In the context of
Ancient GreekAncient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
art, architecture, and culture,
Hellenistic Greece corresponds to the period between the death of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
in
323 BC-Macedonian Empire:* 10 June—In Babylon, Alexander the Great dies, ten days after being taken ill after a prolonged banquet and drinking bout.* The Partition of Babylon sets out the division of the territories conquered by Alexander the Great between his generals...
and the annexation of the
classical GreekClassical Greece was a culture that was highly advanced and which heavily influenced the cultures of Ancient Rome and still has an enduring effect on Western Civilization. Much of modern politics, artistic thought, scientific thought, literature, and philosophy derives from this ancient society...
heartlands by
RomeThe Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...
in
146 BC-Rome:*With Carthage and Greece conquered, Rome becomes the sole superpower in the Mediterranean world, a distinction it will continue to hold for approximately the next 700 years.-Africa:...
. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of
Hellenistic society and cultureHellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BC to about 146 BC ; note, however that Koine Greek language and Hellenistic philosophy and religion are also indisputably elements of the Roman era till Late Antiquity...
, which remained essentially unchanged until the advent of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
, it did mark the end of Greek political independence. This article focuses on the history of 'Greece proper' (effectively the area of modern
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
) during this period.
During the
Hellenistic periodThe Hellenistic period describes the era which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decline or decadence, between the brilliance of...
the importance of Greece proper within the Greek-speaking world declined sharply. The great centers of
Hellenistic cultureHellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BC to about 146 BC ; note, however that Koine Greek language and Hellenistic philosophy and religion are also indisputably elements of the Roman era till Late Antiquity...
were
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
and
AntiochAntioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River...
, capitals of
Ptolemaic EgyptPtolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra of Egypt and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to Cyrene to the west, and...
and Seleucid Syria respectively. Cities such as
PergamonPergamon, Pergamum or Pérgamo was an ancient Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located from the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus , that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty,...
,
EphesusEphesus was an ancient Roman and Greek city on the west coast of Anatolia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek period....
,
RhodesRhodes is a Greek island approximately southwest of Turkey in eastern Aegean Sea...
and
SeleuciaSeleucia was the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, and one of the great cities of antiquity standing in Mesopotamia, on the Tigris River.Seleucia may refer to:...
were also important, and increasing urbanization of the Eastern Mediterranean was characteristic of the time.
Macedonian dominance
The conquests of Alexander had a number of consequences for the Greek city-states. It greatly widened the horizons of the Greeks, making the endless conflicts between the cities which had marked the
5th andThe 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC.-Overview:This century saw the beginning of a period of philosophical brilliance among Western civilizations, particularly the Greeks which would continue all the way through the 4th century until the time of...
4th centuries BCThe 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 300 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.-Overview:This century marked the height of Classical Greek civilization in all of its aspects...
seem petty and unimportant. It led to a steady emigration, particularly of the young and ambitious, to the new Greek empires in the east. Many Greeks migrated to Alexandria, Antioch and the many other new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake, as far away as what are now
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
and
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
, where the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom survived until the end of the
1st century BCThe 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC or 1st century BCE started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC.It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period...
.
The defeat of the Greek cities by
PhilipPhilip II of Macedon, Philip II of Macedon, Philip II of Macedon, ( — φίλος = friend + ίππος = horse — transliterated 382 – 336 BC, was an ancient Greek king (basileus) of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip...
and Alexander also taught the Greeks that their city-states could never again be powers in their own right, and that the hegemony of
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
and its successor states could not be challenged unless the city states united, or at least federated. The Greeks valued their local independence too much to consider actual unification, but they made several attempts to form federations through which they could hope to reassert their independence.
Following Alexander's death a struggle for power broke out among his generals, which resulted in the break-up of his empire and the establishment of a number of new kingdoms. Macedon fell to
CassanderCassander , King of Macedonia , was a son of Antipater, and founder of the Antipatrid dynasty.-Early history:...
, son of Alexander's leading general
AntipaterAntipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became regent of all of Alexander's empire.-Career under Philip and Alexander:...
