The Rise of the Romans: Professor Greg Woolf (146 BCE)
In this episode of Travels Through Time Professor Greg Woolf guides us back to 146/145 BCE – the point at which Roman domination of the Mediterranean became inevitable.
In the West, the Romans destroyed the city of Carthage, ending the decades of military struggle known as the Punic Wars and finally defeating the Phoenicians. In the East, Roman forces seized control of the important city of Corinth on mainland Greece, giving them a strategic foothold that they would go on to use in building their empire. At the same time, the glittering intellectual capital of the ancient world, Alexandria, was beset by internal power struggles and so began the period of decline that would eventually lead to it, too, being absorbed into the Roman Empire.
It took the Romans another century and several wars, external and civil, to consolidate their position. But it was here in the middle of the second century BCE that the Mediterranean moved decisively from a world of great, competing powers to a world dominated by a single superpower.
Taking us back to examine this history is Professor Greg Woolf, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies, School of Advanced Study, at the University of London. Woolf is a Fellow of the British Academy, of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, of the Society of Antiquaries of London. During his career he has published books on Roman imperialism, on ancient literacy, on libraries, encyclopaedias and ancient ethnography and more recently on religious history and the archaeology of the Roman world.
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Show notes
Scene One: The demolition of Carthage in Spring of 146 BCE
Scene Two: At the sack of the ancient city of Corinth in Greece in 146 BCE
Scene Three: The decline of Alexandria and the death of Ptolemy VI in 145 BCE
Memento: A painting from the Ancient world, perhaps one of Dionysus
People/Social
Presenter: Peter Moore
Interview: Violet Moller
Guest: Professor Greg Woolf
Production: Maria Nolan
Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_
Partner: Colorgraph
Ruins of the Grand Aqueduct of Ancient Carthage. Coloured aquatint, 1803, after L. Mayer. (Wellcome Collection)
More about the Scenes
The Third Punic War (Sc. 1)
The three 'Punic' Wars had marked a long struggle for dominance in the western Mediterranean between Rome and Carthage, a Phoenician foundation which now lies under modern Tunis. In fact, between periods of active hostility, there had been something like a cold war. The Second Punic War had ended in 201 BC with Hannibal being driven out of Italy and the loss of most of Carthage's overseas possessions. Distrust remained between the two powers and the Third Punic War was fought entirely in Africa. It ended with the demolition of Carthage in Spring of 146. The Greek historian Polybius was there to witness this and saw the Roman general Scipio weeping as Carthage burned.' I am weeping' he said ' because one day the same fate will befall my own city.' This marked the end of the Third Punic War between Carthaginians and Romans.
The Sack of Corinth (Sc. 2)
In the same year another Roman army sacked the ancient city of Corinth in Greece. The Achaean League had been allies of Rome for a long time in their wars against the kingdom of Macedon, but relations deteriorated as Roman rule became more and more heavy handed in the east. Corinth was strategically located on the isthmus that connected northern and southern Greece and the overland passage that connected the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs. But it was made an example of too. There is a story that the Roman general found some soldiers damaging ancient paintings and telling them that if they did so they would have to replace them with new ones. It was told by several Greeks to make the point that while Romans might be militarily successful, but they were culturally inferior.
Alexandria (Sc. 3)
Alexandria was the one great city not yet under Roman control. It was the second largest city in the Mediterranean, the capital of Egypt and a major port. Under the first Macedonian kings of Egypt (all called Ptolemy) the dynasty had created a temple of the Muses (the first Museum) and a great library. The city was a multicultural centre with communities of Greek scholars, or Jewish intellectuals and an Egyptian élite. But from 160 BCE onwards, the country was torn apart by war within the royal family. In 145 Ptolemy VI died and his brother, who had been ruling Cyrenaica, succeeded. Alexandria was terrorized, intellectuals were persecuted, and the kingdom began to decline but it remained independent until the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE.
Images
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