Roman General: Titus Quinctius Flamininus

Titus Quinctius Flamininus (229-174 B.C.) was a Roman general, who defeated Philip V of Macedon in the Second Macedonian War (200-196 B.C.). He was elected consul in 198, before he was 30 years old, and given command of the Roman garrison in Macedonia. An admirer of the Greeks, he demanded that Philip surrender his Greek possessions and confine himself to Macedon, but Philip refused. Flamininus, therefore, led the Roman legions against the Macedonians at Cynoscephalae in 197 and won a decisive victory.

During the Isthmian Games at Corinth in 196, Flamininus read a senatorial decree proclaiming autonomy for all Greek states and declaring them free from garrisons and tribute. In 195 his legions and the Achaeans defeated Nabis, King of Sparta, and won freedom for Argos. He withdrew Roman troops from Greece in 194, leaving an uneasy peace. Macedonia was left intact as a barrier against barbarians and intrusion by Antiochus III of Syria.

The Aetolian allies of Rome were unhappy with the settlement; they wanted to destroy Macedon. Nabis also remained a threat to peace in the Peloponnesus. In 193-192, Flamininus was sent to Greece as a legate to end a new war between Nabis and the Achaeans. The Aetolians appealed to Antiochus to deliver them from Roman interference. Flamininus remained an active legate in Greece during the first stages of the war between the Romans and Antiochus (192-189). Rome, once hailed as the liberator of the Greek states, was now accused of intervention.

In 183, Flamininus was sent as legate to Prusias, King of Bithynia, to protest his attack on Perganjum. He also demanded the life of Hannibal, who had taken refuge in Bithynia. Flamininus died in 174 B.C.