the Macedonians fled to avoid
[27:14] being trapped in the Roman pincer.
[27:17] The loss of Philip’s crucial baggage train
was a massive blow, but even worse was the
[27:22] loss of confidence that this defeat brought
to the Greek allies of Macedon.
[27:27] As the king returned with his bloodied army
to Macedon, many wavering powers now either
[27:32] declared for the Romans or remained neutral,
including the Achaean League - Macedon’s
[27:38] most powerful Greek ally.
[27:42] The subsequent campaign was indecisive for
Flamininus, who became bogged down in a siege
[27:48] at Atrax and then retired for the winter.
[27:51] At the same time, Philip began preparing for
a decisive clash in the following year, recruiting
[27:57] even youths and old men for war.
[28:00] Peace talks failed when the glory-hunting
Flamininus’ command was extended, leading
[28:05] him to break off negotiations.
[28:10] When spring came in 197 Philip marched south
and stopped at a town called Pharae, where
[28:16] his army began to forage for supplies and
even spotted some Roman scouts.
[28:21] Learning of the Macedonian presence, Flamininus
and his army marched north from Boeotia, hoping
[28:27] to intercept Philip before he could withdraw.
[28:30] On a bleak, foggy morning, the two armies
finally came into proximity of one another
[28:35] near a sloping ridge called Cynoscephalae.
[28:39] Before the battle begins, let us take a moment
to examine the composition of the opposing
[28:45] armies which came into contact on the hills
of Thessaly…
[28:49] Flamininus’ field army consisted of two
Roman and two allied legions, totalling around
[28:55] 20,000 lethal legionary infantry, with many
grizzled veterans of the Punic War among them.
[29:01] 2,000 velites screened this core of the Roman
army while 2,500 equite cavalry and even 20
[29:09] war elephants protected its flanks.
[29:14] Along with these Italian forces, the Roman
army also included a substantial contingent
[29:19] of Greek allies.
[29:21] 1,200 light infantry joined the army from
Epirus, 800 archers from Crete and 6,000 infantry
[29:28] as well as 400 cavalry from the Aetolian League.
[29:32] All in all, Flamininus had around 32,000 troops.
[29:38] On the other side of the ridge, Philip’s
core of 16,000 Sarissa wielding phalangists
[29:44] were accompanied by 2,000 elite agema peltasts,
4,000 Illyrian and Thracian mercenaries, 1,500
[29:52] Greek hoplite mercenaries and 2,000 Thessalian
and Macedonian cavalry.
[30:00] Each commander knew that their counterpart
was close, but the reduced vision of the fog
[30:06] caused disorientation in the two armies.
[30:09] Philip set off marching in the morning, sending
a group of fast-moving skirmishers to the
[30:13] ridge’s summit in order to get a better
view.
[30:16] As they reached the top, ten Roman cavalry
squadrons and 1,000 velites emerged from the
[30:22] murk and attacked.
[30:24] Both scouting contingents suffered some casualties,
but both also managed to get word to their
[30:29] commanders of what was happening on the Cynoscephalae
ridge.
[30:34] Flamininus reacted swiftly, sending 2,000
Aetolian infantry and 500 cavalry to the ridge
[30:42] 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.
[01:00:00] Eventually, the Romans broke the hoplite line
and sent it fleeing in terror.
[01:00:05] Shortly, both groups were on the plain, with
the legionaries killing their foes in pursuit.
[01:00:11] The phalanx learned that it’s rear was now
in danger and even though the king made brave
[01:00:16] attempts to stop them, fled to the camp in
order to form another formation.
[01:00:20] Still, Cato’s detachment entered the camp
before the Seleucids and the main body of
[01:00:26] the Romans shortly after, so the phalangites
failed to get into formation.
[01:00:31] It was now every man for himself.
[01:00:34] Antiochus abandoned his forces with his cavalry
and more than 10 thousand Seleucids and Aetolians
[01:00:39] were either killed or taken captive.
[01:00:42] Livy claims that the Romans lost 200 men,
but this number is probably understated.
[01:00:51] After finishing off the survivors, the Romans
took a day to rest and then turned their attention
[01:00:56] against Heraclea, a formidable fortress with
its south protected by the River Asopos, and
[01:01:03] its west by Mount Oeta, and a citadel on low
hills.
[01:01:07] The fortress was relatively modest in size,
so a small Aetolian garrison was able to man
[01:01:13] the whole wall.
[01:01:14] At the same time, the walls were short which
meant that the Romans weren’t able to use
[01:01:19] their decisive numerical superiority.
[01:01:25] Glabrio sent a message to the leader of the
garrison, Damocritus, demanding they surrender,
[01:01:30] but this was refused, so the Romans prepared
for a siege and started constructing battering
[01:01:36] rams.
[01:01:37] When the siege began, the legionaries assaulted
the walls with rams and ladders, but the narrowness
[01:01:42] of the front didn’t allow them to overwhelm
the Aetolians, and the latter sallied out,
[01:01:47] burning some of the rams, and shoving the
enemy back with their spears.
[01:01:52] The first assault failed.
[01:01:54] However, the Romans had more troops, so fresh
troops were sent forth and the walls were
[01:02:01] attacked on the next day.
[01:02:03] The garrison didn’t have this luxury, which
meant that each subsequent assault tired them
[01:02:09] even more.
[01:02:10] This continued for 23 days, but eventually,
Glabrio devised a plan.
[01:02:16] His soldiers were ordered to return to the
camp, making it look like there would be no
[01:02:21] attack.
[01:02:22] This made the exhausted Aetolians complacent
and they vacated the walls to sleep in the
[01:02:28] houses.
[01:02:29] Late at night, a group of legionaries was
ordered to attack a portion of the walls and
[01:02:33] make as much noise as possible.
[01:02:35] Glabrio also commanded his legate Tiberius
Sempronius to move his contingent to another
[01:02:41] sector of the fortifications.
[01:02:42] The noise woke up the Aetolians and they started
running, reaching the walls in time to rebuke
[01:02:49] the Romans, but the other group was already
scaling the ramparts using the ladders.
[01:02:54] Seeing that, the Aetolians vacated their positions
and retreated to the citadel.
[01:03:02] The Roman commander allowed his soldiers to
loot the city, but after it was done began
[01:03:07] devising plans to take the citadel.
[01:03:10] His engineers started building siege engines
on the nearby hill to bombard the defenders,
[01:03:15] while the rest of the troops formed up surrounding
them.
[01:03:18] The Aetolians had almost no food left, but,
most importantly, no way to counter the catapults,
[01:03:25] so Damocritus capitulated.
[01:03:26] We don’t have the numbers, but it is possible
that the Romans lost more troops taking Heraclea
[01:03:33] than during the battle of Thermopylae.
[01:03:38] After the defeat at Thermopylae the king retreated
to Chalcis.
[01:03:42] There was a possibility he could defend the
island of Euboea and keep it as a foothold,
[01:03:48] but it was scrapped when Glabrio moved south,
forcing the Boeotian league to submit, and
[01:03:53] the Roman navy commanded by Aulus Atilius
destroyed the Seleucid supply convoy around
[01:03:59] Andros.
[01:04:00] So, the king started his journey back to Asia
in May of 191 BC.
[01:04:06] There were many reasons Antiochus was defeated
in Greece, but it boils down to these key
[01:04:11] factors: Roman diplomacy and logistics were
superior, while the majority of Greeks didn’t
[01:04:17] buy into the notion that the Seleucid king
was liberating them from the Romans, and even
[01:04:23] his Aetolian allies didn’t commit all of
their forces.
[01:04:29] Glabrio did not have a force big enough to
follow the king across the sea and he had
[01:04:34] to concentrate against the Aetolians.
[01:04:36] He moved north again and took Lamia, putting
even more pressure on the League.
[01:04:42] The latter sent messengers to Antiochus in
June, asking for him to return or send money,
[01:04:48] so they could continue fighting.
[01:04:50] Money wasn’t a problem for the wealthy king,
and so the envoys returned to Greece with
[01:04:56] funds.
[01:04:58] Despite the fact that the money helped the
Aetolians regain their resolve, the Seleucid
[01:05:03] cause in Greece was getting weaker.
[01:05:05] The small garrisons of Demetrias and Elis
were forced to evacuate, with Elis and Messenia
[01:05:11] falling into Achaean control, while Glabrio
besieged Naupaktos, deep inside Aetolian territory
[01:05:17] in July.
[01:05:19] The siege continued for two months, but then
Flamininus arrived and yet again negotiated
[01:05:24] a ceasefire.
