After the Second Punic War (202 BC), the Romans were casting When Constantine reorganised the Roman Empire in 325 AD,
Kefalonia became part of the Eparchy of Achaea. Attacks by barbarians (Vandals and
Ostrogoths), as well as mandatory involvement in the Romans' wars with African emperors,
often put the island in danger. The next time the empire was reorganised, under the
emperor Heraclius in 629-634, it was divided into smaller themes (districts) which
afforded it better protection from its enemies. Kefalonia then became the seat of the
islands belonging to the Theme of Lombardy, the most important in Europe, and thus
regained some of her old prestige and wealth. This Theme, with its powerful navy, was
often instrumental in repelling Arab attacks on the Empire. Under the Emperor Nicephorus I (802811 ), the Theme of Lombardy was eliminated and the Theme of Calabria set up; it became the target of repeated attacks by Saracen and Andalusian pirates. In 887 the Emperor Leon the Wise established the Theme of Cephallenia, whose capital was at Pale. The island regained its prominent position, and kept it for another 300 years. It was again fortified, and served as a defense bastion of the empire. When Nicephorus Phocas defeated the Arabs in Crete in 961, the Ionian islands were relieved of pirate raids and they prospered until the Normans appeared on the scene. |
about for a way to revenge themselves on Philip for entering into an
alliance with the Carthaginian general Hannibal. Pretexts were quickly found, but the
underlying reason was Rome's designs for expansion in Greece. War broke out in 200 BC;
initially, the Aetolians and their allies remained neutral. But because their neutrality
turned out to be advantageous to Philip, they allied themselves with the Romans against
him. Disappointed in a relationship which had promised a lot but proved to be of little
profit to them, they entered into an alliance with the Greek king in Syria Antiochus III.
That gave Rome to go-ahead to conquer Odysseus' celebrated land, motivated more by
ambition than anything else. Thus in 198 BC the Romans sent the consul M. Fulvius Nobili
toKefalonia to ask its four cities to surrender and hand over 20 prominent citizens as
hostages. When the hostages had been delivered and everything appeared calm, the city of
Same closed its gates. Titus Livius writes that the Samians' reaction was spurred by a
rumor that the Romans intended to evacuate the city and move in themselves. The seige
lasted four months. Finally the exhausted Samians were forced to surrender in 189 BC.
Between then and 30 BC, Kefalonia lost everything it had gained from its alliance with the
Aetolians. Just as they had planned, the Romans turned the island into a base of
operations from which their naval forces could patrol the area of Greece.