The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton [331]
p. 123. Philipwas conquered; Macedon subdued: Philip V (238–179 BC) was king of Macedonia from 221 BC. As commander of the army of the Achaean League, he won victories against the Aetolians and the Spartans (218–217 BC). After the Roman disaster at Cannae (a Carthaginian victory during the Second Punic War), he made an opportunistic alliance with Hannibal (215 BC), but the Romans eventually defeated Carthage and sought in the First and Second Macedonian Wars (211–205; 200–197 BC), to chastise Philip. Although Philip had the advantage at the end of the first war, by the end of the second, at the battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC) he was defeated and forced to submit to harsh Roman terms, including the payment of tribute.
p. 123. Callicratesand other popular leaders…: Callicrates (d. 149 BC) was an Achaean politician. As envoy to Rome (180–179 BC), he persuaded the Senate to support Roman sympathizers within the Greek states. As strategos, or chief magistrate of the Achaean League, he followed a pro-Roman policy. He is known for his treachery, which included providing Rome with a list of 1000 Achaeans (including the historian Polybius) to be interned so as to prevent their resistance to Roman hegemony.
Federalist 19
p. 124. The Franks…having conqueredthe Gauls…: The Franks were members of a confederation of Germanic tribes originating in the region of the Rhine that formed a kingdom in the territory of Gaul after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Gauls were ancient Celtic inhabitants of the region in Europe roughly comprising modern France but including also parts of northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul). From 58 to 51 BC, Julius Caesar conquered Gaul for Rome and recorded his exploits in the Commentaries on the Gallic War. With the collapse of the Western Empire in AD 476, Gaul fell to the Franks.
p. 124. Charlemagne, its warlike monarch, carried his victorious arms in every direction…: Charlemagne (742–814) was king of the Franks from 768, and from 800 until his death, emperor of the West. He succeeded to a unified Frankish throne upon the death of his brother, but proceeded to expand the kingdom by conquering Saxony and Lombardy. He united the West German tribes under his rule. On Christmas Day, 800, he was crowned by Pope Leo III as Emperor of the Romans. In addition to establishing what became known as the Holy Roman Empire, he was a great patron of science and the arts.
p. 125 theimperial chamberand theaulic council…: The Imperial Chamber (Reichskammergericht) was established in 1495, during the reign of Maximilian I, as the supreme judicial court of the Holy Roman Empire. The Aulic Council (Reichshofrat) was founded in 1498 to assist the emperor in executive matters. Both institutions were created in an effort, led by the imperial diet, to reform the government of the empire and to replace the idiosyncratic bonds of feudal obligation with the uniform fabric of civil law. The Chamber was to be the court of the Empire not of the emperor, and its members (ultimately, eighteen), nominated by the estates of the Empire, were to be learned in the Roman law. In practice, the Chamber suffered from a lack of funds and from competition with the far more efficient Aulic Council, which body, having lost its executive powers after the sixteenth century, expanded the scope of its judicial activities at the expense of the Chamber. In contrast to the Chamber, the Council was closely tied to the emperor. He nominated and paid its twenty members, and their terms ended with his life. Both Chamber and Council vanished with the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.
p. 126. very near being made prisoner bythe elector of Saxony: The electors of Saxony were rulers of a German-speaking territory (including the cities of Dresden and Leipzig) established in the thirteenth