Macedonian Wars

At issue: Hegemony over Greece

Date: 215-146 b.c.e.

Location: Balkans

Combatants: Romans vs. Macedonians

Principal commanders: Macedonian, King Philip V (238-179 b.c.e.), King Perseus (c. 213-c. 165 b.c.e.), Andriscus (fl. second century b.c.e.); Roman, Titus Quinctius Flamininus (c. 227-174 b.c.e.), Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus (229?-160 b.c.e.), Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (d. 46 b.c.e.)

Principal battles: Cynoscephalae, Pydna

Result: Dissolution of the Macedonian monarchy; establishment of Roman hegemony over Greece

Background

The Argead Macedonian monarch King Philip II established Macedonian rule over Greece with his victory over a coalition of Athens and other Greek states at Chaeronea in Boeotia in 338 b.c.e. His son, Alexander the Great, further strengthened Macedonian control over the Greek city-states before launching his successful mission of conquest of the Persian Empire. Thereafter, the Antigonid Dynasty, which succeeded the Argead, continued to hold an uneasy Macedonian sway over the Greek city-states throughout the third century b.c.e. The Greek city-states, and especially Athens, with its proud traditions and glorious past, never fully acquiesced to Macedonian rule and were ever ready to seize any opportunity to throw off the Macedonian yoke. In the course of the third century b.c.e., two confederations of Greek states, the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues, managed to maintain a certain degree of autonomy from the Macedonian monarchs.

By 300 b.c.e., the Roman Republic controlled peninsular Italy through various sorts of treaties and alliances with the Italian states, in which Rome was the dominant party and invariably required its allies to contribute an annual quota of troops to the Roman military machine. Throughout much of the third century b.c.e., Rome was preoccupied with its great nemesis Carthage, a mercantile imperial power near modern-day Tunis, and Rome’s imperial expansion in this period was principally to its immediate north and south, Cisalpine Gaul and Sicily, respectively. In the great struggle against the Carthaginian leader Hannibal, Rome came to realize that the contest was for control of the western province of Spain, rich in manpower and mines.

In 229 b.c.e., marauding activities of the Illyrians interfered with Italian maritime trading, leading to Rome’s first military operations to the east. Illyria served as a buffer zone between Rome and Macedonia, and a Roman presence across the Adriatic Sea created new tension between the two superpowers. This tension led to a series of wars between Rome and Macedonia. At the beginning of these conflicts, Rome’s aims were no more than establishing stability in the Greek world and curtailing the power of Macedonia. By the end of the Romano-Macedonian wars, the former kingdom of Macedonia was incorporated into the Roman Empire as part of Roman provincial territory.

Action

In the course of Rome’s war against Hannibal, Rome and Macedonia first came into conflict. The Macedonian king Philip V struck an alliance with Hannibal in the aftermath of the latter’s crushing victory over the Romans at Cannae (216 b.c.e.), and this event led to the beginning of the First Macedonian War (215-205 b.c.e.). Rome’s efforts in the Greek theater were half-hearted; the Republic relied on its new ally, the Aetolian League, to keep Philip in play while it brought the war against Carthage to its conclusion. The war died of inanition in the Peace of Phoenice (205 b.c.e.).

Once Rome had decisively defeated Carthage at Zama (202 b.c.e.), it began to settle accounts with Philip V, thus commencing the Second Macedonian War (200-196 b.c.e.). The Roman elite had a hard time persuading the popular assembly to vote for war against Philip, as the rank and file were war weary from the long struggle against Hannibal. In the first two years of the war, Roman troops had difficulty penetrating the Balkan mountain passes and defiles into Macedonia; they were somewhat more effective in their propaganda war in Greece, where they proclaimed that they had come as liberators of Greeks from Macedonian domination. The Roman commander Titus Quinctius Flamininus brought the war to an end by defeating Philip at Cynoscephalae (197 b.c.e.) in Thessaly, thereby demonstrating the superiority of the Roman legion over the Macedonian phalanx.

King Perseus, Philip V’s successor, attempted to strengthen and consolidate Macedonian power, while at the same time remaining on friendly terms with Rome. Roman imperialism, however, hardened in the course of the second century b.c.e., and the Roman Senate was determined to eliminate Macedonia as a serious rival. The Third Macedonian War (172-167 b.c.e.) in general replicated the second: After some early Macedonian successes, the Roman legions crushed the Macedonian phalanx in a decisive battle. The Roman commander Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus met Perseus’s forces at Pydna (June 22, 168 b.c.e.) on the northeast coast of Greece. Here the terrain was ultimately a disadvantage to the phalanx formation, and the Roman maniples were able to infiltrate the formation and carry the day.

In 149 b.c.e., Andriscus, a pretender to the Macedonian throne, invaded Macedonia from Thrace. He briefly aroused great hopes in Macedonia, demonstrating the strong anti-Roman sentiment there at this time. After defeating a Roman praetorian army, he was crushed in 148 b.c.e. by the Roman praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus.

Aftermath

At the conclusion of the Third Macedonian War, the Macedonian kingdom ceased to exist after being divided into four separate republics by the Romans. Shortly after the defeat of Andriscus, in 146 b.c.e., Rome annexed Macedonia as imperial territory. Rome thereby departed from its longstanding policy of serving as hegemonial adviser and avoiding direct annexation in the Greek east.

Resources

Badian, Ernst. Foreign Clientelae (264-70 b.c.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958.

Errington, R. M. The Dawn of Empire: Rome’s Rise to World Power. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1972.

Gruen, Erich S. The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.

Habicht, Christian. Athens from Alexander to Antony. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.

Harris, William V. War and Imperialism in Republican Rome. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979.