WEBVTT

00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:12.240
History of the human race has thousands of
different conquests across ages, regions,

00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:17.350
and cultures, but it is difficult to find
one that played such a decisive role in the

00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:23.349
future events as the conquest of Greece by
the Roman Republic, as its effects echoed

00:00:23.349 --> 00:00:25.349
through the millennia.

00:00:25.349 --> 00:00:30.629
Welcome to our video that will cover the first
Roman involvement in the Greek affairs, four

00:00:30.629 --> 00:00:36.000
Macedonian Wars, Seleucid War, Aetolian War
and Achaean War.

00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.960
These long videos take forever to make, so
please kindly consider sharing it in your

00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:41.300
social media.

00:00:42.228 --> 00:00:49.408
The year is 231BC and the Mediterranean world
is a land of continuous warfare and political

00:00:49.408 --> 00:00:50.408
upheaval.

00:00:50.408 --> 00:00:56.208
Just ten years before, the burgeoning power
of the Roman Republic had defeated Carthage

00:00:56.209 --> 00:01:01.169
in the First Punic War, establishing naval
dominance on the sea.

00:01:01.168 --> 00:01:07.128
In the east, the Hellenistic kingdoms - Macedon,
Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire vie

00:01:07.129 --> 00:01:09.929
for dominance over their border territories.

00:01:09.929 --> 00:01:15.409
Sandwiched between these greater polities
are a number of smaller states, such as Pergamon

00:01:15.409 --> 00:01:18.859
and the nominally independent Greek city-states.

00:01:18.858 --> 00:01:24.578
This is the world of the late 3rd century
BC, but soon a series of conflicts between

00:01:24.578 --> 00:01:30.638
two rising powers - Rome and Macedon, will
change the fate of the region forever.

00:01:30.638 --> 00:01:38.953
The which was Illyria - currently modern Albania
and Dalmatia, was regarded in the mid to late

00:01:38.953 --> 00:01:44.379
third century as a thoroughly barbarian region,
only half civilised by contact with its Greek

00:01:44.379 --> 00:01:45.698
and Macedonian neighbors.

00:01:45.698 --> 00:01:50.438
Though contact with the Greek world had led
to a degree of urbanisation in the south and

00:01:50.438 --> 00:01:55.667
along the coast, the region in a political
sense was still made up of many small tribal

00:01:55.668 --> 00:01:57.199
chieftains.

00:01:57.198 --> 00:02:02.248
The population of Illyria had been regarded
since their initial encounters as turbulent

00:02:02.248 --> 00:02:04.188
and warlike by the more traditionally civilised
peoples who came to know them.

00:02:04.188 --> 00:02:08.929
From time to time, one of the many Illyrian
tribes would gain a temporary hegemony over

00:02:08.929 --> 00:02:15.039
most of the others, and in the 230s this was
the Ardiaei.

00:02:15.038 --> 00:02:20.649
Ruled by their energetic king - Agron, they
had forged a union of not just their own Illyrian

00:02:20.649 --> 00:02:27.109
peoples, but also prominent figures, such
as Demetrius - the Greek lord of Pharos.

00:02:27.109 --> 00:02:34.269
Coinciding with the rise of this new Illyrian
power was the collapse of Epirus, whose once

00:02:34.269 --> 00:02:38.668
formidable strength had waned and whose monarchy
fell.

00:02:38.668 --> 00:02:44.139
Taking advantage of this weakness, the Illyrians
invaded and eventually managed to seize Epirote

00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:50.329
territory far south of the traditional border,
climaxing with the seizure of Phoenice, the

00:02:50.329 --> 00:02:55.028
wealthiest city of the kingdom.

00:02:55.028 --> 00:03:00.378
Despite these successes however, Agron perished
soon after and was succeeded nominally by

00:03:00.378 --> 00:03:01.858
his son.

00:03:01.858 --> 00:03:07.429
In reality, it was his wife Teuta who wielded
true power, quickly being appointed regent

00:03:07.429 --> 00:03:08.987
for her stepson.

00:03:08.987 --> 00:03:14.788
Her ascension did not stop Illyrian belligerence,
and in her reign piracy increasingly became

00:03:14.788 --> 00:03:17.987
a major problem in the Mediterranean.

00:03:17.987 --> 00:03:22.418
Seizures of more southerly territories in
Epirus had allowed the establishment of more

00:03:22.418 --> 00:03:25.048
staging points from which brigands could sail.

00:03:25.048 --> 00:03:31.149
This had been occurring for a long time already,
but the increasing scale of the problem, the

00:03:31.149 --> 00:03:36.679
increasingly loud complaints of Roman merchants
and the economic impact of piracy on the Republic

00:03:36.679 --> 00:03:41.308
prompted the senate to act.

00:03:41.308 --> 00:03:47.638
Uncharacteristically peacefully for the notoriously
bellicose Romans, the initial senatorial reaction

00:03:47.638 --> 00:03:55.199
in 230BC was not to send in the legions, but
instead to send a diplomatic embassy of two

00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.309
brothers to investigate the situation.

00:03:58.308 --> 00:04:03.868
In the typically harsh style of Roman diplomacy,
the Coruncanius brothers protested to Teuta

00:04:03.868 --> 00:04:08.868
about the increasing piracy and demanded that
it cease immediately.

00:04:08.868 --> 00:04:14.508
The demand was not negotiable and the Illyrians
would have a chance to comply peacefully - otherwise

00:04:14.508 --> 00:04:16.848
it would be war.

00:04:16.848 --> 00:04:23.459
Teuta refused this demand, either because
of her inability to control the actions of

00:04:23.459 --> 00:04:29.848
her decentralised tribal allies or because
she simply did not wish to bend to Roman demands.

00:04:29.848 --> 00:04:35.078
Whatever the case, this did not please the
Romans, a situation made even worse by the

00:04:35.077 --> 00:04:40.458
murder of a Roman envoy, possibly by Teuta
herself in the midst of the anger of the meeting

00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:46.369
or on the journey home by those very pirates
that the embassy had been dispatched to stop.

00:04:46.369 --> 00:04:50.939
While the death of the Roman envoy was the
immediate trigger for war, the expansion of

00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:56.288
the Ardaei tribe’s power over the region
was a deeper geopolitical cause - Rome did

00:04:56.288 --> 00:05:02.567
not want any powerful rival in the Adriatic.

00:05:02.567 --> 00:05:10.728
Late in the campaigning season of 229BC, a
massive Roman force of 22,000 and 200 ships

00:05:10.728 --> 00:05:12.487
bore down on the Illyrians.

00:05:12.487 --> 00:05:18.158
Though details of the short campaign are unknown,
it is known that the Roman expedition was

00:05:18.158 --> 00:05:21.158
a complete success from north to south.

00:05:21.158 --> 00:05:25.998
Teuta’s appointed governor of the recently
conquered island of Corcyra - Demetrius of

00:05:25.999 --> 00:05:31.249
Pharos, went over to the Roman side almost
immediately, while the queen regent’s forces

00:05:31.249 --> 00:05:33.518
were defeated in the field.

00:05:33.517 --> 00:05:39.198
By spring of 228 Teuta had been forced into
a peace treaty with the Romans, breaking her

00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:44.468
kingdom into weaker segments and forbidding
ventures of piracy into the southern Adriatic

00:05:44.468 --> 00:05:47.858
Sea.

00:05:47.858 --> 00:05:52.088
The Romans withdrew their troops and left
behind only their amicitia, or ‘friendship’

00:05:52.088 --> 00:05:58.709
- a benign sounding term which would soon
apparently become anything but that.

00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:04.487
In essence, being a ‘friend’ of Rome included
the de facto conditions of becoming an informal

00:06:04.487 --> 00:06:08.418
client state.

00:06:08.418 --> 00:06:14.328
A primary beneficiary of the peace of 228
was the defector Demetrius of Pharos, who

00:06:14.327 --> 00:06:19.537
was granted a small independent principality
of his own, sandwiched between the remnant

00:06:19.538 --> 00:06:23.567
of the Ardiaean kingdom and the Greek cities.

00:06:23.567 --> 00:06:28.358
Despite these gains under Roman auspices,
it seems that the ambitious Demetrius was

00:06:28.358 --> 00:06:33.509
not content to remain in his small kingdom,
and shortly after the peace was finalised,

00:06:33.509 --> 00:06:38.129
he married Triteuta - the Ardiaean king’s
biological mother.

00:06:38.129 --> 00:06:43.278
By becoming the young boy’s formal regent
in this act, Demetrius of Pharos effectively

00:06:43.278 --> 00:06:51.518
recreated the powerful Illyrian kingdom abolished
by Rome in the First Illyrian War.

00:06:51.517 --> 00:06:57.597
Even more boldly, he began to launch pillaging
raids into the territory of Roman allied tribes.

00:06:57.598 --> 00:07:02.487
It could be that Demetrius was ‘testing
the water’ and, due to the lack of any Roman

00:07:02.487 --> 00:07:07.459
response, he believed they either could not
or did not wish to intervene.

00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:13.098
This was an illusion, as the Romans were instead
occupied by the Roman-Gallic War of 226-222BC,

00:07:13.098 --> 00:07:22.169
and it would prove to be a fatal illusion
for Demetrius.

00:07:22.168 --> 00:07:28.218
Further trying his luck, Demetrius set out
with 90 light galleys in the summer of 220BC

00:07:28.218 --> 00:07:34.367
on a grand piracy expedition, ravaging cities
around the Adriatic Sea in blatant violation

00:07:34.367 --> 00:07:36.927
of the treaty eight years before.

00:07:36.927 --> 00:07:42.187
He had finally gone too far, and Rome now
decided that their former ally Demetrius now

00:07:42.187 --> 00:07:48.418
posed the same threat to Roman interests that
Teuta had, and moreover wished to punish their

00:07:48.418 --> 00:07:55.228
friend for betraying them and not acting like
a friend should.

00:07:55.228 --> 00:08:00.867
The disproportionately massive Roman action
which began in 219 was probably motivated

00:08:00.867 --> 00:08:06.468
by the Republic’s desire to swiftly and
decisively conclude the Illyrian situation

00:08:06.468 --> 00:08:11.819
before a new war with Carthage began, as it
seemed like it might.

00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:17.869
Demetrius’ strategy was to hold the fortresses
of Dimallum and Pharos itself, but the Romans

00:08:17.869 --> 00:08:24.249
took the former in only seven days, while
a rash sortie by Demetrius lost him Pharos.

00:08:24.249 --> 00:08:29.259
The man himself evaded capture because he
had placed a squadron of hidden galleys in

00:08:29.259 --> 00:08:33.408
a secret cove, fleeing to them when the battle
was lost.

00:08:33.408 --> 00:08:38.708
On these ships he fled to the south, abandoning
his family to Roman imprisonment and his men

00:08:38.708 --> 00:08:43.458
to death at Roman hands.

00:08:43.458 --> 00:08:48.687
Not long after, Demetrius reached the Adriatic
port town of Actium, where the fleet of a

00:08:48.687 --> 00:08:53.617
great Hellenistic king - Philip V of Macedon,
was anchored.

00:08:53.618 --> 00:08:59.559
When he arrived, the king welcome Demetrius
heartily and he quickly became a key advisor.

00:08:59.558 --> 00:09:04.247
Meanwhile, the Romans once again withdrew
all of their soldiers from the region, leaving

00:09:04.248 --> 00:09:05.729
no military presence.

00:09:05.729 --> 00:09:10.889
They once again left only their friendship
behind, but had demonstrated to the great

00:09:10.889 --> 00:09:18.937
Macedonian kingdom to the south that they
had the will to intervene in the east.

00:09:18.937 --> 00:09:23.338
Before continuing, we need to reverse time
for a moment and briefly examine the history

00:09:23.339 --> 00:09:28.899
of Macedon after its would-be conqueror - Pyrrhus
of Epirus, died in Argos.

00:09:28.899 --> 00:09:36.889
The victor in that battle - Antigonus II Gonatas,
was firmly in control of Macedon by 272 and

00:09:36.889 --> 00:09:40.899
had also established hegemony over the Greek
city-states.

00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:46.509
Having gained the loyalty of his turbulent
homeland, Antigonus II did his best to maintain

00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:47.509
it.

00:09:47.509 --> 00:09:52.709
He raised a great sacred mound to honour the
graves of the Argead house, reorganised the

00:09:52.708 --> 00:09:58.318
provincial system to increase its efficiency
and was vigilant in keeping Macedonian coinage

00:09:58.318 --> 00:10:03.558
a high quality currency.

00:10:03.558 --> 00:10:09.168
Making good use of Macedon’s depleted resources
and funds, Antigonus focused on access and

00:10:09.168 --> 00:10:15.769
mobility, extensively utilising the Antigonid
fleet and the great naval fortresses of Demetrias,

00:10:15.769 --> 00:10:20.058
Chalcis and Corinth to ferry troops to strategic
locations.

00:10:20.058 --> 00:10:25.899
An Athenian-led, Ptolemaic-supported attempt
at shaking off Macedonian domination failed

00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:30.269
in the Cheromidian War from 268 to 281.

00:10:30.269 --> 00:10:36.428
Though Antigonus managed to quell this revolt,
crucial fortresses such as the Acrocorinth

00:10:36.428 --> 00:10:42.427
were lost during his reign, which finally
ended in 239BC with his death.

00:10:42.427 --> 00:10:48.828
His successor - Demetrius II, ruled for a
relatively uneventful decade during which

00:10:48.828 --> 00:10:56.107
Macedon’s situation weakened ever further,
and he died in 229.

00:10:56.107 --> 00:11:01.307
The late king’s own son - Philip V, was
only a child at the time of his father’s

00:11:01.307 --> 00:11:06.218
death, and Macedon could not afford a child
ruler in such a perilous time.

00:11:06.219 --> 00:11:11.889
A regent was clearly required for the time
being, and a distant Antigonid relation was

00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:15.599
chosen for the task - Antigonus Doson.

00:11:15.599 --> 00:11:20.140
As one of the lesser known but more highly
competent Macedonian kings during the 3rd

00:11:20.139 --> 00:11:26.139
century BC, Antigonus Doson began to raise
the young Philip as his own son, and at the

00:11:26.139 --> 00:11:33.057
same time energetically set to campaigning
in order to beat back Macedon’s enemies.

00:11:33.057 --> 00:11:39.748
He first marched north and expelled the Illyrians
from the kingdom, and then struck south and

00:11:39.748 --> 00:11:42.238
crushed the Aetolian League.

00:11:42.238 --> 00:11:47.959
After securing his borders, Antigonus proceeded
to renounce all Macedonian claims south of

00:11:47.958 --> 00:11:54.638
the Thermopylae pass, wisely hoping to consolidate
and stabilise the situation in Macedon itself.

00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:00.038
The response of the army was to demand that
Antigonus accept the title of king.

00:12:00.038 --> 00:12:04.899
While he did this, Philip V’s rights to
the throne were not usurped or taken away,

00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:11.028
and Antigonus swiftly appointed him the official
heir.

00:12:11.028 --> 00:12:16.349
After another series of victories which including
the first ever seizure of Sparta by a foreign

00:12:16.349 --> 00:12:23.709
army, Antigonus III Doson perished in 221,
leaving behind a resurgent, stable and increasingly

00:12:23.708 --> 00:12:28.818
powerful Macedon to Philip V, who now ascended
to the throne.

00:12:28.818 --> 00:12:34.247
Soon after taking the throne, Philip V and
the Macedonian hegemony was once again challenged

00:12:34.248 --> 00:12:41.538
by the Aetolian League and its allies during
the Social War of 220-217 - who believed Philip

00:12:41.538 --> 00:12:44.358
was too young to be an effective ruler.

00:12:44.357 --> 00:12:51.958
It was during this war that Demetrius of Pharos
arrived at the royal court.

00:12:51.958 --> 00:12:57.018
Cataclysmic events in the west now began to
attract wider attention in the Mediterranean

00:12:57.019 --> 00:12:58.399
world.

00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:04.988
The Second Punic War had broken out in 218
and the Carthaginian general Hannibal successfully

00:13:04.988 --> 00:13:07.199
crossed the Alps to invade Italy.

00:13:07.198 --> 00:13:12.708
There, he had already defeated one Roman field
army at the Trebia River and, in the June

00:13:12.708 --> 00:13:18.278
of 217 he crushed another at Lake Trasimene
in Etruria.

00:13:18.278 --> 00:13:23.687
Hearing of these massive Roman defeats, Philip
V now began to consider expansion in the west

00:13:23.687 --> 00:13:27.838
at the expense of an apparently dying Roman
Republic.

00:13:27.839 --> 00:13:33.308
This new direction was encouraged by Demetrius
of Pharos who, after being expelled from his

00:13:33.307 --> 00:13:39.528
Adriatic dominion by Rome, now argued that
Philip should end the Social War, gain control

00:13:39.528 --> 00:13:45.889
of the Illyrian coast and attack Italy himself.

00:13:45.889 --> 00:13:51.028
Accepting the military status quo and ending
the war in Greece at Naupactus, Philip then

00:13:51.028 --> 00:13:57.487
drove the Illyrians from Macedon once again
and in the winter of 217 had a fleet of 100

00:13:57.488 --> 00:13:59.779
light warships constructed.

00:13:59.778 --> 00:14:06.139
In summer of 216 the king made his first attempt
at secured Illyria’s coastal region, but

00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:12.408
fled home upon hearing news of an approaching
Roman fleet.

00:14:12.408 --> 00:14:17.857
The decisive Roman defeat at Cannae was another
crucial moment, as it prompted Philip to send

00:14:17.857 --> 00:14:23.798
envoys to Hannibal asking for a formal alliance
- he no doubt wanted to join the ‘winning’

00:14:23.798 --> 00:14:27.248
side and make gains at Roman expense.

00:14:27.248 --> 00:14:32.089
The story goes that the envoy - Xenophanes,
was captured by a Roman praetor on his way

00:14:32.089 --> 00:14:36.998
to speak with Hannibal, but managed to talk
his way to freedom by stating that he was

00:14:36.998 --> 00:14:39.307
instead there to make peace with Rome.

00:14:39.307 --> 00:14:44.649
However, the unfortunate Xenophanes was captured
again on his way back to Macedon with the

00:14:44.649 --> 00:14:47.318
formal treaty with Hannibal in his possession.

00:14:47.318 --> 00:14:55.418
It was in this manner that the Romans learned
of that new threat that faced them.

00:14:55.418 --> 00:15:00.158
Following the conclusion of the Punic-Macedonian
treaty, Philip aggressed further with new

00:15:00.158 --> 00:15:05.427
attacks against coastal Illyria, attacking
Corcyra in 215.

00:15:05.427 --> 00:15:11.798
This intensified in 214 when a major offensive
began - Philip’s land army marched north

00:15:11.798 --> 00:15:19.248
into Illyria through Epirus while 120 Macedonian
galleys sailed up the Straits of Otranto.

00:15:19.248 --> 00:15:24.820
In this campaign Philip swiftly seized Oricum
and besieged Apollonia, who called to Rome

00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:28.479
for help.

00:15:28.479 --> 00:15:33.238
With a strengthened Adriatic fleet, the Roman
commander Laevinus now crossed the sea with

00:15:33.238 --> 00:15:39.069
55 heavy Roman warships, lifted the siege
of Apollonia and drove the Macedonians away

00:15:39.068 --> 00:15:44.477
from Oricum - two crucial ports which could
have been used as a staging point for an attack

00:15:44.477 --> 00:15:46.328
on Italy.

00:15:46.328 --> 00:15:50.798
After these victorious, Laevinus wintered
his fleet in Oricum, while Philip burned his

00:15:50.798 --> 00:15:56.869
ships and retreated overland to Macedon.

00:15:56.869 --> 00:16:02.798
Having been blocked at sea, the Macedonian
king attacked instead over the Pindus mountains,

00:16:02.798 --> 00:16:06.858
making significant gains in 213 and 212.

00:16:06.859 --> 00:16:12.099
The inland Dassaretis, Parthini and Atintani
tribal settlements fell to him, without a

00:16:12.099 --> 00:16:14.749
significant Roman response.

00:16:14.749 --> 00:16:19.129
The Republic did not have the land troops
to spare for a side-venture into the eastern

00:16:19.129 --> 00:16:22.408
Adriatic, as they were still fighting against
Hannibal.

00:16:22.408 --> 00:16:28.698
This situation changed during the later part
of 212 when Philip was once again able to

00:16:28.698 --> 00:16:30.858
reach the Adriatic.

00:16:30.859 --> 00:16:35.519
Having battered his way through land to the
coast, he managed to seize the coastal fortress

00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:38.989
of Lissus, another possible staging point.

00:16:38.989 --> 00:16:47.158
It became clear to the Romans that this eastern
threat could no longer be ignored.

00:16:47.158 --> 00:16:52.028
Neutralising Philip at this point was beyond
Roman military power alone due to the Carthaginian

00:16:52.028 --> 00:16:57.688
War, so the senate began to use diplomacy
as a weapon and started enticing other Greek

00:16:57.688 --> 00:17:00.769
states to do the neutralising for them.

