Philopoemen
Philopoemen/ˌfɪləˈpiːmən/(Greek:ΦιλοποίμηνPhilopoímēn;253 BC,Megalopolis– 183 BC,Messene) was a skilledGreekgeneral and statesman, who wasAchaeanstrategoson eight occasions.
From the time he was appointed as strategos in 209 BC, Philopoemen helped turn theAchaean Leagueinto an important military power in Greece. He was called "the last of the Greeks" by an anonymous Roman.
Early life[edit]
The son of Craugis ofMegalopolis,his father died early in his life. He was then adopted by an important citizen of Megalopolis, Cleander.
Philopoemen was educated by academic philosophers Ecdemus and Demophanes.[1]Both were Megapolitans, who had helped to depose previoustyrantsof Megalopolis, Sicyon and Cyrene. Thus, he was inculcated with notions of freedom and democracy. Philopoemen strove to emulate the 4th-century BCThebangeneral and statesman,Epaminondas.Philopoemen believed that as a public servant, personal virtue was at all times a necessary condition. So Philopoemen wore humble garments for the rest of his life, spurning any expensive adornments.
Battle of Megalopolis[edit]
Philopoemen first came to the attention of key Greek politicians when he helped defend Megalopolis against theSpartankingCleomenes IIIin 223 BC. Cleomenes III had seized Megalopolis. Philopoemen was amongst the first defending the city. During the battle, Philopoemen lost his horse and he was wounded. Nevertheless, he remained involved in the battle until the end. His actions helped give the citizens of Megalopolis enough time to evacuate the city.[1]
Battle of Sellasia[edit]
The king ofMacedonia,Antigonus III Doson,was keen to restore Macedonian influence in thePeloponnesefor the first time in almost two decades. In 224 BC, he signed an alliance with theAchaeans,Boeotians,Thessaliansand theAcarnanians.With his rear secured by treaties, Antigonus invaded the Peloponnese and drove the Spartans out ofArgos,takingOrchomenusandMantineiain the process.
When he advanced againstLaconia,however, Antigonus found that Cleomenes had blocked all the mountain passes except for one. It was there, nearSellasia,that Cleomenes waited with his army.
Philopoemen commanded a cavalry force, which included soldiers from Megalopolis. He was supported byIllyrianinfantry. When the latter entered into the battle, they were surrounded by the enemy. So Philopoemen launched his own attack. While his forces suffered many casualties, the surprised Spartan forces fled. In the encounter, Philopoemen's horse fell and he was wounded by a javelin. Yet he continued to fight behind the enemy's lines.
In the end the Spartan forces were massacred by the Macedonians and their allies and Cleomenes was forced to flee toEgypt. As the leader of the Achaeans, Philopoemen's actions impressed Antigonus III.
Cavalry commander[edit]
From 221 BC he subsequently spent 10 years inCreteas amercenarycaptain. Returning to mainland Greece in 210 BC, Philopoemen was appointed commander of the cavalry in theAchaean League.[1]
In the same year, in one of the battles associated with theFirst Macedonian Warbetween Macedonia and theRoman Republic,Philopoemen faced Damophantus, whose army was composed ofAetoliansandEleans,near theLarissariver (on the border ofElis). During the battle, Damophantus charged directly against Philopoemen with his spear. Bravely, Philopoemen didn't retreat, but waited with his lance, which he mortally thrust into Damophantus' chest. Immediately, the enemy fled from the battlefield. By this action, Philopoemen's fame increased across Greece.
The Battle of Mantinea[edit]
Philopoemen was appointedstrategosof the Achaean League in 209 BC. Philopoemen used his position to modernise and increase the size of the Achaean army and updated the soldiers’ equipment and battle tactics.
His efforts to make the Achaeans an effective fighting force bore fruit a couple of years later.
In the years following the defeat of the Spartan king Cleomenes III at the Battle of Sellasia, Sparta experienced a power vacuum that eventually led to the Spartan kingship being bestowed on a child, Pelops, for whomMachanidasruled as regent.
TheBattle of Mantineawas fought in 207 BC between the Spartans led by Machanidas and the Achaean League, whose forces were led by Philopoemen. The Achaeans defeated the Spartans. In the battle, Philopoemen defeated and killed the Spartan ruler Machanidas in one-on-one combat. Afterward, the Achaeans erected atDelphia bronze statue which captured the fight between Machanidas and Philopoemen.
With his victory at Mantinea, Philopoemen was able to go on to captureTegea,and then move with his army as far as theEurotas River.
The rise of Nabis of Sparta[edit]
Following Machanidas' death,Nabis,a nobleman from the royal house of the Eurypontids, a descendant of KingDemaratus,rose to power in Sparta and became the new regent for Pelops. Nabis soon overthrew Pelops. Under Nabis, Sparta continued to trouble thePeloponnese.
In 205 BC,Philip V of Macedonmade a temporary peace (thePeace of Phoenice) with Rome on favourable terms for Macedonia thus ending theFirst Macedonian War.After the Peace, Nabis went to war against the Achaean League. However, Philopoemen was able to expel Nabis fromMessene.
Philopoemen was appointedstrategosfor theAchaean Leaguebetween 201 and 199 BC.
In 201 BC, Nabis invaded and captured Messene. However, the Spartans were forced to retreat when the Achaean League army under Philopoemen intervened. Nabis' forces were decisively defeated atTegeaby Philopoemen and Nabis was forced to check his expansionist ambitions for the time being.
Philopoemen returns to Crete[edit]
TheCretancity ofGortynathen asked for Philopoemen's help. So in 199 BC Philopoemen returned to Crete again as a mercenary leader. Philopoemen had to change his tactics as the fighting on the island was more in the style ofguerrillawarfare. Nonetheless, with Philopoemen's experience, he was able to defeat his enemies. Philopoemen spent six years in Crete.