[01:05:25] Aetolian messengers and Flamininus then traveled
to Rome in the hopes of signing a peace treaty,
[01:05:31] while Glabrio’s army went to its winter
quarters.
[01:05:36] Meanwhile, events were transpiring on the
sea.
[01:05:41] Seleucid admiral Polyxenidas had around 40
warships and 60 smaller vessels, and he was
[01:05:47] ordered by Antiochus to watch out for a possible
naval invasion, while the king himself moved
[01:05:53] with 30 thousand troops to Lysimachia to defend
his gains in Thrace.
[01:05:58] The details are scarce, but by August, Polyxenidas
had around 200 ships, 70 of them bigger warships,
[01:06:05] probably quadriremes.
[01:06:07] The new Roman admiral in the area was the
praetor Gaius Livius Salinator.
[01:06:12] He took command of the navy which had been
in the docks ever since the Second Punic Wars
[01:06:18] and started sailing to unite with Atilius’
navy.
[01:06:22] As this was before the ceasefire was agreed
upon, Livius raided the Aetolian controlled
[01:06:27] Kefalonia and Zakynthos along the way, putting
even more pressure on the league.
[01:06:32] In August he reached Attica, and his fleet
now had more than 100 vessels, 80 of them
[01:06:38] large warships.
[01:06:42] Both sides knew what they had to do: The Romans
needed to unite with their Pergamene and Rhodian
[01:06:48] allies to have equal numbers, while Polyxenidas’
best hope to win was to prevent that from
[01:06:54] happening and take on each of the enemies
separately.
[01:06:58] In September the Seleucid navarch learned
that the Attalids had repositioned their navy
[01:07:03] to Elaea, and that Livius was to the north
of Delos, and he decided to move himself to
[01:07:09] Phokaia.
[01:07:10] However, at some point he lost the Roman fleet
and assumed that it turned south to join the
[01:07:16] Rhodians, so he went for Samos.
[01:07:19] This was a mistake, as a week or so later
the Romans coalesced with the Pergamene navy
[01:07:25] commanded by king Eumenes II, bringing their
total to 160 ships.
[01:07:33] The allies started chasing Polyxenidas and
caught him off the coast of Chios at a place
[01:07:38] called Cissus.
[01:07:39] In a short battle, the Seleucid fleet lost
23 ships and was forced to retreat.
[01:07:46] Even defeated, Polyxenidas was undeterred
and sailed fast towards Samos, where he managed
[01:07:52] to surprise the Rhodian fleet and destroy
2 dozen vessels.
[01:07:56] However, the effects of this victory were
small – the allied fleet was on its way
[01:08:02] and another navy from Rhodes under Eudorus
was converging on Polyxendias from the south,
[01:08:08] so he took the only remaining safe route to
Ephesus.
[01:08:14] Attacking a navy in a dock protected by land
artillery is always folly, so the Romans just
[01:08:20] blockaded Polyxenidas for now.
[01:08:22] At the same time, the Republic was planning
to invade Asia Minor in 190 BC, so the Attalid
[01:08:29] king was asked to secure the Hellespont.
[01:08:32] Eumenes’ approach to the Hellespont put
Antiochus into another awkward position.
[01:08:38] He wanted to keep Gallipoli in order to continue
putting pressure on Philip V, but with his
[01:08:43] navy blockaded in Ephesus and with no way
to counter the Attalid fleet, there was a
[01:08:49] danger that Antiochus wouldn’t be able to
return to Asia Minor, especially since the
[01:08:54] kingdom of Bithynia and the city of Byzantion
were, despite not joining the war, pro-Roman,
[01:09:01] and could have prevented King’s army from
crossing the Bosporos.
[01:09:05] So, the king moved back to Asia Minor and
then started his march towards Ephesus, as
[01:09:11] he needed to defend the city, in case of Polyxenidas’
total defeat.
[01:09:18] Antiochus detached his heir Seleucus to attack
Pergamon, while a group of Galatians was sent
[01:09:24] to attack Elaea.
[01:09:25] By that time, another Roman praetor - Lucius
Aemilius Regillus took over the fleet and
[01:09:31] he was forced to send a portion of his navy
to defend Elaea, which was crucial for the
[01:09:36] Attalid war effort, while Eumenes rushed to
his capital.
[01:09:40] Again, we don’t know all the details, but
it seems that both Seleucid forces were largely
[01:09:45] successful in their raiding, but not strong
enough to take either city.
[01:09:51] The campaign ended when a small Achaean contingent
landed near Elaea and defeated the Galatians
[01:09:57] besieging it.
[01:09:58] Seleucus returned to his father, but overall,
this short campaign alleviated the pressure
[01:10:04] on Polyxenidas enough for when Antiochus sent
envoys to Aemilius to negotiate a peace treaty,
[01:10:10] the Romans really considered the offer and
only declined after being influenced by Eumenes.
[01:10:18] The Seleucid leader needed his fleet to break
out, so a message was sent to Seleucia Pieria
[01:10:24] ordering Hannibal to move his navy towards
the blockade.
[01:10:27] We don’t know what the king was thinking
when he appointed a brilliant general, who
[01:10:33] never led a navy, to command one, but apparently,
the Carthaginian used his knowledge of Phoenician
[01:10:40] and phenomenal organizational skills to form
a strong 50 vessel navy in less than 2 years.
[01:10:46] His movement west was noticed by the allies
and a portion of the Rhodian fleet was sent
[01:10:52] to intercept him before Hannibal reached their
home island.
[01:10:56] The two navies met to the southeast of modern
Antalya, at a place called Eurymedon.
[01:11:01] We don’t have the specifics, but Hannibal’s
fleet was defeated and he retired to Syria.
[01:11:07] Ironically, this naval battle would be the
last ever fought by the great Carthaginian
[01:11:13] general.
[01:11:16] With half of the allied navy on different
missions, the fleets near Ephesus were now
[01:11:21] equal in size.
[01:11:22] It is not clear if Aemilius broke it off due
to the lack of resources or in order to lure
[01:11:28] Polyxenidas out, but when the Romans left
to raid nearby Teos, the Seleucid navarch
[01:11:34] also sailed out, in hopes of surprising the
enemy.
[01:11:38] However, at the battle of Myonessus, the heavier
Roman ships and their boarding tactics proved
[01:11:44] to be superior yet again.
[01:11:46] Polyexinadas was forced to disengage after
losing a third of his navy and returned to
[01:11:52] Ephesus.
[01:11:53] After this battle, the Seleucids were outnumbered
4-to-1 in the sea, which meant that the Romans
[01:11:59] could cross into Asia Minor without resistance.
[01:12:03] Antiochus was aware of this fact and started
concentrating his forces around Ephesus.
[01:12:11] In the aftermath of the battle of Thermopylae,
the political parties of the Eternal city
[01:12:16] returned to their bickering.
[01:12:19] During the elections of 190 BC, Scipio’s
party strengthened its position and two of
[01:12:25] its members became consuls, one of them the
brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
[01:12:30] – another veteran of the 2nd Punic War,
Lucius Cornelius.
[01:12:35] On top of that, Africanus managed to get his
brother the command in Greece and Asia Minor,
[01:12:41] with himself as a legate.
[01:12:43] Being a war party, the Scipios also rebuked
the attempts of the Aetolians and Flamininus
[01:12:49] to achieve peace.
[01:12:53] While the Scipios were preparing their forces
to cross to Epirus, the Aetolians and Glabrio
[01:12:59] were informed that the ceasefire was over,
and both sides immediately resumed hostilities.
[01:13:05] Learning that the League’s forces were defending
the mountain passages and an attack on Naupaktos
[01:13:11] would prove difficult, Glabrio turned against
Lamia, taking it with a surprise attack.
[01:13:18] The propraetor’s next target was Amphissa.
[01:13:21] The city was besieged, managing to resist
until the Scipios arrived in August of 190.
[01:13:27] The Romans now had more than 50 thousand troops
in the region, but the campaigning season
[01:13:33] was about to be over and the Romans didn’t
want to spend time fighting the Aetolians,
[01:13:39] so when the latter asked for another ceasefire,
the Scipios agreed to a truce for an indemnity
[01:13:44] of 1000 talents.
[01:13:48] Afterwards, the Romans turned towards Macedon
and started negotiations with its king.
[01:13:55] In exchange for forgiveness of the war indemnity,
the release of his son Demetrius, and minor
[01:14:01] territorial gains, Philip not only supplied
the Romans and allowed them to pass through
[01:14:06] his kingdom, but 2 thousand of his warriors
joined the Scipios.
[01:14:11] In November of 190 BC the Scipios finally
reached the abandoned Lysimacheia.
