抄録
This article considers the reasons behind the anti-Macedonian War started by Rhodes and Pergamum in 201 BCE. This was a direct trigger of the Second Macedonian War in the following year, in which the Roman advance to the East was a significant step for Rome to become superpower in the whole ancient Mediterranean World. However, this war in 201 BCE was originally caused by diplomatic dynamism in the Hellenistic states. Moreover, what should be noted is that the war was not merely a resistance to Macedonian expansion to the south, contrary to what some studies have argued. The genuine fears for Rhodes and Pergamum should have been the cooperation between Macedonia and Seleucid and the very fact that the two dynasties had begun to advance to the Aegean areas and Asia Minor simultaneously in those days. The last years in the third century BCE in the eastern world were the period in which the Ptolemaic dynasty declined rapidly, while Macedonia and Seleucid recovered their powers greatly. This was one of the largest reorganizations of strength after the Successor's War, and the impact reached Rhodes and Pergamum which had been growing, taking advantage of the conflicts among the dynasties. For these two states, it was inevitable to confront the expansion by the two powerful dynasties to the Aegean areas and Asia Minor, and it was so serious a threat that those two states decided to struggle jointly first against Macedonia, regardless of diplomatic isolation which had existed between them. In consideration to the war in 201 BCE and the central factor of the crisis, what have sometimes been discussed are the economic and political situations of Rhodes and Pergamum and the alleged secret pact between Macedonia and Seleucid to divide the Ptolemaic kingdom. However, the more important is that Rhodes and Pergamum believed and made much of the existence of the cooperation between the dynasties despite the lack of accurate information on the pact. Furthermore, the situation in 201 BCE was unexpectedly favorable for the two states to counter the axis of the powers because the main body of the Seleucid army with the king had briefly turned to Coele Syria from Asia Minor possibly by the birth of cooperation with Macedonia. Although Seleucid was a natural enemy for Pergamum, its attention was drawn towards the second largest threat, Macedonia, by Seleucid's temporary retreat, and in this very situation Pergamum could agree to ally with Rhodes. On the other hand, the first priority for Rhodes was to press back Macedonia and it was at least originally thought to be possible to realize sufficiently if the two states could battle jointly in the sea. The anti-Macedonian war in 201 BCE was a product of those chain reactions in the whole Hellenistic states, and it was the last and biggest competition in foreign affairs before the Roman advance.