, who after several years of warfare made himself master of most of Greece. He founded a new Macedonian capital at
ThessalonikiThessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. It is honorarily called the Συμπρωτεύουσα Symprotevousa of Greece, as it was once called the συμβασιλεύουσα symvasilevousa of the Byzantine Empire...
and was generally a constructive ruler.
Cassander's power was challenged by
AntigonusAntigonus I Monophthalmus son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great...
, ruler of Anatolia, who promised the Greek cities that he would restore their freedom if they supported him. This led to successful revolts against Cassander's local rulers. In
307 BC-Babylonia:* Antigonus makes peace with Seleucus, who is left free to consolidate his kingdom.-Egypt:* Ptolemy founds the Museum and Library of Alexandria with the help of Demetrius Phalereus...
Antigonus's son
DemetriusDemetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice, was a king of Macedon...
captured
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
and restored its democratic system, which had been suppressed by Alexander. But in
301 BC-Asia Minor:* In The Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, the armies of Antigonus, the ruler of Syria, Asia Minor, Phoenicia and Judea, and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes are defeated by the forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus. Antigonus is killed in the battle.
a coalition of Cassander and the other Hellenistic kings defeated Antigonus at the
Battle of IpsusThe Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia...
, ending his challenge.
After Cassander's death in
298 BC-Roman Republic:* The Samnites defeat the Romans under Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus in the Battle of Camerinum, first battle of the Third Samnite War....
, however, Demetrius seized the Macedonian throne and gained control of most of Greece. He was defeated by a second coalition of Greek rulers in
285 BC-Egypt:* June 26 – Egypt's Ptolemy I Soter abdicates. He is succeeded by his youngest son by his wife Berenice, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who has been co-regent for three years....
, and mastery of Greece passed to the king
LysimachusFor other uses, see Lysimachus Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BCE, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor andMacedonia.-Early career:Lysimachus was born in 362/361 BC, the son of the Thessalian Agathocles from Crannon...
of ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
. Lysimachus was in turn defeated and killed in
280 BC-Seleucid Empire:* Antiochus makes his eldest son, Seleucus, king in the east, but he proves to be incompetent.* Antiochus is compelled to make peace with his father's murderer and King of Macedon, Ptolemy Keraunos, abandoning, for the time being, his plans to control Macedonia and Thrace.*...
. The Macedonian throne then passed to Demetrius's son Antigonus II, who also defeated an
invasion of the Greek landsCeltic groups, originating from the various La Tene chiefdoms, began a south-eastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the fourth century BCE. Although Celtic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable incursions, and settlements, within the...
by the
GaulsThe Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France and Belgium, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
, who at this time were living in the Balkans. The battle against the Gauls united the Antigonids of Macedon and the Seleucids of Antioch, an alliance which was also directed against the wealthiest Hellenistic power, the Ptolemies of Egypt.
Antigonus II ruled until his death in
239 BC-Carthage:* Concerned that Hamilcar Barca's leniency in pardoning those who he has captured who have participated in the Mercenary War will encourage others to defect, Mathos and Spendius order the mutilation and execution of "about seven hundred" Carthaginian prisoners, including Gesco...
, and his family retained the Macedonian throne until it was abolished by the Romans in
146 BC-Rome:*With Carthage and Greece conquered, Rome becomes the sole superpower in the Mediterranean world, a distinction it will continue to hold for approximately the next 700 years.-Africa:...
. Their control over the Greek city states was intermittent, however, since other rulers, particularly the Ptolemies, subsidised anti-Macedonian parties in Greece to undermine the Antigonids' power. Antigonus placed a garrison at
CorinthCorinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of...
, the strategic centre of Greece, but Athens,
RhodesRhodes is a Greek island approximately southwest of Turkey in eastern Aegean Sea...
, Pergamum and other Greek states retained substantial independence, and formed the
Aetolian LeagueThe Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. Alternatively termed the Aitolian League, it was established probably during the early Hellenistic era in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual...
as a means of defending it.
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
also remained independent, but generally refused to join any league.
In
267 BC-Greece:* Macedonia's King Antigonus II Gonatas has to deal with a rebellion by an Athenian-led coalition of Spartans , Athenians , Arcadians and Achaeans that tries to expel the Macedonian forces located in Greece. The rebellion has the support of Ptolemy II of Egypt....