[01:14:18] Antiochus is often accused of making a mistake
when he left Thrace undefended, as a few garrisons
[01:14:24] in the area could have slowed down the Romans,
but the king was probably trying to get all
[01:14:30] available forces together for a general battle.
[01:14:33] That can be seen from the fact that the Roman
navy took Phokaia and the king didn’t do
[01:14:39] anything to retake it.
[01:14:40] Shortly the Gallipoli peninsula was controlled
by the legionaries.
[01:14:46] At this point in time, Antiochus attempted
to drag the king of Bithynia, Prusias I, to
[01:14:53] his side, but his diplomatic overtures failed
and Bithynia declared for the Romans, who
[01:15:00] crossed the Hellespont in late November.
[01:15:02] In Asia, the Scipios were greeted by an envoy
from Antiochus and were offered a peace treaty:
[01:15:09] the king was ready to pay half of the expenses
the Romans incurred during the war and leave
[01:15:15] the cities in Thrace and Troada.
[01:15:17] His offer was rejected and the counteroffer
to pay the expenses in full and leave all
[01:15:24] the lands to the north and west of the Taurus
mountains was unacceptable.
[01:15:29] Some sources claim that Africanus’ son Publius
was captured by the Seleucids during a minor
[01:15:34] skirmish and Antiochus offered to return him
in exchange for peace.
[01:15:39] The victor of Zama didn’t budge and replied
that in return for his son, he would give
[01:15:45] Antiochus III a bit of useful advice: the
King would be wise to agree to Roman terms
[01:15:51] to avoid battle with the Romans.
[01:15:56] With the negotiations failing the legions
supported by the Attalid forces marched south
[01:16:02] in December.
[01:16:03] Scipios were worried that Lucius’ command
might be taken away by the next year’s consuls,
[01:16:09] so they were eager to fight the battle before
long.
[01:16:13] Antiochus was at Thyatira where he received
reinforcements from Galatia and Cappadocia.
[01:16:19] He then relocated to the north of Magnesia
planning to defend at the Hermos river, as
[01:16:24] this was the best place to stop the Romans
before they reached the crucial Ephesus.
[01:16:29] A few days later the army of the Roman Republic
was in the area.
[01:16:36] The Seleucid army constructed a walled camp
in the valley between river Hermos and its
[01:16:41] tributary Phrygius, with some of the infantry
defending the crossing and a unit of Galatian
[01:16:47] cavalry to the west of Phrygius.
[01:16:50] On the 15th, the first legionary units arrived
at the scene.
[01:16:54] Initially, the Romans lacked numbers, and
their attempts at fording were frustrated
[01:16:59] by the enemy missile units, but more of them
were arriving and pushing the defenders back.
[01:17:05] At this point, the order was given to the
Galatians to attack the Roman right, leading
[01:17:11] to heavy casualties.
[01:17:13] Another group of Scipio’s troops entered
the battle and their numbers overwhelmed the
[01:17:17] Galatians, who retreated with losses.
[01:17:21] The clashes continued for a day, as Antiochus
also bolstered his contingents, but the sheer
[01:17:27] numbers of the Romans made the defense of
the crossing untenable since they started
[01:17:32] forcing the river in other places, too, so
the king ordered his soldiers back.
[01:17:40] After moving across, Scipios started erecting
a camp at the confluence of Hermos and Phrygius,
[01:17:46] but were attacked yet again.
[01:17:48] The building of the camp was stopped a few
times until the legionaries were forced to
[01:17:53] get into a battle line and push the king’s
troops back.
[01:17:57] After hours of skirmish, the camp was finally
built.
[01:18:03] The Seleucids had much more cavalry than their
foes, so the Romans wanted to fight near their
[01:18:08] camp in the narrowest part of the valley,
while Antiochus wasn’t keen on giving up
[01:18:14] his advantage in the number of horsemen and
preferred a wider section, so both armies
[01:18:19] formed up in front of their fortifications.
[01:18:22] This continued for 4 days, with neither side
moving forward.
[01:18:28] But January was coming, so it was the Romans
who advanced.
[01:18:32] However, Antiochus still didn’t think that
it was enough and on the 6th day, the Romans
[01:18:38] repositioned even closer to the enemy camp.
[01:18:41] The king considered the battlefield satisfactory
and accepted the battle on the 22nd of December.
[01:18:50] The always controversial topic of the sizes
of the armies is no different for this battle.
[01:18:56] Our main sources for the battle are Roman
historian Livy and the Achaean historian Polybius
[01:19:02] and neither was kind to Antiochus.
[01:19:05] According to them, the Seleucids outnumbered
the Romans 2-to-1.
[01:19:10] It seems that both think that 25 thousand
or so legionaries remained in Greece, but
[01:19:16] further events that we will talk about disproves
this and modern historians think that armies
[01:19:22] were equal in size, each around 70 thousand.
[01:19:28] Scipio commanded an army made up of 20 thousand
Romans, 40 thousand Italian allies, and more
[01:19:35] than 10 thousand Achaeans, Macedonians, Thracians,
and Pergamene, among them 20 thousand hastati,
[01:19:41] 20 thousand principes, 8 thousand triarii,
and a few thousand velites.
[01:19:47] They were supported by 4000 cavalry, majority
among them the Roman and Italic Equites and
[01:19:53] 1000 Attalid heavy cavalry, 3000 Pergamene
and Achaean peltasts, 2000 Macedonian phalangites,
[01:20:00] and others.
[01:20:02] The Romans had 16 North African elephants,
but Scipio decided not to use them against
[01:20:08] the bigger and more ferocious Seleucid Indian
elephants.
[01:20:15] Opposing them were 34 thousand heavy footmen,
including 16,000 phalangites, 10 thousand
[01:20:21] silver shield hypaspists, 3 thousand Galatian
and 2 thousand Cappadocian swordsmen, and
[01:20:27] 23 thousand light and missile infantry, among
them peltasts, Cretan archers, and Illyrian
[01:20:34] skirmishers.
[01:20:35] As we mentioned before, Antiochus’ army
had more cavalry than their foe: 8 thousand
[01:20:41] heavy cavalry made up of Armenian and Iranian
cataphracts, Median agema, hetairoi from the
[01:20:48] Macedonian elite, and 4000 light horsemen
from Galatia, Dacia, Dahae, Arabia, and Greek
[01:20:54] Asia Minor fighting as Tarentines.
[01:20:57] The king also had 54 elephants and an unknown
number of scythed chariots.
[01:21:04] The Roman center and left wing, which was
defended by the Phrygius, consisted of the
[01:21:11] legionaries in 3 lines – a traditional triplex
acies in checkerboard pattern, with the left
[01:21:17] reinforced by 1000 Roman horsemen and the
elephants in reserve behind the center.
[01:21:24] The right anchored by the Hermos had Achaean
and Pergamene peltasts in the first rank and
[01:21:30] 3 thousand cavalrymen in the second.
[01:21:32] Various units of skirmishers and velites formed
the vanguard, while the Macedonian and Thracian
[01:21:38] allies remained to defend the camp, commanded
by the military tribune Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.
[01:21:45] The consul Lucius Scipio commanded the center,
king Eumenes the right, and the former consul
[01:21:51] Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus the left.
[01:21:55] Scipio Africanus had suffered from sickness
for weeks, so it seems that it was his brother
[01:22:00] Lucius who was the overall commander.
[01:22:05] On the other side of the plain, the Seleucid
center commanded by general Zeuxis was built
[01:22:10] around all the phalangites and Galatian infantry,
divided into units of 1500 footmen with 2
[01:22:17] elephants between each battalion, for a total
of 22 beasts.
[01:22:22] Antiochus himself commanded the right wing
with 4000 heavy cavalry in the first line,
[01:22:28] 16 elephants and light Dahae cavalry behind
them, with the Silver Shields behind them.
[01:22:34] The Kings heir’s Seleucus was leading the
left-wing of the army, guarded by 4000 heavy
[01:22:40] horsemen.
[01:22:41] In front of his force was a unit of scythed
chariots, while the elephants and the light
[01:22:47] cavalry formed the 2nd line, with the peltasts
and Cappadocians positioned in the third line.
[01:22:53] The primary sources fail to place the missile
infantry for Antiochus, but modern historians
[01:22:59] conclude that the skirmishers and the Arab
camel archers were in the vanguard.
[01:23:06] Again, our understanding of the early stage
of the battle is uneven.
[01:23:11] It was customary for the skirmishers to open
a battle and it seems that it was the case
[01:23:16] in this engagement too.
[01:23:18] In this case, it is possible to deduce that
the Romans gained an upper hand.
