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147-628: The Roman–Seleucid war (192–188 BC), also called the Aetolian war , Antiochene war , Syrian war , and Syrian-Aetolian war was a military conflict between two coalitions, one led by the Roman Republic and the other led by the Seleucid king Antiochus III . The fighting took place in modern-day southern Greece , the Aegean Sea , and Asia Minor . The war was the consequence of

294-616: A great victory for Metellus. Rome then besieged the last Carthaginian strongholds in Sicily, Lilybaeum and Drepana , but these cities were impregnable by land. Publius Claudius Pulcher , the consul of 249, recklessly tried to take the latter from the sea, but suffered a terrible defeat ; his colleague Lucius Junius Pullus likewise lost his fleet off Lilybaeum . Without the corvus , Roman warships had lost their advantage. By now, both sides were drained and could not undertake large-scale operations. The only military activity during this period

441-724: A triumph . That year, the Roman fleet under Gaius Livius won a battle off Corycus forcing Antiochus' fleet to retreat to Ephesus; the Seleucids then assembled a newly built fleet in Cilicia under the command of Hannibal , who had years previously fled to Antiochus' court. Prevented from crossing the Aegean directly, the Scipios stayed in Europe, where they oversaw a six-month truce with

588-522: A " cold war " between both powers, which had started in 196 BC. In this period, the Romans and the Seleucids attempted to settle spheres of influence by forging alliances with the small Greek city-states. Also important were the Romans and Seleucids' irreconcilable visions for the Aegean: the Romans saw Greece as their sphere of influence and Asia Minor as a buffer area while the Seleucids saw Asia Minor as

735-608: A buffer region; Antiochus saw Asia Minor as his sphere with Greece acting as a buffer. In the interim, Rome pursued a policy of building goodwill among the Greek states to avoid seeming the aggressor and, if attacked, to draw neutral cities to Rome's cause. Any Seleucid move against Greek cities would paint them as the aggressors. Roman forces in Greece, under Titus Quinctius Flamininus , largely withdrew after proclaiming its freedom from Roman control or taxation in 195 BC. Antiochus, at

882-595: A coalition of Latins at the battles of Vesuvius and the Trifanum . The Latins submitted to Roman rule. A Second Samnite War began in 327 BC. The war ended with Samnite defeat at the Battle of Bovianum in 305 BC. By 304 BC, Rome had annexed most Samnite territory and begun to establish colonies there, but in 298 BC the Samnites rebelled, and defeated a Roman army, in a Third Samnite War . After this success, it built

1029-408: A coalition of several previous enemies of Rome. The war ended with Roman victory in 290 BC. At the Battle of Populonia , in 282 BC, Rome finished off the last vestiges of Etruscan power in the region. In the 4th century, plebeians gradually obtained political equality with patricians. The first plebeian consular tribunes were elected in 400. The reason behind this sudden gain is unknown, but it

1176-539: A consequence of an Etruscan occupation of Rome rather than a popular revolution. According to Rome's traditional histories, Tarquin made several attempts to retake the throne, including the Tarquinian conspiracy , which involved Brutus's own sons, the war with Veii and Tarquinii , and finally the war between Rome and Clusium . The attempts to restore the monarchy did not succeed. The first Roman republican wars were wars of expansion . One by one, Rome defeated both

1323-526: A core part of their empire with Greece as the buffer zone. After the Aetolian League triggered a small war which drew in Antiochus, Rome and the Seleucids came to blows. Antiochus' landed in Greece but was forced to retreat across the Aegean after being defeated at the Battle of Thermopylae by the consul of 191 BC, Manius Acilius Glabrio . The Aetolians attempted to reach a settlement with

1470-491: A generation, the Republic fell into civil war again in 49 BC between Julius Caesar and Pompey . Despite his victory and appointment as dictator for life , Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar's heir Octavian and lieutenant Mark Antony defeated Caesar's assassins in 42 BC, but they eventually split. Antony's defeat alongside his ally and lover Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and

1617-464: A long-lasting alliance with Rome. In 262 BC, the Romans moved to the southern coast and besieged Akragas . In order to raise the siege, Carthage sent reinforcements, including 60 elephants—the first time they used them—but still lost the battle . Nevertheless, Rome could not take all of Sicily because Carthage's naval superiority prevented it from effectively besieging coastal cities. Using a captured Carthaginian ship as blueprint, Rome therefore launched

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1764-433: A massive construction program and built 100 quinqueremes in only two months. It also invented a new device, the corvus , a grappling engine that enabled a crew to board an enemy ship. The consul for 260 BC, Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina , lost the first naval skirmish of the war against Hannibal Gisco at Lipara , but his colleague Gaius Duilius won a great victory at Mylae . He destroyed or captured 44 ships and

1911-620: A new elite, called the nobiles , or Nobilitas . By the early 3rd century BC, Rome had established itself as the major power in Italy, but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers of the Mediterranean : Carthage and the Greek kingdoms. In 282, several Roman warships entered the harbour of Tarentum , triggering a violent reaction from the Tarentine democrats, who sank some. The Roman embassy sent to investigate

2058-517: A noblewoman, Lucretia . The tradition asserted that the monarchy was abolished in a revolution led by the semi-mythical Lucius Junius Brutus and the king's powers were then transferred to two separate consuls elected to office for a term of one year; each was capable of checking his colleague by veto . Most modern scholarship describes these accounts as the quasi-mythological detailing of an aristocratic coup within Tarquin's own family or

2205-652: A similar revolt in Sardinia to seize the island from Carthage, in violation of the peace treaty. This led to permanent bitterness in Carthage. After its victory, the Republic shifted its attention to its northern border as the Insubres and Boii were threatening Italy. Meanwhile, Carthage compensated the loss of Sicily and Sardinia with the conquest of Southern Hispania (up to Salamanca ), and its rich silver mines. This rapid expansion worried Rome, which concluded

2352-451: A skilled military commander due to his campaigns in Asia. Instead the Romans sought to undermine their adversary through diplomatic channels, threats and bribery by spurring smaller states to declare war on the Seleucids. Roman interference made it impossible for Antiochus' successors to carry out their desired policies on their western border. In the eastern Seleucid empire, the vassal states of

2499-704: A stalemate, with the Treaty of Phoenice signed in 205. In Hispania, Scipio continued his successful campaign at the battles of Carmona in 207, and Ilipa (now Seville ) in 206, which ended the Punic threat on the peninsula. Elected consul in 205, he convinced the Senate to invade Africa with the support of the Numidian king Masinissa , who had defected to Rome. Scipio landed in Africa in 204. He took Utica and then won

2646-442: A statue or an ode . Besides these prizes of honor, the city of Athens awarded victorious Athenians with 100 drachmas . From 228 BC or 229 BC onwards the Romans were allowed to take part in the games. In 196 BC Titus Quinctius Flamininus used the occasion of the games to proclaim the freedom of the Greek states from Macedonian hegemony. According to Appian 's account: When he had arranged these things with them he went to

