The Sparta You've Never Heard About - Part IV
The Pirate King of Sparta and the Ancient World War [and even greater lessons for (professional) historians in the footnotes].
…Continued from Part III
This part might be especially messy if you haven’t read the previous ones and aren’t familiar with the era. As with Part III, without enough Sparta-specific information to turn into a coherent storyline, we’ll follow events directly and indirectly related to Sparta at the same time.
This also a larger piece than the previous ones, since it includes extended speculation and research on some curious events concerning late Sparta and the lead-up to the Roman-Seleucid war.
The Pirate King Nabis and the Ancient World War (c. 207-192 BC)
After Lycurgus and Machanidas, Nabis is the third obscure figure to lead the Spartans within a few years1 . There are many theories on his origins; most interestingly he doesn’t even have a Greek name. If there’s a problem with Machanidas appearing too rich and powerful out of nowhere, the case of Nabis is even more curious.2 He was the second Spartan king to successfully enact major reforms, and the most powerful one since at least Cleomenes III. Nabis ignored the old Spartan constitution and went on to rule as an absolute monarch in true Hellenistic fashion3; modernized royal coinage and large construction projects - including the first proper city walls - were introduced to Sparta during Nabis’ reign.
Nabis granted citizenship to foreigners, the Perioikoi and many Helots (perhaps even all of them) and redistributed the land. He was called a tyrant by his rivals, and tales speak of a machine - named Apega after his wife - that he used to torture wealthy victims to death, or until they agreed to pay tribute. Reportedly he gave the women of exiled citizens as wives to his followers, who are described as brigands, brutes and pirates. It’s hard to say much on his supposed extraordinary viciousness; we only have sources written by his enemies. However, it is rather obvious that certain Achaean figures loathed Nabis as much as they despised the commoners, as much as they dreaded the possibility of major social change in the Peloponnese. Since most contemporary states were guilty of torture and piracy in some way, and the same enemies did employ him as an ally when it was profitable to do so, the hostility we see in the sources seems to be one of political nature.
By the time Nabis gained power in Sparta, the 1st Roman-Macedonian War was coming to an end. After the Peace of Phoenice in 205 BC, Philip V started to look eastwards, while Rome was still at war with Carthage. Philip built a new fleet and also provided support to those of the Cretans that conducted piracy. The Aetolians - devastated by the previous wars and starved for wealth - and Nabis, joined in. Meanwhile in the east, Antiochus III4, by now officially called “the Great”, had conquered, reconquered or vassalized most of the peoples between India and Asia Minor. His eyes were set west: on Ptolemaic Egypt and the Aegean region.
Philip’s eastwards expansion was opposed at first by Rhodes, a naval power who also sought to eradicate piracy (at least of the anti-Rhodian kind). Rome at first was unable to aid the Rhodians, but soon Pergamon would join in, as well as Knossos, Cyzicus, Byzantium, Athens and Egypt. What first erupted as the Cretan War in 205 BC, was directly connected with the previous and following stages of what can be described as the Ancient World War.
As war raged on in Crete, Philip went on the offensive around the Hellespont, seizing several cities. Some of those were allied to Aetolia, but the Aetolian League was still too weak to react and stayed on the Macedonian side. While the Romans had acquired quite the reputation for savagery during the previous war in Greece, by this time Philip’s increasingly treacherous and violent actions were tarnishing his once good name.5
In 204 BC, while aiding Macedon and the Cretans in piracy, Nabis also started raiding Macedon’s Achaean allies around Megalopolis. During the same year Ptolemy IV died; six year old next Ptolemy V goes Pharaoh. By 202 BC Philip and Antiochus III had concluded an alliance against Ptolemy V. Philip campaigned in Thrace and Asia Minor against Egyptian holdings and Pergamon. He took many cities and captured the Ptolemaic fleet at Samos.
In 201 BC Nabis attacked and occupied Messenia, over 150 years after Sparta had lost its control. Soon though Philopoemen arrived with Achaean forces and Nabis gathered his loot and returned to Sparta. He was later bested by Philopoemen in a battle near Tegea. While Nabis seemed smart or determined enough to frequently make gains against the Achaeans, almost every time he had to face their best general he ended up losing.
