PerseusTetradrachm

AR Perseus, Macedon Tetradrachm 179-168 B.C.(16.83g) minted 178-172 B.C.; heavy standard O: Diademed hd r.; SNG Ashmolean 3273v R: Eagle stg. on fulmen, wings spread, all within wreath; BASILEOS PERSEOS above and below eagle G: Superb S: Brian Kritt, Burtonsville, MD 3/11/96 "The Third Macedonian War (171-168 B.C.) ended the Macedonian monarchy. For years prominent Romans had distrusted Philip V's son and successor, Perseus, and were willing to listen to complaints against him. Perseus' marriage to a daughter of Seleucus IV, Antiochus successor as king of Syria, no doubt increased their suspicions. In 172 Eumenes of Pergamum came to Rome with a long list of complaints against Perseus, and, with these as pretexts, the senate decided on war. The result was that in 168 B.C. Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeated Perseus at Pydna, where he had concentrated his army. The terms of the peace were severe. Perseus was transported to Roma, where he was paraded in Paullus' triumph; later he was imprisoned in the Latin colony of Alba Fucens. Macedon was divided into four regions each with its own assembly and elected officials. The king's lands and mines became the property of the Roman state and, within a few years , contractors had doubtless begun to exploit them. Some Greek cities faced substantial penalties for real or imagined offenses. Hundreds of Aetolians were put to death for anti-Roman activities, and the Achaean League had to send 1000 men from leading families to Rome as hostages; the historian Polybius was one." Boatwright, M.T. et al The Romans. From village to Empire, 2012.