00:17:00.769 --> 00:17:06.669
A treaty was made between the traditionally
anti-Macedon Aetolian League and Rome, the

00:17:06.669 --> 00:17:10.869
former being convinced of the alliance because
of Roman victories in the Punic War during

00:17:10.868 --> 00:17:14.858
the summer of 211 at Capua and Tarentum.

00:17:14.858 --> 00:17:19.749
Terms were generous for the Aetolians - they
would get any captured town or city, but the

00:17:19.749 --> 00:17:24.538
booty would go to the Romans unless the town
was jointly taken.

00:17:24.538 --> 00:17:29.719
Another term allowed for the inclusion of
other Aetolian allies, such as Sparta, Elis,

00:17:29.719 --> 00:17:35.068
Messenia, the Illyrians and even Pergamum.

00:17:35.068 --> 00:17:40.298
The war itself was a disruptive, indecisive
slogging match, with the Romans taking several

00:17:40.298 --> 00:17:47.538
important centres such as Anticyra, but Philip
V making gains against the rest of the coalition.

00:17:47.538 --> 00:17:54.038
Attempts at peace talks by non-combatant states
failed in 207 due to Rome’s deliberate derailing

00:17:54.038 --> 00:17:59.759
actions, but during 206 and 205 they were
gradually forced into peace.

00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:05.239
Though the final treaty ending the war at
Phoenice concluded hostilities for now, it

00:18:05.239 --> 00:18:10.078
was clear that Rome’s desire to punish Philip
for his attempt at kicking them while they

00:18:10.078 --> 00:18:12.858
were down was not yet sated.

00:18:12.858 --> 00:18:18.788
One thing was certain, however, Rome was ever
so slowly winning the Second Punic War and

00:18:18.788 --> 00:18:23.519
would soon be able to harness all of its might
against Macedon.

00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:32.439
When Philip V received reports of the final
Roman victory at Zama in 202BC, he did not

00:18:32.439 --> 00:18:34.829
stop his belligerent behavior.

00:18:34.828 --> 00:18:41.499
Instead, he began to take advantage of a weakening
Egypt, alarming many of his smaller neighbors.

00:18:41.499 --> 00:18:46.608
Since 207, Egypt had been caught in a downward
spiral.

00:18:46.608 --> 00:18:49.318
Since the the final division of the Successor
Kingdoms at Ipsus, the eastern Mediterranean

00:18:49.318 --> 00:18:54.818
had been kept stable by a balance of power
between the three major Hellenistic monarchies

00:18:54.818 --> 00:19:00.288
- Antigonid Macedon, Ptolemaic Egypt and the
Seleucid Empire.

00:19:00.288 --> 00:19:03.568
If one of the three was becoming too powerful,
the other two functioned as a counter, preventing

00:19:03.568 --> 00:19:06.449
any one power from becoming hegemon and therefore
protecting the smaller states of the Hellenistic

00:19:06.449 --> 00:19:08.379
world.

00:19:08.378 --> 00:19:14.928
This system began to break down in 205, when
priests of the Egyptian god Amon took advantage

00:19:14.929 --> 00:19:20.679
of native discontent with Ptolemaic rule and
proclaimed a new pharaoh.

00:19:20.679 --> 00:19:26.548
This ignited a devastating revolt which detached
all of upper Egypt from the regime in Alexandria,

00:19:26.548 --> 00:19:27.548
and the increasing ineffectual government
allowed lawlessness to increase unchecked.

00:19:27.548 --> 00:19:28.548
This was not the end of it.

00:19:28.548 --> 00:19:35.368
Matters deteriorated even further in 204 when
king Ptolemy IV died prematurely and was succeeded

00:19:35.368 --> 00:19:41.038
by his six year old son - Ptolemy V. Conflicts
over the regency of this child king paralysed

00:19:41.038 --> 00:19:43.699
the Alexandrian regime even further and rendered
it vulnerable.

00:19:43.699 --> 00:19:47.089
Unfortunately for them, this was the worst
time to be weak in such a dog-eat-dog political

00:19:47.088 --> 00:19:48.088
world.

00:19:48.088 --> 00:19:51.489
The First Macedonian War between the Romans
and Philip had just ended in the last years

00:19:51.489 --> 00:19:56.629
of the third century, and Seleucid king Antiochus
III had returned from his great eastern campaigns.

00:19:56.628 --> 00:20:02.388
Both of these great kings now hungrily eyed
the almost defenceless overseas Ptolemaic

00:20:02.388 --> 00:20:09.478
possessions, and Antiochus launched the Fifth
Syrian War in 202 in order to seize traditionally

00:20:09.479 --> 00:20:16.298
disputed territories in Cyprus and Coele-Syria.

00:20:16.298 --> 00:20:21.269
The predatory Philip V of Macedon swiftly
gained several of the Cyclades Islands and

00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:25.618
established good relations with the many Greek
cities on the western coast of Asia Minor.

00:20:25.618 --> 00:20:28.138
Bulldozing his way through the Aegean would
not go without consequence, as he quickly

00:20:28.138 --> 00:20:31.988
earned the ire of both Rhodes and Pergamon,
smaller states who wished to curb Macedonian

00:20:31.989 --> 00:20:34.769
expansion and declared war in 201.

00:20:34.769 --> 00:20:40.558
Soon after, Philip defeated a joint Rhodian-Pergamene
relief attempt at the Siege of Chios with

00:20:40.558 --> 00:20:43.888
heavy losses, and then attacked Pergamon itself.

00:20:43.888 --> 00:20:49.398
Though Philip decisively defeated the land
army of his enemy outside the walls, he nevertheless

00:20:49.398 --> 00:20:52.138
failed to take the city.

00:20:52.138 --> 00:20:56.858
Realising that attempts to do so would only
drain his forces, Philip instead annexed most

00:20:56.858 --> 00:21:05.888
of Caria and the Rhodian Peraia directly into
what was becoming a New Macedonian Empire.

00:21:05.888 --> 00:21:10.898
In the Autumn, Philip’s fleet was attacked
at Lade by the Rhodian navy, but managed to

00:21:10.898 --> 00:21:12.688
win anyway.

00:21:12.689 --> 00:21:18.819
During winter of 201, a Rhodian fleet blockaded
Philip in the Gulf of Bargylia on Carian coast,

00:21:18.818 --> 00:21:23.288
where the king apparently struggled to feed
himself and his army.

00:21:23.288 --> 00:21:27.578
They knew that the king would break out at
some point, and also knew they were losing

00:21:27.578 --> 00:21:31.408
the war against Macedon, so the went west
for help.

00:21:31.409 --> 00:21:33.999
Ambassadors from the various anti-Macedon
states such as Pergamon, Rhodes and Egypt

00:21:33.999 --> 00:21:38.929
travelled to Rome, informing the senate of
a secret pact that Philip had signed with

00:21:38.929 --> 00:21:44.189
Antiochus III which would divide Ptolemaic
possessions between them.

00:21:44.189 --> 00:21:49.229
It was these smaller, weaker Hellenistic polities
which opened the gates for Roman intervention

00:21:49.229 --> 00:21:53.749
into the Greek world, as they saw the main
threat to their independence as coming from

00:21:53.749 --> 00:21:59.818
Antiochus and Philip, and not from Rome as
is commonly believed.

00:21:59.818 --> 00:22:04.678
As predicted, Philip managed to trick his
enemies into letting him escape during spring

00:22:04.679 --> 00:22:09.489
of 200BC, eventually returning to Macedon.

00:22:09.489 --> 00:22:14.519
The northern Aegean campaign continued on
land upon his return and the king swept through

00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:19.759
the region until he reached Abydos, which
he put under siege.

00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:24.699
Observing this blatant Macedonian aggression,
dangerous cooperation between the two Hellenistic

00:22:24.699 --> 00:22:28.089
monarchies and a seemingly resurgent Macedon,
the Roman senate asked the people to vote

00:22:28.088 --> 00:22:29.678
them a mandate for war.

00:22:29.679 --> 00:22:34.319
However, the people’s assembly rejected
this demand for yet another war due to war

00:22:34.318 --> 00:22:39.648
weariness and the fact that Southern Italy
had been devastated in the Second Punic War.

00:22:39.648 --> 00:22:41.818
Not at all demoralised by their initial failure,
the senate granted Consul Publius Sulpicius

00:22:41.818 --> 00:22:44.219
Galba the job of winning over the public assembly.

00:22:44.219 --> 00:22:50.399
By comparing the emerging Macedonian threat
to the great invaders of Italy - Pyrrhus and

00:22:50.398 --> 00:22:56.248
Hannibal, Galba was successful in persuading
the assembly to declare war on Philip V.

00:22:56.249 --> 00:23:01.439
While the Roman military prepared its lines
of supply across the Adriatic and Philip continued

00:23:01.439 --> 00:23:07.489
his siege at Abydos, three prominent senatorial
emissaries went on a great diplomatic mission

00:23:07.489 --> 00:23:08.919
in the east.

00:23:08.919 --> 00:23:14.619
Their message was clear to all: If Philip
refrained from making war on Greeks and compensated

00:23:14.618 --> 00:23:19.497
Pergamon for their losses, there would be
peace.

00:23:19.498 --> 00:23:27.189
The Macedonian king brashly rebuffed the Roman
envoys and committed to war.

00:23:27.189 --> 00:23:33.359
The Second Macedonian War had begun, and it
started with the fall of Abydos, whose citizens

00:23:33.358 --> 00:23:38.259
committed mass suicide due to their reluctance
to live under Philip’s rule.

00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:45.269
In late November of 200BC the king returned
to Macedonia and learned that 20,000 Romans

00:23:45.269 --> 00:23:50.548
had already landed in Apollonia under Galba,
while 50 warships were docked on the island

00:23:50.548 --> 00:23:54.679
of Corcyra.

00:23:54.679 --> 00:24:00.259
Deciding to focus initially on the peripheral
threats, Philip campaigned in the Peloponnese.

00:24:00.259 --> 00:24:05.618
At the same time, Consul Galba conducted raids
into the Illyrian countryside to prepare for

00:24:05.618 --> 00:24:12.028
the campaign - notoriously sacking Antipatrea
so thoroughly that it only recovered in the

00:24:12.028 --> 00:24:13.778
fifth century CE.

00:24:13.778 --> 00:24:19.189
After subsequently failing to invade Macedon
through the mountains, a weak and sickly Galba

00:24:19.189 --> 00:24:25.209
was replaced by Publius Villius Tappalus.

00:24:25.209 --> 00:24:29.808
Things went even worse for Villius, as he
was immediately faced with a mutiny among

00:24:29.808 --> 00:24:32.148
the legions upon taking command.

00:24:32.148 --> 00:24:37.698
2,000 veterans of the Second Punic War felt
they had been away from their farms and families

00:24:37.699 --> 00:24:41.209
for too long, and refused to obey orders.

00:24:41.209 --> 00:24:46.439
The Roman forces were paralysed for a while,
but to his credit, Villius listened to their

00:24:46.439 --> 00:24:49.048
complaints and promised to raise them with
the senate.

00:24:49.048 --> 00:24:51.249
As the situation cooled somewhat due to his
mitigation attempts, Villius marched and encamped

00:24:51.249 --> 00:24:54.058
near a gorge on the Aous river.

00:24:54.058 --> 00:24:59.428
Philip V had also arrived here not long before,
setting up on own army in a strong defensive

00:24:59.429 --> 00:25:05.079
position on the main route from Apollonia
to Macedon.

00:25:05.078 --> 00:25:10.438
Villius’ command had run its course and
immediately after establishing his camp at

00:25:10.439 --> 00:25:17.069
the Aous he was replaced by a vibrant member
of the patrician Quinctia family - Titus Quinctius

00:25:17.068 --> 00:25:18.848
Flamininus.

00:25:18.848 --> 00:25:24.259
This passionate, hot tempered and generous
philhellene had previously served with success

00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:30.169
as the governor of Tarentum, and in 198 was
elected to the consulship despite being too

00:25:30.169 --> 00:25:31.899
young to legally to do so.

00:25:31.898 --> 00:25:33.078
Nevertheless, Flamininus almost immediately
set out for the Greek east with 3,000 veteran

00:25:33.078 --> 00:25:36.459
troops accompanying him, ignoring the standard
period of honours and administrative duties

00:25:36.459 --> 00:25:45.209
a new Consul would undertake in Rome.

00:25:45.209 --> 00:25:50.048
After reaching the Roman camp at the Aous,
Flamininus relieved Villius of command and

00:25:50.048 --> 00:25:55.918
sent an envoy to demand negotiations with
Philip, negotiations which would be traditionally

00:25:55.919 --> 00:25:56.919
Roman.

00:25:56.919 --> 00:26:01.439
King and Consul faced off on opposite sides
of the swift-flowing Aous, each with their

00:26:01.439 --> 00:26:05.979
respective entourages of advisors and generals
behind them.

00:26:05.979 --> 00:26:10.679
Philip attempted to bring Flamininus to a
compromise, arguing that the treatment of

00:26:10.679 --> 00:26:16.209
each annexed city would need to be different,
proposing a decision by independent tribunal.

00:26:16.209 --> 00:26:22.339
However, Flamininus was not going to accept
any compromise, and instead proclaimed that

00:26:22.338 --> 00:26:26.009
his mission was to liberate all Greeks from
Macedonian domination.

00:26:26.009 --> 00:26:31.028
To this end, he demanded that Philip first
relinquish Thessaly - a possession which had

00:26:31.028 --> 00:26:35.009
been part of Macedon for 120 years.

00:26:35.009 --> 00:26:40.749
This intentionally irrational demand worked,
provoking Philip into breaking off negotiations

00:26:40.749 --> 00:26:46.598
and returning to his excellent defensive position.

00:26:46.598 --> 00:26:51.858
The Roman general wasted no time, and ordered
his missile troops and light infantry to skirmish

00:26:51.858 --> 00:26:55.858
with Philip’s forces, engaging in projectile
duels.

00:26:55.858 --> 00:27:01.808
This distracted the Macedonians and their
commander while 4,300 handpicked legionaries,

00:27:01.808 --> 00:27:07.709
guided by an Epirote noble named Charops,
moved around a back route up and over the

00:27:07.709 --> 00:27:08.929
mountains.

00:27:08.929 --> 00:27:14.729
Once this flanking force was in place, Flamininus
advanced, and the Macedonians fled to avoid

00:27:14.729 --> 00:27:17.949
being trapped in the Roman pincer.

00:27:17.949 --> 00:27:22.979
The loss of Philip’s crucial baggage train
was a massive blow, but even worse was the

00:27:22.979 --> 00:27:27.959
loss of confidence that this defeat brought
to the Greek allies of Macedon.

00:27:27.959 --> 00:27:32.929
As the king returned with his bloodied army
to Macedon, many wavering powers now either

00:27:32.929 --> 00:27:38.259
declared for the Romans or remained neutral,
including the Achaean League - Macedon’s

00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:42.588
most powerful Greek ally.

00:27:42.588 --> 00:27:48.239
The subsequent campaign was indecisive for
Flamininus, who became bogged down in a siege

00:27:48.239 --> 00:27:51.729
at Atrax and then retired for the winter.

00:27:51.729 --> 00:27:57.119
At the same time, Philip began preparing for
a decisive clash in the following year, recruiting

00:27:57.118 --> 00:28:00.528
even youths and old men for war.

00:28:00.528 --> 00:28:05.469
Peace talks failed when the glory-hunting
Flamininus’ command was extended, leading

00:28:05.469 --> 00:28:10.479
him to break off negotiations.

00:28:10.479 --> 00:28:16.389
When spring came in 197 Philip marched south
and stopped at a town called Pharae, where

00:28:16.388 --> 00:28:21.168
his army began to forage for supplies and
even spotted some Roman scouts.

00:28:21.169 --> 00:28:27.229
Learning of the Macedonian presence, Flamininus
and his army marched north from Boeotia, hoping

00:28:27.229 --> 00:28:30.519
to intercept Philip before he could withdraw.

00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:35.759
On a bleak, foggy morning, the two armies
finally came into proximity of one another

00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.528
near a sloping ridge called Cynoscephalae.

00:28:39.528 --> 00:28:45.578
Before the battle begins, let us take a moment
to examine the composition of the opposing

00:28:45.578 --> 00:28:49.298
armies which came into contact on the hills
of Thessaly…

00:28:49.298 --> 00:28:55.138
Flamininus’ field army consisted of two
Roman and two allied legions, totalling around

00:28:55.138 --> 00:29:01.608
20,000 lethal legionary infantry, with many
grizzled veterans of the Punic War among them.

00:29:01.608 --> 00:29:09.638
2,000 velites screened this core of the Roman
army while 2,500 equite cavalry and even 20

00:29:09.638 --> 00:29:14.458
war elephants protected its flanks.

00:29:14.459 --> 00:29:19.469
Along with these Italian forces, the Roman
army also included a substantial contingent

00:29:19.469 --> 00:29:21.328
of Greek allies.

00:29:21.328 --> 00:29:28.509
1,200 light infantry joined the army from
Epirus, 800 archers from Crete and 6,000 infantry

00:29:28.509 --> 00:29:32.249
as well as 400 cavalry from the Aetolian League.

00:29:32.249 --> 00:29:38.929
All in all, Flamininus had around 32,000 troops.

00:29:38.929 --> 00:29:44.559
On the other side of the ridge, Philip’s
core of 16,000 Sarissa wielding phalangists

00:29:44.558 --> 00:29:52.759
were accompanied by 2,000 elite agema peltasts,
4,000 Illyrian and Thracian mercenaries, 1,500

00:29:52.759 --> 00:30:00.778
Greek hoplite mercenaries and 2,000 Thessalian
and Macedonian cavalry.

00:30:00.778 --> 00:30:06.028
Each commander knew that their counterpart
was close, but the reduced vision of the fog

00:30:06.028 --> 00:30:09.259
caused disorientation in the two armies.

00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:13.740
Philip set off marching in the morning, sending
a group of fast-moving skirmishers to the

00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:16.979
ridge’s summit in order to get a better
view.

00:30:16.979 --> 00:30:22.588
As they reached the top, ten Roman cavalry
squadrons and 1,000 velites emerged from the

00:30:22.588 --> 00:30:24.098
murk and attacked.

00:30:24.098 --> 00:30:29.798
Both scouting contingents suffered some casualties,
but both also managed to get word to their

00:30:29.798 --> 00:30:34.408
commanders of what was happening on the Cynoscephalae
ridge.

00:30:34.409 --> 00:30:42.028
Flamininus reacted swiftly, sending 2,000
Aetolian infantry and 500 cavalry to the ridge

00:30:42.028 --> 00:30:44.078
as reinforcements.

00:30:44.078 --> 00:30:48.499
Their arrival swung the balance in favour
of the Romans and the Antigonid skirmishing

00:30:48.499 --> 00:30:54.798
force slowly withdrew to the top of the ridge,
sending frantic messengers to Philip for help.

00:30:54.798 --> 00:30:59.338
Even though the king did not wish to join
battle in such unfavourable terrain, he was

00:30:59.338 --> 00:31:05.358
not going to abandon his scouting party, and
sent 3,500 cavalry and mercenary infantry

00:31:05.358 --> 00:31:07.288
to reinforce it.

00:31:07.288 --> 00:31:12.818
This tipped the scales and the new reinforcements
now pushed the Romans back down the slope.

00:31:12.818 --> 00:31:18.078
Polybius tells us that they almost routed
completely, but this was prevented by skillful

00:31:18.078 --> 00:31:23.938
skirmishing and harassment by the Aetolian
allies.

00:31:23.939 --> 00:31:28.430
At this moment in the morning the sun began
to burn away the fog and, with the battle

00:31:28.430 --> 00:31:33.219
visible on the slope visible to the Romans,
Flamininus and his entire army could see their

00:31:33.219 --> 00:31:34.699
forces losing.

00:31:34.699 --> 00:31:40.089
Witnessing the apparent defeat of the Roman
skirmishing force demoralised the main Roman

00:31:40.088 --> 00:31:44.479
army, but their commander handled the situation
appropriately.

00:31:44.479 --> 00:31:49.298
After ordering his entire army to form up
in battle order, Flamininus addressed his

00:31:49.298 --> 00:31:51.158
troops at the base of the slope.

00:31:51.159 --> 00:31:56.299
He used all of the oratory skills that a prominent
politician would have, professing to them

00:31:56.298 --> 00:32:03.298
that “You’ve fought these men before,
and you’ve beaten them before!”.

00:32:03.298 --> 00:32:08.288
As this happened, the triumphant Antigonid
skirmishers sent jubilant messages back to

00:32:08.288 --> 00:32:12.429
Philip, urging the king to attack while momentum
was on their side.

00:32:12.429 --> 00:32:16.429
So, the order was given for the army to deploy
in battle order.

00:32:16.429 --> 00:32:22.009
Due to the unprepared nature of the encounter
battle, half of Philip’s troops were still

00:32:22.009 --> 00:32:27.068
foraging, and he could only form up half of
his forces, ordering his general Nicanor to

00:32:27.068 --> 00:32:30.348
follow up when the others had returned.