Ptolemy II persuaded the Greek cities to revolt against Antigonus, in what became the Chremonidian War, after the Athenian leader
ChremonidesChremonides , son of Eteokles, of Aithalidai, was an Athenian 3rd century BC statesman and general. He issued the Decree of Chremonides in 268 BCE, creating an alliance between Sparta, Athens, and Ptolemy II. The alliance was in defense to Antigonus of Macedon and lead to the Chremonidean War....
. The cities were defeated and Athens lost her independence and her democratic institutions. The Aetolian League was restricted to the
PeloponneseThe Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and region in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, but on being allowed to gain control of Thebes in
245 BC-Egypt:* Babylon and Susa fall to the Egyptian armies of Ptolemy III.* Following a long engagement, Ptolemy III marries Berenice II, the daughter of Magas, king of Cyrene; thereby reuniting Egypt and Cyrenaica.-Greece:...
became a Macedonian ally. This marked the end of Athens as a political actor, although it remained the largest, wealthiest and most cultivated city in Greece. In
255 BC-Roman Republic:* The Battle of Adis is fought near the city of that name, 40 miles southeast of Carthage, between Carthaginian forces and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. The Romans inflict a crushing defeat upon the Carthaginians, and the latter then sue for peace...
Antigonus defeated the Egyptian fleet at
CosKos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. The island has both fertile plains and mountainous highlands with a population of 30,947...
and brought the
AegeanThe Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
islands, except Rhodes, under his rule as well.
Philip V
Antigonus II died in
239 BC-Carthage:* Concerned that Hamilcar Barca's leniency in pardoning those who he has captured who have participated in the Mercenary War will encourage others to defect, Mathos and Spendius order the mutilation and execution of "about seven hundred" Carthaginian prisoners, including Gesco...
. His death saw another revolt of the city-states of the
Achaean LeagueThe Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states , on the northern and central Peloponnese, named after the Homeric Achaeans or rather the league that existed with the same name in the NW region of Achaea of unknown time of foundation.The regional Achaean League was...
, whose dominant figure was
AratusAratus was a statesman of the ancient Greek city-state of Sicyon in the 3rd century BC. He deposed the Sicyon tyrant Nicocles in 251 BC. Aratus was an advocate of Greek unity and brought Sicyon into the Achaean League, which he led to its maximum extent. He was elected strategos numerous times...
of
SicyonSikyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia...
. Antigonus's son
Demetrius IIDemetrius II Aetolicus son of Antigonus Gonatas, reigned as king of Macedonia from 239 to 229 BC. He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty....
died in
229 BC-Greece:* The First Illyrian War starts when the Roman Senate dispatches an army under the command of the consuls Lucius Postumius Albinus and Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus to Illyria. Rome forces the withdrawal of Illyrian garrisons in the Greek cities of Epidamnus, Apollonia, Corcyra and Pharos and...
, leaving a child (Philip V) as king, with the general Antigonus Doson as regent. The Achaeans, while nominally subject to Ptolemy, were in effect independent, and controlled most of southern Greece. Athens remained aloof from this conflict by common consent.
Sparta remained hostile to the Achaeans, and in
227 BC-Greece:* Queen Teuta of Illyria finally surrenders to Roman forces and is forced by the Romans to accept an ignominious peace. The Romans allow her to continue her reign but restrict her to a narrow region around the Illyrian capital, Shkodra, deprive her of all her other territory, and forbid her...
Sparta's king
Cleomenes IIICleomenes III was the King of Sparta from 235-222 BC. He succeeded to the Agiad throne of Sparta after his father, Leonidas II in 235 BC.From 229 BC to 222 BC, Cleomenes waged war against the Achaean League under Aratus of Sicyon. Domestically, he is known for his attempt to reform the Spartan state...
invaded Achaea and seized control of the League. Aratus preferred distant Macedon to nearby Sparta, and allied himself with Doson, who in
222 BC-Roman Republic:* Mediolanum , stronghold of the Gallic tribe of the Insubres , falls to Roman legions in Lombardy , in the Battle of Clastidium. Marcus Claudius Marcellus personally slays the chief, Viridomarus. This victory removes the Gallic threat to Rome...
defeated the Spartans and annexed their city – the first time Sparta had ever been occupied by a foreign power.
