1-Acest articol este copiat !
2-Istoria ramane pasiunea mea nr-1.
“If one looks at the Roman military, it is seen that the Empire came into their hands as the result of their valour, not a gift of fortune. For they do not wait for the outbreak of war to practise with weapons, nor do they sit idle in peace mobilising themselves only in time of need. Instead, they seem, to have been born with weapons in their hands; never do they take a break from training or wait for emergencies to arrives…One would not be incorrect in saying that their manoeuvres are like bloodless battles, and their battles bloody manoeuvres.” (Josephus)
Following the establishment of legionary dominance over the phalanx, the decades after the Seleucid War saw Rome build its base in both the east and the west, becoming the dominant Mediterranean power. Victory at Magnesia had essentially shattered the Seleucid Empire, which would limp along for another decade before it began to disintegrate due to internal pressures and the rise of the Parthian Empire, before it was finally dissolved by Pompey the Great. Rome would continue increasing its presence in Greece, and success in the Illyrian Wars ultimately saw the client kingdom there dissolved, and the Adriatic coast territories incorporated as a formal province.
Further east, when Perseus replaced his father Philip V as king of Macedon and began rearming his people, tensions again erupted into war. Rome again struggled to punch through the mountain passes, and initially the legions were on the losing end of their encounters with the phalanx. When the two armies clashed in 168 BC at the Battle of Pydna, the phalanx initially pushed the legions back, until the mountainous terrain began to form gaps which the legionaries could exploit. Defeat was reversed, and from the cusp of victory the phalanx of Perseus crashed to a rout to end the Third Macedonian War. The battle was also notable for Scipio Aemilianus, the grandson of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who had died at the Battle of Cannae, and the adoptive grandson of Scipio Africanus – being distinguished for bravery. There would be a Fourth Macedonian War against a pretender, and as with Iberia, the Greeks would find themselves left disconsolate when it became apparent that the legions were not merely there to drive out the Macedonians – they were there to stay. Rome would replace Macedon as the master of Greece, with its legions remaining as an occupying force and now having a springboard to campaign even further east.
In the west, the Celtiberians also revolted against Roman rule. Coalitions of tribes saw uprisings in the First and Second Celtiberian Wars (181 – 179 and 154 – 151 BC respectively), and then in the Lusitanian War (154 – 150 BC) and the Numantine War (143 – 133 BC). Just as in Greece, Rome had no intention of forfeiting its claim to Iberia and its wealth of resources, despite determined local opposition. The years after the Second Punic War saw remarkable growth, with Rome well on its way to becoming a hyperpower. Rome now dominated the Mediterranean, with no naval power capable of opposing it, and only the hamstrung Seleucids and the stagnant Ptolemaic Egyptians remaining. Despite these advancements, Rome still had the government and military apparatus of a city state, including legions comprised of smallholder farmers needing to return for the harvest who were now abroad campaigning for years at a time. Far from the frugal times of their predecessors, immense wealth was now pouring into Rome, but it was increasingly hoarded by those already wealthy, looking to swell their fortunes beyond all need and purpose, and paid for with the lives of its legionaries. These problems would only continue to amount in a Rome resistant to change, until they finally exploded into the death of the republic.
Rome’s support of Numidia saw the emboldened King Masinissa – their client who defected at the end of the Second Punic War – repeatedly take advantage of Carthage’s inability to defend itself. Carthage had to ask Rome for permission to make war, and when this was done as a petition against Rome’s ally, unsurprisingly the partisan Senators supported Masinissa. In 151 BC Carthage raised a large army to attack the Numidians, in violation of their treaty with Rome, but the campaign ended in catastrophe when their army under Hasdrubal was surrounded by the Numidians and forced to surrender, with many of them then massacred. Although Hasdrubal escaped, he was condemned to death in an attempt to placate Rome. Carthage had by then paid off its war indemnity to Rome, and was prospering economically now its focus was on trade and commerce, but it still floundered militarily – especially without the access to the mercenaries on which it previous relied. This latest Numidian woe would only be the beginning of the Punic problems though. Seeing this invasion of Numidia as a violation of the treaty, Cato’s war faction in the Senate finally had the pretext it needed to ignore the pleas of the Punic emissaries for peace, and crush Carthage for good. When the vital port of Utica defected to Rome in 449 BC, the Third Punic War was declared by the People’s Assembly.
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