Empires: Rome -The Background History Part Six

Already by the years 192 to 188 BC Rome was getting involved in Asia. The Republic had gone to war with Antiochus III, who had forced the Egyptians out of Syria and Palestine, after re-establishment of Seleucid rule in the campaign in Bactria. He was allied with the Aetolian League and wanted to obtain the Ptolemaic possessions in the Aegean and landed in Thessaly. After the defeat of Antiochus at Thermopylae in 191 BC, Rome won the battle of Magnesia over Antiochus. The Aetolian League was defeated in 189 BC by the seizure of Ambracia. In 188 BC, the Peace of Apamea required Antiochus to pay 15,000 talents in 12 annual installments and to surrender all warships to Rome. The possessions in Asia Minor, north of the Taurus were given to Rhodes and Pergamum, making them, as client states to the Romans, factors that extended her influence and provided a balance to the power of the Seleucid kingdom. Syria and Egypt, the two local powers, after witnessing this defeat quickly learned to put up with meddling Roman ambassadors and recognized Roman hegemony.

The extent and speed of Rome's rise to power was astonishing, although Rome's formal empire was still limited, being largely to Sicily, Macedon and parts of Spain. However, the actual extent of Rome's power by the 140s BC was in some new and strange lands, of which not many Romans had even heard of. There were many citizens of the Republic who felt a great sense of pride in Rome's achievements. However, many citizens also felt a sense of unease. Roman moralists, who had a history of always comparing Rome's present unfavorably with her past (as most moralists do), did not have to search far and wide to see the corrupting effects of empire. Anything from the plundered treasures of the East being bought and sold in Rome's marketplaces to the foreign languages and philosophies coming to her streets could evoke distress as well as pride. The salt of the earth peasant values that had helped Rome to become an empire never seemed more admirable, as when they were being neglected. "The Republic is founded on its ancient customs and its manpower," stated Cicero quoting Ennius in The Republic. This had been said with pride after the triumph against Hannibal. The startling transformation of the little city-state, from backwater to empire had unsettled some Romans and made them fearful of the jealousy of the gods.

There was an uncomfortable ambiguity with the Republic's interactions and empire building, as it seemed to be both a measure of Rome's success and decline at the same time. There were no lack of omens relating to Rome's possible destruction. As great as she had become, wonders-both natural and supernatural were said to have disturbed her citizens. If the omens were very troubling, the Sibyl's prophetic books would be consulted. For a long time it seemed that the proper interpretations and remedies were found in the oracular book. The Republic would be saved and the ancient customs of their ancestors would be preserved. Citizens could wonder-Would this always be the case? Was Rome really an 'eternal' city? The times-they were a changin, and soon some crises appeared that could not be averted or healed by ancient rituals. Rome's introduction to the stage of world history had set a chain of events in motion that were not easily slowed down or dealt with, even by consulting the ancient books of the Sibyl.

In a foretaste of what was to come, it was said that with the destruction of two of the greatest cities of the Meditteranean, Corinth and Carthage, that the Sibyl thought a curse put on Rome. This curse was born in the smoke and ruin of the two cities annihilation. It was said that Scipio had wept as he watched the fires in the midst of the crumbling walls of the once great city of Carthage-those fires burned for seventeen days. Perhaps, even at the time of the vanquishing of Rome's most feared enemy, when the world seemed like the Romans for the taking, Scipio could sense how fickle the hand of fate could be.

I had hoped to do more with this blog today-but time constraints really got to me. I do hope to be able to have the next post here very soon. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!

Empires: Rome -The Background History Part Five

Slowly, Rome brought herself back from the edge of destruction. They held on to Sicily and eventually took over Carthage's empire in Spain. 15 years after Cannae, Hannibal fought another Roman army on North African soil. This time Hannibal was finally defeated. Hannibal urged his compatriots to accept Rome's terms of surrender. Hannibal had no wish to see Carthage destroyed utterly. Rome never forgot Hannibal or Carthage. Even after Rome had taken her naval fleet, her provinces and her much immortalized war-elephants, Rome still feared a Carthaginian revival. Centuries later statues of Hannibal were still standing in Rome. Hatred and fear such as this, was in a strange way, the highest compliment Rome could pay to a foreign competitor. Romans saw a lot of themselves in the strength and fighting spirit of their greatest foe.

Rome would never again let another power rise that could threaten her survival. Competition was not welcome and Rome felt perfectly within its rights taking offensive measures against other city-states and kingdoms. Before the war with Hannibal, Rome had started to project its influence in places where it could show who was the 'boss' so to speak. The occasional clashes between the Greek city-states seemed to be one area of the world that confused the Republic. This confusion was understandable considering the constant infighting between the Greeks. Rome did not act like a typical imperial power in its dealings with the Greek states. It would spring like a deadly cobra at times with its legions. For all the force of these unpredictable interventions, there were times when Rome seemed to have lost interest in its Hellenic neighbors completely. When Rome did interfere in Greek affairs, her interventions were represented as peacekeeping missions. The result was not the subjugation of the Greek states and the addition of territory, but the confirmation of Rome's preeminence and the prevention of any of the Greek states and kingdoms becoming too powerful in the region.

Macedon was the kingdom that had to deal most with Rome with Roman intervention in the Balkans. The country's king was heir to the throne of Alexander the Great and Macedon had dominated the peninsula for two hundred years. Macedon continued to try to assert herself in spite of bruising encounters with the Republic's armies. In 168 BC, Rome had enough of what it viewed as Macedonian provocations. At first Rome abolished the monarchy in Macedon and dissected the country into four client republics. Rome transformed itself from a 'peacekeeper' to an occupying power in Macedon in 146 BC, when it made Macedonia a Roman province. This happened after the Fourth Macedonian War or revolt. This revolt was led by a man who pretended to be the son of the last king, and was smashed by the Roman praetor Mettelus Macedonius. The Republic destroyed the city of Corinth, one of the leading cities of the revolt and put an end to the Greek resistance. With the destruction of Corinth, Rome could no longer be pretending it was on peacekeeping missions or subjugating the world in self-defense.

During the civil wars of the late Republic, Macedonian rule was thrown into doubt again. In this time period, while the Greek world was still under the control of the Romans, control of Macedon would see-saw between Pompey and then Caesar, and later Antonius and Cleopatra. It was only at the famous Battle of Actium in 31 BC, off the shores of Epirus, that Octavian, later to be known as Augustus Caesar, would return Rome's dominance of the Greek world under a single Roman leader. For anyone reading this blog I hope to return soon with more posts-I was able to get more work done on the history part of my work than I thought-here my lousy typing skills really have an effect. If I were a better typist I could have gone on in this post at least one if not two more paragraphs-although perhaps it is for the best as there was another change of nations Rome was dealing with. I am also continually trying to think up topics that do not involve Rome-but I think are very interesting and crucial to the discussion of empires and their rise and fall. One area among many that I would like to talk about is the competition between the Soviet and American empires after World War II-so if I can ever get this information together I hope to post it in between the posts about Rome. I tend to always come back to Rome -because-and I know it is cliche to say this-of its comparisons to modern day America. I am really shocked at some of the similarities and synchronicities. Well I have rambled quite enough-as I say I hope to post again very soon-in all likelihood it will be a continuation of Rome-but as I say I am trying to build information to talk about other nations and eras of history. Thanks for the wonderful comments and peace and be well to anyone stopping by!