Open AccessJournal Article
Polybius, the Achaeans, and the ‘Freedom of the Greeks’
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In this paper, the authors investigate how Polybius may have emphasized the Achaean contribution to the Isthmian Declaration of freedom for European Greece, and investigate the influence of the Greek contribution on the eventual outcome of the war against Philip V of Macedon.Abstract:
I N THE SPRING OF 196 B.C. the proconsul T. Quinctius Flamininus, victorious in the war against Philip V of Macedon, announced at the Isthmian Games that the outcome of the war would be freedom for the Greeks. Not only would the states and peoples of European Greece be free from Macedonian hegemony and control, but all would be totally free: free from taxes, free from garrisons, free to live under their own ancestral laws-free (in a word) from Rome. Flamininus' announcement was greeted by the assembled Greeks with enormous cheers and explosive enthusiasm. It is a famous scene, made ironic by the subsequent history of Rome's relations with the Greek world.1 The main purpose of this paper is to investigate how Polybius may have emphasized the Achaean contribution to the Isthmian Declaration. It is first necessary, however, to review the evolution of the concept of full freedom, for it has been a topic of intense scholarly debate-both about the specific stages by which the Romans arrived at this policy, and also about the influences that bore upon their ultimate decision. Some scholars believe that the outline of Flamininus' policy was already in place at Rome as early as 200-perhaps even before the war against Philip began. 2 Some maintain that in 199read more
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MonographDOI
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