170: Hellenistic Mesopotamia

After expanding to dominate most of the central Italian Peninsula, Rome was quick to take advantage of political crises to the south to expand their influence. From Pyrrhus' invasion on behalf of Tarentum to the final defeat of Hannibal in the Second Punic War, we bring Rome up to speed with the Seleucid narrative.

The Roman Republic has finally arrived in our narrative after negotiating with Antiochus the Great on behalf of Ptolemy V. Today we begin our introduction to Rome from their earliest origins to their rise as the masters of central Italy in the 3rd Century BCE.

Following his return from Mesopotamia and Arabia, Antiochus the Great was poised to begin a Fifth Syrian War with the goal of conquering Koile Syria. To prepare for this, he would settle Anatolia, fully annex Armenia, and forge a secret alliance with Philip V of Macedon. Then it was time to plunge the eastern Mediterranean back into a storm of conflict that would ultimately bring a new power into the Hellenistic World.

We've had the opportunity to tour the Seleucid Empire under Antiochus the Great as he conquered his way from Syria to the Hindu Kush, and now it's time to discuss both the longstanding imperial core of Babylonia, and their long neglected neighbors in Assyria.

After defeating Achaeus, Antiochus III was quick to continue his reconquest of former Seleucid territory, or at least what he claimed was former Seleucid territory with a siege of Arsomasata and King Xerxes of Sophene. From there, the Seleucid army marched east to confront Arsakes II, the separatist king of Parthia.