Titus Quinctius Flamininus

Titus Quinctius Flamininus was a Roman politician and general active during the Republic’s expansion into the Greek world. He defeated Philip V of Macedon at Cynoscephalae in 197 BC and proclaimed the freedom of the Greek cities at the Isthmian Games the following year.

Flamininus continued the Macedonian war as proconsul after his consulship and used the victory at Cynoscephalae to impose a settlement that reduced Philip V’s power without destroying Macedon. His proclamation of Greek freedom at the Isthmian Games in 196 BC made him famous in the Greek world, although Roman influence continued to expand. He later served Rome in diplomatic missions during conflicts with the Seleucid king Antiochus III.

Ben Kane’s Clash of Empires presents Titus Quinctius Flamininus as the ambitious Roman senator seeking command of the war against Philip V of Macedon. The Falling Sword follows him after early reverses as he rebuilds the Roman offensive and tries to convert battlefield success into political authority in Greece. Christian Cameron’s The Last Greek views the same contest from the Greek side, making Flamininus’s Roman intervention part of Philopoemen’s struggle to preserve meaningful independence for the Achaean League between larger powers.