2793-699: A third term in 121 but was defeated. During violent protests over repeal of an ally's colonisation bill, the Senate moved the first senatus consultum ultimum against him, resulting in his death, with many others, on the Aventine. His legislation (like that of his brother) survived; the Roman aristocracy disliked the Gracchan agitation but accepted their policies. Isthmian Games The Games were reputed to have originated as funeral games for Melicertes (also known as Palaemon), instituted by Sisyphus , legendary founder and king of Corinth , who discovered

2940-680: A treaty with Hasdrubal in 226, stating that Carthage could not cross the Ebro river . But the city of Saguntum , south of the Ebro, appealed to Rome in 220 to act as arbitrator during a period of internal strife . Hannibal took the city in 219, triggering the Second Punic War. Initially, the Republic's plan was to carry war outside Italy, sending the consuls P. Cornelius Scipio to Hispania and Ti. Sempronius Longus to Africa, while their naval superiority prevented Carthage from attacking from

3087-410: The lex Ovinia transferred this power to the censors, who could only remove senators for misconduct, thus appointing them for life. This law strongly increased the power of the Senate, which was by now protected from the influence of the consuls and became the central organ of government. In 312 BC, following this law, the patrician censor Appius Claudius Caecus appointed many more senators to fill

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3234-589: The Aetolian League – receptive to Antiochus' ambassadors as they returned from the embarrassment at Rome – sought to shake up the Roman settlement and draw both Rome and Antiochus into war for its own advantage. The Aetolians moved to form an alliance between themselves, Philip in Macedon, and Nabis in Sparta . The plans for an alliance failed, but Nabis was sufficiently persuaded to invade coastal cities in Laconia ;

3381-469: The Battle of the Great Plains , which prompted Carthage to open peace negotiations. The talks failed because Scipio wanted to impose harsher terms on Carthage to prevent it from rising again as a threat. Hannibal was therefore sent to face Scipio at Zama . Scipio could now use the heavy Numidian cavalry of Massinissa—which had hitherto been so successful against Rome—to rout the Punic wings, then flank

3528-524: The Galatians located there who had supported Antiochus. After Magnesia, Antiochus' representatives reported to Sardis where the Romans had encamped after the battle. There, they accepted the Roman peace terms, which had become more specific: Antiochus would cede all territory north and west of the Taurus mountains; he would pay 15,000 Euboeic talents (500 immediately, 2,500 after Roman ratification, and

3675-598: The Seleucid Empire made increasingly aggressive and successful attempts to conquer the entire Greek world. Now not only Rome's allies against Philip, but even Philip himself, sought a Roman alliance against the Seleucids. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that Hannibal was now a chief military advisor to the Seleucid emperor, and the two were believed to be planning outright conquest not just of Greece, but also of Rome. The Seleucids were much stronger than

3822-834: The Seleucid Empire , the Lusitanian Viriathus , the Numidian Jugurtha , the Pontic king Mithridates VI , Vercingetorix of the Arverni tribe of Gaul , and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra . At home, during the Conflict of the Orders , the patricians , the closed oligarchic elite, came into conflict with the more numerous plebs ; this was resolved peacefully, with the plebs achieving political equality by

3969-545: The Seleucid Empire . In 202, internal problems led to a weakening of Egypt's position, disrupting the power balance among the successor states. Macedonia and the Seleucid Empire agreed to an alliance to conquer and divide Egypt. Fearing this increasingly unstable situation, several small Greek kingdoms sent delegations to Rome to seek an alliance. Rome gave Philip an ultimatum to cease his campaigns against Rome's new Greek allies. Doubting Rome's strength, Philip ignored

4116-602: The plebs elected tribunes , who were personally sacrosanct, immune to arbitrary arrest by any magistrate, and had veto power over legislation. By 390 BC, several Gallic tribes were invading Italy from the north. The Romans met the Gauls in pitched battle at the Battle of Allia River around 390–387 BC. The battle was fought at the confluence of the Tiber and Allia rivers, 11 Roman miles (10 mi or 16 km) north of Rome. The Romans were routed and subsequently Rome

4263-574: The 4th century BC. The late Republic, from 133 BC onward, saw substantial domestic strife , often anachronistically seen as a conflict between optimates and populares , referring to conservative and reformist politicians, respectively. The Social War between Rome and its Italian allies over citizenship and Roman hegemony in Italy greatly expanded the scope of civil violence. Mass slavery also contributed to three Servile Wars . Tensions at home coupled with ambitions abroad led to further civil wars . The first involved Marius and Sulla . After

4410-564: The 6th century. The games were the same as those in Olympia including wrestling , pancration , and horse racing. Among other competitions were: The commentator Papagalos also records the first instance of οισοληνειν (oisoleven), an early form of snooker played with painted pottery balls Before the Games began, a truce was declared by Corinth to grant athletes safe passage through Greece. In 412 BC, even though Athens and Corinth were at war,

4557-629: The Aetolians so that they could send envoys to the senate in Rome negotiate a peace. In the meantime, the Scipios marched on the land route for Asia Minor. Hannibal's fleet was stopped by the Rhodians at the Battle of the Eurymedon and the remaining fleet at Ephesus was destroyed by Livius' successor, Lucius Aemilius Regillus , in the Battle of Myonessus . The latter battle cemented Rome's control of

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4704-460: The Boii ambushed the army of the consul-elect for 215, L. Postumius Albinus , who died with all his army of 25,000 men in the Battle of Silva Litana . These disasters triggered a wave of defection among Roman allies, with the rebellions of the Samnites, Oscans, Lucanians, and Greek cities of Southern Italy. In Macedonia, Philip V also made an alliance with Hannibal in order to take Illyria and

4851-530: The Corinthians for any Athenian visitors to the Isthmian games to be granted the privilege of front seats ( prohedria , Ancient Greek προεδρία). Another version states that Kypselos , tyrant of Corinth in the 7th century BC, returned to the Games their old splendour. The first Isthmian Games were held in 582 BC. The festival included athletic and musical competitions to honor the god Poseidon, and

4998-485: The Eleans boycotted them. The Isthmian games were used by many as a forum for political propaganda. These were stephanitic games (i.e., with a crown as prize) and at least until the 5th century BC ( Pindar 's time) the winners of the Isthmian games received a wreath of celery; later, the wreath was altered such that it consisted of pine leaves and called Isthmian pine (Ἰσθμικὴ πίτυς). Victors could also be honored with

5145-638: The Greek city-states in the Balkans and Asia Minor while also largely excluding the Seleucids from the Mediterranean . From 212 to 205 BC, Antiochus III campaigned to reassert Seleucid authority over Armenia and Iran. After reducing those areas to vassals and signing a treaties with the Parthians and the Bactrians , he returned home. He then concentrated on restoring his empire's control over large portions of Asia Minor. He was, however, interrupted by

5292-537: The Greeks from Roman subjugation. This was the final provocation for the senate in Rome. The combination of the Aetolians and Antiochus was an unacceptable intrusion into Greece. The Romans responded by dispatching the praetor Aulus Atilius Serranus with a fleet to the Peloponnese and Marcus Baebius Tamphilus with two legions to Epirus . Further troops were levied and, in the new year of 191 BC, placed under

