In B.C. 179 Philip died, and was succeeded by his son Perseus, the last monarch of Macedonia. The latter years of the reign of Philip had been spent in preparations for a renewal of the war, which he foresaw to be inevitable; and when Perseus ascended the throne, he found himself amply provided with men and money for the impending contest. But, whether from a sincere desire of peace, or from irresolution of character, he sought to avert an open rupture as long as possible, and one of the first acts of his reign was to obtain from the Romans a renewal of the treaty which they had concluded with his father. It is probable that neither party was sincere in the conclusion of this peace, at least neither could entertain any hope of its duration; yet a period of seven years elapsed before the mutual enmity of the two powers broke out into open hostilities. Meanwhile, Perseus was not idle; he secured the attachment of his subjects by equitable and popular measures, and formed alliances not only with the Greeks and the Asiatic princes, but also with the Thracian, Illyrian, and Celtic tribes which sur Perseus was at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army, but of all his allies, only Cotys, king of the Odrysians, ventured to support him against so formidable a foe. Yet the war was protracted three years without any decisive result; nay, the balance of success seemed on the whole to incline in favor of Perseus, and many states, which before were wavering, now showed a disposition to join his cause. But his ill-timed parsimony restrained him from taking advantage of their offers, and in B.C. 168 the arrival of the Consul L. Æmilius Paullus completely changed the aspect of affairs. Perseus was driven from a strong position which he had taken up on the banks of the Enipeus, forced to retreat to Pydna, and, finally, to accept an engagement near that town. At first the serried ranks of the phalanx seemed to promise superiority; but its order having been broken by the inequalities of the ground, the Roman legionaries penetrated the disordered mass, and committed fearful carnage, to the extent, it is said, of 20,000 men. Perseus fled first to Pella, then to Amphipolis, and finally to the sanctuary of the sacred island of Samothrace, but was at length obliged to surrender himself to a Roman squadron. He was treated with courtesy, but was reserved to adorn the triumph of his conqueror. Such was the end of the Macedonian empire. The Senate decreed that Macedonia should be divided into four districts, each under the jurisdiction of an oligarchical council. Before leaving Greece, Paullus was commanded by the Senate to inflict a terrible punishment upon the Epirotes, because they had favored Perseus. Having placed garrisons in the seventy towns of Epirus, he razed them all to the ground in one day, and carried away 150,000 inhabitants as slaves. Epirus never recovered from this blow. In the time of Augustus the country was still a scene of desolation, and the inhabitants had only ruins and villages to dwell in. Paullus arrived in Italy toward the close of B.C. 167. The booty which he brought with him from Macedonia, and which he paid into the Roman treasury, was of enormous value; and his triumph, which lasted three days, was the most splendid that Rome had yet seen. Before his triumphal car walked the captive monarch of After the triumph Perseus was thrown into a dungeon, but, in consequence of the intercession of Paullus, he was released, and permitted to end his days in an honorable captivity at Pella. His son Alexander learned the Latin language, and became a public clerk at Rome. The fall of the Macedonian monarchy made Rome the real mistress of the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. The most haughty monarchs trembled before the Republic. Antiochus Epiphanes had invaded Egypt, and was marching upon Alexandria, when he was met by three Roman commissioners, who presented him with a decree of the Senate, commanding him to abstain from hostilities against Egypt. The king, having read the decree, promised to take it into consideration with his friends, whereupon Popillius, one of the Roman commissioners, stepping forward, drew a circle round the king with his staff, and told him that he should not stir out of it till he had given a decisive answer. The king was so frightened by this boldness that he immediately promised to withdraw his troops. Eumenes, king of Pergamus, whose conduct during the war with Perseus had excited the suspicion of the Senate, hastened to make his submission in person, but was not allowed to enter Rome. Prusias, king of Bithynia, had the meanness to appear at Rome with his head shaven, and in the dress of a liberated slave. The Rhodians, who had offered their mediation during the war with Perseus, were deprived of Lycia and Caria. In Greece itself the Senate acted in the same arbitrary manner. It was evident that they meant to bring the whole country under their sway. In these views they were assisted by various despots and traitors in the Grecian cities, and especially by Callicrates, a man of great influence among the AchÆans, who for many years had lent himself as the base tool of the Romans. He now denounced more than a thousand AchÆans as having favored the cause of Perseus. Among them were the historian Polybius, and the most