Chapter 9 - The Aftermath of Alexander’s Empire - Part 02

I died, at the age sixty-four, and was succeeded by his son Antiochus II. Antiochus II quickly formed a welcomed alliance with Antigonus Gonatas. Together they were now able to check Ptolemy and keep him at bay. Unfortunately this alliance gave Antigonus and Antiochus an advantage over Ptolemy and prompted them to take action in recovering some of their lost possessions. While Antigonus continued to build his naval power, Antiochus began his own campaigns against Ptolemy, prompting the so-called second Syrian war. Sensing that he was about to lose ground, Ptolemy II, in 253 BC, made his peace with Antiochus II. To seal the dynastic alliance, Antiochus married Ptolemy’s daughter Berenice Syra who brought him a vast dowry. Unfortunately Antiochus was already married to Laodice whom he had to repudiate with a sizable payoff, however she refused to consent. While playing good politics with Antiochus, Ptolemy II was playing bad politics with Antigonus by backing a revolt against him in Corinth. In 253/252 BC, Antigonus’s nephew Alexander, the governor of Corinth, revolted against Antigonus and proclaimed himself king. As it turned out, however, before any of these matters could be fully settled both Ptolemy and Antiochus died. Ptolemy II died in January 246 BC, and Antiochus II died in August of the same year. While Ptolemy II was replaced by his son Ptolemy III, Antiochus did not leave an heir. It has been said that Antiochus died prematurely, probably from poison. His ex-wife, Laodice, who at the time of his death was visiting the palace, may have poisoned him. In any event, after Antiochus’s death hostilities broke out between his new wife Berenice, who had just born him a son, and his ex-wife Laodice, who claimed that on his deathbed Antiochus had appointed her son Seleucus as his heir. Berenice, feeling the pressure from Laodice, made an appeal for help to her brother Ptolemy III in Alexandria who quickly came to her aid only to find her and her child dead. As a result of the assassinations, hostilities broke out between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies. It escalated to a full-scale war, termed the Third Syrian War, which lasted until about 241 BC, with Seleucus II as victor. His victory however did not save his empire, especially from his own brother who, encouraged by his mother Laodice, wanted co-regency. When Seleucus II refused him, the young Antiochus Hierax set himself up as an independent sovereign. With all the rebellions and dynastic rivalries going on, the future of the Seleucid empire did not look very bright. Also in 241 BC there was a turn of events in Europe where Antigonus Gonatas had to make amends with the Achaean League which was gaining strength year after year. His rebellious nephew Alexander died in 246 BC and by 245 BC Antigonus recovered his losses in Corinth. Satisfied with his accomplishments in one lifetime, Antigonus Gonatas died early in 239 BC, at age eighty. His tough and ambitious son Demetrius II, another Macedonian, succeeded him. Before continuing with the main story, I want to take a small diversion here and explore development in the west, with Rome in particular. As mentioned earlier, had Alexander lived longer he would have attacked Carthage and the Carthagean-Roman conflict and Punic Wars would have not