[01:23:23] Livy mentions that it rained prior to the
battle and that the Seleucid missile units,
[01:23:28] who relied on bowstrings, were at a disadvantage.
[01:23:32] After suffering casualties, Antiochus’ archers
started retreating behind the main line and
[01:23:38] as the Roman skirmishers moved forward, it
became dangerous to keep the elephants close
[01:23:43] to the front, as they tended to become frenzied
under fire.
[01:23:47] The Seleucid center then closed its ranks.
[01:23:53] With no light footmen to defend the line,
the Seleucid heir ordered his chariots to
[01:23:58] counterattack.
[01:23:59] A scythed chariot was a fearsome weapon against
tight groups, but the Roman skirmishers were
[01:24:04] in a loose formation, so when the chariots
charged, they were able to disperse and allow
[01:24:10] the enemy through.
[01:24:12] Skirmishers then turned and started sending
volleys into the charioteers, while Eumenes
[01:24:17] then sent his light cavalry to attack them.
[01:24:21] Many horses and riders were killed and the
rest panicked and turned back to find refuge
[01:24:26] behind their lines.
[01:24:28] At this point, the Arab camel archers were
sent forward to assist the charioteers, as
[01:24:33] the Seleucid officers knew that the camel’s
scent might scare the Roman horses and save
[01:24:39] the chariot corps.
[01:24:43] This backfired spectacularly, as the chariot
riders were not able to control their horses
[01:24:48] anymore and basically smashed into their own
camel riders.
[01:24:52] The details are scarce, but the Seleucid left
lost all cohesion and soon was attacked by
[01:24:58] the full force of the king of Pergamon.
[01:25:01] The light cavalry and the infantry weren’t
able to withstand this charge, and even though
[01:25:06] the hetairoi and cataphracts were much more
disciplined, they were more used to fighting
[01:25:11] as an attacking force.
[01:25:13] Slowly but surely, they were first pushed
back, and then broken.
[01:25:20] Things were completely different on the Seleucid
right, owing to the fact that the width of
[01:25:25] the battlefield was 5 kilometers, which prohibited
information from reaching the flanks in time.
[01:25:32] Seeing his missile infantry on the backfoot,
the Seleucid king allowed them to pass and
[01:25:38] then counterattacked with his heavy and light
cavalry.
[01:25:42] This charge quickly scattered the enemy in
front of them.
[01:25:45] The cavalry then got into a single line on
the go, and that seemingly shocked the Roman
[01:25:50] left, who were marching forward behind their
velites and now were in a wider place on the
[01:25:56] battlefield.
[01:25:57] Ahenobarbus attempted to widen his front by
sending his small cavalry contingent to defend
[01:26:03] the flank.
[01:26:04] This wasn’t enough: the Roman horsemen were
crushed and the side of the legionary formation
[01:26:09] was now open to further attacks.
[01:26:13] Apparently, the Seleucids destroyed the enemy
formation here and started chasing them towards
[01:26:19] the camp.
[01:26:20] Hundreds died in this chase, but eventually
they reached the camp.
[01:26:25] Here Lepidus attempted to form a line, but
the panic was too strong and his troops were
[01:26:30] ordered to kill the retreating legionaries.
[01:26:33] The harsh treatment finally stopped those
attempting to run.
[01:26:37] Buoyed by the Macedonian pikes the Roman line
was able to put some distance between them
[01:26:42] and Antiochus.
[01:26:44] The king’s light cavalry was supposed to
attack from behind, but got too distracted
[01:26:49] by the riches of the camp, which gave the
Romans enough leeway to put their back against
[01:26:54] the walls of the camp.
[01:26:55] Antiochus hadn’t received any news from
his army for some time and wasn’t eager
[01:27:01] to attack the pikes, so he ordered his warriors
to break off and return.
[01:27:06] Meanwhile, the Roman center pushed forward,
and the remainder of the Seleucid right, seeing
[01:27:13] that their center would be surrounded, attempted
to join them in defense.
[01:27:18] Indeed, soon the center of the Antiochus’
force was encircled.
[01:27:22] For some time, the Romans tried to use their
missiles to weaken the phalanx, but it wasn’t
[01:27:27] too effective.
[01:27:29] Eumenes and Scipio knew that the Seleucid
leader would eventually return, so they ordered
[01:27:34] a unit of cavalry to block him and commanded
their heavy infantry to close in.
[01:27:39] The phalangites formed a pike wall and attempted
to retreat towards their own camp, but it
[01:27:45] was difficult while they were attacked from
all sides.
[01:27:49] Antiochus’s cavalry easily broke the unit
sent to block them, but by the time they arrived,
[01:27:56] the phalanx was finally broken and its desperate
members were chased and killed by the Roman
[01:28:02] cavalry.
[01:28:03] Some units were able to retreat from the battlefield,
but it seems that the majority of the Seleucid
[01:28:09] army was either killed or captured.
[01:28:11] We don’t have a good source for the Roman
casualties, however, it can be concluded that
[01:28:16] they were in the thousands.
[01:28:18] Antiochus’ decision to place himself on
the right, which was the place of honor, was
[01:28:24] the biggest mistake he made, as it precluded
him from personally stabilizing the situation
[01:28:29] on his left.
[01:28:33] In the aftermath of the battle, Antiochus
started retreating towards Apamea, while the
[01:28:39] Romans took Sardis.
[01:28:41] The king wanted to continue fighting, as his
empire was vast and rich enough to field another
[01:28:47] army, but even the mightiest kings should
consider the opinion of their subjects after
[01:28:52] two decisive defeats, and both the courtiers
and commoners wanted peace, so in early 189
[01:29:00] BC Antiochus sent envoys to discuss the terms.
[01:29:04] The Roman demands were steep, but the Seleucids
agreed without much discussion: The defeated
[01:29:10] empire had to withdraw from lands to the west
and north to the Taurus mountains and pay
[01:29:16] 15,000 talents as war indemnity.
[01:29:19] Antiochus had to give up Hannibal and a number
of other enemies of Rome, and promised not
[01:29:20] to participate in any wars in Europe.
[01:29:21] The king also gave away all of his elephants
with a promise not to procure more in the
[01:29:25] future.
[01:29:26] The Seleucids were only allowed to keep a
navy of 10 ships and not to sail beyond Calycadnus.
[01:29:33] The Romans took 20 hostages, including the
son of the king – another Antiochus.
[01:29:42] The peace would not be signed until the next
year, as it had to be ratified by the Roman
[01:29:47] senate, but in the end, the Seleucid lands
in Europe were given to the Thracian kingdom,
[01:29:53] while the territories in Asia were divided
between Rhodes and Pergamon.
[01:29:58] This weakened the Seleucid empire.
[01:30:01] Antiochus was killed by a mob in Babylon in
187, while Armenia, Atropatene, and Parthia,
[01:30:08] who were already somewhat autonomous, rebelled
and became independent.
[01:30:14] The Seleucid dynasty would rule for another
120 years, but their realm would continuously
[01:30:21] shrink.
[01:30:24] In 189, Rome sent two new consuls to Greece
and Asia Minor to finish the wars.
[01:30:31] The first - Gnaeus Manlius Vulso not only
made sure that the Seleucids fulfilled the
[01:30:37] terms of the treaty, but also went to war
with Galatia.
[01:30:41] The Galatian War, that the Romans won handily,
is beyond the scope of this video, but it
[01:30:48] was remarkable for two reasons: it showed
that Rome could now easily invade Asia Minor,
[01:30:54] and was the first time a Roman general declared
war without the approval of the Senate, and
[01:31:00] this set a precedent that would lead to the
downfall of the Republic.
[01:31:08] While all that was happening in the east,
the ceasefire between Rome and Aetolia ended
[01:31:13] in early 189 and using the absence of the
Roman armies, the Aetolians attacked Philip
[01:31:20] of Macedon and easily pushed him out of Thessaly.
[01:31:24] However, soon the second consul Marcus Fulvius
Nobilior arrived.
[01:31:29] Supported by the Epirotes, he besieged Ambracia
and that forced the Aetolian army to retreat
[01:31:35] from Macedon, as they were worried about being
outflanked.
[01:31:40] Although Ambracia managed to resist for months,
it was clear to the League that it won’t
[01:31:45] be able to fight on without the Seleucids,
so using Athenian mediation they started peace
[01:31:51] negotiations with Rome.
[01:31:53] Again, the demands were heavy, but the Aetolians
had no other choice but to accept: The league
[01:32:00] lost half of its members and territory, and
also was prohibited from having a foreign
[01:32:05] policy without Rome’s approval.
[01:32:08] Although technically independent, the League
stopped being a major player after this treaty.
