The Treaty of Apamea was a
peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
conducted in 188 BC between the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
and
Antiochus III
Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the r ...
, ruler of the
Seleucid Empire. It ended the
Roman–Seleucid War
The Seleucid War (192–188 BC), also known as the War of Antiochos or the Syrian War, was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire. The fighting took place in modern day southern Greece, the A ...
. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the
Battle of Thermopylae (in 191 BC), the
Battle of Magnesia
The Battle of Magnesia took place in either December 190 or January 189 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and the allied Kingdom of Pe ...
(in 190 BC), and after Roman and Rhodian naval victories over the Seleucid navy.
Terms of the treaty
The treaty, according to
Appian, obliged
Antiochus III
Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the r ...
to abandon Europe altogether and all of Asia west of the
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğird ...
. He had to surrender all the
war elephants
A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...
in his possession and was limited to twelve warships for the purpose of keeping his subjects under control, but he was allowed to build more if he was attacked. Antiochus was barred from recruiting mercenaries "north of the
Taurus" (that is, from territory just ceded to Roman allies Pergamon and Rhodes) and entertaining fugitives from the same. Antiochus had to give twenty hostages, whom the
Roman consul
A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...
would select. The hostages should be changed every third year, except the son of Antiochus. In the future, he would maintain no elephants. The Seleucids were forced to pay an
indemnity of 15,000 talents of silver of debt: 500
Euboic talents immediately, 2,500 more when the
Roman Senate ratified the treaty, and installments of 1,000 talents each to be delivered to Rome annually for the next twelve years. The Seleucids also agreed to an indemnity of 540,000 ''
modii'' of corn. He was also forced to surrender all prisoners and deserters to his enemies, and to
Eumenes II
Eumenes II Soter (; grc-gre, Εὐμένης Σωτήρ; ruled 197–159 BC) was a ruler of Pergamon, and a son of Attalus I Soter and queen Apollonis and a member of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon.
Biography
The eldest son of king Attalus ...
, the
King of Pergamon
The Kingdom of Pergamon or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; grc-x-koine, Δυναστε ...
, whatever remains of the possessions he acquired by his agreement with
Attalus I
Attalus I ( grc, Ἄτταλος Α΄), surnamed ''Soter'' ( el, , "Savior"; 269–197 BC) ruled Pergamon, an Ionian Greek polis (what is now Bergama, Turkey), first as dynast, later as king, from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the fi ...
, the father of Eumenes.
Rome gave the control of a large part of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
to Eumenes. Antiochus kept the region of
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
, while most of
Lycia
Lycia ( Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is ...
and
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid- Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined ...
became part of the
Rhodian Peraia
The Rhodian Peraea or Peraia ( grc, ἡ τῶν Ῥοδίων περαία, 3=''peraia'' of the Rhodians) was the name for the southern coast of the region of Caria in western Asia Minor during the 5th–1st centuries BC, when the area was control ...
. 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
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
. 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.
Later influence
Rome used the threat of a renewed war to check Seleucid power from reasserting itself in the region. In the
Sixth Syrian War
The Syrian Wars were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the region then called Coele-Syria, one of th ...
, Rome insisted that the Seleucids leave the
Ptolemaic Empire alone after occupying much of Egypt and Cyprus in 168 BC; Seleucid king
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
In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury.
In quadrupe ...
Seleucid
war elephants and destroy Seleucid ships as being in violation of the terms of the treaty.
[Polybius.]
Histories, Book 31
References
{{Reflist
Primary sources
*
Polybius of Megalopolis
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
,
World History'
text of the treaty
*
Appian of Alexandria,
Syriaca'
text of the treaty
*Titus Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita, 38:''
188 BC
Apamea
Roman–Seleucid War
Apamea
2nd century BC in the Roman Republic
Apamea
Kingdom of Pergamon
Ancient Rhodes
Asia (Roman province)