Philip V, who came to power when Doson died in
221 BC-Carthage:* The Carthaginian general Hasdrubal is murdered by a Celtic assassin while campaigning to increase the Carthaginian hold on Spain. Following the assassination of Hasdrubal, Hannibal, the son of the Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, is proclaimed commander-in-chief by the army and his...
, was the last Macedonian ruler with both the talent and the opportunity to unite Greece and preserve its independence against the "cloud rising in the west": the ever-increasing power of Rome. He was known as "the darling of Hellas". Under his auspices the Peace of Naupactus (
217 BC-Roman Republic:* Gaius Flaminius Nepos is re-elected consul with Gnaeus Servilius Geminus, in what is considered to be a rebuke of the Senate's prosecution of the war...
) brought conflict between Macedon and the Greek leagues to an end, and at this time he controlled all of Greece except Athens, Rhodes and Pergamum.
In
215 BC-Spain:* The Carthaginian general, Hannibal, is denied any reinforcements from Spain for his forces now based in Italy by the activities of the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio and his brother Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, who, in a battle at Dertosa near the Ebro River effectively stop the...
, however, Philip formed an alliance with Rome's enemy
CarthageCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
, which drew Rome directly into Greek affairs for the first time. Rome promptly lured the Achaean cities away from their nominal loyalty to Philip, and formed alliances with Rhodes and Pergamum, now the strongest power in
Asia MinorAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
. The
First Macedonian WarThe First Macedonian War was fought by Rome, allied with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against Philip V of Macedon, contemporaneously with the Second Punic War against Carthage...
broke out in
212 BC-Greece:* After being stopped twice by the Romans in his attempts to invade Illyria by sea, and constrained by the Roman commander Marcus Valerius Laevinus' fleet in the Adriatic, Philip V of Macedon keeps his activities in Illyria land based...
, and ended inconclusively in
205 BC-Seleucid Empire:* Returning via the Persian provinces of Arachosia, Drangiana, and Carmania, Antiochus III arrives in Persis. He then leads a short expedition down the Persian Gulf and receives tribute of 500 talents of silver from the citizens of Gerrha, a mercantile state on the east coast of...
, but Macedon was now marked as an enemy of Rome. Rome's ally Rhodes gained control of the Aegean islands.
In
202 BC-Carthage:* Accused of treason by the Carthaginians after being defeated by the Romans at the Battle of the Great Plains, Hasdrubal Gisco commits suicide to avoid being lynched by a Carthaginian mob....
Rome defeated Carthage, and was free to turn her attention eastwards, urged on by her Greek allies, Rhodes and Pergamum. In
198-Roman Republic:* After his election to the consulship, Titus Quinctius Flamininus is chosen to replace Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus as the leading Roman general in Macedonia. He then crosses into Macedonia with his army. Flamininus realizes that future peace depends on breaking the power of...
the
Second Macedonian WarThe Second Macedonian War 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 Greece...
broke out for obscure reasons, but basically because Rome saw Macedon as a potential ally of the Seleucids, the greatest power in the east. Philip's allies in Greece deserted him and in
197 BC-Greece:* The Spartan ruler, Nabis, acquires the important city of Argos from Philip V of Macedon, as the price of his alliance with the Macedonians. Nabis then defects to the Romans in the expectation of being able to hold on to his conquest....
he was decisively defeated at the
CynoscephalaeThe Battle of Cynoscephalae was fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Philip V.- Prelude :...
by the Roman proconsul
Titus Quinctius FlamininusTitus Quinctius Flamininus was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece.Member of the gens Quinctia, and brother to Lucius Quinctius Flamininus, he served as a military tribune in the Second Punic war and in 205 BC he was appointed propraetor in Tarentum. He was...
.
Luckily for the Greeks, Flamininus was a moderate man and an admirer of Greek culture. Philip had to surrender his fleet and become a Roman ally, but was otherwise spared. At the
Isthmian GamesThe Isthmian Games or Isthmia were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were named after the isthmus of Corinth, where they were held...
in
196 BC-Roman Republic:* The Insubres, Gauls of the Po Valley, believed by the Romans to have been incited to revolt by Carthage, are finally defeated.* A new category of Roman priests, the tresviri epulones, are elected to supervise the feasts of the gods; the first three men selected are Gaius Licinius...
