Third Macedonian War

Part of the Macedonian Wars

Date	171–168 BC
Location	Greece and Illyria
Result	Roman victory
Territorial changes	Macedonia divided into 4 client republics

Belligerents

Roman Republic,
Kingdom of Pergamon

Macedonia

Commanders and leaders

Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus,
Eumenes II

Perseus of Macedon

Macedonian Wars

First Second Third Fourth

Third Macedonian War

Callinicus Pydna

The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between Rome and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC King Philip V of Macedon died and his talented and ambitious son, Perseus, took his throne. Perseus married Laodike, daughter of King Seleucus IV Keraunos of Asia, and increased the size of his army. He also made alliance treaties with Epirus and several tribes of Illyria and Thrace, as well as enemies of Thracian tribes allied to Rome, such as the Sapaei under Abrupolis. He renewed former connections with some southern Greek city-states (poleis). The king announced that he could carry out reforms in Greece and restore its previous strength and prosperity.^[1]

King Eumenes II of Pergamon, who hated Macedonia, accused Perseus of trying to violate laws of other states and conditions of peace between Macedonia and Rome. The Romans were afraid for the balance of power in Greece and declared a new war with Macedonia.^[1] Perseus won the first struggle: the Battle of Callicinus, where he faced the army of Publius Licinius Crassus. The king offered a peace treaty to the Romans, which was refused. The Romans had problems with discipline in their army, and Roman commanders could not find a way to successfully invade Macedonia.

There was a stalemate near Phalanna involving Perseus and Crassus. In 169 BC, consul Quintus Marcius Philippus crossed the Olympus Range and entered Macedonia. However, his army ran out of provisions and retired on a narrow strip of coast near Tempe. Perseus tried to win Eumenes of Pergamon and King Antiochus IV of the Seleucid Empire over to his side but failed. He did, however, succeed in buying the support of the Illyrian king Genthius in the autumn of 169 BC. Perseus was defeated by the legions of the Roman consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC. This defeat was largely due to the inflexibility of Macedonian phalanx tactics compared to the maniple-based tactics of the Roman legions.^[2]

In the aftermath of this battle, King Perseus surrendered and was taken to Rome along with members of his court and other prisoners from the leading families of Macedon, including the historian Polybius. In addition, around 300,000 Macedonian citizens were enslaved. A number of Macedonian cities and villages were destroyed and their land distributed to the Roman veterans and their Thracian allies. Macedonia itself was divided into four Roman client republics, each of which was required to pay duty to Rome at half the rate previously due to the Macedonian kings. Economic and political contacts between the four republics were restricted. The Third Macedonian war marked the end of the Macedon kingdom and the monarchy of the Antigonid dynasty, and the beginning of the end of the overall Hellenistic world. It further enhanced Roman domination of Ancient Greece, and Rome later returned to symbolically destroy Corinth in 146 BC in their war with Achaea, in a manner reminiscent of their destruction of the defanged Carthage in the Third Punic War.

References

1 2 Michael Grant (1978), The History of Rome, p. 120
↑ Philip Matyszak (2004), The Enemies of Rome, p. 53

Ancient Roman wars

Wars of the Roman Republic	Roman–Etruscan Wars Roman–Latin wars Roman–Hernician wars Roman-Volscian wars Samnite Wars Pyrrhic War Punic Wars (First, Second, Third) Illyrian Wars (First, Second, Third) Macedonian Wars (First, Second, Third, Fourth) Roman–Seleucid War Aetolian War Galatian War Roman conquest of Hispania (First Celtiberian War, Lusitanian War, Numantine War, Sertorian War, Cantabrian Wars) Achaean War Jugurthine War Cimbrian War Servile Wars (First, Second, Third) Social War Sulla's civil wars (First, Second) Mithridatic Wars (First, Second, Third) Gallic Wars Caesar's invasions of Britain Caesar's Civil War End of the Republic (Post-Caesarian, Liberators', Sicilian, Fulvia's, Final)

Wars of the Roman Empire	Germanic Wars (Teutoburg, Marcomannic, Alemannic, Gothic, Visigothic) Wars in Britain Wars of Boudica Armenian War Civil War of 69 Jewish–Roman wars Domitian's Dacian War Trajan's Dacian Wars Parthian Wars Persian Wars Civil Wars of the Third Century Wars of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Military history

Ancient Greek wars

Mycenaean	Trojan War

Archaic	First Messenian War Lelantine War Second Messenian War First Sacred War Sicilian Wars

Classical	Greco-Persian Wars Aeginetan War Wars of the Delian League First Peloponnesian War Second Sacred War Samian War Peloponnesian War Phyle Campaign Corinthian War Boeotian War Wars of the Theban hegemony Theban–Spartan War Social War (357–355 BC) Third Sacred War Foreign War Rise of Macedon Wars of Alexander the Great

Hellenistic	Lamian War Wars of the Diadochi Seleucid–Mauryan war Pyrrhic War Syrian Wars Pyrrhus' invasion of the Peloponnese Chremonidean War Seleucid–Parthian wars Cleomenean War War against Lyctus Social War (220–217 BC) First Macedonian War Cretan War Second Macedonian War Roman–Seleucid War Aetolian War War against Nabis Galatian War Third Macedonian War Maccabean Revolt Fourth Macedonian War Achaean War Mithridatic Wars (First, Second, Third) Final War of the Roman Republic

Military history

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Third Macedonian War

See also

References