Tenth installment of “Archienemies of Rome “. Collaboration of Gabriel Castelló.
Our archenemy today is one of the great Hellenistic rulers. Antiochus III the Great , Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας in Greek, was King of Syria from 223 to 187 BC. Born about 241 BC, he was the second son of Seleucus II Callinicus , who upon his death bequeathed the kingdom to his older brother, Seleucus III Soler Cerauno , who was killed on an expedition to the Taurus mountains (Cilicia), thus leaving our character as the only successor of the Seleucid dynastic line.
When Antiochus came to the throne his empire was beginning to crack. The largest Hellenistic kingdom since the division of the diacods had suffered a serious setback in its borders, losing the eastern end (Bactria) to the Parthians, as well as territories in Galatia and Pamphylia (where his brother met his death in a vain attempt to recover them) and the constant pressure from the south by the Ptolemies of Egypt, very troublesome neighbors who were a constant focus of hostilities throughout his reign.
In this precarious situation began the reign of him Antiochus III. His first target was precisely the neighbor of the Nile, causing the Fourth Syrian War in 219 BC. After occupying Judea and Palestine for two years, the Seleucid king planted himself in Egypt with 62,000 infantry, 6,000 horsemen and 102 war elephants. Ptolemy IV Philopator he had similar numbers to those of his adversary, but with fewer cavalry and elephants. This tactical disadvantage did not determine the outcome of the Battle of Rafia (Gaza) on June 22, 217 BC. Ptolemy put the Seleucid army to flight inflicting over 10,000 casualties. Antiochus III was forced to sign a forced peace in which Ptolemy IV took a cut, recovering all of Palestine for his kingdom. Years later he tried again to regain hegemony from him in the Fertile Crescent, but the generals of Ptolemy V defeated him again.
Faced with the new military and tactical setback he suffered on his southern border, his ambitions to recover Alexander's former empire were centered in the north. There was only one problem to expand into Anatolia, an uncomfortable Republic whose influence already reached there thanks to its allied states, Pergamon and Rhodes:That annoyance was called Rome. Tensions flared up from 196 B.C. when Titus Quinctius Flaminius defeated Philip V of Macedon (Associate of Antiochus III in his expansive plan for territorial distribution) in the battle of Cinoscéfalos. Seeing Antiochus' intentions to resume his campaigns in Judea and Phoenicia, Rome sent emissaries to the Seleucid court ordering them not to resume hostilities with Egypt (obviously, the Ptolemies' overseas possessions were expendable, but the granary of the Republic could not fall). in uncontrolled hands)
Antiochus, a fiery and impulsive man, ignored Roman warnings and sacked Palestine. Once his position was consolidated, he turned north, occupying the Ptolemaic lands on the Cilician and Carian coasts. This pulse ended with a pact between the two Hellenistic kingdoms that Celesiria granted to Antiochus, in addition to closing a state wedding with Cleopatra, Ptolemy's sister.
Around this time, around 195 BC, a very interesting refugee arrived in Ephesus for the political plans of the ambitious Antiochus, Hannibal Barqa . The Carthaginian, defeated at Zama by Scipio and repudiated by the Sufetes of Carthage seven years later, he had no choice but to go into exile in the East. And what better place than the court of Antiochus on the eve of a direct confrontation with his secular enemy. Perhaps it was Hannibal who persuaded Antiochus to improve the training and disposition of his armies, cross the Dardanelles and plant himself in Greece under the pretext of raising Sparta and Aetolia in arms against Roman arrogance. Antiochus's plan was much riskier; It consisted of creating a Hellenic alliance against Rome based on the Achaean League, the support of Philip of Macedonia and the rest of the Hellenistic states. Rome did not hesitate and sent an army to Greece to leave things as they were.
In April 191 B.C. the faces were seen Antigonus III and Marco Acilio Gabro at Thermopylae (in the same place of the deed of Leonidas) As happened with the Spartan king against the Persians, Cato discovered the pass that bordered the gorge and the Roman troops surprised the Seleucids. Antiochus himself lost several teeth due to the impact of a projectile and had to flee from Euboea to Ephesus.
A series of minor confrontations took place in 190 BC, mainly notable in Mioneso and Eurymedonte, the latter already led by Hannibal against the Rhodian squad. Both were Seleucid failures. The decisive battle took place in Lydia in 189 BC. On the plain of Magnesia the legions of Lucius Cornelius Scipio clashed (the brother of the African, also present) and his ally Eumenes of Pergamon against the joint Seleucid and Galatian armies of Antiochus . Again the Seleucid had numerical superiority, but not tactical. His army was made up of mercenaries and conscripts against the trained Roman legions. The two great rivals of the Punic Wars could not face each other again that day. Scipio Africanus was indisposed on the day of the battle and Antiochus did not allow the Carthaginian to be more than a simple adviser (perhaps under pressure from the Seleucid nobility who were jealous of the glory of the Barqa). So it went. The legions of Lucius Cornelius Scipio crushed the Seleucid phalanxes and their elephants.
Faced with such a defeat, and the serious consequences it had on the balance of forces in the area, Antiochus was forced to sign a treaty known as the Peace of Apamea in which he promised to pay 15,000 talents in compensation to Rome (a fortune) and deliver Hannibal (something he did not do because the Carthaginian escaped in time, collecting time later in the court of Prussias of Bithynia), in addition to other minor concessions that They established the Seleucid border in the Taurus mountains. These harsh conditions favored Rome's allies, such as Rhodes and Pergamon, leaving the Republic as the dominant state and arbiter of the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Syrian king at last realized that his claims in the West had been cut short by the legions of Rome. He respected the agreements made and dedicated himself to strengthening the true heart of his empire, Mesopotamia. His death was strange. It happened in 187 BC. when he tried to expropriate the treasures of a temple in Ecbatana (today Hamadan, Iran) he was succeeded by his son Seleucus IV Philopator .
For those who want to immerse themselves in this legendary moment, I highly recommend reading “The Betrayal of Rome ” from my good friend Santiago Posteguillo .