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This episode details the Roman Republic’s expansion into the Greek world, beginning with its early interventions against Illyrian piracy and concluding with the total annexation of the region. Through a series of conflicts, including the Macedonian, Seleucid, and Achaean Wars, Rome systematically dismantled the power of the Hellenistic successor states to Alexander the Great. The episode highlights how Rome utilized a "divide and conquer" strategy, forming strategic alliances with smaller states like Pergamon and Rhodes to undermine larger rivals such as Philip V and Antiochus the Great. Key military engagements, like the Battles of Cynoscephalae, Thermopylae, and Pydna, are described to illustrate the eventual tactical superiority of the Roman legion over the traditional Macedonian phalanx. Ultimately, the narrative explains how the destruction of Corinth in 146 BC solidified Roman hegemony, leading to a long-lasting cultural synthesis that shaped Western civilization.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". George Santayana
