Treaty of Apamea

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Asia Minor after the Treaty of Apamea, with the gains of Pergamon (light blue) and Rhodes
(light green)

The Treaty of Apamea was a

Roman–Seleucid War. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the Battle of Thermopylae (in 191 BC), the Battle of Magnesia
(in 190 BC), and after Roman and Rhodian naval victories over the Seleucid navy.

Terms of the treaty

The treaty, according to

King of Pergamon, whatever remains of the possessions he acquired by his agreement with Attalus I
, the father of Eumenes.

Rome gave the control of a large part of

Asia Minor to Eumenes. Antiochus kept the region of Cilicia, while most of Lycia and Caria became part of the Rhodian Peraia
. Hellenistic kings generally accepted, for their own lifetimes, any treaty they had signed, on the grounds of honour. On the other hand, their heirs did not feel honour bound to accept treaties signed by their predecessors. The naval conditions of the treaty appear to have fallen into abeyance, but the other conditions held.

The treaty was formalized at Apamea in Phrygia. It allowed the Romans to expand their political hegemony to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. But at this time Roman power was still indirect, and Rome depended on its capacity to ally itself to second-rank powers such as Pergamon and Rhodes. The harsh reparations weakened the Seleucid Empire, causing a shortage of money and weakening the ability of the Seleucids to manage their kingdom.[1]

Later influence

Rome used the threat of a renewed war to check Seleucid power from reasserting itself in the region. In the

Antiochus IV grudgingly accepted. Polybius's Histories records that as late as 162 BC, a Roman delegation visited Antioch, and used the Treaty as an excuse to hamstring Seleucid war elephants and destroy Seleucid ships as being in violation of the terms of the treaty.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ Gera, Dov. Judaea and Mediterranean Politics, p. 93. Cited in Portier-Young, p. 79
  2. ISBN 0521323525
    .
  3. ^ Polybius. Histories, Book 31.

Primary sources

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