The same year, Rome finally defeated Carthage, after one of the most brutal wars in ancient history. In the Aegean, the Macedonian fleet was defeated by the combined enemy fleets near Chios, but Philip returned the favor beating the Rhodian fleet at the Battle of Lade. He then raided Pergamene Mysia and Ptolemaic Caria in Asia Minor, before evading an enemy blockade and sailing back to Greece. Athens openly joined the war and suffered Macedonian raids in Attica.
In 200 BC Antiochos III destroyed the Ptolemaic army at the Battle of Panion; Egypt was soon practically vassalized and out of the war in the Aegean. Philip took many more cities around the Hellespont. While he was besieging Abydos, Roman envoys visited to announce he should go back and stay in Macedon or else. Philip protested that he was faithful to their past treaty, the Romans agreed that it was war once again; this time without Hannibal in the mix. After capturing Abydos, Philip went back to Greece and devastated Attica, allowing Rhodes to finish off his Cretan allies and dominate most of the island. The Cretan War was over, but the Great War raged on.
The (temporary) end of Cretan Piracy was a gift to Nabis.6 He was able to host expelled pirates and more Cretan mercenaries, famous for their skill in archery. Nabis was ceaselessly raiding Achaea at this point, perhaps with the aid of more Cretans than before. The Achaeans asked for Macedonian help that didn’t arrive, as they refused to help Philip against the Romans in return. Looks like we are looking at the first steps towards a long friendship between Polybius and Scipio.7
In 199 BC the Romans invaded Macedon from Illyria, while their Dardanian allies advanced from the north. Philip V managed to defeat the Dardanians, but the Romans were able to loot parts of western Macedon and capture a couple of towns. Later on the Roman force faced a mutiny - veterans were exhausted by constant wars - which delayed further actions. The Aetolians entered the war on the Roman side and invaded Thessaly, but Philip appeared unexpectedly and defeated them.
The Roman, Rhodian and Pergamene fleets managed to seize the naval bases at Andros and Oreus, but failed at Cassandreia. Attalus returned to Pergamon to face a Seleucid invasion, which was stopped by Roman diplomacy. Antiochus Seleucid wasn’t too keen on helping his ally Philip, probably expecting to gain more by his downfall than by supporting him.
In 198 BC the newly arrived Roman Consul, Titus Quinctius Flamininus, faced Philip at the Aoos river. A Thermopylae-sque battle followed. The Macedonians held a narrow pass, until someone told Flamininus of a goat path. Philip lost many men and fled before complete encirclement. The warfront moved to Thessaly and continued inconclusively, until Philip ordered a full mobilization. After two decades of war losses - and likely excluding distant garrisons - he was able to muster 18000 Macedonians, 4000 tribesmen and 2500 mercenaries.
Meanwhile the Greco-Roman fleet made more gains and placed Corinth under siege. The Achaeans openly switched sides and joined the siege, but it was lifted when Macedonian reinforcements arrived. Following this, the local Macedonian commander was invited to Argos, which remained pro-Macedonian and left the Achaean League. Greatly outnumbered and with few remaining allies, Philip offered Argos to Nabis to free up his troops. Nabis gladly accepted, but soon he promised to stop attacking Achaea and entered the Roman alliance. Nabis forced his social reforms at Argos, which was also the birthplace of his wife Apega (or Apia). It is unclear if they got married after Nabis acquired Argos or earlier; in any case, she shares his questionable reputation.
In 197 BC Flamininus managed to sneak 2000 soldiers into Thebes. When he and Attalus appeared before the Boeotian Assembly, the majorly pro-Macedonian Boeotians were forced to change sides. Old Attalus though suffered a stroke during a speech, and not long after he died in Pergamon. Flamininus advanced north into Thessaly, where he was to meet Philip in an random encounter that turned into the decisive Battle of Cynoscephalae. The Romans were victorious, in one more battle that is often used to cite the - supposedly evident - superiority of the Roman combat system.8
Three other war fronts were also disastrous for the Macedonians. Leucas was betrayed to the Romans, while Macedonian generals in the Peloponnese and Caria were defeated by the Achaeans and the Rhodians respectively. It was time for peace, which was agreed in 196 BC. Philip had to evacuate all his holdings outside of Macedon, provide war reparations and hostages, and to limit his armed forces. To add insult to injury, the Dardanians attacked Macedon yet again right after the agreement, but they were eventually defeated.
