Lecture Notes for Week Fourteen

Lecture Notes for Week Fourteen
(4/27 4/29 5/1)

Monday, 4/27: The Struggle for Alexander's Empire

The Hellenistic World

Alexander's conquest made old Greece just a small part of a huge empire that encompassed a number of distinct regions, languages, and cultures
The period following Alexander's death, marked by a hellenization of these areas (with varying degrees of success) is known in modern terminology as the Hellenistic Period
For our purposes, the most important aspects of the early Hellenistic period will be the struggle among Alexander's successors, and of the later part of the period, Rome's involvement in, and ultimate domination of, the Greek world.

The Death of Alexander and the Lamian War

On news of Alexander's death, a number of Greek cities again decided to try to shake off the Macedonian yoke, which at that point was held by Antipater, the Macedonian general left in charge of Macedonia and Greece when Alexander departed for the east.

Athens, along with Aetolia and some northern Greek states, revolted
employed a band of 8,000 mercenaries who had recently returned from campaigning with Alexander

occupied Thermopylae, which caused trouble for Antipater, who, among other things, had lost the Thessalian cavalry to desertion
allied Greek forces besieged Antipater at Lamia during the winter of 323-322

in the spring, a relief army drew the Greeks out from Lamia
Antipater eventually, with the arrival of Craterus, eventually gained the upper hand in summer 322

Antipater imposed harsh terms on Athens:

modification of the Athenian constitution (effective end of Athenian democracy)
installation of a Macedonian garrison in Pireaus
surrender of anti-Macedonian individuals, among them Demosthenes

but Demosthenes took his own life before the Macedonians got hold of him

The Successors of Alexander

Within a few years of Alexander's death, the most important figures to emerge in the struggle for power (and survive the opening moves) are:

Perdiccas, Alexander's top officer at the time of his death
Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals and related to the royal house
Seleucus, commander of the hypaspists
Antipater, the regent in Macedonia, and a member of Philip's generation
Craterus, who had been sent to replace Antipater
Cassander, Antipater's son
Lysimachus, one of Alexander's bodyguard
Antigonus Monophthalmus ('the One-eyed'), satrap of Phrygia, also a member of the older generation
Eumenes of Cardia, Alexander's secretary and the only non-Macedonian among the group

From 323-320, Perdiccas attempts to produce a comprimise settlement that would leave power in his hands

original settlement basically gave Perdiccas the top position, with Ptolemy receiving Egypt, Antigonus western Asia Minor, Lysimachus Thrace, Seleucus Babylon, and Eumenes central Asia Minor
but his attempts alienated the other figures' a coalition began to form against him, and war was averted only by his murder in 320

within a year or so, Cassander, in the wake of Antipater's death, had managed to consolidate control over Macedonia and Greece

The next twenty years, down to 301, are dominated by Antigonus, who appears to be trying to acquire power over the entire empire

the first few years of this period were marked by Antigonus' struggle with Eumenes
317: Battles of Paraitacene and Gabiene
Paraitacene, summer 317:

Antigonus marching for Persia, Eumenes determined to force a decisive battle:
standoff of five days, after which Eumenes stole a march on Antigonus, who purused and overtook Eumenes' rear guard, precipitating a battle
Terrain of the battlefield was rough, with rivers and ravines
Orders-of-Battle:

Eumenes:

left wing of ca. 3,000 heavy cavalry, with 45 elephants, supported by archers and slingers (6,000 light infantry total?), at an angle in front, in echelon formation as a flank-guard
center left 6,000 mercenaries, center of 5,000 infantry in Macedonian phalanx, center right another 6,000 infantry; 40 elephants with 5-6,000 light infantry support in fromt of the center
right wing of ca. 3,000 cavalry with small cavalry units as flank-guard, and with 40 elephants and ca. 6,000 light armed troops in front of the wing

Antigonus

left wing of some 6,900 light cavalry
heavy infantry in the center, totaling some 28,000, with 35 elephants and light infantry in front
right wing of 3,700 heavy cavalry, with angled line of 30 elephants and supporting light infantry on the flank

First phase of the battle

Antigonus intends to press forward down the slope on his right, attacking Eumenes' weaker left with his heavy cavalry, while refusing his left, resulting in an oblique line

but his commander on the left, Pithon, ignored his orders and engaged first, believing that his superiority in numbers would enable him to prevail