5439-464: The Isthmian games, and, the stadium being full of people, he commanded silence by trumpet and directed the herald to make this proclamation, "The Roman people and Senate, and Flamininus, their general, having vanquished the Macedonians and Philip, their king, order that Greece shall be free from foreign garrisons, not subject to tribute, and shall live under her own customs and laws." Thereupon there

5586-475: The Isthmus until AD 42 or 43. Libanius mentions the continuation of cultic activities at the Isthmus into the middle of the 4th century, and the games probably continued at least until the end of that century. The circumstances of their demise are unknown. Imperial pressure against pagan rituals was heightened at the end of the 4th century, but some polytheistic cult practices certainly continued at Corinth into

5733-528: The Macedonians enter the war against the Aetolian League – they operated independently of the Romans – and occupy a number of towns in Thessaly. Antiochus moved on Acarnania , but was forced to withdraw when he heard of the incursion into Thessaly. By the time the consul Glabrio reached Thessaly, towns simply surrendered without a fight. Antiochus, receiving no reinforcements and heavily outnumbered by

5880-468: The Macedonians had ever been, because they controlled much of the former Persian Empire and had almost entirely reassembled Alexander the Great's former empire. Fearing the worst, the Romans began a major mobilization, all but pulling out of recently conquered Spain and Gaul. This fear was shared by Rome's Greek allies, who now followed Rome again for the first time since that war. A major Roman-Greek force

6027-736: The Parthians and Bactrians declared independence. This war was the only war the Romans fought with the Seleucids; the Seleucid empire collapsed amid internecine conflict a generation later. After Antiochus' death on 3 July 187 BC, his successor Seleucus IV Philopator immediately started rebuilding his navy as funds became available, but largely did not provoke and remained aloof from the Romans. Antiochus' successors were also quickly able to field armies in similar sizes to those which Antiochus had fielded in his wars. The terms reached at Apamea caused no collapse in Seleucid military power. Seleucus IV's successor, Antiochus IV Epiphanes , simply ignored

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6174-455: The Punic army—and confronted Hannibal, who was encamped at Cannae , in Apulia . Despite his numerical disadvantage, Hannibal used his heavier cavalry to rout the Roman wings and envelop their infantry, which he annihilated. In terms of casualties, the Battle of Cannae was the worst defeat in Roman history: only 14,500 soldiers escaped, and Paullus was killed as well as 80 senators. Soon after,

6321-712: The Rhone, sent his elder brother Gnaeus with the main part of his army in Hispania according to the initial plan, and went back to Italy with the rest to resist Hannibal in Italy, but he was defeated and wounded near the Ticino river . Hannibal then marched south and won three outstanding victories. The first one was on the banks of the Trebia in December 218, where he defeated the other consul Ti. Sempronius Longus. More than half

6468-532: The River Maeander while Eumenes received the rest. Manlius Vulso, after defeating some Galatian Gauls in Anatolia and seizing from them (and, of political importance, not from Greeks) substantial plunder, marched to Pamphylia to receive the first large instalment of Antiochus' war indemnity. Hearing of the arrival of the senatorial legation, he then moved to Apamea and there with them precisely defined

6615-425: The Roman army was lost. Hannibal then ravaged the country around Arretium to lure the new consul C. Flaminius into a trap at Lake Trasimene . This clever ambush resulted in the death of the consul and the complete destruction of his army of 30,000 men. In 216, the new consuls L. Aemilius Paullus and C. Terentius Varro mustered the biggest army possible, with eight legions—some 80,000 soldiers, twice as many as

6762-427: The Roman coalition dispersing Antiochus' scythe-chariots on his left before Eumenes II of Pergamum led a mass cavalry charge which drove Antiochus' cataphracts into his own centre. Antiochus himself was at the head of a separate wing of his cavalry, which had driven back the Roman left close to the Roman camp and therefore was unable to support his infantry. Antiochus' infantry resisted stubbornly but after their order

6909-481: The Roman coalition of around 30,000; this is disputed and John Grainger, in The Roman War of Antiochos the Great , argues instead that both sides had around 50,000 men. The nominal Roman commander there was Lucius Scipio, as his brother Scipio Africanus claimed illness; however, Appian and Plutarch instead relate that Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus , also a legate, was in effective command. The battle started with

7056-457: The Roman coalition, was forced to choose between retreat or doing battle where the coalition's numerical superiority would be minimised. He chose Thermopylae . The resulting battle was such an overwhelming defeat for Antiochus that he immediately fled Greece for Ephesus . Less than six months had elapsed from his arrival in Demetrias. With the Roman victory there, the Greek cities that sat on

7203-462: The Roman consul in Asia, Manlius Vulso, who was assisted by ten senatorial legates. In Rome, it was determined that the republic would not treat the Greeks in Asia Minor the same way it had treated those in Europe. They would instead reward Eumenes of Pergamum and Rhodes with territory for their support in the war. Eumenes and the Rhodians were at odds in their interests. Eumenes asserted that while

7350-508: The Roman cost of the war and abandon his claims to Smyrna , Lampsacus , Alexandria Troas , and other Roman allies. The Scipios, reflecting the Roman view that the Greeks in Asia Minor were part of Rome's sphere of influence, declined the offer and demanded that Antiochus cede the whole of Asia Minor northwest of the Taurus mountains and indemnify all Roman war costs. Seeing these demands as too extreme, Antiochus broke off negotiations. Late in

7497-510: The Romans but were unsuccessful in the face of excessive Roman demands. Antiochus' naval forces in the Aegean were defeated in two major engagements which saw the Roman coalition gain naval superiority. The consul of 190 BC, Lucius Cornelius Scipio , then pursued Antiochus into Asia Minor with the support of the Pergamene king Eumenes II . Antiochus started peace negotiations, which he broke off after exorbitant Roman demands. But after he

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7644-407: The Romans concluded a peace in the north and moved south with reinforcements, placing Pyrrhus in danger of being flanked by two consular armies; Pyrrhus withdrew to Tarentum. In 279 BC, Pyrrhus met the consuls Publius Decius Mus and Publius Sulpicius Saverrio at the Battle of Asculum , which remained undecided for two days. Finally, Pyrrhus personally charged into the melee and won the battle but at

7791-471: The Romans had no right to demand the last element and Antiochus deftly brushed off Roman demands by appealing to his historic claims in the region and protesting the lack of any legitimate Roman interest in Asia Minor after his marriage alliance with Ptolemy and his own declaration of freedom for the Greek cities in Asia Minor. His responses largely blunted any possible Roman causes for war: "if Rome had wanted to fight at this point, she would have had to fight for

7938-515: The Romans saw Antiochus' representatives in Aetolia as responsible. The Aetolians then moved troops to seize Sparta, Chalcis , and Demetrias . Successful only at Demetrias (the Aetolians assassinated Nabis but were stopped by Achaean intervention; Chalchis responded to the Aetolians with force) and able to convince Antiochus that the Greek cities were waiting enthusiastically to rebel against Rome, he landed at Demetrias and proclaimed he would liberate

8085-411: The Romans were the best to hold direct responsibility for Antiochus' former territories, inasmuch as the Romans were unwilling to stay, he felt he was the second-best option. Rhodes argued that freedom should be granted to the Greeks and Eumenes rewarded with Antiochus' ceded non-Greek territories. The senate, with no desire to maintain a military presence in Asia Minor, gave Rhodes Lycia and Caria south of