Meanwhile tensions in Boeotia led to the deaths of 500 Roman soldiers and while this affair was settled without further conflict, the co-victorious Aetolians remained angry. They wanted back former holdings that they didn’t receive and they also wanted the Romans gone. But many Greeks appeared happy for now. Flamininus was the man of the hour and the liberator of Greece. He went around for over a year, attending ceremonies, receiving honors and making friends. And while the Romans were supposed to go back to Italy, for so they had promised and anyway they lacked the numbers to properly occupy Greece, for now they were to stay.
Antiochus was consolidating in Anatolia and in Thrace, where he restored the city of Lysimachia, former capital of his ancestor’s rival Lysimachos and once a Seleucid possession. Roman envoys reached him there. They demanded that he withdraws from Ptolemaic lands and regions he occupied after Philip evacuated them. They also demanded that he leaves all Greek Cities alone. The Romans wanted war, or at least they wanted him to advance no further; he clearly was the main reason for their continued presence in Greece. The king replied that the Romans have no business with his ancestral spear-won land, Asia or former Ptolemaic holdings, that Ptolemy is now family (recently married to Antiochus’ daughter) and that all Greek cities in Asia are already free and under his protection.
Freedom of the Greeks - in the Roman sphere - also meant that Argos had to be freed, especially according to the Achaeans, who wanted the freedom to reabsorb the city into their league. Nabis counter-argued that the Romans allied with him AFTER he got Argos. Flamininus, who among other possible reasons found a good pretext to remain in Greece, responded by amassing an army of 50000 legionaries and Greek soldiers. Although greatly outnumbered, Nabis still commanded one of the largest forces in Spartan history. 15000 troops were stationed in Argos and the same number in Sparta. Over several years, the Spartans had been largely left alone to rebuild, reform and privateer, suffering no significant attacks.
Meanwhile, Hannibal Barca fled Carthage and joined Antiochus9. As Flamininus planned his moves against Nabis, Seleucid envoys appeared requesting an alliance. At yet another chance to intervene against Roman advances in Greece, Antiochus doesn’t seem interested. Instead he is campaigning against tribes in Eastern Thrace with a large army. But this whole affair can also be interpreted as him buying time, while securing his northwestern frontier in anticipation of the war to come.
By 195 BC, after a last Roman ultimatum was rejected by Nabis, Flamininus with his allies marched to war. A revolt of pro-Achaean citizens was crushed in Argos as the attackers approached. While outside the city, most Greek leaders wanted to get done with their objective, but Flamininus and the Achaean commander preferred to strike Sparta instead. After receiving additional reinforcements in Arcadia, Flamininus moved past Sparta, were sallies by Nabis’ troops were repelled; then he went on to plunder the countryside before moving towards Gythium, Sparta’s main port and Nabis’ naval arsenal.
The Roman-Rhodian-Pergamene fleet of over 100 ships forced many coastal towns to surrender. The invaders were additionally reinforced by Spartan exiles, including Agesipolis III of the Agiads, who had been deposed by his co-king Lycurgus a few years prior. Flamininus then started besieging Gythium. The defenders held for long against siege engines, assaults and treachery from one of their commanders, but finally the second Spartan commander agreed to surrender the city on the condition that the garrison is free to return to Sparta.
Nabis recalled 3000 men from Argos, bringing his forces to at most 18000, while the approaching Roman force was by now possibly over 50000. At first the Spartans dared to fight outside the city walls, but they were pushed back. Flamininus decided to storm the city from some unwalled spots (likely the new walls of Sparta were not finished yet); the plan was almost successful, until the Spartans set a large fire in their own city and during the chaos that followed the Romans retreated. The attack was soon renewed and after three more days of assaults Nabis chose to accept peace. He was to cede every city but Sparta itself, pay tribute and provide hostages, including his son. Argos and most of Laconia were transferred to the Achaean league. Nabis was also to surrender his remaining ships to the now Achaean coastal towns, abandon his overseas holdings in Crete - and possibly in Caria10 of all places - and cancel some of his reforms.
