Magnesia (190 BC)

Following his defeat at Raphia, Antiochus III campaigned continuously to restore his empire. He re-conquered Asia Minor, Armenia, Parthia and Bactria. Next, he avenged Raphia with a decisive victory over the Ptolemaic Egyptians at Panion in 199 BC. By these …

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Following his defeat at Raphia, Antiochus III campaigned continuously to restore his empire. He re-conquered Asia Minor, Armenia, Parthia and Bactria. Next, he avenged Raphia with a decisive victory over the Ptolemaic Egyptians at Panion in 199 BC. By these victories he earned the title ‘the Great’. Meanwhile, Macedon’s defeat at Cynoscephalae in 197 BC left a power vacuum in Greece. Antiochus, seeing an opportunity, invaded Greece, but Rome quickly drove him back. A Roman consular army under Lucius Cornelius Scipio pursued Antiochus into Asia Minor. Antiochus accepted the Roman challenge near Magnesia. Antiochus fielded a large army featuring his Greco-Macedonian phalanx, Galatian warriors, cataphracts, chariots and elephants. The Romans had two legions supported by Greek and Pergamene allies under their king Eumenes II. Though the Seleucid Army was larger, the Roman legionnaires, veterans of the War with Hannibal, were far more effective soldiers. The action started on the Roman right when Eumenes launched a combined skirmisher and cavalry force against the Seleucid chariots. The Legions then moved forward against the Seleucid phalanx. Seeing his army giving away, Antiochus charged forward with his heavy cavalry in an attempt to turn the tide. He broke through the Roman right, but was forced back by the Roman elephants before he could flank the Legions. Then the Seleucid elephants in the center stampeded, Antiochus’ phalanx collapsed, and his entire army routed. Antiochus managed to escape and later made peace with Rome by yielding Asia Minor and paying a large indemnity. However, the defeat led to the rebellion of his eastern provinces, and Antiochus’ life’s work was undone. Rome emerged as the dominant Mediterranean power.

Izmir Province, Turkey

The Battle of Magnesia took place in either December 190 or January 189 BC. It was fought as part of the Roman–Seleucid War, pitting forces of the Roman Republic led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus and its Pergamene allies under Eumenes II against a Seleucid army of Antiochus III the Great. The two armies initially camped north-east of Magnesia ad Sipylum in Asia Minor, attempting to provoke each other into a battle on favorable terrain for several days.

Wikipedia: Battle of Magnesia

Seleucid

Roman

Roman Syrian War