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The war between Rome and Antiochus III (192-188 B.C.)
The war between Rome and Antiochus III (192-188 B.C.) was the second of two wars that saw the Roman Republic, in a period of less than a decade, defeat the two most powerful of the successor states to the empire of Alexander the Great – Macedonia and the Seleucid Empire.
This war is also known as the Roman-Syrian War, or the war between Rome and Seleucid Syria, although at this period neither title is entirely accurate – the Seleucid Empire at this stage was not yet restricted to Syria, and stretched much further to the east.
The Romans had traditionally been wary of any involvement in the confused and often warlike politics of Greece, aware than any involvement had the potential to become an open ended drain on their resources. This changed in the aftermath of the battle of Cannae. Philip V of Macedonia had declared war on Rome (First Macedonian War), and in 212 B.C. the Romans arranged an alliance with the Aetolian League. That year also saw a Roman fleet enter Greek waters for the first time. Just as the Romans had feared, one war inevitably led to another. Fifteen years after that first alliance a Roman and Aetolian army crushed the power of Macedonia atCynoscephalae, and only seven more years would pass before their victory over the Seleucid Empire at Magnesia.
Causes
The war between Rome and Antiochus III was perhaps an inevitable result of the increasing Roman involvement in Greek affairs that had begun during the First Macedonian War (215-205 B.C.). During this period Antiochus was absent in the east, attempting to restore the eastern part of his empire. In the years immediately after the Peace of Phoenice, he returned to the western part of his empire, and successfully campaigned in Asia Minor, before being called away to his border with Egypt.
He returned for a second time in 197, and successfully established himself as a power on the coast of Asia Minor, before early in 196 crossing the Hellespont to campaign in Thrace, on the borders of Europe. Before crossing he besieged the cities of Smyrna and Lampsacus, both of which appealed to Rome for help, while in Europe he re-founded the city of Lysimacheia, recently destroyed by the Thracians. The Romans had a delegation of ten legati in the Aegean, organising the peace terms agreed with Philip, and four of them eventually met Antiochus at Lysimacheia. They demanded that he leave Europe, and agree not to attack free Greek cities in Asia Minor. Antiochus made it clear that he did not believe the Romans had any right to intervene in Asia Minor, just as he had no rights in Italy, and that as Thrace had been held by his ancestors he had every right to campaign there. The meeting ended when a false rumour of the death of the current Ptolemy reached Lysimacheia.
The Romans, having only just defeated Macedonia, were not about to let another major power replace them as a threat. Before the war they saw Greece as firmly within their sphere of influence, with Asia Minor as the buffer zone between the two powers. Ironically Antiochus’s own publicity raised Roman suspicions. His campaign in the east had only been moderately successful, but he had portrayed it as a great success, and declared himself to be the “Great King”. He further raised Roman suspicions by allowing the great Punic general Hannibal to take refuge at his court after being expelled from Carthage.
In contrast Antiochus saw Asia Minor as an integral part of his empire, although most of the area had only briefly been held by his ancestors. The same was true of Thrace, on the western side of the Hellespont, which had also once been part of the Seleucid Empire. To him Greece was the buffer zone, and its cities and leagues were free to look for friends wherever they wanted.
The war also involved a number of the minor powers of Greece and Asia Minor. In Greece the Aetolian League had been an ally of Rome during the First and Second Macedonian Wars, but had not been happy with the peace settlement after the second war, and was now increasingly hostile to Rome. This was one of the factors that made Philip V of Macedonia, the defeated enemy of the Second Macedonian War, a useful Roman ally against Antiochus. He was also irritated by Antiochus’ attempt to present himself as the protector of Greece. The compact state of Pergamum was a long standing ally of Rome, and was now directly threatened by Antiochus, whose territories now surrounded the kingdom. Eumenes II of Pergamum would play a major role in the fighting. Finally, the Romans were helped by the maritime power of Rhodes, who simply wanted peace and stability for their trading ships.
In the summer of 194 B.C. the last Roman troops left Greece. The Romans hoped that their settlement of Greek affairs would bring an end to the epidemic of wars which had been the main feature of recent Greek history. The war against Nabis of Sparta was to have been the last.
Seleucid armies had campaigned in Thrace in 195 and 194 with some success, but in Asia Minor both Lampsacus and Smyrna still held out. An attempt to arrange an alliance with Rome had failed in 195, so in the winter of 194-3 Antiochus decided to send envoys to Rome. They arrived at the same time as a large number of delegates from the Greek states, in Rome because the Senate was about to work through the details of the peace settlement. This time the Romans simply insisted that he withdraw from Europe. The freedoms of the Greek cities of Asia Minor must also be respected, but the area would be part of the Seleucid sphere of influence. Antiochus’s envoys had no authority to negotiation away his European territories, and so the mission ended in failure. Later in 193 the Romans sent three legati to Asia Minor, but these protracted negotiations also ended in failure. Despite this, on their return to Rome the legati reported that they saw no reason for war.
What was clear was that if Antiochus intervened anywhere in Greece, then war with Rome would inevitably follow. This may have encouraged the Aetolian League, which was now determined to expand its influence, ignoring the terms of the peace settlement. In the late summer of 193 the Aetolians sent envoys to Nabis of Sparta, Philip V of Macedonia and Antiochus, hoping to create an anti-Roman coalition. Antiochus was not yet ready to move, Philip could hardly be expected to work alongside his long term enemies, but Nabis was eager to overthrow the Roman peace, which had stripped Sparta of her coastal towns.
The result was a short war in the spring of 192 between Sparta on one side, Rome, Pergamum and the Achaean League on the other. At the end of this conflict the Romans restored the status quo, once again disappointed one of their allies – this time the Achaeans, who had hoped to gain from the defeat of Nabis.
Only after this second defeat of Nabis did the Aetolians make their move. In the spring of 192 Antiochus agreed to support them if war was forced on them by the Romans. Taking this as a promise of immediate aid, the Aetolians decided to capture the fortresses of Demetrias and Chalcis, and the city of Sparta. The attack on Sparta was briefly successful – Nabis was killed and the Aetolians took control of the city – but they were soon expelled, and the Achaean League finally got its way and annexed Sparta.
The attack on Chalcis was a total failure. Having recently gained its independence with Roman help, the magistrates of the city put up a stout resistance and repelled the Aetolians. Only the attack on Demetrias succeeded.
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