Imperialist Hegemony Breeds Contempt, And Ultimately Leads To State Failure...

The Romans considered their relationship with allies as one between a patron and his clients, rather than between equals. In exchange for Roman aid, countries were expected to support Roman interests, maintain the same friends and enemies, refer disputes to Roman arbitration, and so forth. This applied even to cases like the Greek cities, which had been proclaimed free by Flaminius. Few understood themselves to have such obligations, creating considerable friction, and this was exacerbated by the Romans often becoming suspicious or antagonizing towards former friends, leading to various anti-Roman movements. In general, though, these served only to increase Roman control. For instance Aetolia became effectively a slave state after calling in the Seleukids to re-free the Greeks, Rhodes was undermined by propping up Delos as a rival trading center after it made a separate peace in the Third Macedonian War, and Corinth was eventually razed after the Achaean League, of which it was the head, refused to give up authority over Sparta and Corinth itself.