[01:32:15] In 184 the second son of Philip V - Demetrius,
went on a return visit to Rome.
[01:32:20] After Cynoscephalae Demetrius was the boy
taken as a hostage by the Romans and he had
[01:32:24] emerged from that experience a committed Romanophile.
[01:32:27] This only intensified when the senate decided
to give the sympathetic Demetrius their official
[01:32:30] support, and he returned to Macedon in 184
with a very different attitude to his father.
[01:32:33] Macedonian court politics during this period
were especially fierce.
[01:32:34] While the Seleucid conflict was raging, the
royal court in Pella had become bitterly divided
[01:32:37] over the Roman issue, and it was almost as
if two courts existed at once.
[01:32:39] One of these circles consisted of those advisors
and highborn men who favoured peace and accomodation
[01:32:44] with Rome, and was gathered around Demetrius.
[01:32:45] On the other hand, another group formed around
the duo of Philip V and his eldest son Perseus,
[01:32:51] and was packed with firebrands who advocated
resistance against the invaders from the west.
[01:32:58] Both factions began an underhand war of propaganda
against one another, using rumour and intrigue
[01:33:02] as weapons.
[01:33:03] Perseus’ mother was routinely slandered
as being of low birth and a one-time concubine.
[01:33:06] Therefore, it was implied that Perseus was
less legitimate than Demetrius, who was the
[01:33:11] younger sibling.
[01:33:12] Demetrius realised that, despite his friendliness
with Rome, Perseus had influence with his
[01:33:13] father and became certain that his days were
numbered.
[01:33:14] He made a mistake at this point, confiding
his fears to one of his father’s courtiers
[01:33:15] named Didas, telling him he planned to flee
to Rome.
[01:33:18] This man promptly told Philip, who also discovered
a letter speaking of Demetrius’ ‘lust
[01:33:24] for the throne’.
[01:33:26] Despite it probably being a forgery, Didas
poisoned Demetrius in the winter of 181 on
[01:33:32] the order of Philip.
[01:33:33] This was the only dynastic murder of the entire
Antigonid dynasty, and its outcome was a surge
[01:33:35] in hostility between Rome and Macedon.
[01:33:40] The situation destabilised even further in
179, when after over four decades of rule,
[01:33:48] Philip V passed away in Amphipolis while preparing
for a campaign against the Thracians.
[01:33:54] With his rival Demetrius also dead, Perseus
became the king of Macedon.
[01:33:59] He did what new Antigonid kings always had
to, immediately reaffirming old friendships
[01:34:05] and building new ones.
[01:34:08] Rivals to the throne were eliminated and,
in this new Rome-dominated world, it was necessary
[01:34:14] to send emissaries to the senate hoping for
their official recognition of Perseus’ accession
[01:34:20] to the throne.
[01:34:21] Reluctantly, this was granted.
[01:34:26] On the diplomatic front, Perseus also entered
into many alliances and diplomatic arrangements
[01:34:32] with the various Greek city-states, making
no secret of Macedon’s continuing interest
[01:34:34] in Greece.
[01:34:35] Naturally, this was to the great annoyance
of the Romans.
[01:34:37] Furthermore, to the east, Perseus astutely
married his sister to Prusias II of Bithynia
[01:34:44] and the king himself married the daughter
of Seleucid monarch Seleucus IV.
[01:34:49] So in addition to playing nice with the Greeks,
Perseus was also swiftly gaining a network
[01:34:56] of useful allies in Asia Minor, much to the
increasing anger of Pergamon, which was excluded
[01:35:02] from these affairs.
[01:35:06] Its king - Eumenes II, played his kingdom’s
usual part as a sycophantic informant to their
[01:35:12] Roman lords in the west.
[01:35:13] Initial insistences and warnings by Eumenes
to the Roman senate fell on receptive ears,
[01:35:18] primarily because they wished to keep their
hegemony over Greece.
[01:35:21] In 175 and 174, repeated Roman warnings to
Perseus refused to cow the young king.
[01:35:27] Moreover, he performed a grand spectacle of
marching his entire army on a peaceful parade
[01:35:33] through Delphi - the sacred centre of the
Greek world.
[01:35:37] The message was clear: HE was the protector
of the Greeks, not the Romans.
[01:35:46] Increasingly urgent embassies from Pergamon
began to beseech the Roman senate for help,
[01:35:51] and in early 172 Eumenes himself came to plead
his case.
[01:35:57] He not only repeated previous claims that
Perseus had simply inherited his father’s
[01:35:58] preparations and resolution for war against
Rome, but also claimed that the peace since
[01:35:59] 189 had allowed Macedon to fully recover its
strength.
[01:36:02] Finally, the Pergamene king played his trump
card, stating to the Romans that “I felt
[01:36:07] it would be utterly disgraceful if I failed
to reach Italy to warn you, before he arrived
[01:36:12] here with his army.”.
[01:36:14] Cynically playing on the tradition post-Hannibalic
fear of invasions in their homeland, Eumenes
[01:36:19] got his way.
[01:36:22] The subsequent diplomatic pressure and investigations
into Perseus’ conduct would turn into a
[01:36:28] self-fulfilling prophecy, as the king could
see the senate was intent on destroying him.
[01:36:33] Therefore, he was required to take steps to
be ready for them, it was his only choice.
[01:36:35] Philip V may have been the aggressor in the
previous war, but now the Romans were hungry
[01:36:40] for conflict with Perseus.
[01:36:42] Roman envoys sent to negotiate a truce with
the Macedonian king then boasted of deceiving
[01:36:48] him into thinking there was even a chance
of peace.
[01:36:50] In fact, the truce was purely a measure in
order to gain more time for the Romans to
[01:36:56] prepare for war, as they refitted a fleet
of old ships and embarked a powerful army
[01:37:02] from Brundisium to Apollonia.
[01:37:05] This Roman ‘new cunning’ of deception
and underhanded tactics was not met with approval
[01:37:12] from all quarters.
[01:37:14] More traditionalist senators remembered a
time when the Romans treated their enemies
[01:37:18] as honoured and honourable men.
[01:37:20] It turned out that such methods were no way
to run an empire.
[01:37:25] Whatever the case, the Roman senate had decided
that the only way to maintain their position
[01:37:30] in Greece was to have no equals at all.
[01:37:33] The Antigonid monarchy had to disappear, and
the Third Macedonian War began.
[01:37:42] Roman consul Publius Licinius Crassus crossed
the Adriatic in the late summer of 171BC in
[01:37:49] order to take control of the legions there.
[01:37:52] At the same time, Eumenes of Pergamon arrived
at Chalcis with his fleet, disembarking with
[01:37:58] 6,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry of his own.
[01:38:01] At sea the Romans had unquestioned mastery
of the Aegean sea, so they dismissed the allied
[01:38:07] vessels, only retaining Eumenes’ assistance.
[01:38:09] They only wanted the help of those allies
who they knew were most loyal, and were hesitant
[01:38:12] to be indebted to friends such as the Rhodians
who would probably want peacetime gains for
[01:38:14] their wartime performance.
[01:38:15] Meanwhile, Perseus advanced south into Thessaly
- ravaging lands on the way, and encamped
[01:38:19] just to the south of Mount Ossa, having taken
command of the army his father had begun to
[01:38:24] rebuild.
[01:38:26] At the same time, Licinius secured the Greek
west coast and advanced into Thessaly via
[01:38:31] Athamania.
[01:38:33] When the consul arrived at the Greek city
of Larissa, he encamped just outside the town
[01:38:38] by a hill called Callinicus, where he was
reinforced by Eumenes’ Pergamene forces.
[01:38:46] As the Macedonians had grown bolder due to
their opposed ravaging of the Thessalian countryside,
[01:38:51] Perseus decided to match them toward the Roman
camp, erecting their own around five miles
[01:38:57] away.
[01:38:58] After resting his army for the night, Perseus
drew up his line into formation and marched
[01:39:04] his cavalry, as well as the light infantry
forwards.
[01:39:07] The phalangists stayed behind in reserve.
[01:39:10] Odrysian king Cotys IV commanded the Thracian
cavalry and interspersed light infantry on
[01:39:16] the left flank, while Macedonian horsemen
and Cretan skirmishers on the right were led
[01:39:21] by Midon of Beroea.
[01:39:23] Both wings were flanked by the King’s Cavalry
and auxiliary infantry from various foreign
[01:39:29] nations, while the centre was made up of Perseus’
elite agema, the sacred cavalry and 400 slingers
[01:39:35] in front.
[01:39:37] Opposite the Macedonians, Licinius’ field
army formed up its heavy infantry safely behind
[01:39:44] their camp’s ramparts, sending their own
cavalry and skirmishers out to meet the enemy.