In the meantime, Nabis took advantage of Philopoemen's absence, laying siege toMegalopolisfor a lengthy period. Nabis also acquired the important city ofArgosfromPhilip V of Macedon,as the price of his alliance with the Macedonians. Nabis then defected to theRomansin the expectation of being able to hold on to his conquest.
In 196 BC, Roman general and pro-consulTitus Quinctius Flamininusaccused the Spartan ruler, Nabis, of tyranny, tookGythiuminLaconiaand forced Nabis to surrender Argos. After checking the ambitions of the Spartantyrant,Nabis, the Roman forces under Flamininus withdrew from Greece in 194 BC. With the Romans no longer having a military presence in Greece, the dominant powers in the region were the kingdom of Macedon, theAetolians,the strengthenedAchaean Leagueand a weakenedSparta.The Aetolians, who had opposed the Roman intervention in Greek affairs, incited the Spartan leader, Nabis, to retake his former territories and regain his influence in Greek affairs.
Philopoemen’s return as Achaean League strategos[edit]
Returning to the Greek mainland as strategos in 193 BC, Philopoemen was appointedstrategosfor a second time to lead the fight against Nabis.
In 192 BC, Nabis attempted to recapture theLaconiancoastline. The Achaeans responded to Sparta's renewed interest in recovering lost territory by sending an envoy to Rome with a request for help. In response, theRoman Senatesent the praetor Atilius with a navy, as well as an embassy headed by Flamininus.
Not waiting for the Roman fleet to arrive, the Achaean army and navy headed towardsGythiumunder the command of Philopoemen. The Achaean fleet under Tiso was defeated by the Spartan fleet. On land, the Achaeans were unable to defeat the Spartan forces outside Gythium and Philopoemen retreated toTegea.
When Philopoemen re-entered Laconia for a second attempt, his forces were ambushed by Nabis, but nevertheless Philopoemen managed to gain a victory over the Spartan forces. Philopoemen's plans for capturing Sparta itself were put on hold at the request of the Roman envoy, Flaminius, after his arrival in Greece. In return, Nabis decided, for the moment, to accept the status quo.
The subjugation of Sparta[edit]
Nabis then appealed to the Aetolians for help. They sent 1,000 cavalry to Sparta under the command ofAlexamenus.However, the Aetolians murdered Nabis and temporarily occupied Sparta. The Aetolian troops seized the palace and set about looting the city, but the inhabitants of Sparta were able to rally and forced them to leave the city.
But Philopoemen took advantage of the Aetolian treachery and entered Sparta with his Achaean army. Now in full control of Sparta, Philopoemen forced Sparta to become a member state of the Achaean League.
Sparta's entry into the league raised the problem of how to deal with all of the Spartans exiled by the social-revolutionary regimes that had dominated Sparta for a number of years. Philopoemen wanted to restore only those Spartans who were willing to support the league. This meant that he adopted an uncompromising hostility to traditional Spartan concerns.
In 188 BC, Philopoemen entered northernLaconiawith his army and a group of Spartan exiles. His army demolished the wall that the former tyrant of Sparta, Nabis, had built around Sparta. Philopoemen then restored Spartan citizenship to the exiles and abolished Spartan law and its education system, introducing Achaean law and institutions in their place. Sparta's role as a major power in Greece ended, while the Achaean League became the dominant power throughout thePeloponnese.
Philopoemen's final years[edit]
These actions provoked opposition even from Philopoemen's supporters in Sparta. As a result, his opponents in Sparta appealed directly to theRoman Senate,which repeatedly suggested solutions to the disagreements, all of which Philopoemen and his supporters rejected. In fact, Philopoemen and his supporters refused to recognise any Roman role in Achaean internal affairs as they argued that Rome had previously recognised the Achaean League's independence through a formal treaty.
This aggressive attitude towards Sparta and towards Rome split Achaean politics. However, Philopoemen died before these matters were resolved.
In 183 BC, Dinocrates, who strongly opposed Philopoemen, encouragedMesseneto revolt against the League. After Dinocrates announced that he would capture Colonis, Philopoemen decided that he needed to subdue the rebellion.
In the ensuing battle, Philopoemen found himself behind the enemy's lines and was captured by the Messeneans after his horse threw him. He was then invited to drink poison to allow him to have what was then regarded as an honourable death.
On hearing of his death, the members of the Achaean League joined forces to capture Messene.
With his death, Philopoemen's body was cremated. At his public funeral, the historianPolybiuscarried the urn with Philopoemen's ashes and later wrote a biography and defended his memory in hisHistories.Pausaniasin hisDescription of Greecewrote that after Philopoemen's death, 'Greece ceased to bear good men'.[2]
References[edit]
- ^abcChisholm 1911.
- ^Pausanias,Description of Greece,8.52
- Attribution
- Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Sources[edit]
- Polybius'Histories(x–xxiii) is the chief authority on the life of Philopoemen. These and a special treatise on Philopoemen (now lost) were used byPlutarch"Philopoemen",Pausanias(viii. 49SI),Livy(xxxi–xxxviii), and indirectly byJustin(xxx–xxxiv).
- Plutarch,The Lives, "Philopoemen"
- Polybius,The Histories of Polybius, Books X–XXXIII
- Junianus Justinus,Marcus Junianus Justinus, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Books XXX–XXXIV
- The Oxford Classical Dictionary (1964)
- The Oxford History of the Classical World (1995)
- The Oxford Who's Who in the Classical World (2000)
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