8232-533: The Romans would be forced to besiege every city along the Royal Road down to Cilicia. However, giving up the whole of Asia Minor created for Antiochus and his successors a massive buffer zone which allowed for a prolonged peace between the Roman and Seleucid empires. The Romans did not attempt to engage in another armed conflict with the Seleucids as they had yet to gain a firm foothold in Asia Minor and despite his recent defeat Antiochus retained his reputation as

8379-415: The Romans' inability to conceive of plausible alternatives to the traditional republican system in a "crisis without alternative". The second instead stresses the continuity of the republic: until its disruption by Caesar's civil war and the following two decades of civil war created conditions for autocratic rule and made return to republican politics impossible: and, per Erich S. Gruen , "civil war caused

8526-474: The Seleucids had both ships and elephants had been known by this point for two decades and Polybius' explanation of the matter makes no reference to the treaty, instead explaining Roman action in terms of military opportunism. Rome through the middle of the second century took a cordial approach toward the Seleucids; a Roman diplomatic embassy arriving shortly after a military parade in Antioch made no mention of

8673-583: The Senate's grant of extraordinary powers to Octavian as Augustus in 27 BC—which effectively made him the first Roman emperor —marked the end of the Republic. Rome had been ruled by monarchs since its foundation . These monarchs were elected, for life, by the men of the Roman Senate . The last Roman monarch was called Tarquin the Proud , who in traditional histories was expelled from Rome in 509 BC because his son, Sextus Tarquinius , raped

8820-598: The Spartan general marched on Regulus, crushing the Roman infantry on the Bagradas plain ; only 2,000 soldiers escaped, and Regulus was captured. The consuls for 255 nonetheless won a naval victory at Cape Hermaeum, where they captured 114 warships. This success was spoilt by a storm that annihilated the victorious navy: 184 ships of 264 sank, 25,000 soldiers and 75,000 rowers drowned. The corvus considerably hindered ships' navigation and made them vulnerable during tempest. It

8967-491: The Taurus line, which started Cape Sarpedon and ran through the upper portions of the River Tanais . They also decreed restrictions on Antiochus' navy, which limited it to only ten large ships of more than thirty oars. A number of disarmament provisions were also included: among other things, Antiochus would pledge to desist from the use of war elephants and be prohibited from sailing past Cape Sarpedon. The resulting treaty

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9114-575: The affair was insulted and war was promptly declared. Facing a hopeless situation, the Tarentines (together with the Lucanians and Samnites) appealed to Pyrrhus , king of Epirus , for military aid. A cousin of Alexander the Great , he was eager to build an empire for himself in the western Mediterranean and saw Tarentum's plea as a perfect opportunity. Pyrrhus and his army of 25,500 men (with 20 war elephants) landed in Italy in 280 BC. The Romans were defeated at Heraclea , as their cavalry were afraid of Pyrrhus's elephants. Pyrrhus then marched on Rome, but

9261-407: The aftermath of the Social War. In the winter of 138–137 BC, a first slave uprising, known as the First Servile War , broke out in Sicily. After initial successes, the slaves led by Eunus and Cleon were defeated by Marcus Perperna and Publius Rupilius in 132 BC. In this context, Tiberius Gracchus was elected plebeian tribune in 133 BC. He attempted to enact a law to limit

9408-526: The aftermath of the war – proclaimed freedom for all Greeks, explicitly including even those in Asia Minor under Antiochus' control. The Romans gave a further warning against intervening in Greek affairs or entering Europe at the Isthmian Games of 196 BC. A later embassy reached the king at Lysimachia and demanded Antiochus' withdrawal from Ptolemaic lands in Asia Minor, his withdrawal from lands formerly Philip's, and that he refrain from attacking any Greek cities (as all Greek cities had been declared free);

9555-423: The agreement when Philip's emissaries were captured by a Roman fleet. The First Macedonian War saw the Romans involved directly in only limited land operations, but they achieved their objective of occupying Philip and preventing him from aiding Hannibal. The past century had seen the Greek world dominated by the three primary successor kingdoms of Alexander the Great 's empire: Ptolemaic Egypt , Macedonia and

9702-427: The amount of land anyone could own and establish a commission to distribute public lands to poor rural plebs. The aristocrats, who stood to lose an enormous amount of money, bitterly opposed this proposal. Tiberius submitted this law to the Plebeian Council , but it was vetoed by fellow tribune Marcus Octavius . Tiberius induced the plebs to depose Octavius from his office on the grounds that Octavius acted contrary to

9849-500: The area around Epidamnus , occupied by Rome. His attack on Apollonia started the First Macedonian War . In 215, Hiero II of Syracuse died of old age, and his young grandson Hieronymus broke the long alliance with Rome to side with Carthage. At this desperate point, the aggressive strategy against Hannibal the Scipiones advocated was abandoned in favour of a slow reconquest of the lost territories, since Hannibal could not be everywhere to defend them. Although he remained invincible on

9996-455: The backbone of Rome's economy, as smallholding farmers, managers, artisans, traders, and tenants. In wartime, they could be summoned for military service. Most had little direct political influence. During the early Republic, the plebs (or plebeians) emerged as a self-organised, culturally distinct group of commoners, with its own internal hierarchy, laws, customs, and interests. Plebeians had no access to high religious and civil office. For

10143-408: The battlefield, defeating all the Roman armies on his way, he could not prevent Claudius Marcellus from taking Syracuse in 212 after a long siege , nor the fall of his bases of Capua and Tarentum in 211 and 209 . In Hispania, Publius and Gnaeus Scipio won the battles of Cissa in 218, soon after Hannibal's departure, and Dertosa against his brother Hasdrubal in 215, which enabled them to conquer

10290-623: The command of Manius Acilius Glabrio to conduct the war "against Antiochus and those in his empire". Even before Glabrio and his consular army arrived, Antiochus' campaign was not going well. He was received extremely coolly by the Greeks. Roman declarations of liberty had real substance and his claim of Greek liberation compared unfavourably with it; his ostensible liberations of a few cities in Thessaly had required force against their indigenous governments. The Achaean League responded to his occupation of Demetrias by declaring war, justifying it with their Roman alliance. The spring of 191 BC saw

10437-469: The conquests of Antiochus and the Roman victory in the Second Punic War , the Aegean was now flanked by two great powers on its east and west. Roman influence continued expanding as a result of the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC), fought between the republic and Philip V of Macedon . After Philip invaded the Cycladic islands and declared war on Rhodes and Pergamum , the defenders called on Roman aid in summer of 201 BC after major setbacks in

10584-693: The consul Appius Claudius Caudex , turned to one of the popular assemblies to get a favourable vote by promising plunder to the voters. After the assembly ratified an alliance with the Mamertines, Caudex was dispatched to cross the strait and lend aid. Messina fell under Roman control quickly. Syracuse and Carthage, at war for centuries, responded with an alliance to counter the invasion and blockaded Messina, but Caudex defeated Hiero and Carthage separately. His successor, Manius Valerius Maximus , landed with an army of 40,000 men and conquered eastern Sicily, which prompted Hiero to shift his allegiance and forge