00:32:30.348 --> 00:32:34.739
Having formed the right side of his line,
the king marched at the head of his phalanx

00:32:34.739 --> 00:32:39.629
up the slope, hoping to rush and rout the
Romans with the weight of his phalanx, which

00:32:39.628 --> 00:32:45.558
was screened by the agema peltasts and flanked
on the right wing by cavalry.

00:32:45.558 --> 00:32:50.588
On the other side of the ridge, Flamininus
advanced only with the left side of his line

00:32:50.588 --> 00:32:56.028
to reinforce the battle which was still going
on between the two scouting parties.

00:32:56.028 --> 00:33:00.719
The heavy infantry’s presence in the fight
now caused the Macedonians to retreat back

00:33:00.719 --> 00:33:06.429
up the slope - many were killed while others
fled back towards their king.

00:33:06.429 --> 00:33:13.199
Two half-armies were now marching up each
side of the slope directly towards one another,

00:33:13.199 --> 00:33:17.969
but were still completely unaware that the
other was present, due to the fact that a

00:33:17.969 --> 00:33:21.798
slight fog still obscured sound and sight.

00:33:21.798 --> 00:33:26.429
It was because of this that the Roman left
may not have seen Philip’s 8,000 strong

00:33:26.429 --> 00:33:31.498
contingent cresting the hill in front of them
as they climbed, but now both armies now came

00:33:31.498 --> 00:33:33.649
into view of one another.

00:33:33.648 --> 00:33:39.548
The phalangists quickly organised into a double-depth
formation, lowered their sarissas and charged

00:33:39.548 --> 00:33:44.939
down the slope at the unprepared Romans.

00:33:44.939 --> 00:33:49.689
The remnants of Flamininus’ scouting force
barely managed to form up before the phalangists

00:33:49.689 --> 00:33:51.009
hit them.

00:33:51.009 --> 00:33:55.858
Metal pike heads clashed against the heavy
Roman shields, but the crushing momentum of

00:33:55.858 --> 00:34:01.648
the downhill charging and double-depth phalanx
quickly began to force the legionaries back.

00:34:01.648 --> 00:34:06.468
The Antigonid and Roman cavalry clashed on
the wing and the light infantry skirmished

00:34:06.469 --> 00:34:09.869
with one another, but the main clash was in
the centre.

00:34:09.869 --> 00:34:15.499
Though the Roman left fought bravely and stubbornly
did not rout under the pressure, it was slowly

00:34:15.498 --> 00:34:19.009
but surely being chewed up by the bristling
pike wall.

00:34:19.009 --> 00:34:24.009
The encounter battle had started well for
Philip, it seemed like it was only going to

00:34:24.009 --> 00:34:29.139
get better when Nicanor’s larger contingent
began to crest the ridge on the king’s left

00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:34.699
flank, in a rushed marching formation.

00:34:34.699 --> 00:34:38.528
Despite his best attempts at rallying the
beleaguered troops on his left from behind

00:34:38.528 --> 00:34:44.438
the line, Flamininus was being pushed back
ever closer to the Roman camp.

00:34:44.438 --> 00:34:48.219
Realising his left would soon collapse under
the weight of the phalanx, the philhellene

00:34:48.219 --> 00:34:53.579
commander wheeled his horse and galloped over
to the unengaged Roman right, which was now

00:34:53.579 --> 00:34:55.649
screened by the war elephants.

00:34:55.648 --> 00:35:01.528
Upon arriving, Flamininus ordered his forces
on this side of the battlefield to charge

00:35:01.528 --> 00:35:07.268
at the disorganised men under Nicanors command,
most of whom were either arriving or still

00:35:07.268 --> 00:35:09.368
had no formed up.

00:35:09.369 --> 00:35:14.479
phalangists - the core of Philip’s army,
were almost useless when not deployed rigidly,

00:35:14.478 --> 00:35:17.678
and the Romans now crushed them.

00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:23.239
Many Macedonian soldiers were killed outright,
but many more ran away and were chased by

00:35:23.239 --> 00:35:24.749
the legionaries.

00:35:24.748 --> 00:35:29.938
It appeared though the battle was in balance
- Philip had triumphed on the Roman left,

00:35:29.938 --> 00:35:33.688
but Flamininus had crushed Nicanor.

00:35:33.688 --> 00:35:40.768
However, an unnamed Roman tribune, who must
have possessed immense respect among the troops,

00:35:40.768 --> 00:35:47.588
now managed to halt 20 maniples, or around
2,500 of the troops on the right wing, probably

00:35:47.588 --> 00:35:50.578
mostly made up of veteran Triarii.

00:35:50.579 --> 00:35:54.869
Realising that things were not going well
on the Roman left wing, the unnamed military

00:35:54.869 --> 00:36:00.179
tribune marched his contingent of disciplined
troops across the ridge and then struck the

00:36:00.179 --> 00:36:03.568
victorious phalanx of Philip from the rear.

00:36:03.568 --> 00:36:09.288
At the same time, the inspired and angry legionaries
who had suffered for hours under the Macedonian

00:36:09.289 --> 00:36:13.839
attack renewed their assault.

00:36:13.838 --> 00:36:19.518
This intuitive maneuver caused the inflexible
phalanx to fragment and many of its phalangists

00:36:19.518 --> 00:36:20.988
were killed.

00:36:20.989 --> 00:36:25.489
Philip rode up and down the line in a vain
attempt to rally his soldiers, but quickly

00:36:25.489 --> 00:36:29.829
realised it was hopeless and galloped off
the battlefield.

00:36:29.829 --> 00:36:35.209
As the Romans were busy butchering the remaining
enemy troops, a particularly terrible slaughter

00:36:35.208 --> 00:36:36.469
occurred.

00:36:36.469 --> 00:36:41.479
A group of Macedonian phalangists performed
the traditional gesture of surrender - raising

00:36:41.478 --> 00:36:44.068
their pikes directly to the sky.

00:36:44.068 --> 00:36:49.148
However, the furious legionaries charged in
and killed them all anyway.

00:36:49.148 --> 00:36:54.328
The battle was over and the legion had triumphed
over Alexander’s phalanx.

00:36:54.329 --> 00:36:59.669
The Romans only lost around 700 dead, mostly
on their left which had bravely stood their

00:36:59.668 --> 00:37:02.219
ground under the attack.

00:37:02.219 --> 00:37:10.239
Antigonid casualties were catastrophic, with
8,000 dead and another 5,000 captured.

00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:16.809
Humiliating peace terms were imposed on Philip
at the subsequent Conference at Tempe - he

00:37:16.809 --> 00:37:22.649
had to evacuate all of Greece including Thessaly,
and give up conquests he had gained in Asia

00:37:22.648 --> 00:37:24.239
Minor and Thrace.

00:37:24.239 --> 00:37:30.329
A large war indemnity was demanded, his navy
was destroyed and his son Demetrius was sent

00:37:30.329 --> 00:37:32.809
to Rome as a hostage.

00:37:32.809 --> 00:37:38.079
Finally and most chafing, proud Philip would
become a client king of Rome, essentially

00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:39.548
a puppet.

00:37:39.548 --> 00:37:48.119
This war broke any viable attempts at Macedonian
revival, but it would not stop them trying.

00:37:48.119 --> 00:37:53.548
After the peace conference at Tempe had been
finalised, Titus Quinctius Flamininus decided

00:37:53.548 --> 00:37:58.809
to prove definitively that it was Rome who
would be the true savior of Greece.

00:37:58.809 --> 00:38:04.239
During the Isthmian games of spring 196, Flamininus
took to the speaker’s platform, declaring

00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.068
that senate, general and consul would leave
the Greeks free, ungarrisoned, untaxed and

00:38:07.068 --> 00:38:10.278
autonomous after over a century of Macedonian
rule.

00:38:10.278 --> 00:38:12.378
Erupting with jubilation at their apparent
‘liberation’, Flamininus was mobbed at

00:38:12.378 --> 00:38:16.409
the festivities and was showered with honours
from the grateful city-states.

00:38:16.409 --> 00:38:23.159
In Rome, the senate decreed five days of thanksgiving
for the Cynoscephalae victory, his dignitas

00:38:23.159 --> 00:38:24.939
had never been higher.

00:38:24.938 --> 00:38:30.338
Also, at the games, Flamininus was met by
a party of envoys who had come at the behest

00:38:30.338 --> 00:38:37.808
of king Antiochus III, in order to congratulate
the consul on his victory and to assure the

00:38:37.809 --> 00:38:40.319
Romans of their liege’s peaceful intentions.

00:38:40.318 --> 00:38:43.278
Whatever reply they were hoping to receive,
they instead were met with cold sternness

00:38:43.278 --> 00:38:49.498
and demands . Antiochus was to keep away from
the Greek cities, withdrew his garrisons from

00:38:49.498 --> 00:38:55.408
those he had already seized and was ordered
not to attempt a crossing into Greece.

00:38:55.409 --> 00:39:01.679
Now, we need to follow the admonished envoys
back east, where they informed their sovereign,

00:39:01.679 --> 00:39:04.718
Antiochus III, of the Roman demands.

00:39:04.717 --> 00:39:10.888
While Rome and Macedon were fighting at Cynoscephalae,
Antiochus, who was also known as ‘the Great’

00:39:10.889 --> 00:39:15.778
was concluding the Fifth Syrian War against
his traditional rival – the Ptolemies of

00:39:15.778 --> 00:39:16.978
Egypt.

00:39:16.978 --> 00:39:22.218
By the last year of the conflict the realm
that was created by the Diadochi of Alexander,

00:39:22.219 --> 00:39:29.217
Seleucus, became the biggest empire of its
time, taking over Caria, Lycia, Cilicia, Coele-Syria,

00:39:29.217 --> 00:39:31.868
and other Asiatic holdings of the Ptolemies.

00:39:31.869 --> 00:39:36.879
So, it is not a surprise that Antiochus, who
was considered one of the best commanders

00:39:36.878 --> 00:39:43.958
of the era, was angry at the Roman intrusion
into Greek affairs and the rebuke of his diplomats,

00:39:43.958 --> 00:39:48.348
and was confident in his strength.

00:39:48.349 --> 00:39:53.778
In this period, Antiochus started creating
a fleet off the coast of southern Asia Minor,

00:39:53.778 --> 00:39:56.898
probably planning to invade Ephesus Egypt.

00:39:56.898 --> 00:40:02.358
However, his fleet's movement to the west
prompted a reaction from Rhodes.

00:40:02.358 --> 00:40:06.818
The small island wasn’t strong enough to
compete with the Seleucids on the land but

00:40:06.818 --> 00:40:12.619
had a dominant navy, so Antiochus promised
to leave Halicarnassus to the Rhodians and

00:40:12.619 --> 00:40:21.789
not create a base on Samos in exchange for
free passage of his navy through Rhodian waters.

00:40:21.789 --> 00:40:28.689
With a war avoided, in 196 BC Antiochus took
over the remainder of the Ptolemaic holdings

00:40:28.688 --> 00:40:32.598
in Asia Minor, including the crucial Ephesus.

00:40:32.599 --> 00:40:38.269
He then decided to conquer the territory of
the weakened Macedon and took Abydos and Ilium,

00:40:38.268 --> 00:40:43.118
which meant that he now had a perfect location
to cross the Hellespont.

00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:48.199
The citizens of the nearby Lampsacus were
worried that they were the next and, in a

00:40:48.199 --> 00:40:53.838
sign of how things had changed in the last
decade, sent envoys to the Romans asking for

00:40:53.838 --> 00:40:57.619
protection.

00:40:57.619 --> 00:41:03.119
At that point in time the cities in the area
were under Thracian control, and Antiochus

00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:08.528
obviously knew that restoring Hellenic rule
would be seen favorably by the Greeks.

00:41:08.528 --> 00:41:15.188
So, he traversed the Hellespont, first taking
Chersonesos and then besieging Madytos.

00:41:15.188 --> 00:41:20.378
The fall of the latter forced other cities
to submit, and Antiochus increased his influence

00:41:20.378 --> 00:41:29.098
by rebuilding the city of Lysimacheia, which
effectively bottled up the Gallipoli Peninsula.

00:41:29.099 --> 00:41:34.080
This might have impressed some of the Greeks,
but the Romans weren’t amused, deciding

00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:39.778
that Antiochus’ takeover of Gallipoli was
a breach of the ultimatum.

00:41:39.778 --> 00:41:46.659
Roman politics was dominated by two men – the
victor of Cynoscephalae, Titus Quinctius Flamininus,

00:41:46.659 --> 00:41:52.039
and the hero of the war against Carthage,
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.

00:41:52.039 --> 00:41:57.919
The latter wanted to move troops into Greece
immediately, but the peace party led by Flamininus

00:41:57.918 --> 00:42:03.608
prevailed, so the Republic sent a diplomatic
mission to Lysimachia, demanding that Antiochus

00:42:03.608 --> 00:42:09.458
leave Europe and return the Ptolemies their
lost territories in Asia Minor.

00:42:09.458 --> 00:42:16.219
However, by the time it arrived, Antiochus
had already agreed on peace with Egypt by

00:42:16.219 --> 00:42:22.079
marrying his daughter and the 10-year-old
Ptolemy V. He claimed that as Ptolemy was

00:42:22.079 --> 00:42:26.109
his son-in-law, he was not going to fight
him anymore.

00:42:26.108 --> 00:42:32.048
As negotiations continued, news arrived that
the Ptolemaic king was dead.

00:42:32.048 --> 00:42:37.429
Antiochus immediately broke off talks and
rushed to Ephesus and from there to Antioch,

00:42:37.429 --> 00:42:42.168
confirming the Roman suspicions that the Seleucids
wanted even more territory.

00:42:42.168 --> 00:42:46.818
We don’t have all the details, but it is
known that the king attempted to launch an

00:42:46.818 --> 00:42:54.349
invasion of Cyprus, but the expedition ended
in failure, either due to a storm or a mutiny.

00:42:54.349 --> 00:42:59.588
Returning to the shore, Antiochus decided
to attack Egypt directly, but received news

00:42:59.588 --> 00:43:02.058
that Ptolemy wasn’t dead.

00:43:02.059 --> 00:43:07.769
The campaign was over before it began; Antiochus
signed a peace treaty with his son-in-law

00:43:07.768 --> 00:43:12.788
and then returned to Ephesus.

00:43:12.789 --> 00:43:18.459
During this period the Seleucid ruler continued
using diplomacy to improve his international

00:43:18.458 --> 00:43:19.748
situation.

00:43:19.748 --> 00:43:25.878
Pergamon, ruled by the Attalid dynasty, was
the traditional rival of the Seleucids, and

00:43:25.878 --> 00:43:31.358
eager to change that, he attempted to marry
his daughter Antiochis to its king Eumenes

00:43:31.358 --> 00:43:32.598
II.

00:43:32.599 --> 00:43:37.519
The latter came to the conclusion that an
alliance with the Romans was preferable and

00:43:37.518 --> 00:43:43.039
rejected the offer, but Antiochus was unfazed
and entered a marriage alliance with the king

00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:46.639
of Cappadocia Ariarathes instead.

00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:52.249
At the same time, his diplomats brought rich
gifts to the Galatians, as Antiochus wanted

00:43:52.248 --> 00:43:58.158
to have the backing of the famed Celtic warriors.

00:43:58.159 --> 00:44:04.349
An event that happened 194 BC proves to the
modern audience how interconnected the ancient

00:44:04.349 --> 00:44:10.249
world was, however for the ancients itself
it made the diplomatic situation even more

00:44:10.248 --> 00:44:12.108
complicated.

00:44:12.108 --> 00:44:17.558
Famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca
was exiled from his homeland and arrived at

00:44:17.559 --> 00:44:23.778
the Seleucid court at Ephesus in the hopes
that he could become a mercenary commander.

00:44:23.778 --> 00:44:28.789
Antiochus received him politely but, probably
worried that Hannibal might outshine him,

00:44:28.789 --> 00:44:31.028
kept him at arm’s length.

00:44:31.028 --> 00:44:35.989
The Romans, worried about Hannibal’s arrival,
sent their own envoys.

00:44:35.989 --> 00:44:41.028
Trying to sow discord between the king and
the exile, the diplomats deliberately paid

00:44:41.028 --> 00:44:44.139
more attention to the latter.

00:44:44.139 --> 00:44:48.588
Understanding that this put him in danger
Hannibal told Antiochus the story of how his

00:44:48.588 --> 00:44:54.619
father Hamilcar compelled him to swear an
oath of eternal enmity against the Romans.

00:44:54.619 --> 00:45:01.088
This immediately improved the Carthaginian’s
standing in the court.

00:45:01.088 --> 00:45:08.608
Between 193 and 192 BC the Romans and Seleucids
continued engaging in diplomacy, mostly discussing

00:45:08.608 --> 00:45:13.639
the Seleucid presence in Europe, but the talks
were going nowhere.

00:45:13.639 --> 00:45:17.878
Another regional power looking for allies
was the Aetolian League.

00:45:17.878 --> 00:45:22.759
Fearing that the Roman alliance with their
rival Achaean League was a danger, they sent

00:45:22.759 --> 00:45:24.949
envoys to Antiochus.

00:45:24.949 --> 00:45:31.608
In 192 BC, the Seleucid ruler agreed to enter
an alliance and sent his representative to

00:45:31.608 --> 00:45:33.418
the Aetolian assembly.

00:45:33.418 --> 00:45:39.199
Unexpectedly, the latter passed a resolution
inviting Antiochus to liberate Greece and

00:45:39.199 --> 00:45:42.989
settle affairs between the Aetolians and Romans.

00:45:42.989 --> 00:45:47.599
Although Antiochus knew that it was a move
that might ignite the war with the Romans,

00:45:47.599 --> 00:45:52.949
this was an offer the king couldn’t refuse
without losing prestige, so when the Aetolians

00:45:52.949 --> 00:45:58.858
promised that they would support him with
their troops, he agreed to cross into Greece.

00:45:58.858 --> 00:46:04.498
The Roman historians claim that it was Hannibal
who talked Antiochus into going to war, but

00:46:04.498 --> 00:46:09.978
the former was at that point in Syria.

00:46:09.978 --> 00:46:15.198
The first move of the war was made by the
Aetolians: Their troops killed the unpopular

00:46:15.199 --> 00:46:21.528
Spartan king Nabis, hoping to take over the
city and put pressure on the Achaean league,

00:46:21.528 --> 00:46:26.239
but the locals rebelled and the invaders had
to retreat.

00:46:26.239 --> 00:46:30.909
Unfortunately for the Spartans they were left
defenseless, and soon soldiers of the Achaean

00:46:30.909 --> 00:46:36.229
League entered the city and forced it to become
a member of the League, ending Spartan independence

00:46:36.228 --> 00:46:38.489
forever in the process.

00:46:38.489 --> 00:46:42.978
The Aetolians weren’t discouraged though,
and in order to give Antiochus a good place

00:46:42.978 --> 00:46:48.568
to land his army, they took control of the
city called Demetrias, which had an excellent

00:46:48.568 --> 00:46:49.568
harbour.

00:46:49.568 --> 00:46:54.967
The king had a small navy that wasn’t able
to transport all of his troops, so after offering

00:46:54.967 --> 00:47:00.428
a sacrifice to the goddess Athena at Ilium,
he started crossing the Aegean Sea in the

00:47:00.429 --> 00:47:03.719
autumn of 192 BC.

00:47:03.719 --> 00:47:09.628
It seems that the land route from Thrace through
Macedon was rejected, to not push Philip V

00:47:09.628 --> 00:47:12.608
into the anti-Seleucid camp.

00:47:12.608 --> 00:47:17.998
Antiochus disembarked at Demetrias and moved
south to Lamia, where the Aetolians held their

00:47:17.998 --> 00:47:18.998
assembly.

00:47:18.998 --> 00:47:25.528
Here he was received as a liberating hero
and elected the leader of the league.

00:47:25.528 --> 00:47:32.409
Still, the king found himself in an awkward
position: The Romans had no troops in the

00:47:32.409 --> 00:47:37.919
region and the liberator of Greece couldn’t
attack the Greeks, and thus the Seleucids

00:47:37.918 --> 00:47:40.808
lacked a clear military target.

00:47:40.809 --> 00:47:45.159
In an absence of one, Antiochus once again
was looking for allies.

00:47:45.159 --> 00:47:51.208
First, he approached the crucial city of Chalcis,
which had been garrisoned by Attalid and Achaean

00:47:51.208 --> 00:47:55.298
troops ever since the end of the 2nd Macedonian
War.

00:47:55.298 --> 00:48:00.028
The King attempted to convince the city to
join him, but was rebuked, and although he

00:48:00.028 --> 00:48:05.708
had enough troops to take it by force, he
decided not to shed the blood of fellow Greeks

00:48:05.708 --> 00:48:10.259
and returned to Demetrias.

00:48:10.259 --> 00:48:15.409
Then he sent envoys to Athens, the Achaeans,
Macedon, and the Athamanians.

