4.12 Europe: 200 to 101 b.c.  (Page 11/2)

Europe

Back to Europe: 300 to 201 B.C.

Southern europe

Eastern mediterranean islands

As the commerce of Rhodes declined the government allied itself with Rome, a situation which was to continue for several centuries. In the Cyclades there were frequent changes of control. Crete remained a somewhat wild area with nests of pirates while Cyprus was still subservient to Egypt. (Ref. 38 )

Greece

From this time on for a number of centuries the affairs and destiny of Greece became intimately connected and almost inseparable from the Roman Empire and the military and political expansion of Hellenism lost momentum. The Romans fastened their control on Macedonia and Greece with remarkable ease between 200 and 146 B.C.. Sparta, under Nabis, attempted a revival of independence in 195 B.C. but it ended with Roman conquest. At the request of the Aetolians, Antiochus III brought Syrian forces into Greece in 192 B.C., but they, too, were routed by the Romans in the following year. Various members of the Achaean League fought as late as 146 B.C., but they did so in a divided way and fell, to become a mere backwater of the Roman Empire. As a political entity Greece disappeared from history for 2,000 years. (Ref. 28 , 222 , 77 )

Upper balkans

It was mentioned in the last chapter that Philip of Macedonia had given some help to Hannibal and that had started the Second Macedonian War in 200 B.C. Although Philip was beaten in a final battle at Cynoscephalae in 197 B.C. he was graciously restored to his throne by the Roman victor, T. Quincteus Flamininus. (Ref. 8 ) As Rome took over more territory in Asia Minor Greek-Macedonian and Roman interests again collided, opening the way for the Third Macedonian War (171-168 B.C.) in which Perseus was defeated at Pydna. After seventy Macedonian towns were razed the Romans took direct rule of the country in 146 B.C. In the latter half of the century with its gold deposits exhausted and its manpower weakened by wars and emigration, Macedon could hardly maintain its former place among the world powers.

On the western coast of the Balkan area the Romans conquered Scodra (Albania) with its King Genthius, and established Illyrium as one of the earliest of the Roman colonies. Living in the areas of modern Yugoslavia and Serbia the Dalmatians split from the Illyrians and in several later battles Dalmatia was also then conquered by the Romans. The first Germanic tribe to reach into this area was the east German Bastarnian, which settled between the lower Danube and the Black Sea. (Ref. 8 , 136 )

Italy (the map on page 242 will be applicable again)

In the first half of the century Rome continued the imperialistic conquests in the Mediterranean basin so that by 150 B.C. its territories included most of Spain, all of Italy to the Alps, Sardinia, Sicily, Illyria and the entire Greek peninsula. Allies included Numidia, Egypt, Pontus and after 133 B.C. Pergamum. In 159 B.C. after encouraging the Numidians to encroach upon Carthage to stimulate a fight locally, Rome moved in on the pretext of a broken treaty, declaring the Third Punic War. As noted in an earlier section, by 145 B.C. Carthage lay in burned ruins and Rome was in control of the Mediterranean. A typical Roman of this time was Cato, a sour, revengeful man - publicly moral, but individually cruel and selfish. He could not stand happiness in other people and it was he who urged on the Third Punic War with the slogan "Carthage must be destroyed". (Ref. 48 )