WAR IN THE HELLENISTIC WORLD

THE UBIQUITOUS WAR
Ipsos (301 BC), but his son, King Demetrios the Besieger, continued until
287 BC to try to re-establish himself on the throne of the Macedonians, and
for a short period of time (294–287 BC) he was successful. The Antigonids
firmly established their rule when Demetrios’ son, Antigonos Gonatas, exploited
a vacuum of power during the invasion of Gaulish tribes (277/6 BC)
and was recognized as king of the Macedonians. In the following years
he gained control over Thessaly as well as over a series of Macedonian
garrisons in southern Greece (Euboia, Attika, and the Peloponnese). In the
111 years between his victory over the Gauls and the defeat of the last
Antigonid, Perseus, at the Battle of Pydna (167 BC), there is hardly any
period in which the Antigonid kings or members of their families were not
involved in a war: throwing back an invasion of barbarian tribes, subduing
revolts, helping their allies against enemies, or attempting to increase their
territory. These wars were not only fought in Antigonid lands, but affected
areas as distant as the Adriatic coast and Karia in Asia Minor. The highlights
of these wars were: the invasion of Macedonia by King Pyrrhos and the
subsequent wars in the Peloponnese (274–273 BC); the Chremonideian
War against Ptolemaic Egypt, Athens, Sparta, and their allies, which was
primarily fought in Attika, on the Peloponnese, and in Macedonia, but also
in the Aegean (268–261 BC); the revolt of Antigonos’ nephew Alexandros,
who controlled the garrisons in Korinth and Chalkis (252–245 BC); the
expulsion of the Macedonian garrisons in the Peloponnese (243 BC); the
War of Demetrios, with operations in central Greece (Akarnania), Attika,
and in the Peloponnese (239–233 BC); the invasion of the Dardanians in
Paionia (231–229 BC); the revolt of the largest part of Thessaly and the loss
of the garrison in Athens (229 BC); the expedition of Antigonos Doson in
Karia (Asia Minor, 227 BC); the War of Kleomenes on the Peloponnese
(224–221 BC); the wars against Illyrian tribes (221 BC) and the Dardanians
(220–219, 217, 209 BC); the Social War against the Aitolians with operations
in the Peloponnese, in Akarnania, Aitolia, Epeiros, Illyria, Thessaly, and
Macedonia (220–217 BC); the war in Illyria (217–215 BC), which directly
led to the First Macedonian War against the Romans, with military activities
in Illyria, Akarnania, Phokis, Lokris, Thessaly, and the Peloponnese (215–
205 BC); the expansion wars of Philip V in Thrace, the northern Aegean,
Marmaris, and northwest and west Asia Minor (202–200 BC); and the
Second Macedonian War, provoked by these activities and mainly fought in
Illyria, Thessaly, and Macedonia (200–197 BC). The defeat at Kynos Kephalai
in 197 BC imposed a short interruption of this policy of aggresson, without
bringing peace. Macedonian troops participated in the Roman wars against
Nabis in Sparta (195 BC), and against the Aitolians in Thessaly (191 BC), in
addition to sporadic operations in Thrace, which culminated in wars against
Thracian tribes (183–179 BC). Philip’s successor, Perseus, had fought a war
against the Dolopians (174 BC) before the Third Macedonian War (171–
167 BC) sealed the fate of the Antigonids.
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