Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast, Episode 89 Antigna Macedon, Legion and Phalanx

According to the Roman historian Livy, Philip V of Macedon held a funeral from many of his cavalrymen that were slain in the battle with Roman legionaries

It was supposed to act as a morale booster for the army,

fostering a sense of camaraderie by using the sacrifice of these brave men as an example.

Much to his misfortune, he appears not to have seen the bodies prior to this act,

for the grizzly sight caused shock and horror among even the most hardened professionals in his ranks. Quote,

The Macedonians had, in their frequent clashes with the Greeks and the Lerians,

seen the wounds produced by spears, arrows, and, on rare occasions, by lances.

But now they saw bodies dismembered by the Spanish sword,

arms lopped off complete with

shoulder, heads separated from bodies with the neck sliced right through, intestines

laid bare, and other repulsive wounds, and there was widespread consternation as they began

to comprehend the nature of the weapons and the kind of men they had to face." The Second Macedonian War, fought only five years after the conclusion of the previous one,

was to be the first large-scale conflict between the kings of the Hellenistic East and the Roman Republic,

since Pyrrhus' invasion of Italy nearly a century before.

Rome's decision to pursue the war was born out of a mixture of pragmatism and fear, for

they were now affirmed that, rather than have another Greek army on Italian soil, they would

bring the fires of war to Macedonia.

During the debate between the Senate and the Comitia Cantorietta on whether to pursue

war,

three Roman legates were sent to Greece in late 201 to investigate the charges laid out against Philip by the Greek delegates.

They made landfall in Athens, whose territory was being ravaged by the King's troops in response to their execution of two Akarnanians, Philip's allies who bitterly

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