[01:39:50] The Roman right wing, commanded by Caius Licinius
Crassus consisted of the Italian equites with
[01:39:57] velites scattered between them, while the
left under Valerius Laevinus commanded the
[01:40:02] Greek allied cavalry and infantry on the left.
[01:40:06] In the centre, Quintus Mucius led a force
of Gauls, Thessalians and other volunteer
[01:40:10] cavalry.
[01:40:14] Missile fire from javelins and sling stones
opened the battle, causing light casualties
[01:40:19] on both sides before Cotys’ Thracian horsemen
charged.
[01:40:23] They fought like wild beasts, according to
Livy, and swiftly smashed through the Roman
[01:40:28] right wing cavalry.
[01:40:30] At the same time, Perseus and his elite agema
troops broke the Roman centre.
[01:40:35] Believing he could turn the battle into a
decisive engagement, Perseus was about to
[01:40:40] order his phalanx into the battle, but was
persuaded not to take such a risk by Euander
[01:40:46] the Cretan.
[01:40:47] Thanking Euander for his wise counsel and
taking the victory where he could, Perseus
[01:40:52] withdrew back to his camp.
[01:40:54] 200 Roman cavalry and 2000 infantry had died,
and only 60 of Perseus’ men had died.
[01:41:03] Further skirmishes followed this battle, but
the campaigning season of 171 was essentially
[01:41:11] over.
[01:41:12] The Romans proceeded to occupy themselves
by brutally razing the anti-Roman cities in
[01:41:15] Boeotia.
[01:41:16] Haliartus was completely annihilated after
a short siege, 2,500 men were sold into slavery
[01:41:23] and the town remained desolate for decades
afterwards.
[01:41:28] This type of increasingly notorious Roman
savagery in Greece, along with Perseus’
[01:41:33] victory at Callinicus, made the Macedonian
king appear to be a Champion of the Greeks.
[01:41:39] Most who believed this were still too frightened
of Rome to take action, but the Molossians
[01:41:45] of Epirus did defect.
[01:41:49] One setback after another appeared to be striking
the Romans in this conflict, and this was
[01:41:54] only compounded when Perseus launched a successful
raid on the Roman fleet at Oreus, destroying
[01:42:00] ships and spoiling grain supplies.
[01:42:02] Despite these republican failures and Macedonian
successes, Perseus knew that he could not
[01:42:05] grind Rome to victory, he needed a decisive
victory in battle.
[01:42:12] By the end of 169, Rome’s position in Greece
appeared precarious, and only the arrival
[01:42:18] of the new consul - Lucius Aemilius Paullus
in 168 BC breathed fresh life into the floundering
[01:42:25] Roman cause in Greece.
[01:42:26] The first century Greek biographer Plutarch
informs us that this scion of the prominent
[01:42:27] Aemilii patrician family did not even want
to be consul at this point, as he had already
[01:42:28] failed during his run for a second term.
[01:42:29] However, his previous victories against the
Lusitani and Inguani tribes had not been forgotten.
[01:42:30] The senate believed him to be the best candidate
on their list to bring order to Greece once
[01:42:31] again.
[01:42:32] Eventually, overwhelmed by the constant requests
for him to stand for office, Aemilius was
[01:42:33] elected and immediately given the Macedonian
command.
[01:42:34] Plutarch also tells us that after his election
as consul for 168, Aemilius went home to find
[01:42:35] his daughter in distress.
[01:42:36] Naturally, the father asked what was the matter.
[01:42:37] His daughter, embracing Aemilius with sad
tears in her eyes, told the consul that their
[01:42:38] little dog was dead.
[01:42:39] That dog’s name, so the story goes, was
Perseus.
[01:42:40] Possibly apocryphal stories aside, the force
which Aemilius took command of was large:
[01:42:41] two especially strengthened Roman and allied
legions totalling around 22,000 legionary
[01:42:42] heavy infantry.
[01:42:43] The allied legions now comprised various peoples
who, until recently, had been long standing
[01:42:44] enemies of Rome, such as the Etruscans and
Samnites.
[01:42:45] Supporting the heavy troops were thousands
more light infantry, including velites, Pergamene
[01:42:49] troops and Greek allies.
[01:42:52] 4,000 cavalry also mounted up in the Roman
army, including a thousand of the infamous
[01:42:57] Numidian cavalry under their prince Misagenes.
[01:43:01] With the North African troops also came 22
imposing war elephants.
[01:43:07] Perseus meanwhile had around 44,000 foot and
4,000 horse on his side of the field.
[01:43:15] 21,000 of the infantry comprised the fearsome
phalangists with their Sarissa pikes and phalanx
[01:43:20] formation, which reached a mile in length.
[01:43:24] Supporting this moving wall of pikes were
light troops, auxiliaries such as the Thracian
[01:43:29] javelinmen and Illyrian archers.
[01:43:33] After advancing into Thessaly in the summer
of 168, Aemilius marched south, meeting Perseus
[01:43:39] at the foot of mount Olympus, where he had
drawn up his army in a highly defensible position.
[01:43:47] The Antigonids were dug in on the west bank
of the Elpeus river, just east of the mountain
[01:43:53] and had easy access to the nearby town of
Dium.
[01:43:57] With typical Roman grit, it seems like the
fact that Perseus had such a position did
[01:44:03] not bother the legionaries and, eager to redeem
their honour after Callinicus, urged Aemilius
[01:44:09] to attack immediately As a retort, Aemilius
told his men to mind their place and underlined
[01:44:16] the fact that they would fight when and how
he told them to.
[01:44:23] In order to dislodge Perseus from his defensive
position, Aemilius assigned a subordinate
[01:44:28] - Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, to launch
a feint towards the sea with 3,500 allied
[01:44:35] infantry and 5,000 legionaries.
[01:44:39] Under the cover of darkness, he would march
through an unguarded pass in order to surprise
[01:44:43] Perseus.
[01:44:45] This might have gotten the jump on Macedon’s
king, but a Cretan auxiliary in the Roman
[01:44:50] army defected and informed his fellow Greeks
of the Roman plan.
[01:44:57] Reacting immediately to this alarming news,
Perseus sent a general named Milo with 2,000
[01:45:03] Macedonians and 10,000 Thracian mercenaries
to oppose the Roman passage.
[01:45:08] Though Nasica hadn’t expected this resistance,
upon his arrival in the pass he ordered a
[01:45:14] charge.
[01:45:15] The mountain fighting in the narrow defiles
and passages was bloody and brutal, and Nasica
[01:45:20] himself supposedly came toe to toe with a
fearsome Thracian soldier, slaying him with
[01:45:27] the pilum javelin.
[01:45:28] Rome’s legionaries doggedly stabbed and
slashed their way through the mountain pass,
[01:45:33] routing the Macedonians, who then fled back
to the main army and informed Perseus of the
[01:45:39] defeat.
[01:45:40] Realising that the loss of this mountain pass
would render his position vulnerable, the
[01:45:44] king immediately decamped and marched away
from the mountain.
[01:45:49] While Aemilius moved through the mountain
pass and emerged onto the foothills around
[01:45:53] Mount Olocrus, Perseus drew up his army behind
a river on the plain below, near the town
[01:45:59] of Pydna.
[01:46:02] The handpicked field of battle was fantastic
for the Macedonian phalanx, and Perseus’
[01:46:09] position atop a small ridge and behind the
river gave him a distinct advantage.
[01:46:14] Aemilius knew this and so did not advance
just yet, remaining in his camp on the hills.
[01:46:21] The general’s officers, especially Nasica,
quickly became restless and wanted to attack
[01:46:26] immediately.
[01:46:27] Stoically, Aemilius smiled and advised Nasica
not to be so hasty, informing him of the folly
[01:46:34] of attacking a phalanx on such ground.
[01:46:39] The Romans did not waste their time, and constructed
a marching camp for that night.
[01:46:45] When darkness had fallen and the soldiers
were resting around the various campfires
[01:46:49] and sleeping in their tents, the moon suddenly
grew dark, its white colour shifting to a
[01:46:55] dull red.
[01:46:56] The superstitious men in the Macedonian camp
were deeply affected and surprised by what
[01:47:02] was apparently a bad omen.
[01:47:04] A moon which seemed to bleed red, had Zeus
abandoned them?
[01:47:10] At the same time, the equally pious Romans
did not react as badly, why was this?
[01:47:15] A military tribune of the Roman army - Caius
Sulpicius Gallus, was a learned Astronomer.
