WI: Philip V Focuses on Macedonian Navy?

hasdrubal barca · Oct 30, 2016

What if Philip V Focuses on Macedonian Navy?

I was reading about the Battle of Chois in 201 BC where the Macedonian navy is defeated by a Roman allied fleet. The battle seems like an interesting POD. What if Philip had of put more emphasis on the navy then OTL and is able to secure a crushing victory at Chois? How would this impact the Roman-Macedonian Wars?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chios_(201_BC)

Achaemenid Rome · Oct 31, 2016

Philip V already had a numerical advantage, so his fleet just needed a better strategy for the battle. Perhaps if Philip had built his navy a couple years earlier to gain experience and have even more of a numerical advantage. Or he hires officers from another state to train his crews in discipline and tactics.

hasdrubal barca · Oct 31, 2016

Achaemenid Rome said:
Philip V already had a numerical advantage, so his fleet just needed a better strategy for the battle. Perhaps if Philip had built his navy a couple years earlier to gain experience and have even more of a numerical advantage. Or he hires officers from another state to train his crews in discipline and tactics.

I was also thinking Chois is in 201 same year Punic War ends. It would have be interesting to have the Macedonian navy strong enough to intervene in the 2nd Punic War. I'm curious how helpful they would have been to Hannibal.

Tonifranz · Oct 31, 2016

hasdrubal barca said:
I was also thinking Chois is in 201 same year Punic War ends. It would have be interesting to have the Macedonian navy strong enough to intervene in the 2nd Punic War. I'm curious how helpful they would have been to Hannibal.

The Battle of Zama was in 202 BC. So it would be too late in 201 BC.

As for a stronger navy, it won't help against the Aetolians and the other states that would distract him from sending troops to Italy.

Remember that Rome has her own fleet and could defeat the Macedonian Fleet by itself. After all, Rome defeated the Carthaginian Fleet in the First Punic War, and the Carthaginian Fleet was better than the Macedonian Fleet.

hasdrubal barca · Oct 31, 2016

Tonifranz said:
The Battle of Zama was in 202 BC. So it would be too late in 201 BC.

As for a stronger navy, it won't help against the Aetolians and the other states that would distract him from sending troops to Italy.

Remember that Rome has her own fleet and could defeat the Macedonian Fleet by itself. After all, Rome defeated the Carthaginian Fleet in the First Punic War, and the Carthaginian Fleet was better than the Macedonian Fleet.

True if Philip wanted to intervene with his fleet he would have to do so sooner then Zama. I'd be curious to know how large the Roman fleet was in the 2nd Punic War and if it had lost a step at all since the first war. The combined Macedonian-Carthaginian fleets might have a slight numerical edge.

Due to Rome's command of the seas, Hannibal, Carthage's great general, was forced to eschew a sea-borne invasion, instead choosing to bring the war over land to the Italian peninsula.[18] Unlike the first war, the navy played little role on either side in this war. The only naval encounters occurred in the first years of the war, at Lilybaeum (218 BC) and the Ebro River (217 BC), both resulting Roman victories. Despite an overall numerical parity, for the remainder of the war the Carthaginians did not seriously challenge Roman supremacy. The Roman fleet was hence engaged primarily with raiding the shores of Africa and guarding Italy, a task which included the interception of Carthaginian convoys of supplies and reinforcements for Hannibal's army, as well as keeping an eye on a potential intervention by Carthage's ally, Philip V.[19] The only major action in which the Roman fleet was involved was the siege of Syracuse in 214-212 BC with 130 ships under Marcus Claudius Marcellus. The siege is remembered for the ingenious inventions of Archimedes, such as mirrors that burned ships or the so-called "Claw of Archimedes", which kept the besieging army at bay for two years.[20] A fleet of 160 vessels was assembled to support Scipio Africanus' army in Africa in 202 BC, and, should his expedition fail, evacuate his men. In the event, Scipio achieved a decisive victory at Zama, and the subsequent peace stripped Carthage of its fleet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_navy