Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus ( fl . late 3rd to early 2nd century BC ) was a Roman military officer and Senator who was elected Roman consul twice , and appointed dictator once . He fought in the Second Punic War and the First and Second Macedonian Wars . First consulship and the First Macedonian War . A member of the Patrician " gens Sulpicia " , Sulpicius Galba was the son of Servius Sulpicius Galba . Although he had held no previous curule magistracy , the crisis of the Second Punic War saw him elected consul in 211 BC , alongside Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus Maximus . Entering his office on the Ides of March , both consuls defended the city of Rome against a surprise attack by the Carthaginian general Hannibal . Once the immediate crisis abated , and Hannibal retreated back to the south of Italy , provinces were allotted to the consuls . Although both were assigned to Apulia , the Senate , believing that Hannibal no longer posed a grave threat , decreed that one of the consuls only should remain in Apulia , and that the other should be assigned Macedonia for his province . When lots were drawn as to who was to leave Apulia , Sulpicius Galba was appointed proconsul in Macedonia , succeeding Marcus Valerius Laevinus . There he continued fighting the First Macedonian War against Philip V of Macedon . In early 210 BC , at the end of his consulship , his " imperium " was prolonged for another year , but due to the exaggerated reports which Laevinus had made of his own achievements during his proconsulship , Sulpicius Galba was ordered to disband his army , and retained the command of only one legion and of the " socii navales " ( or the local fleet ) , and he was given a sum of money to ensure his troops were well supplied and provisioned . Given the size of his forces , Sulpicius Galba could not do much in 210 BC , but he did achieve the feat of leading the first Roman fleet into the Aegean Sea and capturing Aegina , which was plundered and given to the Aetolians , who were allied with the Romans . That same year he unsuccessfully tried to relieve Echinus , which was besieged by Philip of Macedon . For the following year ( 209 BC ) , his imperium was again prolonged , with Macedonia and Greece as his provinces . Besides allying themselves with the Aetolian League , the Romans also allied themselves with Attalus I of Pergamon against Philip . Galba provided 1 , 000 Romans to help the Aetolians in the First Battle of Lamia , while he himself was stationed at Naupactus . When Philip appeared at Dyme on his march against Elis , Galba had landed with fifteen of his ships on the northern coast of the Peloponnesus , where his soldiers were ravaging and plundering the country . However , Philip ' s sudden arrival forced them to return to their camp at Naupactus . When Philip was forced to return to Macedon , which was threatened with an invasion by some neighbouring tribes , Galba sailed to Aegina , where he joined the fleet of Attalus , and where both took up their winter quarters . In the spring of 208 BC , Galba and Attalus united their fleets of sixty ships in a joint operation , sailed to Lemnos , while Philip pulled together all of his resources to prepare for the expected assault . Attalus attacked Peparethus , and then crossed with Galba over to Nicaea . From there they moved to Euboea , to attack the town of Oreus , which was occupied by a Macedonian garrison , but was betrayed from within and surrendered to Galba . Encouraged by this easy conquest , he also made an attempt to take Chalcis , but found it was too difficult a task . He therefore sailed to Cynus , a port town of Locris . With Attalus being driven back to Asia Minor , Galba returned to Aegina , and remained in Greece for the remainder of his proconsulship , during which time he gave little further assistance to the Aetolian League in their war against Philip . In 205 BC , he was replaced as proconsul in Greece by Publius Sempronius Tuditanus . Dictatorship , second consulship and the Second Macedonian War . In 203 BC , Sulpicius Galba was appointed Dictator , with Marcus Servilius Pulex Geminus appointed his Master of the Horse . Galba was given the task of holding the comitia elections and to possibly prevent the consul Gnaeus Servilius Caepio from crossing over to Africa to confront Hannibal . He also spent the rest of the year investigating cities and prominent individuals who had been alienated by the war with Carthage . Then in 200 BC , Sulpicius Galba was elected consul for a second time , this time with Gaius Aurelius Cotta as his colleague . During his consulship , he pushed to secure a renewal of the war against Philip V of Macedon . The people at Rome were very unhappy with a fresh war being undertaken before they had been able to recover from the ravages of the Second Punic War . But the Senate and Galba carried their plan , and the Second Macedonian War against Philip was launched . When the consuls drew their lots for their consular commands , Galba once again obtained Macedonia as his province . Galba was permitted to recruit from the army which Scipio Africanus had brought back from Africa any that were willing to serve again , but none of those veterans were to be compelled . After having selected his men and his ships , he sailed from Brundusium and landed at Apollonia , as per the plan to invade Macedonia from the west . On his arrival he met some Athenian ambassadors , who asked for his protection against the Macedonians , and he at once sent Gaius Claudius Centho with 20 ships and 1 , 000 men to their assistance . But as the autumn was approaching when Galba arrived in his province , he took up his winter quarters in the vicinity of Apollonia . In the spring of 199 BC , Sulpicius Galba advanced with his army through the lands of the Dassaretii , where all the towns and villages along his route surrendered to him , with only a few being taken by force . Both Philip and Galba were ignorant of each other ’ s movements , until Macedonian and Roman scouting parties encountered each other by accident , during which a skirmish took place . Near the passes of Eordaia the two armies set up camp some distance from each other , and several minor engagements took place , in one of which the Romans sustained considerable losses . This was followed by a cavalry engagement , in which the Romans were again beaten , but the Macedonians , who were too eager in their pursuit of the enemy , suddenly found themselves attacked on their flanks , and were forced to retreat , during which Philip nearly lost his life . Immediately after this defeat Philip sent a messenger to Galba to ask for a truce ; the Roman commander deferred his decision till the next day , but during the night Philip and his army secretly left the camp , without the Romans knowing in which direction Philip had gone . After having stayed for a few days longer , Galba marched towards Pluvina , and then set up his camp on the banks of the river Osphagus , not far from the place where Philip had established his camp . Here Galba spent his time securing the territory and taking a number of towns , but did not directly engage Philip in battle . In the autumn Galba went back with his army to Apollonia . Although the campaign was considered only a minor military success , it did convince the Aetolia ns to ally with Rome . In 198 BC , Sulpicius Galba was replaced in Macedonia by Publius Villius Tappulus , whereupon he returned to Rome . Then in 197 BC , both he and Villius Tappulus were appointed legates under Titus Quinctius Flamininus in Macedonia . In the next year ( 196 BC ) , when it was decreed at Rome that ten senatorial commissioners should be sent to help Flamininus settle political issues in Greece , as well as arrange a treaty between Rome and Macedonia , Galba and Tappulus were ordered to act as two of those commissioners . In 195 BC , he may have accompanied Tappulus on his mission to report on the aggressive movements of Antiochus III the Great . In 193 BC , Galba was sent as an ambassador to Antiochus III along with Villius Tappulus . They first stopped to have discussions with Eumenes II of Pergamon , as they had been ordered , where the king urged the Romans to attack Antiochus at once . While staying at Pergamon , Galba fell ill . Once he had recovered , he and Tappulus travelled to Ephesus , where , instead of Antiochus , they met with Minion , whom the king had granted with full power to negotiate with the Romans . After futile negotiations , Galba returned to Rome , whereupon the Senate decided to declare war against Antiochus III , launching the Roman - Syrian War .