00:48:15.409 --> 00:48:20.548
The latter were either a Greek or Hellenized
tribe who rose to prominence in the turmoil

00:48:20.548 --> 00:48:26.809
of the Diadochi Wars and agreed to help, while
Philip V, still reeling from his defeat at

00:48:26.809 --> 00:48:32.379
Cynoscephalae, was biding his time, and the
Achaeans decided to retain their alliance

00:48:32.378 --> 00:48:33.458
with Rome.

00:48:33.458 --> 00:48:39.808
Things were much more dramatic on the Athenian
front: the oligarchic party wanted to support

00:48:39.809 --> 00:48:43.669
the Romans, the democratic party Antiochus.

00:48:43.668 --> 00:48:49.239
The former invited the forces of the Achaean
League, which led to violent street battles,

00:48:49.239 --> 00:48:54.739
during which the Seleucid supporters were
defeated.

00:48:54.739 --> 00:49:00.759
Rome knew of the Seleucid activity and the
praetor Marcus Baebius was sent to Apollonia

00:49:00.759 --> 00:49:04.668
with more than 20,000 Romans and Italics.

00:49:04.668 --> 00:49:10.098
Despite the fact that they outnumbered Antiochus,
the Romans had no intention to look like an

00:49:10.099 --> 00:49:16.318
aggressor, so they didn’t declare war, but
Baebius’ presence was enough to keep Macedon

00:49:16.318 --> 00:49:17.748
in check.

00:49:17.748 --> 00:49:21.858
Unfortunately for the Romans, they had to
support their allies, and when the garrison

00:49:21.858 --> 00:49:27.558
of Chalcis asked for reinforcements, Baebius
sent 500 legionaries their way.

00:49:27.559 --> 00:49:34.149
We can assume that this was the last straw
for Antiochus, as he ordered his admiral Polyxenidas

00:49:34.148 --> 00:49:40.159
to block the narrow Euripus strait between
Chalcis and mainland Greece, and marched south

00:49:40.159 --> 00:49:42.829
with the remainder of his army.

00:49:42.829 --> 00:49:48.259
By the time the Roman contingent reached the
crossing, it was blocked by the Seleucid navy,

00:49:48.259 --> 00:49:51.759
so it continued south to wait for transports
at Delium.

00:49:51.759 --> 00:49:57.418
Shortly after this unit was surrounded and
destroyed by the Seleucids, beginning the

00:49:57.418 --> 00:50:04.509
war that would be later called the Seleucid
War, the Syrian War, and the War of Antiochus.

00:50:04.509 --> 00:50:09.679
Some sources claim that the Romans had already
declared war at that point, but the message

00:50:09.679 --> 00:50:15.898
reached Antiochus after the skirmish at Delium.

00:50:15.898 --> 00:50:21.138
Still hopeful to get the Achaeans and the
Pergamene to enter into an alliance with him,

00:50:21.139 --> 00:50:25.479
Antiochus allowed the garrison of Chalcis
to leave under a truce.

00:50:25.478 --> 00:50:28.818
Soon the rest of Euboea capitulated to the
king.

00:50:28.818 --> 00:50:34.588
His next targets were the cities of the Boeotian
League, which surrendered quickly, and the

00:50:34.588 --> 00:50:39.648
Thessalian League, created by the Romans after
the 2nd Macedonian War.

00:50:39.648 --> 00:50:43.898
Antiochus still attempted to negotiate, however
he noticed that the members of the league

00:50:43.898 --> 00:50:51.159
started to mobilize under the cover of these
talks, so in early 191 BC, he moved swiftly

00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:56.128
and captured the league's main city, Pherai,
massacring its defenders.

00:50:56.128 --> 00:51:01.128
He then moved into the League’s territory,
and in a short and decisive campaign took

00:51:01.128 --> 00:51:06.958
over most of the cities in the region, save
for the stronghold of Larissa, which was besieged

00:51:06.958 --> 00:51:10.998
by the Seleucids.

00:51:10.998 --> 00:51:17.568
While the siege was ongoing, Antiochus sent
2000 men south to the field of Cynoscephalae.

00:51:17.568 --> 00:51:23.458
In a symbolic gesture, his soldiers buried
the Greek dead, whose bones remained on the

00:51:23.458 --> 00:51:24.489
battlefield.

00:51:24.489 --> 00:51:30.128
By doing that the Seleucid ruler was trying
to show how full of piety he was in comparison

00:51:30.128 --> 00:51:36.338
to the barbarous Romans, and how much more
he cared for the fellow Hellenes than Philip.

00:51:36.338 --> 00:51:42.699
The latter considered this gesture a direct
insult and declared his allegiance to Rome.

00:51:42.699 --> 00:51:47.849
Baebius immediately entered negotiations with
the Macedonian king, gaining the right of

00:51:47.849 --> 00:51:49.568
military access.

00:51:49.568 --> 00:51:56.458
A 2000-strong legionary detachment under Appius
Claudius was sent south, probably as a reconnaissance

00:51:56.458 --> 00:51:57.458
force.

00:51:57.458 --> 00:52:03.478
The details are unclear, but apparently the
Roman commander arrived at Tempe and built

00:52:03.478 --> 00:52:08.658
a larger camp full of extra campfires to exaggerate
his numbers.

00:52:08.659 --> 00:52:14.079
Although sources assume that Antiochus was
tricked into thinking that the Roman-Macedonian

00:52:14.079 --> 00:52:19.889
attack was imminent, and raised the siege,
it was probably due to the weather and supply

00:52:19.889 --> 00:52:20.889
situation.

00:52:20.889 --> 00:52:25.599
In any case, he soon started his retreat to
Chalcis.

00:52:25.599 --> 00:52:29.609
Both sides were now waiting for spring.

00:52:29.608 --> 00:52:36.759
In Chalcis, Antiochus decided that another
dynastic marriage was in order, but this time

00:52:36.759 --> 00:52:42.429
he tied a knot himself with a daughter of
a local noble, perhaps to prove to the minor

00:52:42.429 --> 00:52:48.709
Greek nobles, who ruled in the majority of
city-states, that he was on their side.

00:52:48.708 --> 00:52:54.478
Such royal marriages were common in the east
but backfired with the locals, who considered

00:52:54.478 --> 00:52:57.358
sexual activity detrimental to war-making.

00:52:57.358 --> 00:53:03.239
Additionally, during the celebrations, the
Greeks were once again shocked by the practice

00:53:03.239 --> 00:53:09.519
of their Macedonian brethren of drinking undiluted
wine, and the king’s participation in this

00:53:09.518 --> 00:53:13.208
activity further diminished his standing.

00:53:13.208 --> 00:53:18.648
During his stay on the island, Antiochus continued
to look for allies but gained none.

00:53:18.648 --> 00:53:25.518
He also sent messengers to Asia, ordering
reinforcements.

00:53:25.518 --> 00:53:27.108
The Romans were not idle.

00:53:27.108 --> 00:53:33.398
The alliance with the Achaean League, Pergamon,
and Rhodes was confirmed, and the consul of

00:53:33.398 --> 00:53:39.929
the year, a supporter of Scipio - Manius Acilius
Glabrio, was to lead a new 15 thousand man

00:53:39.929 --> 00:53:41.798
army to Greece.

00:53:41.798 --> 00:53:47.869
In a show of how crucial this war was for
the Romans, two ex-consuls – Marcus Porcius

00:53:47.869 --> 00:53:52.519
Cato and Valerius Flaccus - were chosen by
him as the legates.

00:53:52.518 --> 00:53:58.028
It is also remarkable that both legates belonged
to the Flamininus’ party, which meant that

00:53:58.028 --> 00:54:05.478
the rival parties put their differences aside
to defeat Antiochus.

00:54:05.478 --> 00:54:10.638
While the main army was crossing the Adriatic,
Cato landed in the Peloponnese and went on

00:54:10.639 --> 00:54:17.128
a diplomatic tour of Achaea and Athens, sarcastically
claiming that “Antiochus wages war through

00:54:17.128 --> 00:54:20.608
letters and fights with pen and ink”.

00:54:20.608 --> 00:54:26.128
Before Glabrio reached Illyria in March, Baebius
and Philip V started their campaign against

00:54:26.128 --> 00:54:28.898
the Seleucid garrisons in Thessaly.

00:54:28.898 --> 00:54:34.148
The only major anti-Roman force in the region
were the Athamanians and they were defeated

00:54:34.148 --> 00:54:39.798
quickly, followed by the Seleucid garrisons,
which negated all the gains Antiochus made

00:54:39.798 --> 00:54:43.498
in his campaign in Thessaly.

00:54:43.498 --> 00:54:50.348
Antiochus, meanwhile, consolidated his forces
in Boeotia and then moved west towards Acarnania

00:54:50.349 --> 00:54:55.548
to take control of it and put pressure on
the Epirotes, in order to add their troops

00:54:55.548 --> 00:54:57.059
to his.

00:54:57.059 --> 00:55:03.249
Acarnania was also important in terms of gaining
a port in the Ionian Sea and to cut the direct

00:55:03.248 --> 00:55:06.318
line between Italy and the Achaean League.

00:55:06.318 --> 00:55:12.139
The city of Medeon joined the Seleucid cause
via diplomatic pressure, however, the Romans

00:55:12.139 --> 00:55:18.079
now had more than 35 thousand troops in the
area and were supported by a 5 thousand strong

00:55:18.079 --> 00:55:25.109
army from Philip, so the Acarnanians and Epirotes
declared their support for them.

00:55:25.108 --> 00:55:31.998
Antiochus’ army, even with the additions
of the Aetolians, numbered less than 20 thousand.

00:55:31.998 --> 00:55:38.467
There were no allies to find in Greece and
no reinforcements from Asia were coming soon,

00:55:38.467 --> 00:55:43.438
possibly due to the allied Rhodian and Attalid
activity in the Aegean Sea.

00:55:43.438 --> 00:55:49.108
Outnumbered 2-to-1, he couldn’t stay in
Aetolia, as the Roman march south was now

00:55:49.108 --> 00:55:52.739
threatening his supply and retreat lines.

00:55:52.739 --> 00:55:56.628
At the same time, he didn’t want to abandon
the Aetolians.

00:55:56.628 --> 00:56:02.038
Initially, the allies decided to defend at
Lamia, but that would have given the Romans

00:56:02.039 --> 00:56:11.019
an opportunity to outflank them, so in a true
Hellenic fashion, Antiochus moved for Thermopylae.

00:56:11.018 --> 00:56:17.798
This famous location had seen numerous last
stands before and after April 191 BC, as it

00:56:17.798 --> 00:56:23.889
was a natural choke point, defended by Mount
Callidromus and Mount Tichius from the southwest

00:56:23.889 --> 00:56:27.559
and the waters of the Malian Gulf from the
northeast.

00:56:27.559 --> 00:56:34.389
Still, as Leonidas and Xerxes discovered 300
years before, this seemingly ideal defensive

00:56:34.389 --> 00:56:40.769
position had a fatal flaw: A small army could
have bottlenecked a much larger force in the

00:56:40.768 --> 00:56:47.238
passage, but the mountains had numerous paths
making it possible to outflank the defenders.

00:56:47.239 --> 00:56:52.579
Both armies were culturally steeped in Greek
history and mythos and so obviously knew of

00:56:52.579 --> 00:56:55.889
this.

00:56:55.889 --> 00:57:01.208
With a few thousand Aetolians left to guard
the crucial town of Heraclea, Antiochus had

00:57:01.208 --> 00:57:05.568
around 12 thousand footmen and only 500 horsemen.

00:57:05.568 --> 00:57:11.438
As the Roman cavalry outnumbered their counterparts
4-to-1, the Seleucids had to fight at the

00:57:11.438 --> 00:57:14.818
narrow passage to avoid being outflanked.

00:57:14.818 --> 00:57:21.038
The king sent 2 groups of Aetolians 1 thousand
hoplites apiece to block off the most prominent

00:57:21.039 --> 00:57:22.799
mountain paths.

00:57:22.798 --> 00:57:28.059
He then built a wall covering the gate, placing
a few catapults and ballistae on top.

00:57:28.059 --> 00:57:32.999
His skirmishers were positioned on the high
ground to the left of the passage in order

00:57:32.998 --> 00:57:37.988
to send their missiles against the advancing
Romans, while his phalangites formed up in

00:57:37.989 --> 00:57:42.188
front of the walls with the peltasts in ahead
of them.

00:57:42.188 --> 00:57:49.098
Similarly, the Romans had 2/3 of their troops
present, with the rest defending Thessaly

00:57:49.099 --> 00:57:51.479
and blockading Heraclea.

00:57:51.478 --> 00:57:56.518
Glabrio knew that he couldn't capture the
passage against a phalanx, but still had to

00:57:56.518 --> 00:58:00.768
attack at the narrow chokepoint and tie-up
the Seleucid forces.

00:58:00.768 --> 00:58:06.568
Two groups under Cato and Flaccus, each 2
thousand legionaries strong, were sent to

00:58:06.568 --> 00:58:09.329
take the mountain passes.

00:58:09.329 --> 00:58:14.119
According to some sources, the Roman camp
was raided by the nearby Aetolians before

00:58:14.119 --> 00:58:19.479
the battle, so Glabrio was forced to leave
his cavalry and a group of infantry to defend

00:58:19.478 --> 00:58:22.908
it.

00:58:22.909 --> 00:58:26.009
Sources depicting the battle are somewhat
conflicted.

00:58:26.009 --> 00:58:30.539
We know that Flaccus was ordered to take the
pass at Mount Tichius during the night.

00:58:30.539 --> 00:58:36.629
There are authors who suggest that this unit
lost its way during the march, while others

00:58:36.628 --> 00:58:41.989
claims that the Romans met Aetolians, but
the hoplites were steadfast and the legionaries

00:58:41.989 --> 00:58:46.528
weren’t able to break through, losing dozens
of troops and falling back.

00:58:46.528 --> 00:58:51.858
Cato’s onslaught against the Aetolians at
the Mount Callidromus was more successful.

00:58:51.858 --> 00:58:56.978
Apparently, the Romans caught some of the
Aetolians asleep and their first strike killed

00:58:56.978 --> 00:59:03.378
many, but soon the hoplites managed to form
a line across the pass and neither side had

00:59:03.378 --> 00:59:06.188
an advantage.

00:59:06.188 --> 00:59:10.368
Simultaneously, the main Roman force attacked
head-on.

00:59:10.369 --> 00:59:15.519
The volleys of the skirmishers and peltasts
did a certain amount of damage, but the disciplined

00:59:15.518 --> 00:59:21.148
Romans locked their shields and continued
moving forward, even despite the losses caused

00:59:21.148 --> 00:59:22.868
by the field artillery.

00:59:22.869 --> 00:59:28.789
Seeing that the Romans were getting close,
Antiochus ordered his peltasts to fall back,

00:59:28.789 --> 00:59:32.299
while his pikemen moved forward forming a
phalanx.

00:59:32.298 --> 00:59:36.697
That is where the Romans suffered most of
their casualties, as the legionaries weren’t

00:59:36.697 --> 00:59:41.848
able to reach the phalangites and it was impossible
for them to outflank the foe.

00:59:41.849 --> 00:59:46.769
Slowly, but surely the phalanx pushed the
legion back.

00:59:46.768 --> 00:59:54.188
However, by the early morning, the forces
of Cato started to gain upper hand near Calidromus,

00:59:54.188 --> 01:00:00.239
as he outnumbered the Aetolians 4-to-1 and
was able to rotate fresh troops into the fray.

01:00:00.239 --> 01:00:05.369
Eventually, the Romans broke the hoplite line
and sent it fleeing in terror.

01:00:05.369 --> 01:00:11.259
Shortly, both groups were on the plain, with
the legionaries killing their foes in pursuit.

01:00:11.259 --> 01:00:16.269
The phalanx learned that it’s rear was now
in danger and even though the king made brave

01:00:16.268 --> 01:00:20.798
attempts to stop them, fled to the camp in
order to form another formation.

01:00:20.798 --> 01:00:26.197
Still, Cato’s detachment entered the camp
before the Seleucids and the main body of

01:00:26.197 --> 01:00:31.348
the Romans shortly after, so the phalangites
failed to get into formation.

01:00:31.349 --> 01:00:34.379
It was now every man for himself.

01:00:34.378 --> 01:00:39.818
Antiochus abandoned his forces with his cavalry
and more than 10 thousand Seleucids and Aetolians

01:00:39.818 --> 01:00:42.489
were either killed or taken captive.

01:00:42.489 --> 01:00:51.798
Livy claims that the Romans lost 200 men,
but this number is probably understated.

01:00:51.798 --> 01:00:56.838
After finishing off the survivors, the Romans
took a day to rest and then turned their attention

01:00:56.838 --> 01:01:03.108
against Heraclea, a formidable fortress with
its south protected by the River Asopos, and

01:01:03.108 --> 01:01:07.378
its west by Mount Oeta, and a citadel on low
hills.

01:01:07.378 --> 01:01:13.139
The fortress was relatively modest in size,
so a small Aetolian garrison was able to man

01:01:13.139 --> 01:01:14.948
the whole wall.

01:01:14.947 --> 01:01:19.878
At the same time, the walls were short which
meant that the Romans weren’t able to use

01:01:19.878 --> 01:01:25.208
their decisive numerical superiority.

01:01:25.208 --> 01:01:30.878
Glabrio sent a message to the leader of the
garrison, Damocritus, demanding they surrender,

01:01:30.878 --> 01:01:36.389
but this was refused, so the Romans prepared
for a siege and started constructing battering

01:01:36.389 --> 01:01:37.389
rams.

01:01:37.389 --> 01:01:42.818
When the siege began, the legionaries assaulted
the walls with rams and ladders, but the narrowness

01:01:42.818 --> 01:01:47.829
of the front didn’t allow them to overwhelm
the Aetolians, and the latter sallied out,

01:01:47.829 --> 01:01:52.229
burning some of the rams, and shoving the
enemy back with their spears.

01:01:52.228 --> 01:01:54.918
The first assault failed.

01:01:54.918 --> 01:02:01.918
However, the Romans had more troops, so fresh
troops were sent forth and the walls were

01:02:01.918 --> 01:02:03.947
attacked on the next day.

01:02:03.947 --> 01:02:09.217
The garrison didn’t have this luxury, which
meant that each subsequent assault tired them

01:02:09.217 --> 01:02:10.217
even more.

01:02:10.217 --> 01:02:16.418
This continued for 23 days, but eventually,
Glabrio devised a plan.

01:02:16.418 --> 01:02:21.239
His soldiers were ordered to return to the
camp, making it look like there would be no

01:02:21.239 --> 01:02:22.239
attack.

01:02:22.239 --> 01:02:28.249
This made the exhausted Aetolians complacent
and they vacated the walls to sleep in the

01:02:28.248 --> 01:02:29.248
houses.

01:02:29.248 --> 01:02:33.528
Late at night, a group of legionaries was
ordered to attack a portion of the walls and

01:02:33.528 --> 01:02:35.978
make as much noise as possible.

01:02:35.978 --> 01:02:41.437
Glabrio also commanded his legate Tiberius
Sempronius to move his contingent to another

01:02:41.438 --> 01:02:42.438
sector of the fortifications.

01:02:42.438 --> 01:02:49.048
The noise woke up the Aetolians and they started
running, reaching the walls in time to rebuke

01:02:49.048 --> 01:02:54.099
the Romans, but the other group was already
scaling the ramparts using the ladders.

01:02:54.099 --> 01:03:02.059
Seeing that, the Aetolians vacated their positions
and retreated to the citadel.

01:03:02.059 --> 01:03:07.139
The Roman commander allowed his soldiers to
loot the city, but after it was done began

01:03:07.139 --> 01:03:10.239
devising plans to take the citadel.

01:03:10.239 --> 01:03:15.978
His engineers started building siege engines
on the nearby hill to bombard the defenders,

01:03:15.978 --> 01:03:18.989
while the rest of the troops formed up surrounding
them.

01:03:18.989 --> 01:03:25.358
The Aetolians had almost no food left, but,
most importantly, no way to counter the catapults,

01:03:25.358 --> 01:03:26.869
so Damocritus capitulated.

01:03:26.869 --> 01:03:33.179
We don’t have the numbers, but it is possible
that the Romans lost more troops taking Heraclea

01:03:33.179 --> 01:03:38.088
than during the battle of Thermopylae.

01:03:38.088 --> 01:03:42.009
After the defeat at Thermopylae the king retreated
to Chalcis.

01:03:42.009 --> 01:03:48.329
There was a possibility he could defend the
island of Euboea and keep it as a foothold,

01:03:48.329 --> 01:03:53.859
but it was scrapped when Glabrio moved south,
forcing the Boeotian league to submit, and

01:03:53.858 --> 01:03:59.369
the Roman navy commanded by Aulus Atilius
destroyed the Seleucid supply convoy around

01:03:59.369 --> 01:04:00.369
Andros.

