Roman Era

By 215 BC, Rome began to interfere in Greek affairs as it expanded its empire. Philip V of Macedonia allied himself with Carthage to fight against Rome, but the Romans allied with the Aetolian League and defeated the Macedonian forces in 206 BC.  This gave the Romans starting point in Greece. Rome aided by both the Aetolian and Achaean leagues, again defeated Philip in 197 BC. Macedonia, now was completely subjugated and agreed to a peace with Rome and the recogniztion of Greek independence. Yet again, the Greeks only exchanged one master for another, and in a last attempt to free themselves, the Achaean League rose against the Romans in 149 BC. The resulting war ended with the destruction of Corinth by Roman legions in 146 bc, and the abolition of the leagues.  Greece now completely under the power of Rome was united wtih Macedonia to form the Roman province of Macedonia. For 60 years, Greece was competently administered by Rome although some cities, such as Athens and Sparta, retained their free status. In 88 BC, Mithridates VI, king of Pontus, began a campaign of conquest in Roman-controlled territories, and many Greek cities supported this Asian monarch because he had promised to help them regain their independence. Roman legions  forced Mithridates out of Greece, crushed the rebellion, sacking Athens in 86 BC and Thebes a year later. Roman punishment on the cities and the campaigns themselves which all were fought on Greek soil, left central Greece in ruins. Athens remained a center of philosophy and learning, but its commerce delined until it was almost nonexistant. Around the year 22 BC ,Augustus, the first Roman emperor, separated Greece from Macedonia and made the Greece a province called Achaea. As part of the Roman Empire, in the first centuries of the Christian era, particularly during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, there was a Greek renaissance. Hadrian and Herodes Atticus, a wealthy Greek scholar repaired Athens and many of the other ruined cities.  This renaissance was ended by the Goths, who in 267-68 overran the peninsula, capturing Athens, and destroying the cities of Argos, Corinth, and Sparta.