Pithon rode around the elephants on Eumenes' right and came in to attack the flank
Pithon's light cavalry is able to inflict considerable damage on the elephants while keeping out of trouble themselves

Eumenes brought some of his light cavalry on his left over to the right to counteratack, and, with the support of light infantry were able to rout Pithon's wing and pursue it to the foothills

Second phase

soon after the opening of the cavalry engagement, the centers came into contact
Eumenes' superior troops pushed back Antigonus' phalanx and again pursued them to the foothills

Third phase

Despite the rout of 2/3 of his army, Antigonus decided to continue

Observed the transfer of some of the light cavalry on Eumenes' left, and the isolation of that wing by the advance of the center and right
Unexpectedly drove through the resultant gap and routed Eumenes' left wing

Result was that Antigonus had the opportunity to rally his routed center and left, and Eumenes had to halt his pursuit

both armies began regrouping for battle
but both generals decide not to reopen

Eumenes' troops insist on marching back to their baggage train
so Antigonus is able to march back onto the battlefield and make a technical claim to victory

Gabiene, winter 316

After Paraitacene, Eumenes wintered around Gabiene, Antigonus in Media

armies separated by a march of 25 days through inhabited country, or nine days cutting straight across through desert
Antigonus attempted to surprised Eumenes with a forced march across the desert, but Eumenes became aware of the move and consolidated his army into a single camp
Antigonus turned aside and took his army to recover from the difficult march, when he learned that Eumenes' elephants were in an isolated position nearby

sent a detachment of some 2,000 cavalry to try to capture them
but Eumenessent 1,500 cavalry and 3,000 light infantry to the rescue

Antigonus' force arrived first:

The Eumenes' officeres formed the elephants into a defensive square, with the baggage at the center, and advanced with a rear guard of 400 cavalry
Antigonus' forces overwhelmed and routed this rear guard, but the elephants managed to resist until the relief force sent by Eumenes arrived and saved them

Within a few days of this encounter, the two armies are encamped a few miles from each other on the edges of a broad, uncultivated, dusty salt-plain
Orders-of-battle not entirely clear in the sources

Antigonus

ca. 9,000 cavalry on the wings, with the left commanded by Pithon, the stronger right by Demetrius and Antigonus himself
infantry in the center (22,000), with elephants (65) and light armed troops in front

Eumenes

best cavalry on the left wing, to oppose Antigonus' right, under his command, with his 60 strongest elephants in echelon as a flank-guard
heavy infantry of 17,000 troops in the center, with more elephants and light-armed troops in front
weaker cavalry and elephants on the right, with orders to refuse battle until the engagement on the left had been decided

First phase of the battle unclear, but it involved fighting between elephants in the front of the lines and the bulk of the cavalry

but Antigonus noticed during this phase that the dust kicked up by the cavalry made visibility very low
sent a cavalry detachment to pass unseen to Eumenes baggage park, about a kilometer behind the lines

Second phase

Antigonus, who outnumbered Eumenes in cavalry, sent a fresh detachment in a second wave

Put almost 2/3 of Eumenes' left wing to flight, leaving Eumenes himself and a small force isolated at the outer end of the wing
Eumenes still tried to push forward, but in the hard struggle that ensued Eumenes' force was overcome by Antigonus' numbers

Eumenes begins moving his flank-guard of elephants forward to engage, but since they enter the battle piecemeal, Antigonus' smaller force of elephants was able to hold it off, and the fall of Eumenes' leading elephant demoralized the whole unit, and Eumenes pulled out what remained of his left and brought it around to the other wing

Third phase

Eumenes' center, meanwhile, had managed to rout part of Antigonus' phalanx, and having made a break in the line began to roll up the rest of it

Fourth phase

Eumenes attempts to rally his cavalry in a renewed attack on Antigonus

but one of his commanders refuses and retreats from the battlefield
Eumenes then also decided to withdraw

Antigonus divides his cavalry into two parts

himself pursued Eumenes and his cavalry
the other under Pithon attacked Eumenes' infantry, now that they had no cavalry support

but the infantry formed into a defensive square, and retreated to safety

Aftermath

the loss of the baggage (including women and children) made Eumenes' troops unwilling to make another attempt, despite Eumenes' observation that Antigonus' infantry had been broken and that in cavalry the forces were fairly matched

