Editing Perseus of Macedon (section)

==Reign==
[[File:Perseus of Macedonia Tetradrachm 90060057.jpg|thumb|300x300px|[[Tetradrachm]] of Perseus, minted between 179–172 BC at [[Pella]] or [[Amphipolis]].  The reverse depicts Zeus' eagle on a [[thunderbolt]], with the legend ''ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΕΡΣΕΩΣ'' ("King Perseus").<ref>Hoover, ''Handbook of Coins of Macedon'', Part I, p. 411.</ref>]]
In 172 BC, [[Eumenes II]] of Pergamon, fearing the expansion of Macedonian power in the Eastern Mediterranean, gave a speech to the [[Roman Senate]] in which he accused Perseus of threatening the stability of the Greek world.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eckstein |first=Arthur M. |title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-7936-2 |editor-surname1=Roisman |editor-given1=Joseph |location=Oxford |pages=241–242 |chapter=Macedonia and Rome, 221–146 BC |editor-surname2=Worthington |editor-given2=Ian}}</ref> Soon Rome and Perseus went to war in the [[Third Macedonian War]] (171–168 BC). Although Perseus had some initial success, the war ended with the King's surrender to the Roman general [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus|Lucius Aemilius Paullus]] after his decisive defeat at the [[Battle of Pydna]], and his eventual imprisonment in Rome with his half-brother [[Philippus (Son of Philip)|Philippus]] and son [[Alexander (son of Perseus)|Alexander]].<ref name="Philippus_(Son_of_Philip)">[[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] (ed.), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870. {{cite web |url=http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2604.html |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, page 270 (V. 3) |access-date=2007-10-17 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605085839/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2604.html |archive-date=2011-06-05 }}]</ref> [[Blaise Pascal]] mentions in his [[Pensées]] (Lafuma 15) that Perseus was blamed for not committing suicide, supposedly after his defeat at Pydna. The Antigonid kingdom was dissolved, and replaced with four republics. Perseus was led as a captive in the triumph of Paullus, then thrown in prison, where – according to [[Plutarch]] – after two years, the Romans decided to kill him, and had him kept from sleeping to the point that he died from exhaustion in 166 BC.<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Aemilius'', 34 & 38, Loeb Classical Library edition, 1918</ref> [[Livy]], however, writes that he was shown clemency, and kept in good conditions at [[Alba Fucens]] for the rest of his life.<ref>[http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Livy/ Livy, Book XLV]</ref>
[[File:Jean-François-Pierre Peyron 001.jpg|thumb|Perseus surrenders to Aemilius Paullus by [[Jean-François Pierre Peyron]], ca. 1802.]]
In 178 BC, he had married [[Laodice V]], the daughter of [[Seleucus IV Philopator|Seleucus IV]] from [[History of Syria|Syria]]. One son of Perseus and Laodice, [[Alexander (son of Perseus)|Alexander]], was still a child when Perseus was defeated by the Romans, and after the [[Roman triumph|triumph]] of Aemilius Paullus in 167 BC, was kept in custody at [[Alba Fucens]], together with his father. He became a skillful [[toreutes|metalworker]], learned the [[Latin]] language, and became a public notary.<ref>[[Livy]], xlv. 42</ref><ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Aem. Paul.'' 37</ref><ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Smith | first = William | author-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | title = Alexander | editor = William Smith | editor-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 124 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;idno=acl3129.0001.001;q1=numenius;size=l;frm=frameset;seq=139}}</ref>