Meanwhile in Argos, news of Sparta’s imminent fall arrived and the Achaean faction was getting restless. Many of Nabis’ supporters fled, and others were besieged in the citadel. They eventually surrendered it, assured they could leave safely.11
Nabis was still alive, and still a king, but one left with only a landlocked city-state surrounded by his Achaean rivals, who were under the protection of Rome. He once more comes across as a not-so-competent commander, waiting almost passively behind the walls of his major cities and losing a war that he could have avoided with much smaller concessions. His strategy only makes sense if he hoped some external force would draw the attackers away. The only possible candidates are Antiochus and the Aetolians, preferably together, and Nabis supposedly mentions both in a speech. While besieged in Sparta, and after some failed negotiations, Nabis declares to the citizen assembly that the two powers are coming to help soon.12
This Spartan defeat left the Aetolian League as the only considerable anti-Roman power in Greece at the time. As the Romans withdrew most of their troops to Italy, negotiations with Antiochus continued. It’s not certain that both sides really wanted war at this point, but none of them would do major concessions. The Romans threatened to “liberate” the Anatolian Greeks, while Antiochus remained in Thrace and allied with the Aetolian League, implying a possible invasion of Greece. The Aetolians in turn failed to ally with Philip V of Macedon13, but not with Nabis of Sparta.
In 192 BC Nabis launched his counterattack against the Achaeans, at first focusing his effort on retaking Gythium. The Achaeans were advised by Flamininus to wait for the Roman fleet before taking action, but in the end they chose to start fighting the Spartans immediately. Nabis, while landlocked, had somehow managed to acquire a small fleet, which he used to blockade Gythium during the siege. The Achaean fleet arrived to give battle, but the flagship - allegedly 80 year old by this time - started cracking after impact with one of Nabis’ vessels and it was captured. The Achaeans were shocked and put to flight. Philopoemen soon returned, and with an amphibious night attack at one of Nabis’ camps managed to rout the local Spartan detachment; he then went on to ravage northern Laconia, capturing much booty in men and cattle.
Philopoemen returned once more, this time with the main Achaean army, reinforced by Acarnanian and Epirot allies. Meanwhile, Nabis managed to take Gythium before his enemies arrived. As the Spartan and Achaean armies marched towards a major confrontation, Philopoemen used a series of ambushes and other stratagems to cripple the Spartan force. Most of Nabis men were killed or captured, and he withdrew behind his walls, leaving the Achaeans free reign to pillage Laconia for a month.
Around this time, Roman and Aetolian envoys and sympathizers were debating and plotting across Greece, trying to recruit various states for the approaching conflict. What has survived from this affair reeks of Roman propaganda.14 In general it appears as if most leaders and aristocrats of those times were pro-Roman, while the general Greek population mostly favored the Aetolians and Antiochus.
Nabis, who was left with only a fraction of his army by Philopoemen’s exploits, requested Aetolian help to keep carrying on the war and the Aetolians sent 1000 men under Alexamenus. During joint military drills near Sparta, the Aetolian commander and some of his men attacked and slaughtered Nabis, in front of the shocked Spartan soldiers. Allegedly, Nabis’ assassination was part of an Aetolian plan15 to capture Sparta, Demetrias and Chalkis16 in anticipation of Antiochus’ arrival. The Aetolians succeeded in Demetrias and failed at Chalkis. In Sparta, after murdering Nabis, they went about to loot the palace and the city before getting slaughtered by the Spartans. One Laconicus was elected to be the last king of Sparta, but soon a Roman fleet and the Achaeans under Philopoemen arrived, forcing Sparta into the Achaean League. Such was the end of the ancient Spartan state;17 though, if you read the notes you’ll see why I propose a more reasonable explanation on how that end came to be.
Most claim that Nabis rose to power as the next guardian of Pelops of Sparta and soon got rid of the young king, though others claim that Machanidas already had Pelops removed.
