Macedonian Wars

During the Second Punic War, the king of Macedonia, Philip V, entered into an alliance with Hannibal . Fearing the possible strengthening of Hannibal by the Macedonian troops, Rome crossed the army across the Adriatic Sea , starting the First Macedonian War . The Roman legions (replenished by allies from the Aetolian Union , Sparta , Messenia , Athens and Pergamum after 211 BC ) captured a small territory along the Adriatic coast. In this war, the goal of the Romans was not to capture new territories, but to keep Macedonia and the Greek policies away from the Punic War. The war ended in 205 BC. e. Peace Agreement ( Eng. Treaty of Phoenice ). This small conflict opened the way for Rome to military expansion in Greece .

In 201 BC e. Ambassadors from Pergamum and Rhodes reported to the Roman Senate that Philip V of Macedonia and the Syrian king of the Seleucid dynasty Antiochus III the Great concluded a non-aggression pact. Some scholars believe that this pact was completely fabricated by Pergamum and Rhodes, interested in weakening Macedonia. Whether this pact existed or not, in any case, Rome, with the support of the Greek allies, launched the Second Macedonian War . The war, which continued with varying success, thoroughly depleted the forces of Macedonia and ended with the decisive victory of the Romans at the Battle of Kinoschefal in 197 BC. e. At the conclusion of peace, Philip V was forced to abandon all possessions outside Macedonia, to give Rome the entire fleet, except for 6 ships needed to fight the pirates, to reduce the army to 5 thousand people and not to fight the allies of Rome. Greece was declared "free", but in fact fell under the rule of Rome.

After the death of Philip ( 179 BC ), his son Perseus became king of Macedonia. Perseus began to pursue an aggressive policy in order to restore Macedonian influence. When the Macedonian aggression affected the allies of Rome, the Senate launched the Third Macedonian War . At first, this war was unsuccessful for the Romans, but in 168 BC. e. Roman legions defeated the Macedonian phalanx at the Battle of Pidna . Perseus was later captured, and Macedonia was divided into four puppet republics. All the allies of Macedonia were severely punished in this war, the Epirus Union supporting Perseus was dissolved, and Epirus, by order of the Roman Senate, was defeated and completely devastated, 150 thousand of its inhabitants were sold into slavery by the Romans. The large tribe of Molossians that dominated Epirus was completely enslaved and as a result disappeared from the pages of history. Epirus was completely devastated and it took him two centuries to recover from this terrible blow.

For almost two decades, Greece lived in peace until a rebellion began in Macedonia led by Andrisk , who proclaimed himself Philip - the son of King Perseus and the Syrian princess Laodika. Supported by Thrace, as well as Byzantium and a number of other cities, Andrisk (Lzhefilipp) occupied Macedonia, attracted the majority of the country's population, and invaded Thessaly . The Roman Legion, sent to crush the rebellion, was destroyed. Rome sent a new army against Andrisk under the command of Quintus Cecilius Metellus , thus unleashing the Fourth Macedonian War . Acting rather by bribery than by force, the Romans defeated Andrisk's troops in 148 BC. e. The second campaign of Andrisk also ended in failure, and he himself was captured, carried out in Rome during the triumph of Quintus Cecilius Metella and executed. In 143 BC e. the Romans also quickly suppressed the movement of False Philip II.

Since then, Rome has not left this region, having founded the provinces of Macedonia , Achaia and Epirus . In response, the remaining Greek policies that were part of the Achaean Union rebelled against the Roman presence. The troops of the Achaean Union in the battle of Levkopetra on Istma were completely destroyed, the Union itself was dissolved, and as a punishment, the Romans destroyed the ancient city of Corinth in 146 BC. e. - in the year of the destruction of Carthage .

The defeat of Macedonia in the wars with Rome is explained not so much by the greater fighting efficiency of the Roman legions in comparison with the clumsy phalanx and the purely military superiority of the Roman army over the Macedonian as a whole, but by the systemic crisis of the slave economy of Macedonia. Significantly depopulated as a result of the outflow of the population to the east during the Greco-Macedonian conquest of Asia, as well as the wars of the Diadoches, the invasions of the Celts and continuous wars, Macedonia could hardly oppose Rome. The defeat on the battlefield was also preceded by a diplomatic defeat in the tangled politics of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. The weakened Macedonia could no longer be the force that could protect the interests of the ruling class against the backdrop of an increasing social struggle, and therefore the gaze of slave owners in the cities of Greece and Asia Minor, and even in Macedonia itself, is turning to a new force - Rome. On all sides surrounded by enemies, exhausted by wars and emaciated, Macedonia suffered a logical defeat.

The Macedonian Wars ended with the loss of independence of Greece

• 209 BC e. - The first battle of Lamia
• 209 BC e. - The second battle of Lamia
• 197 BC e. - Battle of the Kinoskofalah
• 171 BC e. - Battle of Kallinik
• 168 BC e. - Battle of Pidne
• 148 BC e. - Battle of Pidne

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