, Flamininus declared all the Greek cities free, although Roman garrisons were placed at Corinth and
ChalcisChalcis or Chalkida, Halkida, Halkis or Chalkis , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Evripos at its narrowest point...
. But the freedom promised by Rome was an illusion. All the cities except Rhodes were enrolled in a new League which Rome ultimately controlled, and democracies were replaced by aristocratic regimes allied to Rome.
Rise of Rome
In
192 BC-Greece:* The Achaeans respond to Sparta's renewed interest in recovering lost territory by sending an envoy to Rome with a request for help. In response, the Roman Senate sends the praetor Atilius with a navy, as well as an embassy headed by Titus Quinctius Flamininus.* Not waiting for the Roman...
war broke out between Rome and the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III. Antiochus invaded Greece with a 10,000 men army, and was elected the commander in chief of the Aetolians . Some Greek cities now thought of Antiochus as their saviour from Roman rule, but Macedon threw its lot in with Rome. In 191 BC the Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio routed him at Thermopylae and obliged him to withdraw to Asia. During the course of this war Roman troops moved into Asia for the first time, where they defeated Antiochus again at Magnesia on the Sipylum (
190 BC-Greece:* The Battle of the Eurymedon is fought between a Seleucid fleet and ships from Rhodes and Pergamum, who are allied with the Roman Republic. The Seleucids are led by the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal...
). Greece now lay across Rome's line of communications with the east, and Roman soldiers became a permanent presence. The Peace of Apamaea (
188 BC-Greece:* The leader of the Achaean League, Philopoemen, enters northern Laconia with his army and a group of Spartan exiles. His army demolishes the wall that the former tyrant of Sparta, Nabis, has built around Sparta. Philopoemen then restores Spartan citizenship to the exiles and abolishes...
) left Rome in a dominant position throughout Greece.
During the following years Rome was drawn deeper into Greek politics, since the defeated party in any dispute appealed to Rome for help. Macedon was still independent, though nominally a Roman ally. When Philip V died in
179 BC-Roman Republic:* Tiberius Gracchus Major goes to Hispania as Roman governor to deal with uprisings there.* The Pons Aemilius is completed across the Tiber River in Rome...
he was succeeded by his son
PerseusPerseus was the last king of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great...
, who like all the Macedonian kings dreamed of uniting the Greeks under Macedonian rule. Macedon was now too weak to achieve this objective, but Rome's ally
Eumenes IIEumenes II of Pergamon was king of Pergamon and a member of the Attalid dynasty. The son of king Attalus I and queen Apollonis, he followed in his father's footsteps and collaborated with the Romans to oppose first Macedonian, then Seleucid expansion towards the Aegean, leading to the defeat of...
of Pergamum persuaded Rome that Perseus was a potential threat to Rome's position.
End of Greek independence
As a result of Eumenes's intrigues Rome declared war on Macedon in
171 BC-Greece:* Epirus joins Macedonia in the latter's fight against Rome. However, the Greek leagues remain neutral.* Thanks to the efforts of Eumenes II of Pergamum while in Rome, the Romans declare war on Macedonia and send troops to Thessaly, thus beginning the Third Macedonian War...
, bringing 100,000 troops into Greece. Macedon was no match for this army, and Perseus was unable to rally the other Greek states to his aid. Poor generalship by the Romans enabled him to hold out for three years, but in
168 BC-Greece:* The king of Illyria, Gentius, is defeated at Scodra by a Roman force under Lucius Anicius Gallus and then brought to Rome as a captive to be interned in Iguvium...
the Romans sent Lucius Aemilius Paullus to Greece, and at
PydnaThe Battle of Pydna in 168 BC between Rome and the Macedonian Antigonid dynasty saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenic/Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to Alexander the Great.-Campaign:...
the Macedonians were crushingly defeated. Perseus was captured and taken to Rome, the Macedonian kingdom was broken up into four smaller states, and all the Greek cities who aided her, even rhetorically, were punished. Even Rome's allies Rhodes and Pergamum effectively lost their independence.