distinguished men in every city of the League. They were all apprehended and sent to Italy, where they were distributed among the cities of Etruria, without being brought to trial. Polybius alone was allowed to reside at Rome in the house of Æmilius Paullus, where he became the intimate friend of his son Scipio Africanus the younger. The AchÆan League continued to exist, but it was really subject to Callicrates. The AchÆan exiles lan The AchÆan exiles, whose numbers were now reduced from 1000 to 300, landed in Greece (B.C. 151) with feelings exasperated by their long confinement, and ready to indulge in any rash enterprise against Rome. Polybius, who had returned with the other exiles, in vain exhorted them to peace and unanimity, and to avoid a hopeless struggle with the Roman power. Shortly afterward an adventurer laid claim to the throne of Macedonia (B.C. 149). He was a man of low origin called Andriscus, but he pretended to be the son of Perseus, and assumed the name of Philippus. At first he met with some success, and defeated the Roman PrÆtor Juventius, but, after reigning scarcely a year, he was conquered and taken prisoner by Q. Metellus. The temporary success of Andriscus had encouraged the war-party in the AchÆan League. Polybius had quitted the country to join his friend Scipio in Africa; and DiÆus and CritolaÜs, the most violent enemies of Rome, had now undisputed sway in the League. DiÆus incited the AchÆans to attack Sparta, on the ground that, instead of appealing to the League respecting a boundary question, as they ought to have done, they had violated its laws by sending a private embassy to Rome. The Spartans, feeling themselves incompetent to resist this attack, appealed to the Romans for assistance; and in B.C. 147 two Roman commissioners were sent to Greece to settle these disputes. The commissioners decided that not only Sparta, but Corinth, and all the other cities, except those of Achaia, should be restored to independence. Their decision occasioned serious riots at Corinth. All the Spartans in the town were seized, and even the Roman commissioners narrowly escaped violence. On their return to Rome a fresh embassy was dispatched to demand satisfaction for these outrages. But the violent and impolitic conduct of CritolaÜs, then Strategus of the League, rendered all attempts at accom Metellus and Mummius both triumphed on their return to Rome, the former taking the surname of Macedonicus, the latter that of Achaicus. Carthage, so long the rival of Rome, had fallen in the same year as Corinth. The reforms introduced by Hannibal after the battle of Zama had restored some degree of prosperity to the state; and, though the Roman party obtained the supremacy after he had been compelled to fly to Antiochus, the commercial activity of the Car Cato's opinion prevailed, and the Senate only waited for a favorable opportunity to destroy the city. This soon occurred. The popular party having driven into exile the powerful partisans of Masinissa, the old Numidian king invaded the Carthaginian territory, and defeated the army which had been raised to oppose him (B.C. 150). This led to a change in the government, and the aristocratical party, once more restored to power, hastened to make their submission to Rome. But the Romans had resolved upon war, and, when the Carthaginian embassadors arrived at Rome, the two Consuls were already levying troops. The embassadors, knowing that resistance was hopeless, sought to appease the anger of the Senate by unconditional obedience. They were ordered to send 300 youths of the noblest families to meet the Consuls at LilybÆum, and were told that the Consuls would acquaint them with the farther orders of the Senate. At LilybÆum the Consuls This remarkable man was, as we have already said, the son of L. Æmilius Paullus, the conqueror of Macedonia. He was adopted by P. Scipio, the son of the great Africanus, and is therefore called Scipio Africanus Minor, to distinguish him from his grandfather by adoption. To these names that of Æmilianus is sometimes added to mark the family of his birth, so that his full desig Scipio landed in Africa in B.C. 147. His first step was to restore Scipio returned to Rome in the same year, and celebrated a splendid triumph on account of his victory. The surname of Africanus, which he had inherited by adoption, had now been acquired by his own exploits. A portion of the dominions of Carthage was assigned to Utica. The remainder was formed into a Roman province under the name of Africa. Carthage itself was leveled to the ground, and a curse pronounced upon any who should rebuild the city. C. Gracchus, however, only twenty-four years afterward, attempted to found a new city upon the ancient site under the name of Junonia; but evil prodigies at its foundation, and the subsequent death of Gracchus, interrupted this design. The project was revived by Julius CÆsar, and was carried into effect by Augustus; and Roman Carthage, built at a short distance from the former city, became the capital of Africa, and one of the most flourishing cities in the ancient world. In the fifth century it was taken by Genseric, and made the capital of the Vandal kingdom in Africa. It was retaken by Belisarius, but was finally captured and destroyed by the Arabs in A.D. 647. Its site is now desolate, marked only by a few ruins. |