Some of Eumenes' troops entered into secret negotiations with Antigonus and ended up handing him over in exchange for their prisoners and property

Wednesday, 4/29: Gaza, Cyprus, and Ipsus

Eumenes' defeat enabled Antigonus to extend his power westward

in 315, expelled Seleucus from Babylon

Antigonus' growing power led Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachus, at the instigation of Seleucus (who had taken refuge with Ptolemy) to deliver an ultimatum to Antigonus to restore Selecus and share his other gains with the rest of them

but Antigonus continued his conquests, seizing Syria, Bithynia, and Caria

Next few years marked by struggles between Antigonus and Cassander

meanwhile, Antigonus' son Demetrius, who had been left in charge of Palestine, was attacked by Ptolemy and routed at Gaza in 312, enabling Seleucus to recover Babylon and establish a Seleucid empire in Asia
Demetrius had been left behind by Antigonus while he dealt with Cassander in the west

assigned a force of 10,000 mercenaries, 2,000 Macedonian phalangites, 5,000 cavalry, a force of light armed infantry, and 43 elephants
had to try to intervene when he became aware of Ptolemaic sea-borne raids in Cilicia

didn't accomplish anything, but did lose a substantial portion of his cavalry from the exhaustion of a forced march

Ptolemy returned to Egypt and decided on a full-scale invasion of Syria, and marched through the desert with 18,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry to Gaza in early 312

Demetrius, though advised against it, decided to offer battle

Orders-of-battle

Demetrius

2,900 cavalry, 1,500 light infantry, 30 elephants under his command on the left
infantry phalanx of 11,000 in the center, with 13 elephants in front with a complement of light-armed troops
on the right, 1,500 cavalry with orders to keep the formation oblique and refuse battle until the issue had been decided on the other wing

Ptolemy and Seleucus

originally posted the bulk of their cavalry on the left, but when they learned of Demetrius' disposition, transferred their strongest 3,000 cavalry to the right, under their command, with men to operate 'anti-elephant mines' and javelin-men and archers in front to harass the elephants
phalanx of 18,000 in center
1,000 cavalry on right

Result is that Demetrius is evenly matched on his left, and doesn't get to use his superiority on the right because he's refusing that wing.

Openings

battle opened with the confrontation of the advance-guards of the stronger cavalry wings, in which Demetrius drove off his opponents
Ptolemy and Seleucus responded by riding around Demetrius' left flank to attack

hard strugggle followed, and degenerated into hand-to-hand scrimmage, with horseman fighting with their swords after the pikes had been shattered

While the cavalry battle on the flank was going on, Demetrius brought forward his elephants

appears to have hoped to demoralize, rather than actually engage, the opposing troops
but as the elephants approached the 'minefield', the archers and javelin-men began showering the elephants and their drivers
as some elephants began stepping on the mines, most of them started getting out of control
After shooting down nearly all the drivers, Ptolemy's forces were able to capture all the elephants involved in the attack

Loss of the elephants panicked Demetrius' cavalry

several battalions fled, and after trying to keep more from following, Demetrius and the remaining cavalry had to retreat
most of them managed to stay in formation while retreating over the open plain, which discouraged Ptolemy from pursuing
but the infantry threw away their arms and retreated in chaos, and when, upon reaching Gaza, they were entering to secure their baggage, Ptolemy appeared on the scene and was able to gain entrance to the city before the gates could be closed

Demetrius lost 500 men, and had another 8,000 taken prisoner, and lost his elephants.

Forced to retiure to Tripolis in Phoenicia
gave Ptolemy free reign as far north at Sidon and Tyre
and gave Seleucus the opportunity to recover Babylon

311: Antigonus came to terms with Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus

established Cassander in charge of Europe, Lysimachus of Thrace, Ptolemy of Egypt, and Antigonus all of Asia