Under the leadership of an adventurer called
AndriscusAndriscus, , also spelt Andriskos and often called the "pseudo-Philip", was the last King of Macedonia , and ruler of Adramyttium in Aeolis ....
, Macedon rebelled against Roman rule in
149 BC-Rome:* Third Punic War declared; Rome lands an army in Africa to begin the Battle of Carthage.* Servius Sulpicius Galba is prosecuted for corruption while serving in Spain, but is acquitted after he parades his weeping family members before the tribunal....
: as a result it was directly annexed the following year and became a
Roman provinceIn Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italian peninsula...
, the first of the Greek states to suffer this fate. Rome now demanded that the Achaean League, the last stronghold of Greek independence, be dissolved. The Achaeans refused and, feeling that they might as well die fighting, declared war on Rome. Most of the Greek cities rallied to the Achaeans' side, even slaves were freed to fight for Greek independence. The Roman consul Lucius Mummius advanced from Macedonia and defeated the Greeks at
CorinthCorinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth Corinth, or Korinth (Greek Κόρινθος, Kórinthos is a city in Greece. In antiquity it was a city-state, on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. To the west of the isthmus lies the Gulf of...
, which was razed to the ground.
In
146 BC-Rome:*With Carthage and Greece conquered, Rome becomes the sole superpower in the Mediterranean world, a distinction it will continue to hold for approximately the next 700 years.-Africa:...
the Greek peninsula, though not the islands, became a Roman protectorate. Roman taxes were imposed, except in Athens and Sparta, and all the cities had to accept rule by Rome's local allies. In
133 BC-Rome:*Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, as consul, is sent against the slaves in Italy. Caius Marius serves under Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus at Numantia....
the last king of Pergamum died and left his kingdom to Rome: this brought most of the Aegean peninsula under direct Roman rule as part of the province of Asia.
The final downfall of Greece came in
88 BCYear 88 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:* The Social War ends with the defeat of the Italian allies by the Romans.* The First Roman Civil War starts with democratic uprising led by Gaius Marius, but the democrats under the tribune P. Sulpicius Rufus are crushed by the conservatives...
, when King
Mithridates-Early reign:Mithradates VI was the son of Mithradates V , who died when he was a boy. During Eupator's minority, supreme power was exercised by his mother queen Laodice, whom he eventually deposed and committed to prison...
of PontusPontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Pontos...
rebelled against Rome, and massacred up to 100,000 Romans and Roman allies across Asia Minor. Although Mithridates was not Greek, many Greek cities, including Athens, overthrew their Roman puppet rulers and joined him. When he was driven out of Greece by the Roman general
Lucius Cornelius SullaLucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , or simply Sulla, was a Roman general and politician, holding the office of consul twice as well as the dictatorship....
, Roman vengeance fell upon Greece again, and the Greek cities never recovered. Mithridates was finally defeated by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) in
65 BCYear 65 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar.-Rome:* In response to the illegal exercise of citizen rights by foreigners, the Roman Senate passed the Lex Papia, which expelled all foreigners from Rome....
.
Further ruin was brought to Greece by the Roman civil wars, which were partly fought in Greece. Finally, in
27 BCYear 27 BC was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.-Rome:* January 16—The Roman Senate votes Octavian the title of Augustus. He accepts this honor, having declined the alternative title of Romulus. He is known as Augustus afterwards.* Augustus becomes consul for the seventh time...
, Augustus directly annexed Greece to the new
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
as the province of Achaea. The struggles with Rome had left Greece depopulated and demoralised. Nevertheless, Roman rule at least brought an end to warfare, and cities such as Athens, Corinth, Thessaloniki and
PatrasPatras is Greece's third largest urban centre and the capital of the prefecture of Achaea, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
soon recovered their prosperity.
See also
- Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BC to about 146 BC ; note, however that Koine Greek language and Hellenistic philosophy and religion are also indisputably elements of the Roman era till Late Antiquity...
- Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period describes the era which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decline or decadence, between the brilliance of...
- Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
- Hellenistic art
Further reading
- Austin, Michel M., The Hellenistic world from Alexander to the Roman conquest: a selection of ancient sources in translation, Cambridge University Press, 1981. ISBN 0521228298