01:04:00.369 --> 01:04:06.289
So, the king started his journey back to Asia
in May of 191 BC.

01:04:06.289 --> 01:04:11.849
There were many reasons Antiochus was defeated
in Greece, but it boils down to these key

01:04:11.849 --> 01:04:17.959
factors: Roman diplomacy and logistics were
superior, while the majority of Greeks didn’t

01:04:17.958 --> 01:04:23.338
buy into the notion that the Seleucid king
was liberating them from the Romans, and even

01:04:23.338 --> 01:04:29.438
his Aetolian allies didn’t commit all of
their forces.

01:04:29.438 --> 01:04:34.178
Glabrio did not have a force big enough to
follow the king across the sea and he had

01:04:34.179 --> 01:04:36.659
to concentrate against the Aetolians.

01:04:36.659 --> 01:04:42.039
He moved north again and took Lamia, putting
even more pressure on the League.

01:04:42.039 --> 01:04:48.059
The latter sent messengers to Antiochus in
June, asking for him to return or send money,

01:04:48.059 --> 01:04:50.559
so they could continue fighting.

01:04:50.559 --> 01:04:56.599
Money wasn’t a problem for the wealthy king,
and so the envoys returned to Greece with

01:04:56.599 --> 01:04:58.559
funds.

01:04:58.559 --> 01:05:03.229
Despite the fact that the money helped the
Aetolians regain their resolve, the Seleucid

01:05:03.228 --> 01:05:05.678
cause in Greece was getting weaker.

01:05:05.679 --> 01:05:11.369
The small garrisons of Demetrias and Elis
were forced to evacuate, with Elis and Messenia

01:05:11.369 --> 01:05:17.849
falling into Achaean control, while Glabrio
besieged Naupaktos, deep inside Aetolian territory

01:05:17.849 --> 01:05:19.298
in July.

01:05:19.298 --> 01:05:24.679
The siege continued for two months, but then
Flamininus arrived and yet again negotiated

01:05:24.679 --> 01:05:25.989
a ceasefire.

01:05:25.989 --> 01:05:31.878
Aetolian messengers and Flamininus then traveled
to Rome in the hopes of signing a peace treaty,

01:05:31.878 --> 01:05:36.188
while Glabrio’s army went to its winter
quarters.

01:05:36.188 --> 01:05:41.448
Meanwhile, events were transpiring on the
sea.

01:05:41.447 --> 01:05:47.197
Seleucid admiral Polyxenidas had around 40
warships and 60 smaller vessels, and he was

01:05:47.197 --> 01:05:53.118
ordered by Antiochus to watch out for a possible
naval invasion, while the king himself moved

01:05:53.119 --> 01:05:58.119
with 30 thousand troops to Lysimachia to defend
his gains in Thrace.

01:05:58.119 --> 01:06:05.818
The details are scarce, but by August, Polyxenidas
had around 200 ships, 70 of them bigger warships,

01:06:05.818 --> 01:06:07.608
probably quadriremes.

01:06:07.608 --> 01:06:12.929
The new Roman admiral in the area was the
praetor Gaius Livius Salinator.

01:06:12.929 --> 01:06:18.208
He took command of the navy which had been
in the docks ever since the Second Punic Wars

01:06:18.208 --> 01:06:22.208
and started sailing to unite with Atilius’
navy.

01:06:22.208 --> 01:06:27.188
As this was before the ceasefire was agreed
upon, Livius raided the Aetolian controlled

01:06:27.188 --> 01:06:32.849
Kefalonia and Zakynthos along the way, putting
even more pressure on the league.

01:06:32.849 --> 01:06:38.669
In August he reached Attica, and his fleet
now had more than 100 vessels, 80 of them

01:06:38.668 --> 01:06:42.668
large warships.

01:06:42.668 --> 01:06:48.668
Both sides knew what they had to do: The Romans
needed to unite with their Pergamene and Rhodian

01:06:48.668 --> 01:06:54.368
allies to have equal numbers, while Polyxenidas’
best hope to win was to prevent that from

01:06:54.369 --> 01:06:58.399
happening and take on each of the enemies
separately.

01:06:58.398 --> 01:07:03.538
In September the Seleucid navarch learned
that the Attalids had repositioned their navy

01:07:03.539 --> 01:07:09.568
to Elaea, and that Livius was to the north
of Delos, and he decided to move himself to

01:07:09.568 --> 01:07:10.568
Phokaia.

01:07:10.568 --> 01:07:16.638
However, at some point he lost the Roman fleet
and assumed that it turned south to join the

01:07:16.637 --> 01:07:19.217
Rhodians, so he went for Samos.

01:07:19.217 --> 01:07:25.047
This was a mistake, as a week or so later
the Romans coalesced with the Pergamene navy

01:07:25.047 --> 01:07:33.337
commanded by king Eumenes II, bringing their
total to 160 ships.

01:07:33.338 --> 01:07:38.229
The allies started chasing Polyxenidas and
caught him off the coast of Chios at a place

01:07:38.228 --> 01:07:39.957
called Cissus.

01:07:39.958 --> 01:07:46.298
In a short battle, the Seleucid fleet lost
23 ships and was forced to retreat.

01:07:46.297 --> 01:07:52.328
Even defeated, Polyxenidas was undeterred
and sailed fast towards Samos, where he managed

01:07:52.329 --> 01:07:56.708
to surprise the Rhodian fleet and destroy
2 dozen vessels.

01:07:56.708 --> 01:08:02.367
However, the effects of this victory were
small – the allied fleet was on its way

01:08:02.367 --> 01:08:08.518
and another navy from Rhodes under Eudorus
was converging on Polyxendias from the south,

01:08:08.518 --> 01:08:14.687
so he took the only remaining safe route to
Ephesus.

01:08:14.688 --> 01:08:20.177
Attacking a navy in a dock protected by land
artillery is always folly, so the Romans just

01:08:20.177 --> 01:08:22.889
blockaded Polyxenidas for now.

01:08:22.889 --> 01:08:29.688
At the same time, the Republic was planning
to invade Asia Minor in 190 BC, so the Attalid

01:08:29.688 --> 01:08:32.177
king was asked to secure the Hellespont.

01:08:32.177 --> 01:08:38.318
Eumenes’ approach to the Hellespont put
Antiochus into another awkward position.

01:08:38.318 --> 01:08:43.868
He wanted to keep Gallipoli in order to continue
putting pressure on Philip V, but with his

01:08:43.868 --> 01:08:49.408
navy blockaded in Ephesus and with no way
to counter the Attalid fleet, there was a

01:08:49.408 --> 01:08:54.649
danger that Antiochus wouldn’t be able to
return to Asia Minor, especially since the

01:08:54.649 --> 01:09:01.328
kingdom of Bithynia and the city of Byzantion
were, despite not joining the war, pro-Roman,

01:09:01.328 --> 01:09:05.068
and could have prevented King’s army from
crossing the Bosporos.

01:09:05.068 --> 01:09:11.038
So, the king moved back to Asia Minor and
then started his march towards Ephesus, as

01:09:11.038 --> 01:09:18.577
he needed to defend the city, in case of Polyxenidas’
total defeat.

01:09:18.578 --> 01:09:24.019
Antiochus detached his heir Seleucus to attack
Pergamon, while a group of Galatians was sent

01:09:24.019 --> 01:09:25.818
to attack Elaea.

01:09:25.818 --> 01:09:31.649
By that time, another Roman praetor - Lucius
Aemilius Regillus took over the fleet and

01:09:31.649 --> 01:09:36.528
he was forced to send a portion of his navy
to defend Elaea, which was crucial for the

01:09:36.528 --> 01:09:40.219
Attalid war effort, while Eumenes rushed to
his capital.

01:09:40.219 --> 01:09:45.948
Again, we don’t know all the details, but
it seems that both Seleucid forces were largely

01:09:45.948 --> 01:09:51.177
successful in their raiding, but not strong
enough to take either city.

01:09:51.177 --> 01:09:57.189
The campaign ended when a small Achaean contingent
landed near Elaea and defeated the Galatians

01:09:57.189 --> 01:09:58.939
besieging it.

01:09:58.939 --> 01:10:04.789
Seleucus returned to his father, but overall,
this short campaign alleviated the pressure

01:10:04.788 --> 01:10:10.637
on Polyxenidas enough for when Antiochus sent
envoys to Aemilius to negotiate a peace treaty,

01:10:10.637 --> 01:10:18.738
the Romans really considered the offer and
only declined after being influenced by Eumenes.

01:10:18.738 --> 01:10:24.618
The Seleucid leader needed his fleet to break
out, so a message was sent to Seleucia Pieria

01:10:24.618 --> 01:10:27.847
ordering Hannibal to move his navy towards
the blockade.

01:10:27.847 --> 01:10:33.217
We don’t know what the king was thinking
when he appointed a brilliant general, who

01:10:33.217 --> 01:10:40.168
never led a navy, to command one, but apparently,
the Carthaginian used his knowledge of Phoenician

01:10:40.168 --> 01:10:46.979
and phenomenal organizational skills to form
a strong 50 vessel navy in less than 2 years.

01:10:46.979 --> 01:10:52.307
His movement west was noticed by the allies
and a portion of the Rhodian fleet was sent

01:10:52.307 --> 01:10:56.028
to intercept him before Hannibal reached their
home island.

01:10:56.028 --> 01:11:01.757
The two navies met to the southeast of modern
Antalya, at a place called Eurymedon.

01:11:01.757 --> 01:11:07.788
We don’t have the specifics, but Hannibal’s
fleet was defeated and he retired to Syria.

01:11:07.788 --> 01:11:13.068
Ironically, this naval battle would be the
last ever fought by the great Carthaginian

01:11:13.068 --> 01:11:16.467
general.

01:11:16.467 --> 01:11:21.177
With half of the allied navy on different
missions, the fleets near Ephesus were now

01:11:21.177 --> 01:11:22.878
equal in size.

01:11:22.878 --> 01:11:28.108
It is not clear if Aemilius broke it off due
to the lack of resources or in order to lure

01:11:28.109 --> 01:11:34.329
Polyxenidas out, but when the Romans left
to raid nearby Teos, the Seleucid navarch

01:11:34.328 --> 01:11:38.087
also sailed out, in hopes of surprising the
enemy.

01:11:38.087 --> 01:11:44.257
However, at the battle of Myonessus, the heavier
Roman ships and their boarding tactics proved

01:11:44.257 --> 01:11:46.467
to be superior yet again.

01:11:46.467 --> 01:11:52.128
Polyexinadas was forced to disengage after
losing a third of his navy and returned to

01:11:52.128 --> 01:11:53.738
Ephesus.

01:11:53.738 --> 01:11:59.399
After this battle, the Seleucids were outnumbered
4-to-1 in the sea, which meant that the Romans

01:11:59.399 --> 01:12:03.269
could cross into Asia Minor without resistance.

01:12:03.269 --> 01:12:11.539
Antiochus was aware of this fact and started
concentrating his forces around Ephesus.

01:12:11.538 --> 01:12:16.837
In the aftermath of the battle of Thermopylae,
the political parties of the Eternal city

01:12:16.837 --> 01:12:19.347
returned to their bickering.

01:12:19.347 --> 01:12:25.309
During the elections of 190 BC, Scipio’s
party strengthened its position and two of

01:12:25.309 --> 01:12:30.967
its members became consuls, one of them the
brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

01:12:30.967 --> 01:12:35.788
– another veteran of the 2nd Punic War,
Lucius Cornelius.

01:12:35.788 --> 01:12:41.469
On top of that, Africanus managed to get his
brother the command in Greece and Asia Minor,

01:12:41.469 --> 01:12:43.809
with himself as a legate.

01:12:43.809 --> 01:12:49.458
Being a war party, the Scipios also rebuked
the attempts of the Aetolians and Flamininus

01:12:49.458 --> 01:12:53.738
to achieve peace.

01:12:53.738 --> 01:12:59.307
While the Scipios were preparing their forces
to cross to Epirus, the Aetolians and Glabrio

01:12:59.307 --> 01:13:05.439
were informed that the ceasefire was over,
and both sides immediately resumed hostilities.

01:13:05.439 --> 01:13:11.557
Learning that the League’s forces were defending
the mountain passages and an attack on Naupaktos

01:13:11.557 --> 01:13:18.087
would prove difficult, Glabrio turned against
Lamia, taking it with a surprise attack.

01:13:18.087 --> 01:13:21.308
The propraetor’s next target was Amphissa.

01:13:21.309 --> 01:13:27.918
The city was besieged, managing to resist
until the Scipios arrived in August of 190.

01:13:27.918 --> 01:13:33.498
The Romans now had more than 50 thousand troops
in the region, but the campaigning season

01:13:33.498 --> 01:13:39.087
was about to be over and the Romans didn’t
want to spend time fighting the Aetolians,

01:13:39.087 --> 01:13:44.808
so when the latter asked for another ceasefire,
the Scipios agreed to a truce for an indemnity

01:13:44.809 --> 01:13:48.248
of 1000 talents.

01:13:48.248 --> 01:13:55.328
Afterwards, the Romans turned towards Macedon
and started negotiations with its king.

01:13:55.328 --> 01:14:01.117
In exchange for forgiveness of the war indemnity,
the release of his son Demetrius, and minor

01:14:01.118 --> 01:14:06.638
territorial gains, Philip not only supplied
the Romans and allowed them to pass through

01:14:06.637 --> 01:14:11.038
his kingdom, but 2 thousand of his warriors
joined the Scipios.

01:14:11.038 --> 01:14:18.737
In November of 190 BC the Scipios finally
reached the abandoned Lysimacheia.

01:14:18.738 --> 01:14:24.389
Antiochus is often accused of making a mistake
when he left Thrace undefended, as a few garrisons

01:14:24.389 --> 01:14:30.238
in the area could have slowed down the Romans,
but the king was probably trying to get all

01:14:30.238 --> 01:14:33.958
available forces together for a general battle.

01:14:33.958 --> 01:14:39.248
That can be seen from the fact that the Roman
navy took Phokaia and the king didn’t do

01:14:39.248 --> 01:14:40.978
anything to retake it.

01:14:40.979 --> 01:14:46.278
Shortly the Gallipoli peninsula was controlled
by the legionaries.

01:14:46.278 --> 01:14:53.929
At this point in time, Antiochus attempted
to drag the king of Bithynia, Prusias I, to

01:14:53.929 --> 01:15:00.087
his side, but his diplomatic overtures failed
and Bithynia declared for the Romans, who

01:15:00.087 --> 01:15:02.998
crossed the Hellespont in late November.

01:15:02.998 --> 01:15:09.568
In Asia, the Scipios were greeted by an envoy
from Antiochus and were offered a peace treaty:

01:15:09.568 --> 01:15:15.137
the king was ready to pay half of the expenses
the Romans incurred during the war and leave

01:15:15.137 --> 01:15:17.878
the cities in Thrace and Troada.

01:15:17.878 --> 01:15:24.108
His offer was rejected and the counteroffer
to pay the expenses in full and leave all

01:15:24.109 --> 01:15:29.269
the lands to the north and west of the Taurus
mountains was unacceptable.

01:15:29.269 --> 01:15:34.918
Some sources claim that Africanus’ son Publius
was captured by the Seleucids during a minor

01:15:34.918 --> 01:15:39.828
skirmish and Antiochus offered to return him
in exchange for peace.

01:15:39.828 --> 01:15:45.378
The victor of Zama didn’t budge and replied
that in return for his son, he would give

01:15:45.378 --> 01:15:51.677
Antiochus III a bit of useful advice: the
King would be wise to agree to Roman terms

01:15:51.677 --> 01:15:56.628
to avoid battle with the Romans.

01:15:56.628 --> 01:16:02.139
With the negotiations failing the legions
supported by the Attalid forces marched south

01:16:02.139 --> 01:16:03.498
in December.

01:16:03.498 --> 01:16:09.889
Scipios were worried that Lucius’ command
might be taken away by the next year’s consuls,

01:16:09.889 --> 01:16:13.587
so they were eager to fight the battle before
long.

01:16:13.587 --> 01:16:19.067
Antiochus was at Thyatira where he received
reinforcements from Galatia and Cappadocia.

01:16:19.068 --> 01:16:24.668
He then relocated to the north of Magnesia
planning to defend at the Hermos river, as

01:16:24.668 --> 01:16:29.828
this was the best place to stop the Romans
before they reached the crucial Ephesus.

01:16:29.828 --> 01:16:36.777
A few days later the army of the Roman Republic
was in the area.

01:16:36.778 --> 01:16:41.609
The Seleucid army constructed a walled camp
in the valley between river Hermos and its

01:16:41.609 --> 01:16:47.198
tributary Phrygius, with some of the infantry
defending the crossing and a unit of Galatian

01:16:47.198 --> 01:16:50.439
cavalry to the west of Phrygius.

01:16:50.439 --> 01:16:54.677
On the 15th, the first legionary units arrived
at the scene.

01:16:54.677 --> 01:16:59.867
Initially, the Romans lacked numbers, and
their attempts at fording were frustrated

01:16:59.868 --> 01:17:05.488
by the enemy missile units, but more of them
were arriving and pushing the defenders back.

01:17:05.488 --> 01:17:11.008
At this point, the order was given to the
Galatians to attack the Roman right, leading

01:17:11.007 --> 01:17:13.208
to heavy casualties.

01:17:13.208 --> 01:17:17.617
Another group of Scipio’s troops entered
the battle and their numbers overwhelmed the

01:17:17.618 --> 01:17:21.129
Galatians, who retreated with losses.

01:17:21.128 --> 01:17:27.128
The clashes continued for a day, as Antiochus
also bolstered his contingents, but the sheer

01:17:27.128 --> 01:17:32.057
numbers of the Romans made the defense of
the crossing untenable since they started

01:17:32.057 --> 01:17:40.217
forcing the river in other places, too, so
the king ordered his soldiers back.

01:17:40.217 --> 01:17:46.547
After moving across, Scipios started erecting
a camp at the confluence of Hermos and Phrygius,

01:17:46.547 --> 01:17:48.648
but were attacked yet again.

01:17:48.649 --> 01:17:53.008
The building of the camp was stopped a few
times until the legionaries were forced to

01:17:53.007 --> 01:17:57.328
get into a battle line and push the king’s
troops back.

01:17:57.328 --> 01:18:03.288
After hours of skirmish, the camp was finally
built.

01:18:03.288 --> 01:18:08.657
The Seleucids had much more cavalry than their
foes, so the Romans wanted to fight near their

01:18:08.658 --> 01:18:14.229
camp in the narrowest part of the valley,
while Antiochus wasn’t keen on giving up

01:18:14.229 --> 01:18:19.689
his advantage in the number of horsemen and
preferred a wider section, so both armies

01:18:19.689 --> 01:18:22.878
formed up in front of their fortifications.

01:18:22.878 --> 01:18:28.139
This continued for 4 days, with neither side
moving forward.

01:18:28.139 --> 01:18:32.748
But January was coming, so it was the Romans
who advanced.

01:18:32.748 --> 01:18:38.288
However, Antiochus still didn’t think that
it was enough and on the 6th day, the Romans

01:18:38.288 --> 01:18:41.478
repositioned even closer to the enemy camp.

01:18:41.479 --> 01:18:50.289
The king considered the battlefield satisfactory
and accepted the battle on the 22nd of December.

01:18:50.288 --> 01:18:56.047
The always controversial topic of the sizes
of the armies is no different for this battle.

01:18:56.047 --> 01:19:02.367
Our main sources for the battle are Roman
historian Livy and the Achaean historian Polybius

01:19:02.368 --> 01:19:05.718
and neither was kind to Antiochus.

01:19:05.717 --> 01:19:10.137
According to them, the Seleucids outnumbered
the Romans 2-to-1.

01:19:10.137 --> 01:19:16.257
It seems that both think that 25 thousand
or so legionaries remained in Greece, but

01:19:16.257 --> 01:19:22.429
further events that we will talk about disproves
this and modern historians think that armies

01:19:22.429 --> 01:19:28.038
were equal in size, each around 70 thousand.

01:19:28.037 --> 01:19:35.077
Scipio commanded an army made up of 20 thousand
Romans, 40 thousand Italian allies, and more

01:19:35.078 --> 01:19:41.859
than 10 thousand Achaeans, Macedonians, Thracians,
and Pergamene, among them 20 thousand hastati,

01:19:41.859 --> 01:19:47.519
20 thousand principes, 8 thousand triarii,
and a few thousand velites.

01:19:47.519 --> 01:19:53.849
They were supported by 4000 cavalry, majority
among them the Roman and Italic Equites and

01:19:53.849 --> 01:20:00.587
1000 Attalid heavy cavalry, 3000 Pergamene
and Achaean peltasts, 2000 Macedonian phalangites,

01:20:00.587 --> 01:20:02.637
and others.

01:20:02.637 --> 01:20:08.568
The Romans had 16 North African elephants,
but Scipio decided not to use them against

01:20:08.568 --> 01:20:15.217
the bigger and more ferocious Seleucid Indian
elephants.