taken place. Carthage was sister-city to Tyre and helped Tyre defend herself against Alexander’s prolonged siege. Tyre’s prolonged resistance cost Alexander, men, resources, money and time. Alexander was not the forgiving type and would have made Carthage pay dearly for her meddling in his affairs. Unfortunately, Alexander died, his plans were abandoned and none of his successors had the foresight to see the impending dangers lurking in the west. During and after Alexander’s time there was very little interaction between the Macedonian rulers and those of the west. There were City State cities along the coastline, Sicily in particular but for the most part, they were left alone to fend for themselves. The first major encroachment by Rome on the east was in Sicily during the first Punic War which started in 264 BC and ended in 241 BC. After that Rome occupied Sicily and in 212 BC made it a Roman province, an ideal staging ground for carrying out campaigns against the Great Commercial Empire of Carthage. Sicily, at the time, was a region full of barbaric states where violence, mass executions, torture, rapes, pillaging and enslavement were commonplace most of which were perpetrated by the Romans. Before the Roman encroachment, Sicily served as a barrier or neutral zone between the major powers and both east and west tended to interfere in its affairs. Sicily was also the staging ground for much of the piracy taking place in the Mediterranean waters. The city of Syracuse played an important role during these times because it was a place where the exiled, deposed and tyrants usually ended up after being evicted from their homelands. For those with power and influence, rule was in easy grasp and the Sicilians had their share of good times and bad, but mostly bad. After the Romans made Sicily their province, life for the ordinary Sicilian took a turn for the worse. Romans cared not for the Sicilians or for human values for that matter. They only cared for profit and pillaged Sicily no end. But this was only the beginning. The Romans were just acquiring a small taste for what was about to come. As mentioned earlier, one of the power players from the Macedonian world to venture westward and make a significant impact on Rome was Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus was summoned to Italy in 280 BC, by a plea for help from the Tarentines who had problems of their own with the Romans. Pyrrhus answered their call and was even given assistance by other Macedonian rulers who were happy to see him go and stay out of their affairs. Pyrrhus, using the elephants given to him by the Macedonian rulers, scored a number of victories in Sicily but caused a chain of events to occur that would have repercussions in the future. His presence and series of victories caused much concern for Carthage to a point were she was willing to set aside her differences with Rome and form a temporary alliance against Pyrrhus. To prevent him from carrying out campaigns in Africa, Pyrrhus’s fleet was attacked and sunk by the Carthegians. Then after crossing into Italy, Pyrrhus spent the winter in Taras, with plans for a north offensive in the fall, which never materialized. During the summer of 275 BC he was attacked and beaten by the Romans who by now had learned how to deal

with elephants. During the same year the Romans invaded and took Taras, which brought them yet another step closer to Macedonia. With Pyrrhus beaten and out of the way there was no formidable force outside of Carthage to stand against Rome in the west or to challenge her at her home base. After Alexander’s death and the conclusion of the Lamian Wars, most of what we refer to today as City States lost the privileges granted to them by Philip II and Alexander III. For fifty or so years after Alexander’s death, they were ruled by Macedonians and were used as pawns in a power struggle for dominance. During the later years, however, some of the states organized themselves into leagues but unfortunately they were never able to hold alliances for too long. This was partly due to the characteristic politics they played internally and mainly due to outside influence from the rich and powerful Macedonian rulers. The Ptolemies never hesitated to supply Athens with grain just to stir trouble for the Antigonids. Almost every conflict was initiated in the name of restoring the rights of the City States and ended with more rights lost than gained. While the southern City States were unsuccessfully attempting to shore up alliances among themselves, Antigonus Gonatas’s son and successor Demetrius II was busily shoring up his own alliances. In 239 BC, to shore up support against the Illyrians on his western frontiers, he married an Epirot princess named Phthia. In 238 BC Phthia bore Demetrius a son whom he appropriately named Philip, who in the future would become Philip V of Macedonia. Right about this time the City State leagues were beginning to gain ground in the development of their alliances and with strength came anti-Macedonian sentiment. Determined to intervene, Demetrius, due to internal conflicts, lost his support from Epirus and was unable to do it alone. If that was not enough, the Leagues were now threatening his former allies with severe punishments should they intervene. Determined to turn the tide, Demetrius sought help from the Illyrians who were eager to assist only to help themselves. Paid by Demetrius, the Illyrians first invaded Epirus then the Adriatic coast and looted everything in their path. They managed to invade some of the League’s territories and looted them as well. By 229 BC they crossed over and invaded the Italian coastline and by now had attracted Rome’s attention. In the Peloponnesus in the meantime, the Illyrians started to form alliances with some of the City State Leagues and were considering invading all of the City States. In the meantime complaints were being generated from both sides of the Adriatic. Italian traders feeling the pinch from the constant raids took their complaints to Rome. Rome in turn sent envoys to investigate with recommendations to make a move. They attacked violently with devastating speed and crushing numerical superiority. The Illyrians, whose true aim in all this was to make profit not war, quickly collapsed and in 228 BC consented to a treaty. Demetrius’s messy problems were solved without him having to lift a finger but his inaction allowed Rome to gain a foothold in Illyrian affairs. Even though Rome, at the time, had no ambitions of expanding her

sphere of influence east of Italy she did demonstrate her military might and will to fight.