The Syrian War

-Greece was free from foreign domination...except, of course, for the Romans, their liberators :)
   -Some Greeks began to look for a new liberator pit against the Romans...they found the Seleucids!
-195 BC- the Aeolian League, Rome's allies, felt stiffed by the Romans after the Second Macedonian War, as Greece was supposed to be given to them!
   -The Romans had decided to be generous and allow for Macedonia's Greek allies to remain autonomous.
-The Aeolians began to talk with Sparta about a possible alliance with Antiochus III to fight off Roman influence.
   -Rome found out about this and attacked Sparta.
      -Rome won, but this pissed off the Greeks.  Rome then told Antiochus III to back off.  At this time, also, Hannibal was staying with Antiochus III as a guest (which definitely made the Romans uneasy).
         -Interestingly enough, Scipio actually met Hannibal IRL when the Seleucids held a diplomatic summit.
-The Aetolians were trying to get the Seleucids to push the Romans out of Greece, and Pergamon was trying to get the Romans to attack the Seleucids in order to get Antiochus III off their back.
   -The Aetolians finally decided that enough was enough, and they attacked the Greek cities of Chalcis and Demetrias (among others, possibly), and set up garrisons there.  Antiochus III then sent 10,000 troops to join them and augment their defenses.
      -In response, the Romans sent 2 legions, led by Cato the Elder, to Demetrias (via Epirus).  Joined by the Achean League, the Romans now had a pretty big force, and eventually clashed with the Seleucids and their allies at Thermopylae.
-The Seleucids then retreated back to their territory in Asia Minor, but the Romans followed!
   -One major battle was the Battle of Magnesia.
      -The Seleucids (and allies) had 70,000 troops; Rome (and Pergamon) only had 50,000.
         -However, Rome was victorious!  Where was Hannibal, though?  Apparently, he had lost a previous naval battle (the Battle of Eurymedon), leading a Seleucid fleet against the the navy of Rhodes, and had gone into hiding in Crete.
   -The Seleucids then sued for peace and had to pay massive reparations, in addition to allowing the Romans to take hostages from the royal family.
-183 BC- Scipio Africanus dies, bitter because he had done so much for the Romans but still had many political enemies back in the capital.