Rome intervenes decisively in the system of…

Rome intervenes decisively in the system of Hellenistic states.

Philip's Macedonian fleet defeats the Rhodians at Lade in 201 BCE, a few months after the Battle of Chios.

While Philip is plundering Pergamese territory and attacking cities in Caria, Attalus I of Pergamon goes to Athens to try to create a diversion.

He succeeds in securing an alliance with the Athenians, who immediately declare war on the Macedonians.

The King of Macedon cannot remain inactive; he assails Athens with his navy and with some infantry.

The Romans warn him, however, to withdraw or face war with Rome.

After suffering a defeat at the hands of the Rhodian and Pergamese fleets, Philip withdraws, but not before attacking the city of Abydos on the Hellespont.

Abydos falls after a long siege and most of its inhabitants commit suicide.

Philip rejects the Roman ultimatum to stop attacking Greek states and the Romans declare war on Macedon.

This leaves the Cretan cities with no major allies, and the largest city of Crete, Knossos, joins the Rhodians.

Faced with this combination, both Hierapynta and Olous surrender and are forced to sign a treaty favorable to Rhodes and Knossos.

The Second Macedonian War is fought between Macedon, led by Philip V, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes, under the generalship of Flaminius.

The result is the defeat of Philip, who is forced to abandon all his possessions in southern Greece.

Although the Romans declare the "freedom of the Greeks," the war marks a significant stage in increasing Roman intervention in the affairs of the eastern Mediterranean, which will eventually lead to their conquest of the entire region After an initial victory over Philip V, Flaminius devotes himself to winning over the Greek cities and leagues by diplomacy and, in the case of the Achaean League, by force, and the Ptolemaic Greek cities in Asia Minor.

He conquers the entire coast of Anatolia from Cilicia to the Hellespont, while also attacking Pergamum in the interior.

Rome, however, annexes no territory directly; the narrow oligarchy governing Rome has no desire to take on administrative responsibilities that might require extending the circle of those in power.

During the Second Macedonian War, Macedon gives Sparta control over Argos, an important city on the Aegean coast of Peloponnese.

Sparta's continued occupation of Argos at the end of war is used as a pretext for Rome and its allies to declare war.

The anti-Spartan coalition lays siege to Argos, captures the Spartan naval base at Gythium, and soon invests and besieges Sparta itself.

Eventually, negotiations lead to peace on Rome's terms, under which Argos and the coastal towns of Laconia are separated from Sparta and the Spartans are compelled to pay a war indemnity to Rome over the next eight years.

Argos joins the Achaean League, and the Laconian towns are placed under Achaean protection.

As a result of the war, Sparta loses its position as a major power in Greece.

Subsequent Spartan attempts to recover the losses fail and Nabis, the last sovereign ruler, is eventually murdered in 192 BCE.

Soon after, Sparta is forcibly made a member of its former rival, the Achaean League, ending several centuries of fierce political independence.