01:20:15.217 --> 01:20:21.668
Opposing them were 34 thousand heavy footmen,
including 16,000 phalangites, 10 thousand

01:20:21.668 --> 01:20:27.759
silver shield hypaspists, 3 thousand Galatian
and 2 thousand Cappadocian swordsmen, and

01:20:27.759 --> 01:20:34.628
23 thousand light and missile infantry, among
them peltasts, Cretan archers, and Illyrian

01:20:34.628 --> 01:20:35.717
skirmishers.

01:20:35.717 --> 01:20:41.519
As we mentioned before, Antiochus’ army
had more cavalry than their foe: 8 thousand

01:20:41.519 --> 01:20:48.278
heavy cavalry made up of Armenian and Iranian
cataphracts, Median agema, hetairoi from the

01:20:48.278 --> 01:20:54.467
Macedonian elite, and 4000 light horsemen
from Galatia, Dacia, Dahae, Arabia, and Greek

01:20:54.467 --> 01:20:57.887
Asia Minor fighting as Tarentines.

01:20:57.887 --> 01:21:04.778
The king also had 54 elephants and an unknown
number of scythed chariots.

01:21:04.778 --> 01:21:11.769
The Roman center and left wing, which was
defended by the Phrygius, consisted of the

01:21:11.769 --> 01:21:17.847
legionaries in 3 lines – a traditional triplex
acies in checkerboard pattern, with the left

01:21:17.847 --> 01:21:24.158
reinforced by 1000 Roman horsemen and the
elephants in reserve behind the center.

01:21:24.158 --> 01:21:30.269
The right anchored by the Hermos had Achaean
and Pergamene peltasts in the first rank and

01:21:30.269 --> 01:21:32.738
3 thousand cavalrymen in the second.

01:21:32.738 --> 01:21:38.807
Various units of skirmishers and velites formed
the vanguard, while the Macedonian and Thracian

01:21:38.807 --> 01:21:45.948
allies remained to defend the camp, commanded
by the military tribune Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

01:21:45.948 --> 01:21:51.909
The consul Lucius Scipio commanded the center,
king Eumenes the right, and the former consul

01:21:51.908 --> 01:21:55.248
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus the left.

01:21:55.248 --> 01:22:00.387
Scipio Africanus had suffered from sickness
for weeks, so it seems that it was his brother

01:22:00.387 --> 01:22:05.818
Lucius who was the overall commander.

01:22:05.818 --> 01:22:10.988
On the other side of the plain, the Seleucid
center commanded by general Zeuxis was built

01:22:10.988 --> 01:22:17.798
around all the phalangites and Galatian infantry,
divided into units of 1500 footmen with 2

01:22:17.797 --> 01:22:22.768
elephants between each battalion, for a total
of 22 beasts.

01:22:22.769 --> 01:22:28.238
Antiochus himself commanded the right wing
with 4000 heavy cavalry in the first line,

01:22:28.238 --> 01:22:34.849
16 elephants and light Dahae cavalry behind
them, with the Silver Shields behind them.

01:22:34.849 --> 01:22:40.307
The Kings heir’s Seleucus was leading the
left-wing of the army, guarded by 4000 heavy

01:22:40.307 --> 01:22:41.899
horsemen.

01:22:41.899 --> 01:22:47.128
In front of his force was a unit of scythed
chariots, while the elephants and the light

01:22:47.128 --> 01:22:53.837
cavalry formed the 2nd line, with the peltasts
and Cappadocians positioned in the third line.

01:22:53.837 --> 01:22:59.498
The primary sources fail to place the missile
infantry for Antiochus, but modern historians

01:22:59.498 --> 01:23:06.288
conclude that the skirmishers and the Arab
camel archers were in the vanguard.

01:23:06.288 --> 01:23:11.467
Again, our understanding of the early stage
of the battle is uneven.

01:23:11.467 --> 01:23:16.188
It was customary for the skirmishers to open
a battle and it seems that it was the case

01:23:16.189 --> 01:23:18.318
in this engagement too.

01:23:18.318 --> 01:23:23.547
In this case, it is possible to deduce that
the Romans gained an upper hand.

01:23:23.547 --> 01:23:28.737
Livy mentions that it rained prior to the
battle and that the Seleucid missile units,

01:23:28.738 --> 01:23:32.788
who relied on bowstrings, were at a disadvantage.

01:23:32.787 --> 01:23:38.108
After suffering casualties, Antiochus’ archers
started retreating behind the main line and

01:23:38.109 --> 01:23:43.347
as the Roman skirmishers moved forward, it
became dangerous to keep the elephants close

01:23:43.347 --> 01:23:47.467
to the front, as they tended to become frenzied
under fire.

01:23:47.467 --> 01:23:53.257
The Seleucid center then closed its ranks.

01:23:53.257 --> 01:23:58.237
With no light footmen to defend the line,
the Seleucid heir ordered his chariots to

01:23:58.238 --> 01:23:59.408
counterattack.

01:23:59.408 --> 01:24:04.999
A scythed chariot was a fearsome weapon against
tight groups, but the Roman skirmishers were

01:24:04.998 --> 01:24:10.458
in a loose formation, so when the chariots
charged, they were able to disperse and allow

01:24:10.458 --> 01:24:12.797
the enemy through.

01:24:12.797 --> 01:24:17.648
Skirmishers then turned and started sending
volleys into the charioteers, while Eumenes

01:24:17.649 --> 01:24:21.048
then sent his light cavalry to attack them.

01:24:21.047 --> 01:24:26.507
Many horses and riders were killed and the
rest panicked and turned back to find refuge

01:24:26.507 --> 01:24:28.487
behind their lines.

01:24:28.488 --> 01:24:33.847
At this point, the Arab camel archers were
sent forward to assist the charioteers, as

01:24:33.847 --> 01:24:39.349
the Seleucid officers knew that the camel’s
scent might scare the Roman horses and save

01:24:39.349 --> 01:24:43.278
the chariot corps.

01:24:43.278 --> 01:24:48.729
This backfired spectacularly, as the chariot
riders were not able to control their horses

01:24:48.729 --> 01:24:52.958
anymore and basically smashed into their own
camel riders.

01:24:52.958 --> 01:24:58.947
The details are scarce, but the Seleucid left
lost all cohesion and soon was attacked by

01:24:58.948 --> 01:25:01.658
the full force of the king of Pergamon.

01:25:01.658 --> 01:25:06.749
The light cavalry and the infantry weren’t
able to withstand this charge, and even though

01:25:06.748 --> 01:25:11.797
the hetairoi and cataphracts were much more
disciplined, they were more used to fighting

01:25:11.797 --> 01:25:13.618
as an attacking force.

01:25:13.618 --> 01:25:20.787
Slowly but surely, they were first pushed
back, and then broken.

01:25:20.787 --> 01:25:25.638
Things were completely different on the Seleucid
right, owing to the fact that the width of

01:25:25.639 --> 01:25:32.837
the battlefield was 5 kilometers, which prohibited
information from reaching the flanks in time.

01:25:32.837 --> 01:25:38.087
Seeing his missile infantry on the backfoot,
the Seleucid king allowed them to pass and

01:25:38.087 --> 01:25:42.009
then counterattacked with his heavy and light
cavalry.

01:25:42.009 --> 01:25:45.378
This charge quickly scattered the enemy in
front of them.

01:25:45.378 --> 01:25:50.547
The cavalry then got into a single line on
the go, and that seemingly shocked the Roman

01:25:50.547 --> 01:25:56.378
left, who were marching forward behind their
velites and now were in a wider place on the

01:25:56.378 --> 01:25:57.439
battlefield.

01:25:57.439 --> 01:26:03.137
Ahenobarbus attempted to widen his front by
sending his small cavalry contingent to defend

01:26:03.137 --> 01:26:04.418
the flank.

01:26:04.418 --> 01:26:09.948
This wasn’t enough: the Roman horsemen were
crushed and the side of the legionary formation

01:26:09.948 --> 01:26:13.557
was now open to further attacks.

01:26:13.557 --> 01:26:19.967
Apparently, the Seleucids destroyed the enemy
formation here and started chasing them towards

01:26:19.967 --> 01:26:20.967
the camp.

01:26:20.967 --> 01:26:25.568
Hundreds died in this chase, but eventually
they reached the camp.

01:26:25.568 --> 01:26:30.368
Here Lepidus attempted to form a line, but
the panic was too strong and his troops were

01:26:30.368 --> 01:26:33.488
ordered to kill the retreating legionaries.

01:26:33.488 --> 01:26:37.189
The harsh treatment finally stopped those
attempting to run.

01:26:37.189 --> 01:26:42.538
Buoyed by the Macedonian pikes the Roman line
was able to put some distance between them

01:26:42.537 --> 01:26:44.237
and Antiochus.

01:26:44.238 --> 01:26:49.079
The king’s light cavalry was supposed to
attack from behind, but got too distracted

01:26:49.078 --> 01:26:54.157
by the riches of the camp, which gave the
Romans enough leeway to put their back against

01:26:54.158 --> 01:26:55.878
the walls of the camp.

01:26:55.878 --> 01:27:01.108
Antiochus hadn’t received any news from
his army for some time and wasn’t eager

01:27:01.109 --> 01:27:06.778
to attack the pikes, so he ordered his warriors
to break off and return.

01:27:06.778 --> 01:27:13.759
Meanwhile, the Roman center pushed forward,
and the remainder of the Seleucid right, seeing

01:27:13.759 --> 01:27:18.878
that their center would be surrounded, attempted
to join them in defense.

01:27:18.878 --> 01:27:22.488
Indeed, soon the center of the Antiochus’
force was encircled.

01:27:22.488 --> 01:27:27.899
For some time, the Romans tried to use their
missiles to weaken the phalanx, but it wasn’t

01:27:27.899 --> 01:27:29.019
too effective.

01:27:29.019 --> 01:27:34.328
Eumenes and Scipio knew that the Seleucid
leader would eventually return, so they ordered

01:27:34.328 --> 01:27:39.649
a unit of cavalry to block him and commanded
their heavy infantry to close in.

01:27:39.649 --> 01:27:45.218
The phalangites formed a pike wall and attempted
to retreat towards their own camp, but it

01:27:45.217 --> 01:27:49.507
was difficult while they were attacked from
all sides.

01:27:49.507 --> 01:27:56.519
Antiochus’s cavalry easily broke the unit
sent to block them, but by the time they arrived,

01:27:56.519 --> 01:28:02.298
the phalanx was finally broken and its desperate
members were chased and killed by the Roman

01:28:02.297 --> 01:28:03.577
cavalry.

01:28:03.578 --> 01:28:09.020
Some units were able to retreat from the battlefield,
but it seems that the majority of the Seleucid

01:28:09.020 --> 01:28:11.298
army was either killed or captured.

01:28:11.297 --> 01:28:16.387
We don’t have a good source for the Roman
casualties, however, it can be concluded that

01:28:16.387 --> 01:28:18.729
they were in the thousands.

01:28:18.729 --> 01:28:24.238
Antiochus’ decision to place himself on
the right, which was the place of honor, was

01:28:24.238 --> 01:28:29.967
the biggest mistake he made, as it precluded
him from personally stabilizing the situation

01:28:29.967 --> 01:28:33.769
on his left.

01:28:33.769 --> 01:28:39.427
In the aftermath of the battle, Antiochus
started retreating towards Apamea, while the

01:28:39.427 --> 01:28:41.128
Romans took Sardis.

01:28:41.128 --> 01:28:47.519
The king wanted to continue fighting, as his
empire was vast and rich enough to field another

01:28:47.519 --> 01:28:52.609
army, but even the mightiest kings should
consider the opinion of their subjects after

01:28:52.609 --> 01:29:00.059
two decisive defeats, and both the courtiers
and commoners wanted peace, so in early 189

01:29:00.059 --> 01:29:04.519
BC Antiochus sent envoys to discuss the terms.

01:29:04.519 --> 01:29:10.807
The Roman demands were steep, but the Seleucids
agreed without much discussion: The defeated

01:29:10.807 --> 01:29:16.547
empire had to withdraw from lands to the west
and north to the Taurus mountains and pay

01:29:16.547 --> 01:29:19.237
15,000 talents as war indemnity.

01:29:19.238 --> 01:29:20.269
Antiochus had to give up Hannibal and a number
of other enemies of Rome, and promised not

01:29:20.269 --> 01:29:21.269
to participate in any wars in Europe.

01:29:21.269 --> 01:29:25.677
The king also gave away all of his elephants
with a promise not to procure more in the

01:29:25.677 --> 01:29:26.837
future.

01:29:26.837 --> 01:29:33.858
The Seleucids were only allowed to keep a
navy of 10 ships and not to sail beyond Calycadnus.

01:29:33.859 --> 01:29:42.218
The Romans took 20 hostages, including the
son of the king – another Antiochus.

01:29:42.217 --> 01:29:47.297
The peace would not be signed until the next
year, as it had to be ratified by the Roman

01:29:47.297 --> 01:29:53.597
senate, but in the end, the Seleucid lands
in Europe were given to the Thracian kingdom,

01:29:53.597 --> 01:29:58.868
while the territories in Asia were divided
between Rhodes and Pergamon.

01:29:58.868 --> 01:30:01.787
This weakened the Seleucid empire.

01:30:01.787 --> 01:30:08.617
Antiochus was killed by a mob in Babylon in
187, while Armenia, Atropatene, and Parthia,

01:30:08.618 --> 01:30:14.169
who were already somewhat autonomous, rebelled
and became independent.

01:30:14.168 --> 01:30:21.309
The Seleucid dynasty would rule for another
120 years, but their realm would continuously

01:30:21.309 --> 01:30:24.618
shrink.

01:30:24.618 --> 01:30:31.788
In 189, Rome sent two new consuls to Greece
and Asia Minor to finish the wars.

01:30:31.787 --> 01:30:37.367
The first - Gnaeus Manlius Vulso not only
made sure that the Seleucids fulfilled the

01:30:37.368 --> 01:30:41.758
terms of the treaty, but also went to war
with Galatia.

01:30:41.757 --> 01:30:48.118
The Galatian War, that the Romans won handily,
is beyond the scope of this video, but it

01:30:48.118 --> 01:30:54.117
was remarkable for two reasons: it showed
that Rome could now easily invade Asia Minor,

01:30:54.118 --> 01:31:00.968
and was the first time a Roman general declared
war without the approval of the Senate, and

01:31:00.967 --> 01:31:08.479
this set a precedent that would lead to the
downfall of the Republic.

01:31:08.479 --> 01:31:13.918
While all that was happening in the east,
the ceasefire between Rome and Aetolia ended

01:31:13.918 --> 01:31:20.099
in early 189 and using the absence of the
Roman armies, the Aetolians attacked Philip

01:31:20.099 --> 01:31:24.248
of Macedon and easily pushed him out of Thessaly.

01:31:24.248 --> 01:31:29.987
However, soon the second consul Marcus Fulvius
Nobilior arrived.

01:31:29.988 --> 01:31:35.828
Supported by the Epirotes, he besieged Ambracia
and that forced the Aetolian army to retreat

01:31:35.828 --> 01:31:40.298
from Macedon, as they were worried about being
outflanked.

01:31:40.297 --> 01:31:45.208
Although Ambracia managed to resist for months,
it was clear to the League that it won’t

01:31:45.208 --> 01:31:51.328
be able to fight on without the Seleucids,
so using Athenian mediation they started peace

01:31:51.328 --> 01:31:53.467
negotiations with Rome.

01:31:53.467 --> 01:32:00.318
Again, the demands were heavy, but the Aetolians
had no other choice but to accept: The league

01:32:00.318 --> 01:32:05.748
lost half of its members and territory, and
also was prohibited from having a foreign

01:32:05.748 --> 01:32:08.797
policy without Rome’s approval.

01:32:08.797 --> 01:32:15.059
Although technically independent, the League
stopped being a major player after this treaty.

01:32:15.059 --> 01:32:20.318
In 184 the second son of Philip V - Demetrius,
went on a return visit to Rome.

01:32:20.318 --> 01:32:24.568
After Cynoscephalae Demetrius was the boy
taken as a hostage by the Romans and he had

01:32:24.568 --> 01:32:27.498
emerged from that experience a committed Romanophile.

01:32:27.498 --> 01:32:30.528
This only intensified when the senate decided
to give the sympathetic Demetrius their official

01:32:30.528 --> 01:32:33.628
support, and he returned to Macedon in 184
with a very different attitude to his father.

01:32:33.628 --> 01:32:34.628
Macedonian court politics during this period
were especially fierce.

01:32:34.628 --> 01:32:37.347
While the Seleucid conflict was raging, the
royal court in Pella had become bitterly divided

01:32:37.347 --> 01:32:39.368
over the Roman issue, and it was almost as
if two courts existed at once.

01:32:39.368 --> 01:32:44.381
One of these circles consisted of those advisors
and highborn men who favoured peace and accomodation

01:32:44.381 --> 01:32:45.519
with Rome, and was gathered around Demetrius.

01:32:45.519 --> 01:32:51.338
On the other hand, another group formed around
the duo of Philip V and his eldest son Perseus,

01:32:51.337 --> 01:32:58.748
and was packed with firebrands who advocated
resistance against the invaders from the west.

01:32:58.748 --> 01:33:02.837
Both factions began an underhand war of propaganda
against one another, using rumour and intrigue

01:33:02.837 --> 01:33:03.837
as weapons.

01:33:03.837 --> 01:33:06.277
Perseus’ mother was routinely slandered
as being of low birth and a one-time concubine.

01:33:06.278 --> 01:33:11.658
Therefore, it was implied that Perseus was
less legitimate than Demetrius, who was the

01:33:11.658 --> 01:33:12.658
younger sibling.

01:33:12.658 --> 01:33:13.658
Demetrius realised that, despite his friendliness
with Rome, Perseus had influence with his

01:33:13.658 --> 01:33:14.658
father and became certain that his days were
numbered.

01:33:14.658 --> 01:33:15.658
He made a mistake at this point, confiding
his fears to one of his father’s courtiers

01:33:15.658 --> 01:33:18.928
named Didas, telling him he planned to flee
to Rome.

01:33:18.927 --> 01:33:24.269
This man promptly told Philip, who also discovered
a letter speaking of Demetrius’ ‘lust

01:33:24.269 --> 01:33:26.048
for the throne’.

01:33:26.047 --> 01:33:32.208
Despite it probably being a forgery, Didas
poisoned Demetrius in the winter of 181 on

01:33:32.208 --> 01:33:33.238
the order of Philip.

01:33:33.238 --> 01:33:35.359
This was the only dynastic murder of the entire
Antigonid dynasty, and its outcome was a surge

01:33:35.359 --> 01:33:40.899
in hostility between Rome and Macedon.

01:33:40.899 --> 01:33:48.338
The situation destabilised even further in
179, when after over four decades of rule,

01:33:48.337 --> 01:33:54.498
Philip V passed away in Amphipolis while preparing
for a campaign against the Thracians.

01:33:54.498 --> 01:33:59.697
With his rival Demetrius also dead, Perseus
became the king of Macedon.

01:33:59.698 --> 01:34:05.908
He did what new Antigonid kings always had
to, immediately reaffirming old friendships

01:34:05.908 --> 01:34:08.518
and building new ones.

01:34:08.518 --> 01:34:14.408
Rivals to the throne were eliminated and,
in this new Rome-dominated world, it was necessary

01:34:14.408 --> 01:34:20.169
to send emissaries to the senate hoping for
their official recognition of Perseus’ accession

01:34:20.168 --> 01:34:21.389
to the throne.

01:34:21.389 --> 01:34:26.637
Reluctantly, this was granted.

01:34:26.637 --> 01:34:32.177
On the diplomatic front, Perseus also entered
into many alliances and diplomatic arrangements

01:34:32.177 --> 01:34:34.648
with the various Greek city-states, making
no secret of Macedon’s continuing interest

01:34:34.649 --> 01:34:35.649
in Greece.

01:34:35.649 --> 01:34:37.988
Naturally, this was to the great annoyance
of the Romans.

01:34:37.988 --> 01:34:44.689
Furthermore, to the east, Perseus astutely
married his sister to Prusias II of Bithynia

01:34:44.689 --> 01:34:49.318
and the king himself married the daughter
of Seleucid monarch Seleucus IV.

01:34:49.318 --> 01:34:56.109
So in addition to playing nice with the Greeks,
Perseus was also swiftly gaining a network

01:34:56.109 --> 01:35:02.368
of useful allies in Asia Minor, much to the
increasing anger of Pergamon, which was excluded

01:35:02.368 --> 01:35:06.758
from these affairs.

01:35:06.757 --> 01:35:12.088
Its king - Eumenes II, played his kingdom’s
usual part as a sycophantic informant to their

01:35:12.088 --> 01:35:13.818
Roman lords in the west.

01:35:13.818 --> 01:35:18.838
Initial insistences and warnings by Eumenes
to the Roman senate fell on receptive ears,

01:35:18.837 --> 01:35:21.938
primarily because they wished to keep their
hegemony over Greece.

