During the war, Macedon attempted to gain control over parts of Illyria and Greece, but without success. It is commonly thought that these skirmishes in the east prevented Macedon from aiding the Carthaginian general Hannibal in the war with Rome. The Peace of Phoenice (205 BC) formally ended the war.
The Aegean on the eve of the Second Macedonian War, c. 200 BC.
The Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC) was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. The result was the defeat of Philip who was forced to abandon all his possessions in southern Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor. During their intervention, and although the Romans declared the "freedom of the Greeks" against the rule from the Macedonian kingdom, the war marked a significant stage in increasing Roman intervention in the affairs of the eastern Mediterraneanwhich would eventually lead to their conquest of the entire region.
Date
200–197 BC
Location
Greece
Result
Roman victory
Territorial
changes
Macedonia gives up all possessions and client states in southern Greece, Thrace and Anatolia
The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman feelings around Macedonia. Tensions escalated and Rome declared war on Macedon.
Most of the war was fought in Macedon as well as neighbouring Thessaly, where the Roman troops were stationed. After an inconclusive battle at Callinicus in 171 BC, and several more years of campaigning, Rome decisively defeated the Macedonian forces at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, bringing the war to a close.
Rome's victory ended the Antigonid dynasty and brought an effective end to the independence of the Hellenistic kingdom of Macedon, although formal annexation was still some years away. The kingdom was divided into four client republics, each subservient to Rome. Roman prestige and authority in Greece was greatly increased as a result.
After the defeat of the Illyrian king, Lucius Anicius, the commander in Illyria, placed garrisons in the Illyrian cities. Then he marched on Epirus with the rest of his army to suppress the rebellion there. All the cities, except for four (Passaron, Tecmon, Phylace and Horreum), surrendered. Passaron was the first of these cities which was attacked. Its two leaders were the men who had incited Epirus to side with Perseus and told the inhabitants that death was preferable to servitude. A young noble stood against them and encouraged the people to drive the two men out of the city, which then surrendered. At Tecmon the city leader was killed and this city surrendered as well. The other two cities fell after a siege. When Epirus was pacified and detachments were sent to various cities for wintering, Lucius Anicius returned to Scodra, the capital of Illyria, where five commissioners had arrived from Rome. Here he summoned the leaders from all around Illyria to a conference. In agreement with the commissioners, he announced that the Roman garrisons were going to be withdrawn from all the cities so that the Illyrians could be free. Some of the cities had deserted Caravantius, the brother of Gentius, and gone over to the Romans. They were, therefore, exempted from paying a tribute. Other cities which had rebelled when Gentius was still in power were also granted this exemption. The three cities which had resisted the longest were to pay half of the tribute they paid to Gentius. Lucius Anicius also declared that Illyria was to be split into three cantons.
Aemilius went to Epirus on his way back to Rome. The senate gave his army permission to plunder the cities in Epirus which had supported Perseus. Centurions were sent to tell all the cities that they had come to remove to the Roman garrisons because the Epirots were to be free. The leaders of each city were summoned and told to bring the silver and gold in their towns to a designated place and that Roman cohorts had been ordered to visit all the cities. Troops were sent to seventy cities. This was coordinated so that they would reach each city on the same day. The precious metals were collected in the morning and at 10 am and then the soldiers were ordered to sack the cities. The city walls were demolished. The booty was enormous and part of the proceeds from its sale was given to the men of the army, 400 denarii to the cavalrymen and 200 to the foot soldiers. In addition to this, 150,000 people were enslaved. The troops resented that they were not given a share of the booty from the royal palace of Perseus “as though they had not taken any part in the Macedonian war.” Aemilius then sailed back to Italy with his army. A few days later Lucius Anicius, who had been meeting the representatives of the rest of the Epirots, told them that the senate wanted to hear the case of some of their leaders and ordered these men to follow him to Italy. He then waited for return of the ships which had been used to transport the army from Macedonia and returned to Italy.
The Fourth Macedonian War (150 BC to 148 BC) was fought between the Roman Republic and a Greek uprising led by the Macedonian pretender to the throne Andriscus. Pretending to be the son of former king Perseus, who had been deposed by the Romans after the Third Macedonian War in 168 BC, Andriscus sought to re-establish the old Macedonian Kingdom. In the process he destabilised Macedonia and much of the Greek world. Andriscus, after some early successes, was eventually defeated by the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus at the Second Battle of Pydna in 148 BC, and the uprising subsequently collapsed. Two years later Macedonia became a Roman province.
In response, the Achaean League in 146 BC mobilized for a new war against Rome. This is sometimes referred to as the Achaean War. and was noted for its short duration and its timing right after the fall of Macedonia. Until this time, Rome had only campaigned in Greece in order to fight Macedonian forces, allies or clients. Rome's military supremacy was well established, having defeated Macedonia and its vaunted Phalanx already on three occasions, and defeating superior numbers against the Seleucids in Asia. The Achaean leaders almost certainly knew that this declaration of war against Rome was hopeless, as Rome had triumphed against far stronger and larger opponents, the Roman legion having proved its supremacy over the Macedonian phalanx.
Polybius blames the demagogues of the cities of the league for inspiring the population into a suicidal war. Nationalist stirrings and the idea of triumphing against superior odds motivated the league into this rash decision. The Achaean League was swiftly defeated, and, as an object lesson, Rome utterly destroyed the city of Corinth in 146 BC, the same year that Carthage was destroyed. After nearly a century of constant crisis management in Greece, which always led back to internal instability and war when Rome pulled out, Rome decided to divide Macedonia into two new Roman provinces, Achaea and Epirus.
📹 Macedonian Wars — First Roman Intervention in the Hellenic Affairs (VİDEO)
📹 Macedonian Wars — First Roman Intervention in the Hellenic Affairs (LINK)
We are starting a new animated historical series on the Macedonian Wars. This conflict was crucial both for the Roman republic and the Hellenic States and featured the famous battles like Cynoscephalae and Pydna during which the classic encounters between the legion and the phalanx took place. Its results set up a new historical reality for the region for many centuries to come, playing a huge role in the creation of the Greco-Roman world.
Our animated historical documentary series on the Roman - Macedonian Wars concludes with a video on the Third Macedonian War and the battle of Pydna fought in 168 BC.
📹 Callinicus 171 BC — Roman-Macedonian Wars (VİDEO)
📹 Callinicus 171 BC — Roman-Macedonian Wars (LINK)
Our animated historical documentary series on the Roman - Macedonian Wars continues with a video on the Third Macedonian War and the battle of Callinicus fought in 171 BC.
Our animated historical documentary series on the Macedonian Wars continues with the overview of the second conflict with the focus on the battles of Aous and Cynoscephalae in 197 BC. Famed Roman Legion and the Macedonian Phalanx are about to fight for the hegemony over the Greek world and the whole Mediterranean.
