Nabis

The Spartan tyrant Nabis, who has deposed Machanidas as regent for the very young Pelops and styled himself king, has carried on the revolutionary tradition of Kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III. (Since ancient accounts of him are mainly abusive, the details of his laws remain obscure, but it is certain that he confiscated a great deal of property and enfranchised many helots.)

Overshadowed by the struggle between Rome and Philip V, Nabis has adroitly maintained his power.

After the Peace of Phoenice between Rome and Macedon, he goes to war in 205 with the Achaean League.

Philopoemen, the league's general in 206/205 BCE, rescues Messene from the Spartans, routing Nabis and his forces.

The death of Egypt’s Hellenistic king Ptolemy IV in 204 BCE had been followed by a bloody conflict over the regency as his heir, Ptolemy V, was only a child.

The conflict had begun with the murder of the dead king's wife and sister Arsinoë by the ministers Agothocles and Sosibius.

The fate of Sosibius is unclear, but Agothocles seems to have held the regency for some time until he is lynched by the volatile Alexandrian mob.

The regency is passed from one adviser to another, and the kingdom is in a state of near anarchy.

Seeking to take advantage of this turmoil, Antiochus III stages a second invasion of Coele-Syria.

He makes an agreement with Philip V of Macedon to conquer and share the Ptolemies' non-Egyptian territories, although this alliance does not last long.

Antiochus quickly sweeps through the region.

After a brief setback at Gaza, he delivers a crushing blow to the Ptolemies at the Battle of Panium near the head of the River Jordan, which earns him the important port of Sidon.

Seleucid power disintegrates, although the conquest of Coele Syria (Lebanon) and Palestine by Antiochus III (200) and a brief occupation of Armenia make up to some extent for the first defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans and the attendant loss of much of Anatolia.

By this time, the Aegean Greek cities have thrown off the Seleucid yoke, Cappadocia and Attalid Pergamon have achieved independence, and other territories have been lost to the Celts and to Pontus and Bithynia.

Roman emissaries come to Philip and Antiochus in 200 BCE, demanding that they refrain from invading Egypt.

The Romans will suffer no disruption of the import of grain from Egypt, key to supporting the massive population in Italy.

As neither monarch had planned to invade Egypt itself, they willingly comply to Rome's demands.

Antiochus completes the subjugation of Coele-Syria in 198 BCE and goes on to raid Ptolemy's remaining coastal strongholds in Caria and Cilicia.

Problems at home lead Ptolemy to seek a quick and disadvantageous conclusion.

The nativist movement, which had begun before the war with the Egyptian Revolt and expands with the support of Egyptian priests, creates turmoil and sedition throughout the kingdom.

Economic troubles lead the Ptolemaic government to increase taxation, which in turn feeds the nationalist fire.

Ptolemy, in order to focus on the home front, signs a conciliatory treaty with Antiochus in 195 BCE, leaving the Seleucid king in possession of Coele-Syria and agreeing to marry Antiochus' daughter Cleopatra I.

The Roman–Syrian War (192–188 BCE), also known as the War of Antiochos or the Syrian War, is the consequence of a "cold war" between both powers, which had started in 196 BCE.

Romans and Seleucids in these years have tried to settle spheres of influence by making alliances with the Greek minor powers.

The fighting takes place in Greece, the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor.

The Seleucid domains by 190 are limited to Mesopotamia, western Iran, and a landlocked Syria.

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.

Philopoemen, the Achaean League's general again in 201/200 BCE, routs the Spartan tyrant Nabis at Tegea and later …

…defeats him at Scotitas in Laconia.

Nabis had acquired Argos from Philip of Macedon, who was then still at war with Rome; he retains it by coming to terms with Flamininus.

Flaminius now accuses Nabis of tyranny, …

…forces Nabis to surrender Argos.

He assigns authority over a war-weakened Sparta’s seaports to the Achaean League as a reward for military assistance, but does not grant it possession.

The Peloponnesian towns on the coast of Laconia freed by Rome become members of the Achaean League, which is at odds with Sparta, wishing to bring Sparta into the league and to suppress the radical social program of its king, Nabis.

Flamininus in 195 supports the independence of Sparta.