Aristaenus and Philopoeman

Aristaenus had the brains and financial acumen whereas Philopoeman had brains and brute strength - a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger but cleverer. Both these guys made sure the Greeks got a decent deal once the Romans had disposed of the tyrannical King Philip of Macedon. Philip had pretty much kept the Greeks in fetters and wasn't a particularly rosy king. The Roman Flamininus, accompanied by Greek delegates, organised a liaison with King Philip and read out the conditions listed in a declaration of peace. Philip, who wouldn't come ashore, insisted on staying on his beaked ship anchored just off the Greek coast. He listened to what Flamininus had to say and agreed to surrender certain regions of Greece, mainly colonies he had no interest in, but he contested other regions mentioned by Flamininus, especially on whether they constituted parts of Greece or not. Akarnania seemed to be a bone of contention and several other places were disputed. Incidentally, Philip reckoned he had solid reasons for his habit of burning many innocent Greek cities and fields, saying it was to stop the Thracian enemy moving in, but the Romans didn't buy it. The Senate in Rome were fed up to the eye teeth with the bloke and simply didn't trust him. Philip possessed a sarcastic, quick-witted temperament, which did him no favours. He even took the mickey out of a blind delegate! The Roman Senate inevitably voted to continue the war with Macedon. In battle, the Roman phalanx technique was far superior to Macedonian tactics and the Romans were victorious. Once the Greeks were liberated from Philip's aggressive wave of tyranny, they were invited to attend an influential speech by Flamininus. The Greeks rejoiced over their new freedom and they envisaged a good future under Rome. They almost trampled Flamininus to death in the excitement - many citizens tried to hug and kiss him. Once it had all settled down and everyone had sobered up, Aristaenus and Philopoeman decided that they wouldn't allow the Romans to walk over the Greeks and they stood up for their rights.
   Meanwhile, Antiochus III of Syria was dead. As was Seleucus. The boy king Antiochus, was crowned under the guidance of Lysias and this suited the Roman Senate. Demetrius thought he had rights to the kingship. The Roman envoy Octavius, was murdered in Syria and Demetrius was suspected and detained in Rome, although he said that he had had fuck all to do with it. He appealed to the Senate, despite Polybius telling him to be wary, stating he was far more suited to be the king of Syria than the boy. The Senate was happy with the current situation and Demetrius was a bit hacked off so he decided to put a secret plan together.  Demetrius escaped from Rome at night with the help of Polybius and Appollonius. They tricked the captain of a fruit ship bound for Tyre into thinking they were soldiers on a dispatch to join King Ptolemy's army. Demetrius reached Syria and promptly murdered Lysias and the boy king. The people of Syria welcomed Demetrius as their new king. He always suspected they would, as there would be less Roman interference. The Romans, despite finding out what had happened, five days after the escape, thought it was too late to do anything about it, so they later sent envoys to monitor Syrian affairs. Syria covered most of Palestine until it was divided up by Rome and the northern part became Coele Syria. In Mesopotamia, the capital was Ctesiphon, just north of Babylon. Going completely off the subject, a Roman was willing to pay 300 drachmae for a jar of Pontic pickled fish! Far more expensive than a plough.