Achaean War
The Achaean War, which took place in 146 BC, was a significant conflict in ancient Greece that marked the end of the Achaean League and the beginning of Roman dominance in the region. Tensions between the Achaean League and Sparta escalated over the years, leading to Roman intervention. Initially, the Roman Senate sought to mediate the conflict by sending ambassadors to negotiate peace, but these efforts were met with hostility from the Achaeans, who ultimately declared war on Sparta. The war saw decisive Roman military actions; under the command of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus and later Lucius Mummius, Roman forces defeated the Achaean troops and captured Corinth. The fall of Corinth was particularly momentous, as the city was completely destroyed, symbolizing the power shift in Greek politics. In the aftermath, the Greek peninsula was integrated into the Roman Empire, fundamentally reshaping the region's governance and culture. This conflict illustrates the complex interplay of local power dynamics and the expansive ambitions of Rome during this period.
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Subject Terms
Achaean War
Related civilizations: Hellenistic Greece, Republican Rome
Date: 146 b.c.e.
Locale: The southern Greek peninsula known as the Peloponnese
Background
In the second century, the Peloponnese housed two competing powers, Sparta and the Achaean (uh-KEE-uhn) League. After decades of disagreement, their quarreling provoked decisive Roman intervention.
Action
At first, Rome attempted to arbitrate. Responsible for the Republic’s foreign affairs, the Roman senate dispatched ambassadors in 147 b.c.e. However, its instructions to detach several cities from the league angered the Achaeans, who at Corinth threatened the ambassadors with violence. Although Rome sent another, more conciliatory embassy, the Achaeans obstructed negotiations and soon afterward declared war on Sparta.
In 146 b.c.e., Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus and a Roman army marched south from Macedonia, defeating Achaean troops in central Greece. Caecilius’s successor, Lucius Mummius, crushed the league’s remaining forces at the isthmus in late summer. After sacking Corinth, Mummius began organizing Greek affairs with the assistance of ten commissioners from Rome.
Consequences
While Corinth was razed to the ground, those communities that had fought against the Republic were attached to the Roman province in Macedonia. Kept under the watchful eye of a Roman governor, the entire Greek peninsula was eventually incorporated into Rome’s overseas empire.
Bibliography
Green, Peter. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Reprint. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Gruen, Erich S. “The Origins of the Achaean War.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 96 (1976): 46-69.