10731-457: The cost of an important part of his troops ; he allegedly said, "if we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." He escaped the Italian deadlock by answering a call for help from Syracuse, where tyrant Thoenon was desperately fighting an invasion from Carthage . Pyrrhus could not let them take the whole island, as it would have compromised his ambitions in

10878-619: The creation of promagistracies to rule its conquered provinces , and differences in the composition of the senate. Unlike the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire, throughout the republican era Rome was in a state of near-perpetual war. Its first enemies were its Latin and Etruscan neighbours, as well as the Gauls , who sacked Rome in 387 BC. After the Gallic sack, Rome conquered

11025-602: The dead body and buried it subsequently on the Isthmus . In Roman times, Melicertes was worshipped in the region. Another likely later myth held that Theseus , legendary king of Athens , expanded Melicertes' funeral games from a closed nightly rite into fully-fledged athletic-games event which was dedicated to Poseidon , open to all Greeks, and was at a suitable level of advancement and popularity to rival those in Olympia , which were founded by Heracles . Theseus arranged with

11172-606: The death of Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt in summer 204 BC, which gave him an opportunity to take Coele Syria , Phoenicia , and Palestine from the Ptolemies in the aftermath of the Fifth Syrian War . Successful in Syria and Palestine, he spent some time there before turning back to Asia Minor some time in 197 BC. For these victories, he took the title "Great King" ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεὐς μἑγας ). With

11319-579: The departure of the Epirote king. Between 288 and 283 BC, Messina in Sicily was taken by the Mamertines , a band of mercenaries formerly employed by Agathocles . They plundered the surroundings until Hiero II , the new tyrant of Syracuse , defeated them (in either 269 or 265 BC). In effect under a Carthaginian protectorate, the remaining Mamertines appealed to Rome to regain their independence. Senators were divided on whether to help. A supporter of war,

11466-432: The dictator Camillus , who made a compromise with the tribunes: he agreed to their bills, and they in return consented to the creation of the offices of praetor and curule aediles, both reserved to patricians. Lateranus became the first plebeian consul in 366 BC; Stolo followed in 361 BC. Soon after, plebeians were able to hold both the dictatorship and the censorship. The four-time consul Gaius Marcius Rutilus became

11613-638: The dominant force in politics and society. They initially formed a closed group of about 50 large families, called gentes , who monopolised Rome's magistracies, state priesthoods, and senior military posts. The most prominent of these families were the Cornelii , Aemilii , Claudii , Fabii , and Valerii . The leading families' power, privilege and influence derived from their wealth, in particular from their landholdings, their position as patrons , and their numerous clients. The vast majority of Roman citizens were commoners of various social degrees. They formed

11760-683: The eastern coast of Hispania. But in 211, Hasdrubal and Mago Barca successfully turned the Celtiberian tribes that supported the Scipiones, and attacked them simultaneously at the Battle of the Upper Baetis , in which the Scipiones died. Publius's son, the future Scipio Africanus , was then elected with a special proconsulship to lead the Hispanic campaign, winning a series of battles with ingenious tactics. In 209, he took Carthago Nova ,

11907-451: The economic difficulties of the plebs for their own gain: Stolo, Lateranus, and Genucius bound their bills attacking patricians' political supremacy with debt-relief measures. As a result of the end of the patrician monopoly on senior magistracies, many small patrician gentes faded into history during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC due to the lack of available positions. About a dozen remaining patrician gentes and 20 plebeian ones thus formed

12054-457: The end of the war, the consuls for 256 BC decided to carry the operations to Africa, on Carthage's homeland. The consul Marcus Atilius Regulus landed on the Cap Bon peninsula with about 18,000 soldiers. He captured the city of Aspis , repulsed Carthage's counterattack at Adys , and took Tunis . The Carthaginians hired Spartan mercenaries, led by Xanthippus , to command their troops. In 255,

12201-655: The establishment of the Roman Empire following the War of Actium . During this period, Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world . Roman society at the time was primarily a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Ancient Roman religion and its pantheon . Its political organization developed at around

12348-525: The fall of the republic, not vice versa". A core cause of the Republic's eventual demise was the loss of elite's cohesion from c.  133 BC : the ancient sources called this moral decay from wealth and the hubris of Rome's domination of the Mediterranean. Modern sources have proposed multiple reasons why the elite lost cohesion, including wealth inequality and a growing willingness by aristocrats to transgress political norms, especially in

12495-421: The first plebeian dictator in 356 BC and censor in 351 BC. In 342 BC, the tribune of the plebs Lucius Genucius passed his leges Genuciae , which abolished interest on loans, in a renewed effort to tackle indebtedness; required the election of at least one plebeian consul each year; and prohibited magistrates from holding the same magistracy for the next ten years or two magistracies in the same year. In 339 BC,

12642-471: The first time a Roman army had ever entered Asia . The decisive engagement was fought at the Battle of Magnesia , resulting in complete Roman victory. The Seleucids sued for peace, and Rome forced them to give up their recent Greek conquests. Rome again withdrew from Greece, assuming (or hoping) that the lack of a major Greek power would ensure a stable peace. In fact, it did the opposite. In 179, Philip died. His talented and ambitious son, Perseus , took

12789-406: The four patricians in the college. The Conflict of the Orders ended with the last secession of the plebs around 287. The dictator Quintus Hortensius passed the lex Hortensia , which reenacted the law of 339 BC, making plebiscites binding on all citizens, while also removing the requirement for prior Senate approval. These events were a political victory of the wealthy plebeian elite, who exploited

12936-458: The freedom of cities that Antiochus [declared] free, for the settlement of disputes that he was willing to refer to arbitration, and for the return to Ptolemy of cities that Ptolemy apparently did not want back". More fundamentally, however, the Romans and Antiochus had incompatible international visions: Rome saw their sphere of influence running directly to the Hellespont with Asia Minor as

13083-589: The growing unrest he had caused led to his trial for seeking kingly power; he was sentenced to death and thrown from the Tarpeian Rock . Between 376 BC and 367 BC, the tribunes of the plebs Gaius Licinius Stolo and Lucius Sextius Lateranus continued the plebeian agitation and pushed for an ambitious legislation, known as the Leges Liciniae Sextiae . The most important bill opened the consulship to plebeians. Other tribunes controlled by

13230-484: The historian Polybius helped in the escape – and take the throne from his uncle's lineage in 162 BC. Hannibal, who was to be surrendered to Rome under Apamea's terms, fled for Crete and thence to Pergamum's enemy, Bithynia . After Flaminius negotiated with the king of Bithynia to have Hannibal surrendered in 183 or 182 BC, he killed himself. One of the Aetolian leaders who had fled to Antiochus' court, Thoas,

13377-472: The indemnity, payments of which were completed very slightly late during Antiochus IV's reign in 173 BC. In general, only the provisions relating to the cession of Seleucid lands north and west of the Taurus mountains and relating to the indemnity were rigorously pursued by the Romans. The other provisions – like similar treaties in the Hellenistic period – attached to the ruler rather than their state;