Arrangements didn't stay stable for very long

Ptolemy soon afterward seized Cyprus, and in 306 Antigonus sent Demetrius against him, where he won decisive victories first over Ptolemy's governor and then over Ptolemy himself

the engagement there provides good illustration of the development of warships beyond the trireme:

since the early fourth century, the Greeks had been building ships called 'fours' and 'fives', went on to build ships as high as 'sixteens'

don't refer to the number of banks of oars, which couldn't practically have gone beyond three, but to a combination of multiple banks and multiple rowers on each oar

result was larger ships, could carry more deck-troops and artillery

but generally not as fast and manouverable as a trireme

Demetrius, who had strong interests in the use of artillery, was one of the prime movers in this trend toward larger ships

Ptolemy and Seleucus had been using Cyprus as a base from which to send naval forces against Asia and Greece

Demetrius began by establishing a landing point near the north-east tip of Cyprus, with some 15,000 infantry, 400 cavalry, 110 triremes, 53 larger warships, and a large number of transport vessels

built a camp, and hauled his ships ashore for maintenance
moved across the island to Salamis, where he defeated a force trying to stop him, and began planning to besiege the city

Ptolemy responded by setting out from Egypt, and mustering a fleet of 140 warships (fours and fives) and 200 troopships carrying 10,000 infantry at Kition, and sent word to Salamis to dispatch their 60 warships to him
With Ptolemy's approach expected, Demetrius brought his ships down the coast of Cyprus to meet him at his camp north of Salamis

left soldiers on land to continue the siege, and embarked his ships, equipped with missiles, stone-throwers, and catapults in the prows, and spent the night at anchor outside the harbor mouth to prevent the city's fleet from joining Ptolemy's

The following morning, as Ptolemy's fleet approached, Demetrios left his admiral Antisthenes with ten fives to block the harbour mouth (which was narrow), and ordered his cavalry to patrol the beach in case the crews of any disabled vessels needed to swim ashore
Moved with the rest of the fleet in battle line to block Ptolemy's approach

left held by 7 Phonecian sevens and 30 Athenian fours, supported by 10 sixes and 10 fives
46 threes in the center
25 fives and 32 threes on the right

Ptolemy had no option but to fight, even though he was planning to rely on the 60 Salaminian ships to give him numerical supremacy

Ptolemy's line unclear: fleet consisted of fours and fives, with his left wing comprising the largest ships

As the ships approached, they began hitting each other with missles as much as possible

When the ships themselves engaged, three types of encounters occurred:

ships sweeping away each other's oars

not a good idea, since both ships suffer, but an initiating ship could pull in its oars and rely on momentum to carry through

ramming bow to bow

again, not a good idea, but feasible for a heavier ship to disable a lighter one
if ships became entangled, it would provide an opportunity for boarding, and even if not, an opportunity for exchange of missle volleys

ramming side or rear

seems to result generally in entanglement, and subsequent boarding

note the absence of attempts at the diekplous or periplous: heavier ships

Demetrios' left wing routed Ptolemy's right and center
Ptolemy's left, with the heavier ships, inflicted heavy damage on Demtrios' right, but broke off to return to Kition when he saw the defeat of the right and center
Demetrios followed up with the capture of many of Ptolemy's supply and transport ships, which had been holding back in the rear of the lines

captured 100 of these, with around 8,000 soldiers; 40 warships were captured with their crews, and another 80 disabled; only 20 of Demetrios' ships were disabled, and all were recovered and repaired

Ultimate result is that Ptolemy surrendered Cyprus, and Demetrios took over the island

in 306 and 305 Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus start calling themselves kings, making it clear that even if all the various leaders were supposed to be governing parts of the unified Macedonian kingdom, there was no chance of the Empire remaining intact

around 303 Seleucus ceded some of his far eastern possesions to the Indian king Chandragupta in exchange for 500 elephants

301: The battle of Ipsus

a coalition of Cassander, Lysimachus, and Seleucus (with his elephants) dealt a decisive defeat to Antigonus and Demtrios at Ipsus in Phrygia

Antigonus killed
Demetrios fled
Lysimachus took most of Asia Minor
Ptolemy took most of Syria and Palestine

Demetrius still had some holdings in Greece, however, and makes an attempt to increase his fortunes there

he had liberated Athens in 307 from another Demetrius, Demetrius of Phaleron, who had been installed by Cassander ten years earlier
manages to get hold of Macedonia after Cassander's death in 294
but from 289 on his position deteriorated:

Lysimachus in Thrace and Pyrrhus, king of neighboring Epirus and increasingly powerful, combine to defeat him
in 285 he was taken prisoner by Seleucus, and he died of the effects of heavy alcoholism two years later

After Demetrius' capture, Lysimachus and Pyrrhus struggled over Macedonia

Sleucus got involved in 282, invaded Asia Minor and defeated and killed Lysimachus in 281
Seleucus himself assasinated shortly afterward

279: Gallic invasion of Macedonia, Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor

groups moving into Greece reached Delphi, but were destroyed by the Aitolians
other groups moved into Asia Minor and settled Galatia

In the wake of this, Demetrius' son Antigonus Gonatas manages to regain control of Macedonia

he had held on to the 'fetters of Greece', Corinth, Chalcis, and Demetrias, all of which had been seen as strategic points by his father (Demetrias in fact founded by Demetrius)
in 276 established himself as king of Macedonian and Thessaly

276-272: Syrian War between Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid empire

The result of the struggles at this point:

Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia under Antigonus II Gonatas
Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt under Ptolemy II
Seleucid dynasty in Syria, Mesopotamia, and Iran under Antiochus I (son of Seleucus)

A few highlights of the ensuing period

The Chremonidean War:

Ptolemy II, probably concerned with Gonatas' naval power, stirred some of the Greek cities to revolt
Athens formed an alliance with Sparta and her allies, and Crete, to resist Macedonian power with the help of Ptolemy II

decree of Chremonides preserves the details of the alliance

War itself is not at all clear

evidence of a Ptolemaic fortified camp in Attica at Koroni (with Egyptian coins of Ptolemy II as evidence for dating and purpose) indicate that Ptolemy did send help

after various engagements, ended with the surrender of Athens in 261, and for ten years' following Antigonus' control of Greece was secure

Rise of the Achaen League under Aratus

capture of Corinth and the Macedonian garrison on Acrocorinth in 243 dealt as severe blow to Macedonian control in southern Greece for the next 20 years

in the following years Aratus concentrated many of the Peloponnesian states in the Achaian league

Friday, 5/1: Sellasia, Raphia, Mantinea, and Chios; The Coming of Rome

Resurgence of Spartan power under Cleomenes III

In 227 Cleomenes introduced a number of social reforms to increase the citizen body of Spartiates
from 226-5 Sparta was successful against the Achaian league, gaining land to dole out to increase the number of Spartiates from around 700 to 4,000

led Aratus in 225 to come to terms with the Macedonian king Antigonus Doson when Cleomenes was besieging Acrocorinth

Aratus agreed to hand over Corinth back to Macedonia
Doson moved in and turned Cleomenes' position by sea

and in 224 Corinth and much of the Peloponnese was back in the hands of Macedonia

The Spartan revival was dealt a death-blow at Sellasia in 222, when Antigonus' forces more or less completely annihilated the entire Spartiate force

Spartans had about 20,000 troops, Doson 28,000, with allies from the Achean league and Acarnania
Topography: two hills flanking the pass into Laconia, the hill on the west being fairly stepp, the other more of a plateau

Spartans occupied the high ground of both hills, presumably intending to move down on the Macedonian forces and squeeze them

Spartans on the steep hill didn't make good use of the high ground to attack, but instead adopted mostly a defensive attitude

the light-armed troops on the Macedonian side assaulted their position with a sudden strike, and pushed the Spartans down the hill until they had to break and take flight over difficult terrain

During the assault on the steep hill, light armed troops of both armies were engaged on the plateau

Once Cleomenes saw the troops on the steep hill put to flight, he recalled his light armed troops and began to move his phalanx forward, hoping to decide the issue before he could be flanked from the west
after a struggle, the Macedonians ultimately pushed the Spartans back, and a rout ensued, with considerable slaughter

The Battle of Raphia, 217

Part of the ongoing series of 'Syrian Wars' between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids

Antiochus III, the current Seleucid king, advanced south with a large army:

6,000 cavalry, 102 Indian elephants, and 62,000 infantry

Ptolemy IV went forward to meet him with 5,000 cavalry, 73 African elephants, and probably 50,000 infantry (maybe 70,000, Polybius is confusing)

Battle opened with Antiochus' 60 elephants on his right charging Ptolemy's 40 on the left