[01:47:22] The day before, he approached his general
and gained his permission to assembly the
[01:47:27] soldiers, informing them that such an event
- that we know as a solar eclipse, would occur
[01:47:33] on the following night.
[01:47:34] He urged the soldiers not to see such a thing
as an ill omen, as it was a regular, predictable
[01:47:40] and natural thing.
[01:47:42] Therefore, when the eclipse did occur, the
Roman soldiers simply followed their commander
[01:47:47] in offering sacrifices to the Greek gods,
promising to hold games in Heracles’ honour.
[01:47:53] The gestures worked and the Roman soldier’s
morale was unaffected.
[01:48:00] With both leaders engaging one another in
a dangerous staring contest, it would take
[01:48:05] a spark for the flames to ignite.
[01:48:08] Said spark came in the form of a misbehaving
mule.
[01:48:12] In order to fill up jugs of water for the
thirsty Roman soldiers, who wore heavy armour,
[01:48:17] a small train of mules was led down to a stream
below the foothills by lighter troops.
[01:48:23] Like the stubborn creatures they are, one
of the parched pack animals supposedly scented
[01:48:28] the water and bolted away from its handlers.
[01:48:31] The water-gatherers ran after it, and discovered
that a group of Perseus’ Thracian troops
[01:48:36] were doing the same.
[01:48:38] Moreover, the enemy was attempting to steal
their mule.
[01:48:42] The irritated, frustrated and scorching Roman
soldiers were not going to give up that mule,
[01:48:48] and a brawl broke out over the animal.
[01:48:51] Runners on both sides went to get help, while
the mule probably just ran off.
[01:48:56] Perseus saw an opportunity to draw the Romans
down from the uneven foothills of Mount Olocrus,
[01:49:04] and marched his entire army out of the camp
and straight towards the brawl at the stream.
[01:49:10] The Romans could see what was going on from
their camp, and they were furious, demanding
[01:49:15] angrily to be allowed to march out and fight.
[01:49:18] Aemilius risked mutiny if he refused and so,
gave the signal to form up.
[01:49:24] After only allowing his legions a brief amount
of time to form up, he swiftly commanded the
[01:49:29] advance, aiming to save the men at the stream.
[01:49:34] At that moment, the marching phalangists were
given the order to lower their pikes.
[01:49:40] In unison, the first five ranks held their
sarissae horizontally, and the ranks behind
[01:49:46] kept them at a 45 degree angle.
[01:49:49] Then, they advanced.
[01:49:51] Against the barely armoured Roman light troops,
whose main job was to skirmish at a distance,
[01:49:57] the phalangists met almost no serious resistance,
and simply tore through the enemy ranks.
[01:50:04] Valiantly trying to buy the Romans more time,
an auxiliary tribal leader named Salvius obtained
[01:50:10] his unit’s standard and threw it into the
phalanx.
[01:50:13] This galvanised the pressured soldiers, and
they furiously tried to get it back.
[01:50:19] This resulted in massive casualties, but slowed
the advance of the phalanx and allowed some
[01:50:24] men to escape.
[01:50:27] Aemilius’ main force was now closing in,
and the swarm of velites and other skirmishers
[01:50:33] threw their missiles at the phalanx, mostly
to no effect.
[01:50:37] The legionary heavy infantry, having witnessed
the slaughter of their more lightly armoured
[01:50:42] comrades, became frightened and began to slow
down.
[01:50:45] They saw the sheer size of the steamroller
that approached them and their morale started
[01:50:51] to wane.
[01:50:52] Aemilius had to act right now, otherwise his
shortsword armed men were going to be slaughtered
[01:50:57] on the flat ground.
[01:50:59] So, the general ordered an immediate withdrawal
and ceded the plains to Perseus, moving for
[01:51:05] the foothills once again.
[01:51:06] Owing to the phenomenal discipline of the
Roman legions, the retreat was carried out
[01:51:12] successfully, and Aemilius now had some breathing
room to attack.
[01:51:16] Wheeling his horse to the right flank, he
ordered the wing of 34 elephants to charge
[01:51:21] forward, with a mass of cavalry behind them.
[01:51:27] The Thracian and mercenary skirmishers immediately
in the path of this charge were ideal troops
[01:51:32] for dealing with elephants, but they were
exhausted and failed to concentrate enough
[01:51:37] missiles.
[01:51:38] The elephant vanguard caught them on a bad
day, and they carved a bloody hole into Perseus’
[01:51:44] left wing.
[01:51:45] The cavalry then streamed around the elephants
and mopped up those that were left, leaving
[01:51:50] the agema on the leftmost edge of the phalanx
completely exposed.
[01:51:57] The victorious Roman right wing chased the
retreating skirmishers, and then slowly began
[01:52:02] to reform slightly behind Perseus’ line.
[01:52:06] Throughout this battle on the edge of the
field, the phalanx had been pursuing the withdrawing
[01:52:11] legions into the foothills and onto rough
ground.
[01:52:15] With the infantry screen already gone, the
rightmost legionary unit swung inward and
[01:52:21] drove into the phalanx’s vulnerable left.
[01:52:24] At the same time, gaps gradually began to
open in the phalanx due to the increasing
[01:52:29] uneven terrain.
[01:52:30] Aemilius took full advantage of this, riding
up and down the line, shouting at his men
[01:52:35] to attack.
[01:52:37] Whether or not he was heard, the Roman centurions
knew what they were doing, and led their men
[01:52:42] into the now-exposed arteries of the Macedonian
phalanx.
[01:52:48] The pressure now began to mount.
[01:52:51] Fighting in unfavourable close quarters combat
and hit on the flank, the phalanx began to
[01:52:57] slowly fragment.
[01:52:58] Aemilius, who had retreated to a position
of command on the heights, saw small streams
[01:53:04] of Antigonid troops fleeing from the rear
of the infantry block.
[01:53:08] The coup de grâce was delivered by the now-regrouped
Roman right flank.
[01:53:12] The elephants and cavalry now charged at the
disintegrating army of Perseus’ and utterly
[01:53:18] routed it.
[01:53:20] Last to fall were the 3,000 elite agema of
Perseus.
[01:53:24] Not a single one of these valiant men fled
and they fought to the last men, while their
[01:53:29] king fled on his horse.
[01:53:31] One of the greatest phalanxes ever had been
crushed, and Alexander the Great’s military
[01:53:37] legacy was finally buried, the legion would
rule the field of battle from this point on.
[01:53:45] 20,000 of Perseus’ troops were killed and
11,000 more were captured, including Perseus
[01:53:50] himself.
[01:53:51] This man, who was to be the final Antigonid
king, was captured after hiding his crown,
[01:53:53] removing his royal robes and taking refuge
in a temple on Samothrace.
[01:53:54] When brought before Aemilius, Perseus wept
pitifully, much to the Roman general’s disgust.
[01:53:55] Given the ‘title’ of Macedonicus by the
senate, the victorious general was voted a
[01:54:00] triumph and rode through Rome on his chariot.
[01:54:03] The treasures of Macedon and his victorious
troops marched behind him.
[01:54:08] Finally, Perseus followed them in chains,
still sobbing.
[01:54:10] Macedon proved to be too dangerous for Rome
to allow it to remain independent, so in the
[01:54:15] aftermath of the war, the Antigonid monarchy
was dissolved into four semi-states, or merides,
[01:54:22] each with a capital, and elected officials,
but subject to the laws imposed by the Romans.
[01:54:29] The regions were allowed to keep small garrisons
along the borders with outside tribes, but
[01:54:34] not allowed to have an independent foreign
policy, or engage in trade between them and
[01:54:40] intermarry.
[01:54:41] Their economy was further weakened by an excessive
tribute paid to Rome, as well as a ban on
[01:54:47] gold and silver mining, logging, and shipbuilding.
[01:54:51] On top of that, the Romans enacted revenge
on the Molossians who supported Perseus.
[01:54:56] 70 of their cities were destroyed and 150
thousand Epirotes were enslaved.
[01:55:03] All this caused resentment and impoverishment,
which made the populace anti-Roman.
[01:55:09] Soon those who would use this appeared on
the horizon.
[01:55:15] A youth called Andriskos, born in Adramyttium
in Asia Minor, had an uncanny resemblance
[01:55:21] to the late Macedonian king Perseus, and in
150 BC he started telling everyone who would
[01:55:28] listen that he was the king’s son Philip
and that he was planning to restore Antigonid
[01:55:34] rule over Macedon.
[01:55:37] Andriskos traveled to Macedon but failed to
garner any support, as the local nobles were
[01:55:43] happy with Roman rule.