13524-535: The infantry, as Hannibal had done at Cannae. Defeated for the first time, Hannibal convinced the Carthaginian Senate to pay the war indemnity, which was even harsher than that of 241: 10,000 talents in 50 instalments. Carthage also had to give up all its elephants, all its fleet but ten triremes , and all its possessions outside its core territory in Africa (what is now Tunisia ), and it could not declare war without Roman authorisation. In effect, Carthage

13671-507: The league's surrender. Rome decided to divide Macedonia into two new, directly administered Roman provinces, Achaea and Macedonia . For Carthage, the Third Punic War was a simple punitive mission after the neighbouring Numidians allied to Rome robbed and attacked Carthaginian merchants. Treaties had forbidden any war with Roman allies; viewing defence against banditry as "war action", Rome decided to annihilate Carthage. Carthage

13818-481: The legates – then gave a public oration before the senate proclaiming Roman intentions to free the Greeks in Asia Minor while Antiochus' ambassadors, from fear of starting a war and without authorisation to accept the Roman terms or to reject them, could only plead negotiations continue. The senate by spring 192, clarified its position and would accept peace provided that Antiochus remained in Thrace. In late 193 BC,

13965-530: The main Punic base in Hispania. The next year, he defeated Hasdrubal at the Battle of Baecula . After his defeat, Carthage ordered Hasdrubal to reinforce his brother in Italy. Since he could not use ships, he followed the same route as his brother through the Alps, but the consuls M. Livius Salinator and C. Claudius Nero were awaiting him and defeated him in the Battle of the Metaurus , where Hasdrubal died. It

14112-477: The manifest will of the people, a position that was unprecedented and constitutionally dubious. His law was enacted and took effect, but, when Tiberius ostentatiously stood for reelection to the tribunate, he was murdered by his enemies. Tiberius's brother Gaius was elected tribune ten years later in 123 and reelected for 122. He induced the plebs to reinforce rights of appeal to the people against capital extrajudicial punishments and institute reforms to improve

14259-472: The most important cities in the Roman Empire. Views on the structural causes of the Republic's collapse differ. One enduring thesis is that Rome's expansion destabilized its social organization between conflicting interests; the Senate's policymaking, blinded by its own short-term self-interest, alienated large portions of society, who then joined powerful generals who sought to overthrow the system. Two other theses have challenged this view. The first blames

14406-422: The nearby Achaean League responded by moving in reinforcements and dispatching an embassy to Rome; Rome responded by sending four ambassadors to remind the Greeks of their continued interests. After Flaminius, one of the ambassadors, spoke to the Aetolian League, it responded by passing a decree to invite Antiochus to liberate Greece and arbitrate the dispute between Rome and Aetolia. This was a declaration of war and

14553-564: The new limit of 300, including descendants of freedmen, which was deemed scandalous. Caecus also launched a vast construction program, building the first aqueduct , the Aqua Appia , and the first Roman road, the Via Appia . In 300 BC, the two tribunes of the plebs Gnaeus and Quintus Ogulnius passed the lex Ogulnia , which created four plebeian pontiffs, equalling the number of patrician pontiffs, and five plebeian augurs, outnumbering

14700-430: The next six years. Aetolia also was reduced to a Roman client state, required exceptionally and explicitly to "minister to the power and empire of the Roman people". The other consul for 189, Gnaeus Manlius Vulso , succeeded the Scipios in Asia – Lucius Scipio's request for prorogation , sent in haste after his victory, was ignored – and finding a truce with Antiochus, led a plundering expedition into Anatolia to subdue

14847-415: The old kingdom. The Romans swiftly defeated the Macedonians at the second battle of Pydna . The Achaean League , seeing the direction of Roman policy trending towards direct administration, met at Corinth and declared war "nominally against Sparta but in reality, against Rome". It was swiftly defeated: in 146, the same year as the destruction of Carthage , Corinth was besieged and destroyed , forcing

14994-467: The patricians vetoed the bills, but Stolo and Lateranus retaliated by vetoing the elections for five years while being continuously reelected by the plebs, resulting in a stalemate. In 367 BC, they carried a bill creating the Decemviri sacris faciundis , a college of ten priests, of whom five had to be plebeians, thereby breaking patricians' monopoly on priesthoods. The resolution of the crisis came from

15141-597: The peace in 196, were again liberated. The treaty broadly followed the same goals as those of Flaminius after the Macedonian war: in areas of Roman interest, outside influences would be neutralised and Roman friends would be buttressed. The Asiatic victors of the war, Pergamum, Rhodes, and the allied free cities were bound in gratitude to the Romans. The Romans intended to pacify the region with goodwill rather than legions; so far they had been successful. The territories formerly Antiochean were re-parcelled immediately after

15288-485: The people's welfare. While ancient sources tend to "conceive Gracchus' legislation as an elaborate plot against the authority of the Senate... he showed no sign of wanting to replace the Senate in its normal functions". Amid wide-ranging and popular reforms to create grain subsidies, change jury pools, establish and require the Senate to assign provinces before elections, Gaius proposed a law that would grant citizenship rights to Rome's Italian allies. He stood for election to

15435-533: The persistent Sabines and the local cities. Rome defeated its rival Latin cities in the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC, the Battle of Ariccia in 495 BC, the Battle of Mount Algidus in 458 BC, and the Battle of Corbio in 446 BC. But it suffered a significant defeat at the Battle of the Cremera in 477 BC, wherein it fought against the most important Etruscan city, Veii ; this defeat

15582-493: The plebeian consul and dictator Quintus Publilius Philo passed three laws extending the plebeians' powers. His first law followed the lex Genucia by reserving one censorship to plebeians, the second made plebiscites binding on all citizens (including patricians), and the third required the Senate to give its prior approval to plebiscites before they became binding on all citizens. During the early Republic, consuls chose senators from among their supporters. Shortly before 312 BC,

15729-445: The poorest, one of the few effective political tools was their withdrawal of labour and services, in a " secessio plebis "; the first such secession occurred in 494 BC, in protest at the abusive treatment of plebeian debtors by the wealthy during a famine. The patrician Senate was compelled to give them direct access to the written civil and religious laws and to the electoral and political process. To represent their interests,

15876-412: The provisions of such treaties therefore lapsed on a ruler's death unless otherwise indicated. Antiochus III's youngest son, also named Antiochus , was sent as a political hostage into Roman custody. After Antiochus III's death, he was exchanged for Demetrius , who was Antiochus' nephew and the son of Seleucus IV Philopator . He was held in Rome for sixteen years until he was able to escape – apparently

16023-506: The request, and Rome sent an army of Romans and Greek allies, beginning the Second Macedonian War . In 197, the Romans decisively defeated Philip at the Battle of Cynoscephalae , and Philip was forced to give up his recent Greek conquests. The Romans declared the "Peace of the Greeks", believing that Philip's defeat now meant that Greece would be stable, and pulled out of Greece entirely. With Egypt and Macedonia weakened,

16170-551: The rest over twelve years); Eumenes of Pergamum would receive 400 talents and grain; the Roman enemies sheltered at Antiochus' court, including Hannibal, would be handed over; and twenty hostages, one of which was Antiochus' youngest son, would be delivered to Rome as a guarantee. What is today known about the detailed terms of the treaty largely comes from fragments of Polybius ' Histories . The precise terms were hashed out first at Rome, with input for ambassadors hailing from all over Asia Minor (Eumenes visited in person), and later by

