So last time I got you all deep and dirty into the kinds of problems and questions that epigraphy poses. However by the end of that post you may have wondered why it’s such a big deal if Philip V wrote that letter in 220 or 217 BCE? Well the main difference that it makes is that of the war that he refers to in the letter. This war is important to Philip V’s request about the expansion of Larisaean citizenship because there are fewer people because of the recent war. Since Philip V doesn’t specify which war, we can only figure out which one he is likely referring to by the date. Importantly for us, if the inscription is from 217 BCE, the war that he is referring to is the Social War, which is an important event in Greece’s relationship with Rome.
The Social War (named so because it was fought by symmachoi, alliances of Greek cities, rather than by single cities) marks an ipmortant turning point in Greece’s relationship with Rome because the ancient historian Polybius suggests that after the peace of Naupactis in 217 BCE, the Greeks began to look westward to Rome and to take Rome seriously as a threat (5.104). If the inscription is from 220 BCE, that would be evidence against Polybius’ account, as Philip V’s comments about the Romans would suggest that he was worried about them prior to the Social War. However, with the inscription in 217 BCE, we have some nice confirmation of Polybius’ idea of 217 BCE as a watershed year in Greco-Roman relations.
The Social War (named so because it was fought by symmachoi, alliances of Greek cities, rather than by single cities) marks an ipmortant turning point in Greece’s relationship with Rome because the ancient historian Polybius suggests that after the peace of Naupactis in 217 BCE, the Greeks began to look westward to Rome and to take Rome seriously as a threat (5.104). If the inscription is from 220 BCE, that would be evidence against Polybius’ account, as Philip V’s comments about the Romans would suggest that he was worried about them prior to the Social War. However, with the inscription in 217 BCE, we have some nice confirmation of Polybius’ idea of 217 BCE as a watershed year in Greco-Roman relations.