(Major Trigger Warnings and Spoilers - Better finish the main text first)
It is most commonly assumed that Nabis was a member of the Eurypontid Dynasty. An inscription found in Delos that refers to him as “Nabis, son of Demaratos” is the main pillar of this theory. Demaratos is a Greek name, most famously of an Eurypontid Spartan king that ruled three centuries ealier (c. 515 BC-491 BC). He was then exiled and fled to Persia. There’s also two other famous Demarati.
Demaratus of Corinth, of Bacchiadae fame (once kings in Corinth), who was the daddy of a Roman king, and from whom the Junii (Brutus), Tullii (Cicero) and Mamilii Romans claim descent.
Demaratus (again Corinthian), courtier of Philip II and companion of AlexDaGreat during the Persian Campaign.
So many a possible (conspiracy) theory behind an inscription. But perhaps he was the son of a random Demaratus, and historians or not, we’re all a-holes trying to find grandeur. Perhaps he just claimed decent from Demaratus Eurypontid to be legit at Sparta and/or abroad.
Then there’s his Semitic sounding name. Fits eastern origins theories:
Demaratus the Spartan has babies in Persia and 300 years later a relative is back on the throne.
Demaratus the Corintho-Macedonian has babies in Persia and 130 years later a relative gains the Spartan throne. Not that strange seeing how Spartan rulers appear increasingly non-Spartan or obscure lately.
Random guy from the east joins Sparta as mercenary during chaotic times and gains the Spartan throne.
(Perhaps “the Jews” order a leader for Sparta?)
Eastern origins theories fit with an agent of Antiochus III gaining power in (now chaotic) Sparta as his boss sets sight Westwards. Now, why Antiochus you will ask?
The other possible guy from the east is Ptolemy, who is weak by now and almost can’t project power in Grecia + it makes less sense with the story arc. Was also tempted to go Roman and form a lengthy theory on a Corinthian secret society that still rules the world, but Rome a-holes almost destroy Nabis, or was this in the plan all along?
Anyway my best bet is Nabis, son of Demaratus or not, works for Antiochos III “the Great” Seleucid of Asia:
Nabis messes with Macedons minion Achaea, while co-pirating with Macedons, destabilizing the region. (Boss likes this)
Later Nabis joins Macedons only to gain Argos. (meanwhile Boss can help his ally Macedons but will let Rome and minions beat them instead)
Then Nabis cheats on Macedons with Rome. (No one in the east takes Rome seriously enough so far - you idiots - and Boss prefers Macedons gone to come and save Mama Grecia from Rome who isn’t a Greek)
Then Nabis stronk with loads of pirates (Rome and crybaby polybian moron Achaea have to give Nabis a facelift like good allies, or Rome is smart and knows Nabis fake minion)
Then Nabis re-attacks Achaea as Boss comes to fight Rome. (but the Aetolians fuck up in weird ways like they always do? Or let’s wait for note 15?)
Then Boss, who’s 50% genius and 50% polybian, fucks up and Rome wins the world. [the Aetolians helped a lot as allies (and enemies?). The new senatorial pet in Pergamon adds most of the final touch].
Nabis also goes full Hellenistic is further Seleucid hints (since he’s clearly no Pharaoh or Big Mac pet).
P.S.
Why be Nabis though if you really care to be true Spartan? Hellenistic folk rename all the time these days. Perhaps with so many ex mercs, perioikoi and helots as citizens true Spartan doesn’t matter anymore?
P.S. 2
I once read somewhere that Nabis was a former Syrian slave, which was the main inspiration for my own scienceTM theory. I can’t find that source anymore.
It can be said though that not all Hellenistic kingdoms were absolute monarchies. Even major ones like Antigonid Macedon and the Seleucid Empire are perhaps better described as stratocratic federal kingdoms, with the king holding the state together through military might and personal battlefield success. Many subject states we internally self-governed, with various degrees of autonomy.
(Spoiler Alert)
Antiochus III is a very interesting character who perhaps deserves his own article. Starting with almost all of his giant state in more or less open rebellion, he managed to reunite and enlarge it. He did that leading from the front, in Alexander (and old Macedonian) style cavalry charges. Perhaps he is the most humane king of this era, or at least the Romanized sources for some weird reason don’t make an a-hole out of him, like they do with their other rivals. Antiochus is also the last chance for the Hellenistics to reunite the Alexandrian Empire and stop the rise of Rome.