16317-483: The same time as direct democracy in Ancient Greece , with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by a senate . There were annual elections, but the republican system was an elective oligarchy , not a democracy ; a small number of powerful families largely monopolised the magistracies. Roman institutions underwent considerable changes throughout the Republic to adapt to the difficulties it faced, such as

16464-405: The same time was consolidating Seleucid influence in western Asia Minor. During the war, Antiochus' relations with Rome were cordial: at the start of the war, he had promised no aid to Philip before a Roman embassy; he complied with a Roman embassy demanding he withdraw from Pergamum, a Roman ally in the war; the Romans did nothing to prevent his occupation of areas further east in Asia Minor. After

16611-593: The same time, operated a large army in Europe against tribes in Thrace through 194, moving into the Roman power vacuum and conceiving of the Roman withdrawal as a retreat. At a meeting between Antiochus' envoys in Rome, ten legates speaking on behalf of the senate made their position clear behind closed doors: if Antiochus wanted peace he would have to stay on his side of the Hellespont and Bosphorus; if he did not do so Rome would maintain its rights to intervene in Asia to protect its allies. Provocatively, Flaminius – one of

16758-583: The sea. This plan was thwarted by Hannibal's bold move to Italy. In May 218, he crossed the Ebro with a large army of about 100,000 soldiers and 37 elephants. He passed in Gaul , crossed the Rhone , then the Alps , possibly through the Col de Clapier . This exploit cost him almost half of his troops, but he could now rely on the Boii and Insubres, still at war with Rome. Publius Scipio, who had failed to block Hannibal on

16905-441: The sea. Aemilius' victory forced Antiochus to withdraw in haste back across the Hellespont to Asia Minor. When the Romans advanced into Thrace, Antiochus' allies did nothing to stop them; when they crossed the Hellespont, he gave no contest. By October of 190 BC, Antiochus' naval forces were vastly outmatched by the Romans and the Scipios had arrived into Asia Minor. He attempted to negotiate for peace, offering to indemnify half

17052-493: The sidelines quickly flocked to join the victors. Glabrio turned his eye towards the Aetolians and captured Heraclea that year before besieging Naupactus after peace negotiations – the Aetolian ambassadors sought to surrender, but the specific rites for surrender were unclear and vitiated by their need for ratification – fell apart. Succeeded by the consul of 190 BC, Lucius Cornelius Scipio and Lucius' able legate Scipio Africanus , Glabrio returned to Rome and celebrated

17199-453: The size of his navy, prohibiting his navy from sailing past Cape Sarpedon, and prohibiting him from recruiting mercenaries from Roman-dominated territory, however, largely lapsed with his death. Antiochus' immediate acceptance of terms after Magnesia reflected a prudent belief that further war between Rome and the Seleucid empire would be mutually ruinous. Antiochus still had more men and significant space to trade for time, especially given that

17346-471: The throne and showed a renewed interest in conquering Greece. With its Greek allies facing a major new threat, Rome declared war on Macedonia again, starting the Third Macedonian War . Perseus initially had some success against the Romans, but Rome responded by sending a stronger army which decisively defeated the Macedonians at the Battle of Pydna in 168. The Macedonians capitulated, ending

17493-470: The treaty to the senate even though it surely would have seen elephants. The provisions carving out a Roman sphere of influence in Asia Minor, however, were faithfully abided: when Seleucus IV assembled a large army to aid his cousin Pharnaces I of Pontus against Pergamum, the Romans likely sent a message reminding him of his obligations not to wage war on Roman allies. So too were the provisions relating to

17640-455: The treaty's disarmament provisions: his navy by 168 BC was sufficiently power to support his invasion of Cyprus – itself west of Cape Sarpedon – and included both elephants and various mercenaries recruited from Roman client states. Some sources, such as Appian and Zonaras, indicate that the Romans attempted after the death of Antiochus IV to enforce the provisions of the treaty by burning Seleucid ships and hamstringing elephants. However, that

17787-506: The treaty; this was to the substantial advantage of Eumenes, who later supported Roman intervention against his enemy Macedon in the Third Macedonian War . This, however, proved to his detriment as by this point, his usefulness to Rome had come to an end. By 168 BC, the Romans had reoriented their alliances against both Pergamum and Rhodes. Roman enforcement of the terms with Antiochus continued in part. The disarmament provisions which prohibited Antiochus from having war elephants, reducing

17934-591: The verge of losing the war. Pyrrhus again met the Romans at the Battle of Beneventum . This time, the consul Manius Dentatus was victorious and even captured eight elephants. Pyrrhus then withdrew from Italy, but left a garrison in Tarentum, to wage a new campaign in Greece against Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia . His death in battle at Argos in 272 BC forced Tarentum to surrender to Rome. Rome and Carthage were initially on friendly terms, lastly in an alliance against Pyrrhus, but tensions rapidly rose after

18081-411: The war, however, Roman opinion soured, largely due to Antiochus' having crossed into Europe after the war's end, threatening Roman buffers in the Balkans, all while expressing a delayed congratulations to Rome. The Romans, in the peace after the Macedonian war, declared four towns – formerly Philip's possessions – to be free even though they were within Antiochus' sphere of influence. The Romans also – in

18228-443: The war. Convinced now that the Greeks (and therefore the rest of the region) would not have peace if left alone, Rome decided to establish its first permanent foothold in the Greek world, and divided Macedonia into four client republics. Yet Macedonian agitation continued. The Fourth Macedonian War , 150 to 148 BC, was fought against a Macedonian pretender to the throne who was again destabilizing Greece by trying to reestablish

18375-513: The war. The Roman senate, influenced by a senatorial "circle of 'eastern experts'" led by Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus , who were veterans of the First Macedonian War , sent an embassy to Philip with an ultimatum. Over the next three years, the Romans fought Philip and by 197 BC were victorious; in the aftermath, the Aegean's interstate politics had shifted considerably. The Roman coalition had defeated Philip, but Antiochus at

18522-523: The western Mediterranean, and so declared war. The Carthaginians lifted the siege of Syracuse before his arrival, but he could not entirely oust them from the island as he failed to take their fortress of Lilybaeum . His harsh rule soon led to widespread antipathy among the Sicilians; some cities even defected to Carthage. In 275 BC, Pyrrhus left the island before he had to face a full-scale rebellion. He returned to Italy, where his Samnite allies were on

18669-425: The whole Italian Peninsula in a century and thus became a major power in the Mediterranean. Its greatest strategic rival was Carthage , against which it waged three wars . Rome defeated Carthage at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, becoming the dominant power of the ancient Mediterranean world. It then embarked on a long series of difficult conquests, defeating Philip V and Perseus of Macedon , Antiochus III of

18816-470: The year negotiated a final peace with both the Aetolians and the Cephallenians . Aetolia, initially faced with unbudging Roman demands from 191 BC onwards for an indemnity of one thousand talents – an unattainable sum – which was eventually lowered; after Rhodes mediated between them and was successful in convincing the Romans to accept an indemnity of 200 talents with a further 300 to be paid over