Ptolemy's elephants gave way, disturbing his left wing
Once the elephants were dealt with, Antiochus rode around Ptolemy's left wing and began attacking it from the flank, putting it to rout

Meanwhile, Ptolemy's right was successfully pushing back Antiochus' right
Once Ptolemy's left was routed, Ptolemy himself extricated himself from the fleeing wing, and rode to the center, which was not yet engaged

while Antiochus was off in pursuit, Ptolemy led his infantry forward, and managed to break Antiochus' center with his better-trained troops
Antiochus returned from his pursuit just in time to join the rout of his main army

Battle in general is a good example of fully-developed Hellenistic battle on a large scale, with the use of interedependent elements

The Battle of Mantinea, 207 BC

Battle between the Achaen league under Philopoemon and Sparta
interesting primarily for the use of catapults in the battle itself, as artillery meant to disturb the opposing lines
yet another major loss for Sparta

not quite its last military exploit (it does try to make a stand against the Romans about a decade later), but the last one we'll be encountering

The Battle of Chios, 201 BC

Fought between Philip V of Macedonia, and Attalus of Pergamon along with his Rhodian allies

independent kingdom of Pergamon had been carved out of Seleucid territory in the preceeding decades, encompassing by now a significant chunk of Asia Minor

Philip in 201 began a full-scale naval expedition against the central Aegean and Ionian coast

after a number of successes, began besieging Chios, which, at the time, was a neutral state focused on commerce.
during the seige, the fleets of Pergamon and Rhodes approached to challenge him, or at least blockade him

Philip attempted to break off his seige and move to Samos, from which he could consider his next move,
but his enemies saw what was going on and attacked

Philip's fleet was attacked at the head by Attalos' ships, and at the rear by Rhodes', so the action resolved into two separate battles

Battles are mostly interesting for our purposes for the use of a new type of warship, the lembos or light galley, and a variation of it called the pristis or 'shark'

originally seem to have been used by pirates: designed to small, fast, and maneuverable
Philip V used them extensively to dart in among heavier units and break up their formations, interrupt their movements, and disturb the oars and tillers
Other interesting developments included the Rhodian technique of weighing down their bows for prow-to-prow attacks, so that they would inflict damage on the enemy below the waterline, while any damage they took would be above the waterline

The Coming of Rome

All of the struggles among the Hellenistic kingdoms is eventually put to an end by the arrival of a new power from the west, that of Rome
Rome had had contact with Greek civilization from its earliest days

remember that Southern Italy and Sicily had been largely Greek from early on

But only in the last century or so has Rome's power become such that the Greek world has to take much notice of it

280-275 Pyrrhus of Epirus brought an army to Italy, on the pretext of helping some Greek colonies there resist Rome, but probably in the expectation of easy conquest

Pyrrhus did win a number of victories, but they were very costly (hence 'Pyrrhic' victories) and as he became aware of the apparently inexhaustible supply of troops at Rome's disposal, he withdrew
Romans allied with the Carthaginians against him when he moved into Sicily, and after a serious defeat at the hands of the Romans in 275, he returned to Greece, and was killed a few years later

264-241: First Punic War between Rome and Carthage

left Rome a naval power andin possession of most of Sicily

Rome first crossed the Adriatic in 229, to deal with Illyrian piracy

the result was strong Roman influence in Ilyria and some Greek states in the area (including Corcyra and Epidamnus)
in 219, another Roman force came to Illyria to deal with disruptions there, and left with Illyria even more firmly under their control

211-205: the First Macedonian War (Rome -v- Philip V and his allies, the Achaean league)

grew from the alliance made by Philip with Hannibal the Carthaginian during Rome's Second Punic War, when, in 215, Hannibal seemed sure to prevail
Romans in response allied with the Aetolian league, which had been in conflict with Philip for some time
ended in 205 after the Aetolians and Romans each made a separate peace with Philip, who had managed to maintain the upper hand

200-197: the Second Macedonian War

after decisively wiping out Carthage in 201, Rome is induced to return to Greece to settle conditions there and deal with the threat Philip posed, on the pretext of freeing the Greeks from the Macedonian tyranny
Culminated in the battle of Cynoscephalai in 197, which forced Philip to withdraw from Greece and become Rome's ally
We'll talk about this campaign, and some general information about the Roman military relevant to its encounters with Greek forces next week