ABSTRACT
Rome had been monitoring the Hellenistic kingdoms of Asia Minor and Syria for over one hundred years. Its strategy was to prevent any of the Hellenistic states from acquiring sufficient influence to challenge its position in the Mediterranean: a sort of Mediterranean version of the Monroe Doctrine. As already noted (page 34), the Treaty of Apamea in 188 BC had forced the Seleucids to renounce their designs on Asia Minor. Rome had subsequently felt the need on several occasions to reorder the balance between Ptolemies and Seleucids to prevent either emerging as a dominant force. In practice, the policy may have worked too well. Seleucid power was so diminished that the dynasty struggled to control even the original ‘New Macedonia’, the citadel of northern Syria. In this power vacuum, fresh problems opened up. Syria became the battleground of new forces beyond Rome’s reach.