[01:55:46] He then attempted to get the assistance of
the Seleucid ruler Demetrius I, but the latter
[01:55:51] had his internal problems and didn’t want
to anger the Romans, so the pretender was
[01:55:56] sent into Roman custody.
[01:55:59] The Senate didn’t consider Andriskos to
be dangerous, so he was sent to Magna Graecia
[01:56:04] to live in custody, but managed to run away
and ended up in Miletus.
[01:56:09] He once again started looking for supporters
and gained them among the anti-Roman locals.
[01:56:19] Andriskos then traveled to Thrace, where the
local chiefs, worried about the strengthening
[01:56:24] Roman influence, supported him, giving him
a small army.
[01:56:28] We don’t know all the details but in early
149 BC, the pretender entered Macedon.
[01:56:36] The nobles attempted to gather a force to
stop him, but their armies were defeated somewhere
[01:56:41] in Odomantice.
[01:56:42] Thus, Andriskos became the king as Philip
VI and restored the Macedonian monarchy.
[01:56:50] Pro-roman nobles lost their standing, while
the general population celebrated their independence.
[01:56:56] The Fourth Macedonian War had begun.
[01:57:02] In the same year, he invaded the Roman-allied
Thessalian league.
[01:57:06] The timing was perfect, as the best generals
of the Republic were busy besieging Carthage
[01:57:12] during the Third Punic War and fighting in
the Lusitanian War in Spain.
[01:57:18] The Roman commander in the area, Publius Cornelius
Scipio Nasica, marched for Thessaly and started
[01:57:25] negotiating with Andriskos, hoping to buy
time for his Achaean allies and the nearby
[01:57:30] Pergamene garrisons to join him.
[01:57:32] Indeed, the general was reinforced by these
allies and even one legion from Italy.
[01:57:38] This was a signal to Andriskos that his enemies
were getting stronger, so he attacked and
[01:57:44] crushed the allies, taking over most of Thessaly.
[01:57:48] Inspired, Andriskos sent envoys to Carthage
offering the revival of the old alliance.
[01:57:57] The winter stopped the hostilities, but the
Romans were, as usual, full of energy.
[01:58:03] A veteran of the Third Macedonian War, praetor
Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was ordered to
[01:58:09] form another army, and in early 148 his legions
embarked on Pergamene transports.
[01:58:15] In the past, the Roman armies landed in Epirus
and then moved into the Greek heartland from
[01:58:22] there, but Metellus decided to outsmart his
opponent and made landfall in Macedon, making
[01:58:29] his way south.
[01:58:30] This threatened Andriskos’ kingdom and forced
him to double time towards the enemy.
[01:58:38] The two sides met at the same place the fate
of the Third Macedonian War was sealed 20
[01:58:44] years ago - Pydna.
[01:58:45] Unfortunately, we don’t know much about
the battle and even the number of combatants
[01:58:51] is a mystery.
[01:58:52] The battle started when the cavalry vanguards
of the two armies met each other, and the
[01:58:58] Macedonian horsemen had the upper hand, sending
their counterparts fleeing.
[01:59:02] Emboldened by that Andriskos sent some of
his troops back to Thessaly in order to continue
[01:59:08] the conquest.
[01:59:10] Soon the main bodies of the armies were close
and the infantry clashed in the center.
[01:59:16] Once again, the details are lost to time and
it is unknown if the Macedonians fought in
[01:59:21] their traditional phalanx, but initially the
two groups of footmen fought to a standstill
[01:59:27] and it seemed that the battle would come down
to the battle between horsemen.
[01:59:32] That is when Andriskos was betrayed by the
commander of the cavalry, a nobleman named
[01:59:37] Telestos.
[01:59:38] The Macedonian center was attacked from all
sides and was almost completely crushed.
[01:59:47] After the battle, Andriskos attempted to flee
to Thrace, but his allies didn’t want to
[01:59:52] draw the ire of the victors even more.
[01:59:55] Andriskos was captured and given to the Romans,
who sent him to Italy, where he was executed.
[02:00:01] This was the end of the Fourth Macedonian
War.
[02:00:05] This time Macedon didn’t even get a semblance
of independence.
[02:00:10] Commanded by the Senate, Metellus turned Macedon,
Epirus, Southern Illyria, and Ionian islands
[02:00:16] into the province of Macedonia and became
its first governor.
[02:00:23] However, the situation was getting volatile
elsewhere in Greece.
[02:00:28] Sparta, now led by Menalcidas, had been trying
to break away from the Achaean League for
[02:00:33] some time.
[02:00:35] In 147 BC, their delegation went to Rome to
ask the Senate for assistance, but before
[02:00:42] the Romans were able to respond, Spartan territory
was invaded by the strategos of the League,
[02:00:48] Damocritus.
[02:00:49] Menalcidas was defeated, but the Achaeans
failed to take the city itself.
[02:00:55] For that Damocritus was deposed and replaced
by the even more extreme Diaeus.
[02:01:03] That is when a Roman embassy arrived to meet
with the Achaean assembly.
[02:01:07] Unexpectedly for the Achaeans, the embassy
not only supported Sparta’s independence
[02:01:13] but also demanded Argos, Corinth, and Orchomenus,
possibly to spark a conflict.
[02:01:19] The Achaeans obviously refused and sent their
own embassy to Rome demanding the resolution
[02:01:24] to be rescinded.
[02:01:26] The Senate said no.
[02:01:27] It was clear that the Achaean league and other
Greeks were angry at the Roman takeover of
[02:01:33] Macedon and Epirus, so, joined by the Boeotians
and Euboeans, in 146 BC they declared war
[02:01:40] on the Roman Republic, starting the Achaean
War.
[02:01:46] Another anti-Roman strategos - Critolaos - was
elected and his army, supported by the Thebans,
[02:01:53] marched for Thessaly.
[02:01:54] However, before they were able to reach Thermopylae,
the Roman army under Metellus caught them
[02:02:00] at a place called Scarpheia in Locris.
[02:02:02] The Greeks didn’t expect a battle; their
army was crushed and the general killed.
[02:02:08] Afterwards, the Roman governor continued south.
[02:02:12] The Argives attempted to stop his advance
in Chaeronea, but were crushed.
[02:02:17] Diaeus took over command in Achaea and in
a short time managed to create a 16,000 strong
[02:02:25] army, hoping to defend at the isthmus of Corinth.
[02:02:29] Unfortunately for him, the Roman army was
reinforced by the consul Lucius Mummius, as
[02:02:34] well as a Pergamene detachment, bringing its
numbers to 27 thousand.
[02:02:40] The two sides met at a place called Leukapetra.
[02:02:46] Once again, we don’t have much in terms
of details.
[02:02:49] Apparently, the Romans didn’t want to charge
across the narrow isthmus, even despite outnumbering
[02:02:55] the enemy 2-to-1.
[02:02:56] For some time, the Roman army remained in
the camp and it seems that they got complacent,
[02:03:02] as Diaeus was able to use his light infantry
to attack the camp and inflict heavy casualties.
[02:03:10] The next day, the Romans marched directly
towards the enemy and as they were supported
[02:03:16] by the Pergamene navy, Diaeus was forced to
accept the battle.
[02:03:20] The two infantry bodies clashed in the center
and the Achaeans managed to stop the legionaries.
[02:03:26] However, Diaeus had very few horsemen and
the Romans used that - on both flanks Mummius’
[02:03:34] cavalry destroyed their counterparts and then
attacked the Greek infantry from all sides.
[02:03:39] The battle was effectively over and the whole
Achaean army was crushed.
[02:03:46] In the aftermath, the Romans razed Corinth,
similar to Carthage months prior - all men
[02:03:52] were killed, all women and children enslaved,
and the city was burned to the ground.
[02:03:59] This left Rome without trading rivals in the
Mediterranean and as no military power could
[02:04:04] oppose the Republic, the Achaean League, Aetolian
League, and others were disbanded and the
[02:04:10] entire region was added to the Province of
Macedonia.
[02:04:14] Greece would remain under Roman control for
centuries, despite 2 more rebellions in Macedon
[02:04:21] and an attempt by Greek cities to support
Pontus during the First Mithridatic War.
[02:04:28] The Roman takeover of Greece was a prime example
of the imperial Divide et Impera principle:
[02:04:35] the Republic managed to ally with one faction
against the other and keep all of the cities,
[02:04:41] states, and leagues constantly divided, until
it was time to conquer everything.
[02:04:46] Still, Greek culture flourished and over the
next 2000 years became a crucial part of the
[02:04:53] Pax Romana, Christianity, the Muslim Golden
Age, and then the Renaissance and the Age
[02:04:59] of Enlightenment.
[02:05:01] We will talk about Greek and Roman history
more in our future videos.
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