(Spoiler Alert)
Can’t say how much of this is due to Roman and Achaean propaganda. Philip appears decent to our Polybian sources during his youth, when he was frequently rescuing Oh Dear Achaea. As he starts to fall off with Aratus, and especially after he falls off with Rome and Achaea combined, he’s gradually turning into a monster. Being in power (and 20 years of war) can do that I guess. I won’t completely discredit Poly here. The siege of Abydos thing sounds too Polybian though.
Maybe the main reason most Greeks turned against him (during the 2nd Rome-Macedon war) was that he was already greatly outnumbered; and the Romans were pillagers too, on average far worse than the Macedonians or Philip V. Perhaps it was a calculated risk of avoiding being looted by the pros.
Oh and this isn’t an anti-Roman thing. Ask the victims of the Athenian Democracy or those of the librarian kings of Pergamon for other, Greekier professionals.
I’ve read widespread arguments that Nabis was honored as a benefactor in Delos, so he couldn’t be pirate king. That this is one more thing that hostile Polybius got out of his a-hole. I think by now I’ve qualified as one who respects Polybius’ character less than most do. However:
Nabis changed allegiance several times.
We don’t know the exact date and duration of the honor.
Pirates usually don’t attack every foreigner at will. And often they’ve got specific-aligned targets.
Delos was a slave market and those tend to benefit from friendly pirates (at least those who do more than yelling “yarr”).
Everything else in my knowledge supports Nabis being pirate king. Opposing theory needs to disprove at least points 2 to 4 to hold any merit. Oh and @$#@ (I mean fuck) wiki and the thought police.
(Spoiler Alert)
Rome soon becomes besties with Achaea for 50 years, forever friends with our favorite ahistorian.
In fact the Aetolians (who got cocky afterwards) and the Numidian war elephants on the Roman side, along with luck and Philip’s miscalculated risk taking, were the most decisive factors. Many overemphasize the act of the “unknown tribune” towards the end of the battle - and it’s relation to the superior flexibility of Roman infantry formations, that no one denies - but without the aforementioned factors it would have meant nothing.
Additionally, the Romans and allies outnumbered the Macedons by at least 20%, unless we go with the most pro-Roman guesswork possible on already pro-Roman sources. I also really doubt the Romans and allies invaded Macedon with about 25k troops, while soon after they attack (much weaker) Sparta with at least 50k. Similarly, the numbers on the following war with Antiochus seem cooked as well.
After the 2nd Punic War, Hannibal went on to reform the Carthaginian state. The corrupting influence of oligarchs was reduced and funds to pay the massive war reparations to Rome were acquired, without increasing taxation. The Romans though got suspicious of Hannibal planning another war against them - in cooperation with Antiochus - and Hannibal, afraid that the angered oligarchs would hand him to the Romans, fled to the east.
According to one translation, Livy mentions Iasos and Bargylia as Nabis’ possessions. This is very interesting since:
There is an obscure Iasos near Sparta, but no Bargylia outside of Caria. Probably Livy means the two Carian coastal cities; even if not, the argument still stands for Bargylia.
Philip V captures Bargylia and Iasos in 201 BC.
Both Carian cities are well situated for raiding Rhodian trade. Philip supported piracy, and it’s likely that later Antiochus did too, since his enemies had naval superiority and he’s reported as having mostly light ships in his Aegean fleet.
Philip is forced to abandon both cities in 196 BC.
After Panion (200-ish BC) and until 195 BC Antiochus is wrapping up Ptolemy’s former Anatolian holdings and at least some of Philips’ as well. Antiochus probably holds both cities. In any case he surrounds them.
Nabis somehow has both cities in 195 BC.
This clearly gives extra support to the ancient Nabis as pirate king narrative vs modern counterarguments.
It also is more support for my theory that Nabi works for Anti. Unless we assume that Nabis could - and found wise to - mess with Antiochus in Asia Minor while Rome and most of Greece were knocking on his very door. And that while Antiochus is his strongest potential ally.