01:35:21.939 --> 01:35:27.818
In 175 and 174, repeated Roman warnings to
Perseus refused to cow the young king.

01:35:27.818 --> 01:35:33.967
Moreover, he performed a grand spectacle of
marching his entire army on a peaceful parade

01:35:33.967 --> 01:35:37.708
through Delphi - the sacred centre of the
Greek world.

01:35:37.708 --> 01:35:46.238
The message was clear: HE was the protector
of the Greeks, not the Romans.

01:35:46.238 --> 01:35:51.349
Increasingly urgent embassies from Pergamon
began to beseech the Roman senate for help,

01:35:51.349 --> 01:35:57.597
and in early 172 Eumenes himself came to plead
his case.

01:35:57.597 --> 01:35:58.597
He not only repeated previous claims that
Perseus had simply inherited his father’s

01:35:58.597 --> 01:35:59.597
preparations and resolution for war against
Rome, but also claimed that the peace since

01:35:59.597 --> 01:36:02.179
189 had allowed Macedon to fully recover its
strength.

01:36:02.179 --> 01:36:07.467
Finally, the Pergamene king played his trump
card, stating to the Romans that “I felt

01:36:07.467 --> 01:36:12.679
it would be utterly disgraceful if I failed
to reach Italy to warn you, before he arrived

01:36:12.679 --> 01:36:14.918
here with his army.”.

01:36:14.918 --> 01:36:19.028
Cynically playing on the tradition post-Hannibalic
fear of invasions in their homeland, Eumenes

01:36:19.028 --> 01:36:22.899
got his way.

01:36:22.899 --> 01:36:28.678
The subsequent diplomatic pressure and investigations
into Perseus’ conduct would turn into a

01:36:28.677 --> 01:36:33.717
self-fulfilling prophecy, as the king could
see the senate was intent on destroying him.

01:36:33.717 --> 01:36:35.398
Therefore, he was required to take steps to
be ready for them, it was his only choice.

01:36:35.399 --> 01:36:40.169
Philip V may have been the aggressor in the
previous war, but now the Romans were hungry

01:36:40.168 --> 01:36:42.769
for conflict with Perseus.

01:36:42.769 --> 01:36:48.238
Roman envoys sent to negotiate a truce with
the Macedonian king then boasted of deceiving

01:36:48.238 --> 01:36:50.927
him into thinking there was even a chance
of peace.

01:36:50.927 --> 01:36:56.328
In fact, the truce was purely a measure in
order to gain more time for the Romans to

01:36:56.328 --> 01:37:02.208
prepare for war, as they refitted a fleet
of old ships and embarked a powerful army

01:37:02.208 --> 01:37:05.498
from Brundisium to Apollonia.

01:37:05.498 --> 01:37:12.577
This Roman ‘new cunning’ of deception
and underhanded tactics was not met with approval

01:37:12.578 --> 01:37:14.468
from all quarters.

01:37:14.467 --> 01:37:18.757
More traditionalist senators remembered a
time when the Romans treated their enemies

01:37:18.757 --> 01:37:20.688
as honoured and honourable men.

01:37:20.689 --> 01:37:25.838
It turned out that such methods were no way
to run an empire.

01:37:25.837 --> 01:37:30.817
Whatever the case, the Roman senate had decided
that the only way to maintain their position

01:37:30.818 --> 01:37:33.748
in Greece was to have no equals at all.

01:37:33.748 --> 01:37:42.587
The Antigonid monarchy had to disappear, and
the Third Macedonian War began.

01:37:42.587 --> 01:37:49.327
Roman consul Publius Licinius Crassus crossed
the Adriatic in the late summer of 171BC in

01:37:49.328 --> 01:37:52.619
order to take control of the legions there.

01:37:52.618 --> 01:37:58.478
At the same time, Eumenes of Pergamon arrived
at Chalcis with his fleet, disembarking with

01:37:58.479 --> 01:38:01.789
6,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry of his own.

01:38:01.788 --> 01:38:07.559
At sea the Romans had unquestioned mastery
of the Aegean sea, so they dismissed the allied

01:38:07.559 --> 01:38:09.778
vessels, only retaining Eumenes’ assistance.

01:38:09.778 --> 01:38:12.198
They only wanted the help of those allies
who they knew were most loyal, and were hesitant

01:38:12.198 --> 01:38:14.488
to be indebted to friends such as the Rhodians
who would probably want peacetime gains for

01:38:14.488 --> 01:38:15.488
their wartime performance.

01:38:15.488 --> 01:38:19.458
Meanwhile, Perseus advanced south into Thessaly
- ravaging lands on the way, and encamped

01:38:19.458 --> 01:38:24.559
just to the south of Mount Ossa, having taken
command of the army his father had begun to

01:38:24.559 --> 01:38:26.208
rebuild.

01:38:26.208 --> 01:38:31.748
At the same time, Licinius secured the Greek
west coast and advanced into Thessaly via

01:38:31.748 --> 01:38:33.297
Athamania.

01:38:33.297 --> 01:38:38.537
When the consul arrived at the Greek city
of Larissa, he encamped just outside the town

01:38:38.537 --> 01:38:46.168
by a hill called Callinicus, where he was
reinforced by Eumenes’ Pergamene forces.

01:38:46.168 --> 01:38:51.887
As the Macedonians had grown bolder due to
their opposed ravaging of the Thessalian countryside,

01:38:51.887 --> 01:38:57.519
Perseus decided to match them toward the Roman
camp, erecting their own around five miles

01:38:57.519 --> 01:38:58.988
away.

01:38:58.988 --> 01:39:04.118
After resting his army for the night, Perseus
drew up his line into formation and marched

01:39:04.118 --> 01:39:07.658
his cavalry, as well as the light infantry
forwards.

01:39:07.658 --> 01:39:10.088
The phalangists stayed behind in reserve.

01:39:10.087 --> 01:39:16.347
Odrysian king Cotys IV commanded the Thracian
cavalry and interspersed light infantry on

01:39:16.347 --> 01:39:21.507
the left flank, while Macedonian horsemen
and Cretan skirmishers on the right were led

01:39:21.507 --> 01:39:23.847
by Midon of Beroea.

01:39:23.847 --> 01:39:29.387
Both wings were flanked by the King’s Cavalry
and auxiliary infantry from various foreign

01:39:29.387 --> 01:39:35.788
nations, while the centre was made up of Perseus’
elite agema, the sacred cavalry and 400 slingers

01:39:35.788 --> 01:39:37.998
in front.

01:39:37.998 --> 01:39:44.987
Opposite the Macedonians, Licinius’ field
army formed up its heavy infantry safely behind

01:39:44.988 --> 01:39:50.958
their camp’s ramparts, sending their own
cavalry and skirmishers out to meet the enemy.

01:39:50.958 --> 01:39:57.407
The Roman right wing, commanded by Caius Licinius
Crassus consisted of the Italian equites with

01:39:57.408 --> 01:40:02.479
velites scattered between them, while the
left under Valerius Laevinus commanded the

01:40:02.479 --> 01:40:06.137
Greek allied cavalry and infantry on the left.

01:40:06.137 --> 01:40:10.649
In the centre, Quintus Mucius led a force
of Gauls, Thessalians and other volunteer

01:40:10.649 --> 01:40:14.599
cavalry.

01:40:14.599 --> 01:40:19.378
Missile fire from javelins and sling stones
opened the battle, causing light casualties

01:40:19.378 --> 01:40:23.217
on both sides before Cotys’ Thracian horsemen
charged.

01:40:23.217 --> 01:40:28.378
They fought like wild beasts, according to
Livy, and swiftly smashed through the Roman

01:40:28.378 --> 01:40:30.287
right wing cavalry.

01:40:30.287 --> 01:40:35.418
At the same time, Perseus and his elite agema
troops broke the Roman centre.

01:40:35.418 --> 01:40:40.358
Believing he could turn the battle into a
decisive engagement, Perseus was about to

01:40:40.359 --> 01:40:46.078
order his phalanx into the battle, but was
persuaded not to take such a risk by Euander

01:40:46.078 --> 01:40:47.138
the Cretan.

01:40:47.137 --> 01:40:52.748
Thanking Euander for his wise counsel and
taking the victory where he could, Perseus

01:40:52.748 --> 01:40:54.617
withdrew back to his camp.

01:40:54.618 --> 01:41:03.599
200 Roman cavalry and 2000 infantry had died,
and only 60 of Perseus’ men had died.

01:41:03.599 --> 01:41:11.248
Further skirmishes followed this battle, but
the campaigning season of 171 was essentially

01:41:11.248 --> 01:41:12.248
over.

01:41:12.248 --> 01:41:15.418
The Romans proceeded to occupy themselves
by brutally razing the anti-Roman cities in

01:41:15.418 --> 01:41:16.448
Boeotia.

01:41:16.448 --> 01:41:23.899
Haliartus was completely annihilated after
a short siege, 2,500 men were sold into slavery

01:41:23.899 --> 01:41:28.209
and the town remained desolate for decades
afterwards.

01:41:28.208 --> 01:41:33.878
This type of increasingly notorious Roman
savagery in Greece, along with Perseus’

01:41:33.878 --> 01:41:39.028
victory at Callinicus, made the Macedonian
king appear to be a Champion of the Greeks.

01:41:39.028 --> 01:41:45.498
Most who believed this were still too frightened
of Rome to take action, but the Molossians

01:41:45.498 --> 01:41:49.478
of Epirus did defect.

01:41:49.479 --> 01:41:54.347
One setback after another appeared to be striking
the Romans in this conflict, and this was

01:41:54.347 --> 01:42:00.349
only compounded when Perseus launched a successful
raid on the Roman fleet at Oreus, destroying

01:42:00.349 --> 01:42:02.578
ships and spoiling grain supplies.

01:42:02.578 --> 01:42:05.220
Despite these republican failures and Macedonian
successes, Perseus knew that he could not

01:42:05.220 --> 01:42:12.208
grind Rome to victory, he needed a decisive
victory in battle.

01:42:12.208 --> 01:42:18.479
By the end of 169, Rome’s position in Greece
appeared precarious, and only the arrival

01:42:18.479 --> 01:42:25.948
of the new consul - Lucius Aemilius Paullus
in 168 BC breathed fresh life into the floundering

01:42:25.948 --> 01:42:26.948
Roman cause in Greece.

01:42:26.948 --> 01:42:27.948
The first century Greek biographer Plutarch
informs us that this scion of the prominent

01:42:27.948 --> 01:42:28.948
Aemilii patrician family did not even want
to be consul at this point, as he had already

01:42:28.948 --> 01:42:29.948
failed during his run for a second term.

01:42:29.948 --> 01:42:30.948
However, his previous victories against the
Lusitani and Inguani tribes had not been forgotten.

01:42:30.948 --> 01:42:31.948
The senate believed him to be the best candidate
on their list to bring order to Greece once

01:42:31.948 --> 01:42:32.948
again.

01:42:32.948 --> 01:42:33.948
Eventually, overwhelmed by the constant requests
for him to stand for office, Aemilius was

01:42:33.948 --> 01:42:34.948
elected and immediately given the Macedonian
command.

01:42:34.948 --> 01:42:35.948
Plutarch also tells us that after his election
as consul for 168, Aemilius went home to find

01:42:35.948 --> 01:42:36.948
his daughter in distress.

01:42:36.948 --> 01:42:37.948
Naturally, the father asked what was the matter.

01:42:37.948 --> 01:42:38.948
His daughter, embracing Aemilius with sad
tears in her eyes, told the consul that their

01:42:38.948 --> 01:42:39.948
little dog was dead.

01:42:39.948 --> 01:42:40.948
That dog’s name, so the story goes, was
Perseus.

01:42:40.948 --> 01:42:41.948
Possibly apocryphal stories aside, the force
which Aemilius took command of was large:

01:42:41.948 --> 01:42:42.948
two especially strengthened Roman and allied
legions totalling around 22,000 legionary

01:42:42.948 --> 01:42:43.948
heavy infantry.

01:42:43.948 --> 01:42:44.948
The allied legions now comprised various peoples
who, until recently, had been long standing

01:42:44.948 --> 01:42:45.948
enemies of Rome, such as the Etruscans and
Samnites.

01:42:45.948 --> 01:42:49.189
Supporting the heavy troops were thousands
more light infantry, including velites, Pergamene

01:42:49.189 --> 01:42:52.298
troops and Greek allies.

01:42:52.297 --> 01:42:57.617
4,000 cavalry also mounted up in the Roman
army, including a thousand of the infamous

01:42:57.618 --> 01:43:01.559
Numidian cavalry under their prince Misagenes.

01:43:01.559 --> 01:43:07.498
With the North African troops also came 22
imposing war elephants.

01:43:07.498 --> 01:43:15.037
Perseus meanwhile had around 44,000 foot and
4,000 horse on his side of the field.

01:43:15.037 --> 01:43:20.887
21,000 of the infantry comprised the fearsome
phalangists with their Sarissa pikes and phalanx

01:43:20.887 --> 01:43:24.628
formation, which reached a mile in length.

01:43:24.628 --> 01:43:29.698
Supporting this moving wall of pikes were
light troops, auxiliaries such as the Thracian

01:43:29.698 --> 01:43:33.078
javelinmen and Illyrian archers.

01:43:33.078 --> 01:43:39.238
After advancing into Thessaly in the summer
of 168, Aemilius marched south, meeting Perseus

01:43:39.238 --> 01:43:47.768
at the foot of mount Olympus, where he had
drawn up his army in a highly defensible position.

01:43:47.768 --> 01:43:53.467
The Antigonids were dug in on the west bank
of the Elpeus river, just east of the mountain

01:43:53.467 --> 01:43:57.729
and had easy access to the nearby town of
Dium.

01:43:57.729 --> 01:44:03.208
With typical Roman grit, it seems like the
fact that Perseus had such a position did

01:44:03.208 --> 01:44:09.657
not bother the legionaries and, eager to redeem
their honour after Callinicus, urged Aemilius

01:44:09.658 --> 01:44:16.738
to attack immediately As a retort, Aemilius
told his men to mind their place and underlined

01:44:16.738 --> 01:44:23.368
the fact that they would fight when and how
he told them to.

01:44:23.368 --> 01:44:28.629
In order to dislodge Perseus from his defensive
position, Aemilius assigned a subordinate

01:44:28.628 --> 01:44:35.677
- Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, to launch
a feint towards the sea with 3,500 allied

01:44:35.677 --> 01:44:39.007
infantry and 5,000 legionaries.

01:44:39.007 --> 01:44:43.998
Under the cover of darkness, he would march
through an unguarded pass in order to surprise

01:44:43.998 --> 01:44:45.587
Perseus.

01:44:45.587 --> 01:44:50.307
This might have gotten the jump on Macedon’s
king, but a Cretan auxiliary in the Roman

01:44:50.307 --> 01:44:57.467
army defected and informed his fellow Greeks
of the Roman plan.

01:44:57.467 --> 01:45:03.297
Reacting immediately to this alarming news,
Perseus sent a general named Milo with 2,000

01:45:03.297 --> 01:45:08.368
Macedonians and 10,000 Thracian mercenaries
to oppose the Roman passage.

01:45:08.368 --> 01:45:14.387
Though Nasica hadn’t expected this resistance,
upon his arrival in the pass he ordered a

01:45:14.387 --> 01:45:15.387
charge.

01:45:15.387 --> 01:45:20.867
The mountain fighting in the narrow defiles
and passages was bloody and brutal, and Nasica

01:45:20.868 --> 01:45:27.249
himself supposedly came toe to toe with a
fearsome Thracian soldier, slaying him with

01:45:27.248 --> 01:45:28.577
the pilum javelin.

01:45:28.578 --> 01:45:33.269
Rome’s legionaries doggedly stabbed and
slashed their way through the mountain pass,

01:45:33.269 --> 01:45:39.109
routing the Macedonians, who then fled back
to the main army and informed Perseus of the

01:45:39.109 --> 01:45:40.419
defeat.

01:45:40.418 --> 01:45:44.939
Realising that the loss of this mountain pass
would render his position vulnerable, the

01:45:44.939 --> 01:45:49.128
king immediately decamped and marched away
from the mountain.

01:45:49.128 --> 01:45:53.729
While Aemilius moved through the mountain
pass and emerged onto the foothills around

01:45:53.729 --> 01:45:59.318
Mount Olocrus, Perseus drew up his army behind
a river on the plain below, near the town

01:45:59.318 --> 01:46:02.998
of Pydna.

01:46:02.998 --> 01:46:09.237
The handpicked field of battle was fantastic
for the Macedonian phalanx, and Perseus’

01:46:09.238 --> 01:46:14.328
position atop a small ridge and behind the
river gave him a distinct advantage.

01:46:14.328 --> 01:46:21.048
Aemilius knew this and so did not advance
just yet, remaining in his camp on the hills.

01:46:21.047 --> 01:46:26.597
The general’s officers, especially Nasica,
quickly became restless and wanted to attack

01:46:26.597 --> 01:46:27.597
immediately.

01:46:27.597 --> 01:46:34.359
Stoically, Aemilius smiled and advised Nasica
not to be so hasty, informing him of the folly

01:46:34.359 --> 01:46:39.649
of attacking a phalanx on such ground.

01:46:39.649 --> 01:46:45.278
The Romans did not waste their time, and constructed
a marching camp for that night.

01:46:45.278 --> 01:46:49.618
When darkness had fallen and the soldiers
were resting around the various campfires

01:46:49.618 --> 01:46:55.218
and sleeping in their tents, the moon suddenly
grew dark, its white colour shifting to a

01:46:55.217 --> 01:46:56.858
dull red.

01:46:56.859 --> 01:47:02.388
The superstitious men in the Macedonian camp
were deeply affected and surprised by what

01:47:02.387 --> 01:47:04.658
was apparently a bad omen.

01:47:04.658 --> 01:47:10.238
A moon which seemed to bleed red, had Zeus
abandoned them?

01:47:10.238 --> 01:47:15.908
At the same time, the equally pious Romans
did not react as badly, why was this?

01:47:15.908 --> 01:47:22.118
A military tribune of the Roman army - Caius
Sulpicius Gallus, was a learned Astronomer.

01:47:22.118 --> 01:47:27.307
The day before, he approached his general
and gained his permission to assembly the

01:47:27.307 --> 01:47:33.109
soldiers, informing them that such an event
- that we know as a solar eclipse, would occur

01:47:33.109 --> 01:47:34.928
on the following night.

01:47:34.927 --> 01:47:40.349
He urged the soldiers not to see such a thing
as an ill omen, as it was a regular, predictable

01:47:40.349 --> 01:47:42.159
and natural thing.

01:47:42.158 --> 01:47:47.217
Therefore, when the eclipse did occur, the
Roman soldiers simply followed their commander

01:47:47.217 --> 01:47:53.307
in offering sacrifices to the Greek gods,
promising to hold games in Heracles’ honour.

01:47:53.307 --> 01:48:00.557
The gestures worked and the Roman soldier’s
morale was unaffected.

01:48:00.557 --> 01:48:05.399
With both leaders engaging one another in
a dangerous staring contest, it would take

01:48:05.399 --> 01:48:08.488
a spark for the flames to ignite.

01:48:08.488 --> 01:48:12.149
Said spark came in the form of a misbehaving
mule.

01:48:12.149 --> 01:48:17.618
In order to fill up jugs of water for the
thirsty Roman soldiers, who wore heavy armour,

01:48:17.618 --> 01:48:23.689
a small train of mules was led down to a stream
below the foothills by lighter troops.

01:48:23.689 --> 01:48:28.427
Like the stubborn creatures they are, one
of the parched pack animals supposedly scented

01:48:28.427 --> 01:48:31.757
the water and bolted away from its handlers.

01:48:31.757 --> 01:48:36.807
The water-gatherers ran after it, and discovered
that a group of Perseus’ Thracian troops

01:48:36.807 --> 01:48:38.439
were doing the same.

01:48:38.439 --> 01:48:42.789
Moreover, the enemy was attempting to steal
their mule.

01:48:42.788 --> 01:48:48.728
The irritated, frustrated and scorching Roman
soldiers were not going to give up that mule,

01:48:48.729 --> 01:48:51.217
and a brawl broke out over the animal.

01:48:51.217 --> 01:48:56.858
Runners on both sides went to get help, while
the mule probably just ran off.

01:48:56.859 --> 01:49:04.548
Perseus saw an opportunity to draw the Romans
down from the uneven foothills of Mount Olocrus,

01:49:04.547 --> 01:49:10.387
and marched his entire army out of the camp
and straight towards the brawl at the stream.

01:49:10.387 --> 01:49:15.378
The Romans could see what was going on from
their camp, and they were furious, demanding

01:49:15.378 --> 01:49:18.818
angrily to be allowed to march out and fight.

01:49:18.818 --> 01:49:24.869
Aemilius risked mutiny if he refused and so,
gave the signal to form up.

01:49:24.868 --> 01:49:29.817
After only allowing his legions a brief amount
of time to form up, he swiftly commanded the

01:49:29.818 --> 01:49:34.908
advance, aiming to save the men at the stream.

