In 215, a year after the Roman empire was defeated by Hannibal at Cannae, formed Hannibal a coalition with the Macedonian king Philip V. This last one immediately liquidated the Roman protectorate in Illyria. Further, by Hannibal expected, Macedonian military actions against Rome were not made as Carthage did not have a fleet to transport the Macedonian forces, while the Macedonian fleet itself was kept busy in the Aegean. On top of this succeeded Rome with the help of the Aetolian League and the kingdom of Pergamum in creating an anti-Macedonian atmosphere in Hellas. This resulted in the first Macedonian war from 215 till 205. Rome successfully attempted to avoid any actual interference, and in 205 the war suddenly ended for no apparent reason.

Roman interference in the east.

In 201 Rome got interfered again in the East. Alarmed by the leakage of a secret treaty in 203 between Phillip V and the Seleucid king Antiochus III, aimed at Egypt and all its possessions and protectorates in the Aegean. The island Rhodes and Pergamum felt threatened by actions of the Macedonian fleet and begged the Roman empire to interfere. The romans did not have a valid juridical argument for a new war with Macedon, and they had all the reasons to ignore the request after the exhausting war against Hannibal, but they answered positively after some hesitation of the senate and the comitia centuriata. power of Macedon and the Seleucid empire. This fear was not valid at the moment as they had no hostile intentions against Pergamum, but Rome saw it as a good excuse to prevent a future Macedonian-Seleucid threat with a quick interference. Personal military ambitions of several important nobiles, and the wish to punish Phillip for his treaty with Hannibal also created an aggressive atmosphere in Rome.

The second Macedonian war which started in 200 and ended in 196 brought a small Roman army in Hellas for the first time. In their propaganda they followed the policy of the diadochs who had claimed to be the liberators of Hellas, and they promised freedom and autonomy to the Greeks. Macedon indeed had to give up its garrisons in Hellas after it was defeated in 197 at Cynoscephalae by the proconsul Quinctius Flaminius. This Roman was honoured as a hero by the Greeks when he proclaimed during the Isthmian games in 196 that the freedom and autonomy of the Greek Poleis were restored again. Two years later the Roman forces left Hellas: Rome did not yet have any interests in a permanent garrison. Philip remained king of Macedon, but was in fact a Roman client-king.

Antiochus III.

In 192 Antiochus III arrived in Hellas with an army. He also was there to bring freedom and autonomy. Rome was allarmed as Antiochus had the reputation of a new Alexander the Great after his expedition in the East, and his invasion in Hellas could only be explained as a start of further offensives against the Roman empire. On top of this was Hannibal banished from Carthage in 195 after he had acted too democratic, and since then he lived at the court of Antiochus. His presence there could only increase the expansionist policy of the Seleucid king.

However, Rome did not have any reasons to be afraid as Antiochus had no further plans against the Roman empire. Pergamum on the other hand had all the reason to be afraid as it had separated itself from the kingdom of the Seleucids in the past, and Antiochus wished to restore the empire again. Pergamum influenced Rome again, and the fear in Rome for the new Alexander the Great increased with the day.

Again a Roman army crossed the Adriatic sea and in 191 Antiochus was forced to retreat to Asia Minor after a defeat at Thermopylae. The Aetolians had been the only ones in Hellas who had helped the Romans. They felt that they did not get the reward they deserved with the peace treaty of 197: they had hoped that Rome would give them land of Thessaly in return for their help during the second Macedonian war, but this did not happen. This was enough reason for the Aetolian League to collaborate to Antiochus. As a reprisal Rome decreased the territory of the Aetolian League and turned it into a client-nation of the Roman empire.

It is not clear what convinced Rome to continue the war against Antiochus, and even to move it to Asia Minor. They used the slogan "freedom for all Greeks", so also those in Asia Minor, but other reasons have been most likely more important: pressure from Rhodes and Pergamum, personal ambitions of the mainly the family of Scipio, and primitive need for loot. Antiochus realised the danger and was prepared to make big concessions in trade for peace, he even offered to end his claims on several Greek cities in Asia Minor. Rome on its turn demanded that Antiochus would evacuate the whole of Asia Minor till the Taurus mountains, while Roman forces already crossed the Hellespont. Officially was this expedition lead by a younger brother of the consul Scipio, but in fact was this last person the leader of the whole expedition against Antiochus.