After his defeat at Cynoscephalae, Philip V focused his energies on the restoration of his kingdom’s fortunes. With careful economy Philip rebuilt the base from which to draw an army. Since he avoided any infringement of the Roman settlement and supported the Romans in their war against Antiochus III, his kingdom reaped the benefits of peace. When disputes between Macedonia and its neighbors arose, Philip ultimately submitted to whatever verdict Rome handed down in the matter (Liv. XXXIX 23-36), and his younger son Demetrius proved a skillful advocate on his behalf at Rome when the Romans began to look askance at Philip’s success at reviving Macedonia (Liv. XXXIX 35 and 46-47).
After Philip’s death in 179, his older son Perseus ascended the throne and followed his father’s basic policy of giving no offense to Rome as Macedonia continued to recover. However, his overtures to the Achaian League (Liv. XLI 23-24), his seeking of popularity in Greece (Pol. XXV 3), his marriage to a daughter of Seleucus IV’s, and his sister’s marriage to Prusias II of Bithynia all aroused suspicion in Rome. It did not help Perseus’ cause that Eumenes II of Pergamum did all he could to encourage this suspicion (Liv. XLII 11-12).
In 171 the Romans finally declared war on Perseus (Liv. XLII 30). His and his father’s success in reviving Macedonia manifests itself most clearly in the number of troops which Perseus could raise, some 43,000 (Liv. XLII 51). The first three years of the war went relatively well for Perseus. He won a minor cavalry battle in Thessaly in 171 (Pol. XXVII 8-9; cf. App. Mac. XII). In the next year he managed to hold the Romans in Thessaly (Liv. XLIV 1) as well as to repel a minor Roman offensive in Illyria (Liv. XLIII 9-10). In 169 a Roman army did finally penetrate Macedonia itself, but it achieved little (Liv. XLIV 1-10). In 168, however, the reckoning came due. L. Aemilius Paullus led a Roman army into the Macedonian plain and succeeded in forcing Perseus into joining battle at Pydna.
The battle saw the last hurrah of the Macedonian phalanx which charged at the Roman legions and pushed them straight off the field as a helpless and, by his own admission, terrified (Pol. XXIX 17) Paullus looked on. Unfortunately, the phalanx went too far and when it reached broken ground the inevitable happened and gaps opened up in it. Into these gaps the flexible maniples of the legion inserted themselves, and the now helpless Macedonians with their unwieldy sarissai were destroyed (Liv. XLIV 42; Plut. Paul. 20). Perseus himself was taken prisoner a little after the battle (Liv. XLV 6). The Romans then dissolved the Macedonian Kingdom and divided it into four republics (Liv. XLV 18). Antigonid Macedonia was thus the first of the Hellenistic kingdoms to succumb to Rome. Unfortunately, these four republics were so weak they could not deal with any major disturbance on their collective territory - when such a disturbance occurred, Rome once again would intervene.
The Romans also took the occasion to settle affairs in Greece more to their liking (Pol. XXX 13). Few Aetolians, after the harsh settlement in 189, had much love for the Romans, and many had sympathized with the Macedonian cause even if Aetolia had not aided Perseus. Still, the Romans were suspicious and assisted (unofficially or otherwise) the anti-Macedonian factions in Aetolia in carrying out a series of judicial executions of any who had given voice to their pro-Macedonian views too openly (Liv. XLV 31). The Achaian League, although officially allied to Rome, had been remarkably tepid in its support. This roused Roman suspicions about the Achaians’ loyalty as well, and at the urging of the pro-Roman Achaian statesman Callicrates the Romans seized 1000 prominent Achaians whom they transported as hostages to Rome (Paus. VII 10). Among them was the later historian of Rome’s rise, Polybius of Megalopolis (Pol. XXXI 23). In both Aetolia and Achaia, the Romans’ high-handed actions sowed the seeds for the next conflict.
In Asia Minor as well, the Romans unwittingly prepared the way for future conflict. Shortly after the Battle of Pydna envoys from Rhodes arrived in Rome to offer their services in mediating between Rome and Perseus. Alas, the envoys had received their brief before the battle; and the news of Paullus’ victory had preceded them. The Senate assumed that the Rhodians wished to plead for Perseus and took offense at the interference (Pol. XXIX 19). Briefly the Senate considered declaring war on Rhodes, but settled for depriving the Rhodians of all their possessions on mainland Asia Minor as well as of the island of Delos with its lucrative slave market, which was made over to Athens (Pol. XXX 5, 21, and 24). The loss of revenue devastated Rhodes (Pol. XXXI 7) which could no longer afford to maintain its fleet. Southern Asia Minor sank into anarchy, and in the absence of any controlling authority large numbers of the inhabitants on the coast took to piracy. The endemic lawlessness would eventually force upon the Romans various wars against the pirates (see chap. 25).
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