18963-449: The year, some time around the middle of December, the decisive battle of the war took place near Magnesia ad Sipylum . The consul Lucius Scipio was anxious for battle, as he needed a victory in December when he would be replaced in command. The Battle of Magnesia resulted in a clear Roman coalition victory over Antiochus' army. Numbers on each side are disputed. Livy reports that Antiochus commanded 60,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry against

19110-503: Was soundly defeated by Catulus. Exhausted and unable to bring supplies to Sicily, Carthage sued for peace. Carthage had to pay 1,000 talents immediately and 2,200 over ten years and evacuate Sicily. The fine was so high that Carthage could not pay Hamilcar's mercenaries, who had been shipped back to Africa. They revolted during the Mercenary War , which Carthage suppressed with enormous difficulty. Meanwhile, Rome took advantage of

19257-431: Was abandoned after another similar catastrophe in 253 BC. These disasters prevented any significant campaign between 254 and 252 BC. Hostilities in Sicily resumed in 252 BC, with Rome's taking of Thermae. The next year, Carthage besieged Lucius Caecilius Metellus , who held Panormos (now Palermo). The consul had dug trenches to counter the elephants, which once hurt by missiles turned back on their own army, resulting in

19404-521: Was almost defenceless, and submitted when besieged. But the Romans demanded complete surrender and removal of the city into the desert hinterland, far from any coastal or harbour region; the Carthaginians refused. The city was besieged and completely destroyed . Rome acquired all of Carthage's North African and Iberian territories. The Romans rebuilt Carthage 100 years later as a Roman colony, by order of Julius Caesar. It flourished, becoming one of

19551-485: Was also handed over to the Romans; he was later released and later became Aetolia's strategos twice more in 181 and 173 BC. Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( Latin : Res publica Romana [ˈreːs ˈpuːblɪka roːˈmaːna] ) was the era of classical Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with

19698-479: Was condemned to be a minor power, while Rome recovered from a desperate situation to dominate the western Mediterranean. Rome's preoccupation with its war with Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V of Macedonia , in the north of the Greek peninsula , to attempt to extend his power westward. He sent ambassadors to Hannibal's camp in Italy, to negotiate an alliance as common enemies of Rome. But Rome discovered

19845-517: Was defeated by the Roman-led coalition at the Battle of Magnesia , he sued for peace, accepting those Roman demands. In the resulting peace of Apamea, Antiochus ceded all of his territories beyond the Taurus mountains to Roman allies and paid a large indemnity covering the Roman cost of the war. The Aetolians reached separate terms with the Romans, reducing them to a Roman client state, the next year. The Romans thereby gained uncontested hegemony over

19992-464: Was disrupted by their own elephants, Eumenes exploited the holes in the formation and annihilated Antiochus' phalanx from the flank. With his armies defeated, Antiochus sent representatives to the Scipios at Sardis , where they had moved after the battle, to seek terms. In Greece, the war continued. The consul of 189 BC, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior , was assigned to continue the war after negotiations again failed. He besieged Ambracia and later in

20139-462: Was great shouting and rejoicing and a scene of rapturous tumult; and groups here and there called the herald back in order that he might repeat his words for them. They threw crowns and fillets upon the general and voted statues for him in their cities. They sent ambassadors with golden crowns to the Capitol at Rome to express their gratitude, and inscribed themselves as allies of the Roman people. Such

20286-532: Was held in the spring of the second and fourth years of each Olympiad at Poseidon's rural sanctuary on the Isthmus of Corinth, the small neck of land that connects the Peloponnesian peninsula with Central Greece. Since it was easy to reach both from land and sea, the Isthmia was a natural meeting place. This festival was open to all Greeks and the Isthmian games were especially popular with Athenians, though

20433-446: Was later avenged at the Battle of Veii in 396 BC, wherein Rome destroyed the city. By the end of this period, Rome had effectively completed the conquest of its immediate Etruscan and Latin neighbours and secured its position against the immediate threat posed by the nearby Apennine hill tribes. Beginning with their revolt against Tarquin, and continuing through the early years of the Republic, Rome's patrician aristocrats were

20580-439: Was limited as patrician tribunes retained preeminence over their plebeian colleagues. In 385 BC, the former consul and saviour of the besieged capital, Marcus Manlius Capitolinus , is said to have sided with the plebeians, ruined by the sack and largely indebted to patricians. According to Livy, Capitolinus sold his estate to repay the debt of many of them, and even went over to the plebs, the first patrician to do so. Nevertheless,

20727-472: Was mobilized under the command of the great hero of the Second Punic War, Scipio Africanus , and set out for Greece, beginning the Roman–Seleucid War . After initial fighting that revealed serious Seleucid weaknesses, the Seleucids tried to turn the Roman strength against them at the Battle of Thermopylae , but were forced to evacuate Greece. The Romans pursued the Seleucids by crossing the Hellespont ,

20874-528: Was sacked by the Senones . There is no destruction layer at Rome around this time, indicating that if a sack occurred, it was largely superficial. Second Samnite War Third Samnite War From 343 to 341 BC, Rome won two battles against its Samnite neighbours, but was unable to consolidate its gains, due to the outbreak of war with former Latin allies. In the Latin War (340–338 BC), Rome defeated

21021-524: Was the end of the second war between the Romans and Philip. Since the games' inception, Corinth had always been in control of them. When Corinth was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC, the Isthmian games continued, but were now administered by Sicyon . Corinth was rebuilt by Caesar in 44 BC, and recovered ownership of the Games shortly thereafter, but they were then held in Corinth. They did not return to

21168-438: Was the first Roman to receive a naval triumph, which also included captive Carthaginians for the first time. Although Carthage was victorious on land at Thermae in Sicily, the corvus gave a strong advantage to Rome on the waters. The consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio (Asina's brother) captured Corsica in 259 BC; his successors won the naval battles of Sulci in 258, Tyndaris in 257 BC, and Cape Ecnomus in 256. To hasten

21315-409: Was the landing in Sicily of Hamilcar Barca in 247 BC, who harassed the Romans with a mercenary army from a citadel he built on Mt. Eryx . Unable to take the Punic fortresses in Sicily, Rome tried to decide the war at sea and built a new navy, thanks to a forced borrowing from the rich. In 242 BC, 200 quinqueremes under consul Gaius Lutatius Catulus blockaded Drepana. The rescue fleet from Carthage

21462-416: Was the turning point of the war. The campaign of attrition had worked well: Hannibal's troops were now depleted; he only had one elephant left ( Surus ) and retreated to Bruttium , on the defensive. In Greece, Rome contained Philip V without devoting too many forces by allying with the Aetolian League , Sparta , and Pergamon , which also prevented Philip from aiding Hannibal. The war with Macedon resulted in

21609-421: Was then sworn by Manlius Vulso – by then prorogued pro consule – and by Antiochus. They then divided the cities in Asia Minor, with the exception of those cities which had been defined as Roman allies (they retained their independence), into the respective territories allotted to Pergamum and Rhodes. Antiochus' territories in Europe were also adduced to Pergamum, though the cities of Aenus and Maronea , freed in

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