Or unless for some weird reason Livy pulled those two specific city names out of his a-hole and granted them to Mr Pirate.
In any case the above points are valid only if the aforementioned translation is reflecting the original text. I know of a different translation, not sure how many ancient copies we’ve got and if they all match.
Sources actually describe this incident in a way that makes everyone in Argos just wanting the evil tyrant’s troops gone. However, since Nabis benefited many formerly disenfranchised Argives and slaves, and especially if he was so mean to his enemies that he barely left any of them be, I call bullshit; and perhaps such pro-Achaean faction barely even existed at this point. It’s likely though that the Argives played the pro-Achaean card to get better treatment in defeat.
Another possibility is that my Nabi works for Anti theory is true, and no side would be content to end this by just having Argos change hands. Rome wants Anti’s minion crushed and Antiochus likely needs more time to prepare his invasion.
Or Nabis knew that his enemies wouldn’t stop there anyway. The Achaeans would be happy to use Roman presence to diminish or destroy Sparta, and the Romans, whether Nabi works for Anti or is just his natural ally, would like to have a thorn on their side gone before the next phase of the Great War.
Philip V seemed unwilling to turn to Antiochus’ side after the later had abandoned their alliance during the Roman invasion of Macedon. Furthermore, the Aetolians were his old enemies and instrumental in his defeat, and by now the Romans had reduced much of the burden they imposed on him. He had his hostage son returned, the rest of the tribute canceled and he was soon allowed to recapture some of his lost holdings. Philip also aided Flamininus during his war against Nabis.
But here’s an interesting anecdote:
Damocritus, the Aetolian general, said to Flamininus: “You’ll get your requested copy of the latest Aetolian decree; at my camps in Italy, on the banks of the Tiber.”
This whole affair is extremely strange. The Aetolians murder one of their few allies in the wake of a major war. Then go on to get trapped and murdered in Sparta in hopes of gaining loot. While they supposedly organized this to capture allied Sparta (which would require more reasonable plans and would be …stupid anyway). And then there’s the timely arrival of Rome and Achaea to seize the day. While Antiochus is soon to arrive in Greece as an ally of both Aetolia and Sparta. Whatever…
Modern (a)historians and antiquologists, am I the first one to ever notice this? Are you that lazy, or worse? But there’s more:
Interestingly the Aetolian commander Alexamenus only/also appears in another assassination incident:
After Philip’s defeat, some pro-Roman Boeotians want to get rid of their pro-Macedonian Boeotarch (chief officer) who was being disrespectful to glorious Flamininus by… still honoring Philip. Flamininus, like a true civilized philhellene Roman, doesn’t want to get directly involved on such things, but points them to our (deus ex machina) friend Alexamenus. Alexamenus then arranges for 3 Aetolians and 3 Italians (because why not, but ofc not true Romans) to murder the ill-mannered Boeotarch.
(This account is skipped in all language versions of wiki on Alexamenus, though some of them state his generalship in 196 BC, obviously based on the same source).
What I get out of this is:
Perhaps Rome and Achaea(n scribes) cover their side’s dirty deeds by blaming (fictional?) Aetolian characters; and they both despise the Aetolians by now.
Perhaps Alexamenus is real though, and someone who remains pro-Roman after Aetolia goes pro-Seleucid. The Aetolians are (among other things) famous as mercenaries, and many mercenaries are also political exiles. Perhaps Alexamenus (and gang?) work for new employers by now. Maybe even from within Aetolia is possible too.
Rome-hired (Aetolian?) killers sounds much more plausible than a weird suicidal Aetolian League top secret mission (that RomeAchaea scribes know every detail about) against one of the League’s own few allies. And RomeAchaea is ready to exploit the chaos expected after Nabis’ murder, arrives in time with troops, and Sparta is now Achaean. Makes sense now, right?
Did those who (re)wrote history (intentionally?) left us some hints? Are we (intentionally?) too blind to see them?
Even if this is “just a theory” isn’t the whole incident too weird to be left unquestioned?
The later two being important strongholds, “The Fetters of Hellas” together with Acrocorinth.
The Spartans would still try to regain independence in the following decades, in part causing Achaea’s final defeat and absorption into the Roman state in 146 BC.