After the first punishment had been given to Antiochus, Rome did not annex any of his dominions or form them into a province under a Roman governor. There is this remarkable difference that we may see between the Romans and other conquerors whom we have met in the course of this great story, that the Romans, before they went on farther, always consolidated, made solid and firm and almost a part of themselves, what they won. They acted on the principle _divide et impera_, that is, disunite people and then you can rule them. They did not interfere much with the customs and laws of the peoples that they conquered. They let them manage their affairs in their own way. They expected them perhaps to pay tribute and to furnish soldiers for the army. So long as they did this they were not greatly troubled by their Roman governors. But--and this is the point on which the Romans insisted, and to which they owed a very great deal of their success--although these peoples were allowed to manage their own affairs, within their own borders, they were not allowed to make wars or treaties of peace and alliance or anything of that kind with their neighbours. On all such questions they had to refer back to Rome and ask her permission and advice and help. One sees what the effect of that must have been--to {187} make these always look to Rome as their sovereign. That was one effect. Another was that they were not able to combine together and so become strong enough to be a danger to that sovereign. And Rome was wise in her dealings with them. She punished them heavily if they did not obey her, but rewarded them, by giving them rights and privileges, if they were very faithful in obeying and in helping her. [Sidenote: The prudence of Rome] She was prudent, at this moment, in not attempting to annex any of the domain of Antiochus, because, if she had, she would have had this province lying far away out in the East, and between herself and this province would have been Greece and Macedonia, which were supposed to be free countries, though they doubtless knew that Rome could take them for her own if she chose.