01:49:34.908 --> 01:49:40.948
At that moment, the marching phalangists were
given the order to lower their pikes.

01:49:40.948 --> 01:49:46.499
In unison, the first five ranks held their
sarissae horizontally, and the ranks behind

01:49:46.498 --> 01:49:49.487
kept them at a 45 degree angle.

01:49:49.488 --> 01:49:51.967
Then, they advanced.

01:49:51.967 --> 01:49:57.677
Against the barely armoured Roman light troops,
whose main job was to skirmish at a distance,

01:49:57.677 --> 01:50:04.479
the phalangists met almost no serious resistance,
and simply tore through the enemy ranks.

01:50:04.479 --> 01:50:10.118
Valiantly trying to buy the Romans more time,
an auxiliary tribal leader named Salvius obtained

01:50:10.118 --> 01:50:13.828
his unit’s standard and threw it into the
phalanx.

01:50:13.828 --> 01:50:19.399
This galvanised the pressured soldiers, and
they furiously tried to get it back.

01:50:19.399 --> 01:50:24.158
This resulted in massive casualties, but slowed
the advance of the phalanx and allowed some

01:50:24.158 --> 01:50:27.778
men to escape.

01:50:27.778 --> 01:50:33.568
Aemilius’ main force was now closing in,
and the swarm of velites and other skirmishers

01:50:33.568 --> 01:50:37.788
threw their missiles at the phalanx, mostly
to no effect.

01:50:37.787 --> 01:50:42.188
The legionary heavy infantry, having witnessed
the slaughter of their more lightly armoured

01:50:42.189 --> 01:50:45.979
comrades, became frightened and began to slow
down.

01:50:45.979 --> 01:50:51.057
They saw the sheer size of the steamroller
that approached them and their morale started

01:50:51.057 --> 01:50:52.149
to wane.

01:50:52.149 --> 01:50:57.698
Aemilius had to act right now, otherwise his
shortsword armed men were going to be slaughtered

01:50:57.698 --> 01:50:59.008
on the flat ground.

01:50:59.007 --> 01:51:05.007
So, the general ordered an immediate withdrawal
and ceded the plains to Perseus, moving for

01:51:05.007 --> 01:51:06.837
the foothills once again.

01:51:06.837 --> 01:51:12.577
Owing to the phenomenal discipline of the
Roman legions, the retreat was carried out

01:51:12.578 --> 01:51:16.729
successfully, and Aemilius now had some breathing
room to attack.

01:51:16.729 --> 01:51:21.668
Wheeling his horse to the right flank, he
ordered the wing of 34 elephants to charge

01:51:21.668 --> 01:51:27.068
forward, with a mass of cavalry behind them.

01:51:27.068 --> 01:51:32.618
The Thracian and mercenary skirmishers immediately
in the path of this charge were ideal troops

01:51:32.618 --> 01:51:37.578
for dealing with elephants, but they were
exhausted and failed to concentrate enough

01:51:37.578 --> 01:51:38.998
missiles.

01:51:38.997 --> 01:51:44.467
The elephant vanguard caught them on a bad
day, and they carved a bloody hole into Perseus’

01:51:44.467 --> 01:51:45.927
left wing.

01:51:45.927 --> 01:51:50.847
The cavalry then streamed around the elephants
and mopped up those that were left, leaving

01:51:50.847 --> 01:51:57.658
the agema on the leftmost edge of the phalanx
completely exposed.

01:51:57.658 --> 01:52:02.778
The victorious Roman right wing chased the
retreating skirmishers, and then slowly began

01:52:02.778 --> 01:52:06.807
to reform slightly behind Perseus’ line.

01:52:06.807 --> 01:52:11.748
Throughout this battle on the edge of the
field, the phalanx had been pursuing the withdrawing

01:52:11.748 --> 01:52:15.637
legions into the foothills and onto rough
ground.

01:52:15.637 --> 01:52:21.068
With the infantry screen already gone, the
rightmost legionary unit swung inward and

01:52:21.068 --> 01:52:24.387
drove into the phalanx’s vulnerable left.

01:52:24.387 --> 01:52:29.297
At the same time, gaps gradually began to
open in the phalanx due to the increasing

01:52:29.297 --> 01:52:30.757
uneven terrain.

01:52:30.757 --> 01:52:35.837
Aemilius took full advantage of this, riding
up and down the line, shouting at his men

01:52:35.837 --> 01:52:37.547
to attack.

01:52:37.547 --> 01:52:42.568
Whether or not he was heard, the Roman centurions
knew what they were doing, and led their men

01:52:42.568 --> 01:52:48.859
into the now-exposed arteries of the Macedonian
phalanx.

01:52:48.859 --> 01:52:51.738
The pressure now began to mount.

01:52:51.738 --> 01:52:57.137
Fighting in unfavourable close quarters combat
and hit on the flank, the phalanx began to

01:52:57.137 --> 01:52:58.318
slowly fragment.

01:52:58.318 --> 01:53:04.028
Aemilius, who had retreated to a position
of command on the heights, saw small streams

01:53:04.028 --> 01:53:08.329
of Antigonid troops fleeing from the rear
of the infantry block.

01:53:08.328 --> 01:53:12.927
The coup de grâce was delivered by the now-regrouped
Roman right flank.

01:53:12.927 --> 01:53:18.617
The elephants and cavalry now charged at the
disintegrating army of Perseus’ and utterly

01:53:18.618 --> 01:53:20.218
routed it.

01:53:20.217 --> 01:53:24.297
Last to fall were the 3,000 elite agema of
Perseus.

01:53:24.297 --> 01:53:29.568
Not a single one of these valiant men fled
and they fought to the last men, while their

01:53:29.568 --> 01:53:31.967
king fled on his horse.

01:53:31.967 --> 01:53:37.097
One of the greatest phalanxes ever had been
crushed, and Alexander the Great’s military

01:53:37.097 --> 01:53:45.118
legacy was finally buried, the legion would
rule the field of battle from this point on.

01:53:45.118 --> 01:53:50.919
20,000 of Perseus’ troops were killed and
11,000 more were captured, including Perseus

01:53:50.918 --> 01:53:51.918
himself.

01:53:51.918 --> 01:53:53.097
This man, who was to be the final Antigonid
king, was captured after hiding his crown,

01:53:53.097 --> 01:53:54.097
removing his royal robes and taking refuge
in a temple on Samothrace.

01:53:54.097 --> 01:53:55.097
When brought before Aemilius, Perseus wept
pitifully, much to the Roman general’s disgust.

01:53:55.097 --> 01:54:00.347
Given the ‘title’ of Macedonicus by the
senate, the victorious general was voted a

01:54:00.347 --> 01:54:03.827
triumph and rode through Rome on his chariot.

01:54:03.828 --> 01:54:08.018
The treasures of Macedon and his victorious
troops marched behind him.

01:54:08.018 --> 01:54:10.448
Finally, Perseus followed them in chains,
still sobbing.

01:54:10.448 --> 01:54:15.528
Macedon proved to be too dangerous for Rome
to allow it to remain independent, so in the

01:54:15.528 --> 01:54:22.849
aftermath of the war, the Antigonid monarchy
was dissolved into four semi-states, or merides,

01:54:22.849 --> 01:54:29.408
each with a capital, and elected officials,
but subject to the laws imposed by the Romans.

01:54:29.408 --> 01:54:34.859
The regions were allowed to keep small garrisons
along the borders with outside tribes, but

01:54:34.859 --> 01:54:40.359
not allowed to have an independent foreign
policy, or engage in trade between them and

01:54:40.359 --> 01:54:41.798
intermarry.

01:54:41.797 --> 01:54:47.737
Their economy was further weakened by an excessive
tribute paid to Rome, as well as a ban on

01:54:47.738 --> 01:54:51.467
gold and silver mining, logging, and shipbuilding.

01:54:51.467 --> 01:54:56.568
On top of that, the Romans enacted revenge
on the Molossians who supported Perseus.

01:54:56.568 --> 01:55:03.547
70 of their cities were destroyed and 150
thousand Epirotes were enslaved.

01:55:03.547 --> 01:55:09.967
All this caused resentment and impoverishment,
which made the populace anti-Roman.

01:55:09.967 --> 01:55:15.818
Soon those who would use this appeared on
the horizon.

01:55:15.818 --> 01:55:21.967
A youth called Andriskos, born in Adramyttium
in Asia Minor, had an uncanny resemblance

01:55:21.967 --> 01:55:28.827
to the late Macedonian king Perseus, and in
150 BC he started telling everyone who would

01:55:28.828 --> 01:55:34.939
listen that he was the king’s son Philip
and that he was planning to restore Antigonid

01:55:34.939 --> 01:55:37.359
rule over Macedon.

01:55:37.359 --> 01:55:43.618
Andriskos traveled to Macedon but failed to
garner any support, as the local nobles were

01:55:43.618 --> 01:55:46.129
happy with Roman rule.

01:55:46.128 --> 01:55:51.439
He then attempted to get the assistance of
the Seleucid ruler Demetrius I, but the latter

01:55:51.439 --> 01:55:56.979
had his internal problems and didn’t want
to anger the Romans, so the pretender was

01:55:56.979 --> 01:55:59.528
sent into Roman custody.

01:55:59.528 --> 01:56:04.597
The Senate didn’t consider Andriskos to
be dangerous, so he was sent to Magna Graecia

01:56:04.597 --> 01:56:09.859
to live in custody, but managed to run away
and ended up in Miletus.

01:56:09.859 --> 01:56:19.138
He once again started looking for supporters
and gained them among the anti-Roman locals.

01:56:19.137 --> 01:56:24.439
Andriskos then traveled to Thrace, where the
local chiefs, worried about the strengthening

01:56:24.439 --> 01:56:28.209
Roman influence, supported him, giving him
a small army.

01:56:28.208 --> 01:56:36.217
We don’t know all the details but in early
149 BC, the pretender entered Macedon.

01:56:36.217 --> 01:56:41.427
The nobles attempted to gather a force to
stop him, but their armies were defeated somewhere

01:56:41.427 --> 01:56:42.717
in Odomantice.

01:56:42.717 --> 01:56:50.077
Thus, Andriskos became the king as Philip
VI and restored the Macedonian monarchy.

01:56:50.078 --> 01:56:56.738
Pro-roman nobles lost their standing, while
the general population celebrated their independence.

01:56:56.738 --> 01:57:02.649
The Fourth Macedonian War had begun.

01:57:02.649 --> 01:57:06.908
In the same year, he invaded the Roman-allied
Thessalian league.

01:57:06.908 --> 01:57:12.999
The timing was perfect, as the best generals
of the Republic were busy besieging Carthage

01:57:12.998 --> 01:57:18.788
during the Third Punic War and fighting in
the Lusitanian War in Spain.

01:57:18.788 --> 01:57:25.559
The Roman commander in the area, Publius Cornelius
Scipio Nasica, marched for Thessaly and started

01:57:25.559 --> 01:57:30.229
negotiating with Andriskos, hoping to buy
time for his Achaean allies and the nearby

01:57:30.229 --> 01:57:32.548
Pergamene garrisons to join him.

01:57:32.547 --> 01:57:38.878
Indeed, the general was reinforced by these
allies and even one legion from Italy.

01:57:38.878 --> 01:57:44.587
This was a signal to Andriskos that his enemies
were getting stronger, so he attacked and

01:57:44.587 --> 01:57:48.317
crushed the allies, taking over most of Thessaly.

01:57:48.318 --> 01:57:57.257
Inspired, Andriskos sent envoys to Carthage
offering the revival of the old alliance.

01:57:57.257 --> 01:58:03.327
The winter stopped the hostilities, but the
Romans were, as usual, full of energy.

01:58:03.328 --> 01:58:09.818
A veteran of the Third Macedonian War, praetor
Quintus Caecilius Metellus, was ordered to

01:58:09.818 --> 01:58:15.918
form another army, and in early 148 his legions
embarked on Pergamene transports.

01:58:15.918 --> 01:58:22.318
In the past, the Roman armies landed in Epirus
and then moved into the Greek heartland from

01:58:22.318 --> 01:58:29.009
there, but Metellus decided to outsmart his
opponent and made landfall in Macedon, making

01:58:29.009 --> 01:58:30.818
his way south.

01:58:30.818 --> 01:58:38.408
This threatened Andriskos’ kingdom and forced
him to double time towards the enemy.

01:58:38.408 --> 01:58:44.198
The two sides met at the same place the fate
of the Third Macedonian War was sealed 20

01:58:44.198 --> 01:58:45.298
years ago - Pydna.

01:58:45.297 --> 01:58:51.097
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about
the battle and even the number of combatants

01:58:51.097 --> 01:58:52.628
is a mystery.

01:58:52.628 --> 01:58:58.439
The battle started when the cavalry vanguards
of the two armies met each other, and the

01:58:58.439 --> 01:59:02.939
Macedonian horsemen had the upper hand, sending
their counterparts fleeing.

01:59:02.939 --> 01:59:08.609
Emboldened by that Andriskos sent some of
his troops back to Thessaly in order to continue

01:59:08.609 --> 01:59:10.698
the conquest.

01:59:10.698 --> 01:59:16.268
Soon the main bodies of the armies were close
and the infantry clashed in the center.

01:59:16.268 --> 01:59:21.557
Once again, the details are lost to time and
it is unknown if the Macedonians fought in

01:59:21.557 --> 01:59:27.378
their traditional phalanx, but initially the
two groups of footmen fought to a standstill

01:59:27.378 --> 01:59:32.047
and it seemed that the battle would come down
to the battle between horsemen.

01:59:32.047 --> 01:59:37.268
That is when Andriskos was betrayed by the
commander of the cavalry, a nobleman named

01:59:37.269 --> 01:59:38.668
Telestos.

01:59:38.668 --> 01:59:47.347
The Macedonian center was attacked from all
sides and was almost completely crushed.

01:59:47.347 --> 01:59:52.467
After the battle, Andriskos attempted to flee
to Thrace, but his allies didn’t want to

01:59:52.467 --> 01:59:55.568
draw the ire of the victors even more.

01:59:55.568 --> 02:00:01.948
Andriskos was captured and given to the Romans,
who sent him to Italy, where he was executed.

02:00:01.948 --> 02:00:05.738
This was the end of the Fourth Macedonian
War.

02:00:05.738 --> 02:00:10.668
This time Macedon didn’t even get a semblance
of independence.

02:00:10.668 --> 02:00:16.979
Commanded by the Senate, Metellus turned Macedon,
Epirus, Southern Illyria, and Ionian islands

02:00:16.979 --> 02:00:23.347
into the province of Macedonia and became
its first governor.

02:00:23.347 --> 02:00:28.618
However, the situation was getting volatile
elsewhere in Greece.

02:00:28.618 --> 02:00:33.988
Sparta, now led by Menalcidas, had been trying
to break away from the Achaean League for

02:00:33.988 --> 02:00:35.588
some time.

02:00:35.587 --> 02:00:42.498
In 147 BC, their delegation went to Rome to
ask the Senate for assistance, but before

02:00:42.498 --> 02:00:48.987
the Romans were able to respond, Spartan territory
was invaded by the strategos of the League,

02:00:48.988 --> 02:00:49.988
Damocritus.

02:00:49.988 --> 02:00:55.258
Menalcidas was defeated, but the Achaeans
failed to take the city itself.

02:00:55.257 --> 02:01:03.467
For that Damocritus was deposed and replaced
by the even more extreme Diaeus.

02:01:03.467 --> 02:01:07.898
That is when a Roman embassy arrived to meet
with the Achaean assembly.

02:01:07.899 --> 02:01:13.278
Unexpectedly for the Achaeans, the embassy
not only supported Sparta’s independence

02:01:13.278 --> 02:01:19.269
but also demanded Argos, Corinth, and Orchomenus,
possibly to spark a conflict.

02:01:19.269 --> 02:01:24.788
The Achaeans obviously refused and sent their
own embassy to Rome demanding the resolution

02:01:24.787 --> 02:01:26.027
to be rescinded.

02:01:26.028 --> 02:01:27.988
The Senate said no.

02:01:27.988 --> 02:01:33.068
It was clear that the Achaean league and other
Greeks were angry at the Roman takeover of

02:01:33.068 --> 02:01:40.668
Macedon and Epirus, so, joined by the Boeotians
and Euboeans, in 146 BC they declared war

02:01:40.668 --> 02:01:46.988
on the Roman Republic, starting the Achaean
War.

02:01:46.988 --> 02:01:53.168
Another anti-Roman strategos - Critolaos - was
elected and his army, supported by the Thebans,

02:01:53.168 --> 02:01:54.587
marched for Thessaly.

02:01:54.587 --> 02:02:00.197
However, before they were able to reach Thermopylae,
the Roman army under Metellus caught them

02:02:00.198 --> 02:02:02.209
at a place called Scarpheia in Locris.

02:02:02.208 --> 02:02:08.867
The Greeks didn’t expect a battle; their
army was crushed and the general killed.

02:02:08.868 --> 02:02:12.758
Afterwards, the Roman governor continued south.

02:02:12.757 --> 02:02:17.849
The Argives attempted to stop his advance
in Chaeronea, but were crushed.

02:02:17.849 --> 02:02:25.488
Diaeus took over command in Achaea and in
a short time managed to create a 16,000 strong

02:02:25.488 --> 02:02:29.807
army, hoping to defend at the isthmus of Corinth.

02:02:29.807 --> 02:02:34.787
Unfortunately for him, the Roman army was
reinforced by the consul Lucius Mummius, as

02:02:34.787 --> 02:02:40.047
well as a Pergamene detachment, bringing its
numbers to 27 thousand.

02:02:40.047 --> 02:02:46.108
The two sides met at a place called Leukapetra.

02:02:46.109 --> 02:02:49.307
Once again, we don’t have much in terms
of details.

02:02:49.307 --> 02:02:55.068
Apparently, the Romans didn’t want to charge
across the narrow isthmus, even despite outnumbering

02:02:55.068 --> 02:02:56.458
the enemy 2-to-1.

02:02:56.458 --> 02:03:02.717
For some time, the Roman army remained in
the camp and it seems that they got complacent,

02:03:02.717 --> 02:03:10.938
as Diaeus was able to use his light infantry
to attack the camp and inflict heavy casualties.

02:03:10.939 --> 02:03:16.128
The next day, the Romans marched directly
towards the enemy and as they were supported

02:03:16.128 --> 02:03:20.967
by the Pergamene navy, Diaeus was forced to
accept the battle.

02:03:20.967 --> 02:03:26.617
The two infantry bodies clashed in the center
and the Achaeans managed to stop the legionaries.

02:03:26.618 --> 02:03:34.068
However, Diaeus had very few horsemen and
the Romans used that - on both flanks Mummius’

02:03:34.068 --> 02:03:39.248
cavalry destroyed their counterparts and then
attacked the Greek infantry from all sides.

02:03:39.247 --> 02:03:46.708
The battle was effectively over and the whole
Achaean army was crushed.

02:03:46.708 --> 02:03:52.778
In the aftermath, the Romans razed Corinth,
similar to Carthage months prior - all men

02:03:52.778 --> 02:03:59.448
were killed, all women and children enslaved,
and the city was burned to the ground.

02:03:59.448 --> 02:04:04.658
This left Rome without trading rivals in the
Mediterranean and as no military power could

02:04:04.658 --> 02:04:10.579
oppose the Republic, the Achaean League, Aetolian
League, and others were disbanded and the

02:04:10.578 --> 02:04:14.867
entire region was added to the Province of
Macedonia.

02:04:14.868 --> 02:04:21.238
Greece would remain under Roman control for
centuries, despite 2 more rebellions in Macedon

02:04:21.238 --> 02:04:28.008
and an attempt by Greek cities to support
Pontus during the First Mithridatic War.

02:04:28.007 --> 02:04:35.768
The Roman takeover of Greece was a prime example
of the imperial Divide et Impera principle:

02:04:35.768 --> 02:04:41.337
the Republic managed to ally with one faction
against the other and keep all of the cities,

02:04:41.337 --> 02:04:46.518
states, and leagues constantly divided, until
it was time to conquer everything.

02:04:46.519 --> 02:04:53.289
Still, Greek culture flourished and over the
next 2000 years became a crucial part of the

02:04:53.288 --> 02:04:59.837
Pax Romana, Christianity, the Muslim Golden
Age, and then the Renaissance and the Age

02:04:59.837 --> 02:05:01.197
of Enlightenment.

02:05:01.198 --> 02:05:05.998
We will talk about Greek and Roman history
more in our future videos.

02:05:05.997 --> 02:05:09.708
Please, consider liking, commenting, and sharing
- it helps immensely.

02:05:09.708 --> 02:05:14.668
Our videos would be impossible without our
kind patrons and youtube channel members,

02:05:14.668 --> 02:05:18.939
whose ranks you can join via the links in
the description to know our schedule, get

02:05:18.939 --> 02:05:23.307
early access to our videos, access our discord,
and much more.

02:05:23.307 --> 02:05:27.778
This is the Kings and Generals channel, and
we will catch you on the next one.