Roman Protectorates in Greece in 218 B.C.

Roman Protectorates in Greece — Roman Republic.

The Adriatic bridgehead won in the two Illyrian Wars (229 and 219 BC), Rome’s first foothold across the sea to the east. To suppress the piracy of Queen Teuta’s Ardiaei, Rome took the Greek cities of Corcyra, Apollonia and Epidamnus into its protection (in fidem) and set Lissos as the northern bound beyond which Illyrian warships might not sail. These were not provinces but a loose suzerainty over free Greek communities — yet they gave Rome a watch on the Macedon of Philip V, who in 218 was already eyeing the chance the Hannibalic war might bring.