Editing Perseus of Macedon

{{Short description|King of Macedonia from 179 to 168 BC}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Perseus
| title        = [[Basileus]]
| image        = Perseus of Macedon coin cropped.png
| caption      = Portrait of Perseus on the obverse of a [[tetradrachm]]
| succession   = [[King of Macedon]]
| reign        = 179–168 BC
| coronation   = 
| full name    = 
| native_lang1 = [[Greek language|Greek]]
| native_lang1_name1 = Περσεύς (Perseus)
| predecessor  = [[Philip V of Macedon]]
| successor    = ''Monarchy abolished''<br>([[Andriscus]] claimed in 149 BC)
| spouse       = [[Laodice V]]
| issue        = [[Alexander (son of Perseus)]]
| royal house  = [[Antigonid dynasty]]
| dynasty      = 
| father       = [[Philip V of Macedon]]
| mother       = [[Polycratia of Argos]]
| birth_date   = 212 BC
| birth_place  = [[Pella]], [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]]
| death_date   = 166 BC (aged 46)
| death_place  = [[Alba Fucens]], [[Roman Italy|Italy]], [[Roman Republic]]
| religion     = [[Ancient Greek religion|Greek polytheism]]
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = |
}}

'''Perseus''' ({{langx|el|Περσεύς|Perséus}}; {{circa|212}} – 166 BC) was king of the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] kingdom of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]]<ref>...of all the gods who rule Macedonia and the rest of Greece: of all the gods of war that are witnesses to this oath... [[Polybius]], ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]]'' (Book 7)</ref><ref>...indeed, Macedonia is a part of Greece... [[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' (Book 7 )</ref> from 179 until 168{{Nbsp}}BC. He is widely regarded as the last [[List of kings of Macedonia|king of Macedonia]] and the last ruler from the [[Antigonid dynasty|Antigonid Dynasty]], as his defeat by [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] at the [[Battle of Pydna]] during the [[Third Macedonian War]] effectively ended Macedonia as an independent political entity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |title=Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of The Hellenistic Age |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1990 |location=Berkeley & Los Angeles |pages=430 |author-link=Peter Green (historian)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=N.G.L. |title=A History of Macedonia Volume III: 336-167 B.C. |last2=Walbank |first2=F.W. |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1988 |isbn=9780198148159 |location=Oxford |pages=558 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Perseus was the son of king [[Philip V of Macedon]] and a concubine, probably [[Polycratia of Argos]].<ref>Livius. xxxix. 53</ref> His father spent most of his reign attempting to maintain Macedonian hegemony over [[Greece]] against heavy Greek resistance and, in his later reign, against an expansionist [[Roman Republic]]. Philip V failed in this endeavor: following defeat in the [[Second Macedonian War]] he was compelled to accept Roman power in Greece, and later helped Rome in the [[War against Nabis]] (195 BC) and the [[Aetolian War]] (191–189 BC).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Perseus {{!}} king of Macedonia {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Perseus-king-of-Macedonia|access-date=2021-12-06|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> Perseus is recorded as having commanded Macedonian troops in both the Second Macedonian War and the Aetolian War. Being a son of a concubine, Perseus feared that the throne might pass on to his legitimate younger brother [[Demetrius (son of Philip V)|Demetrius]], who had been sent as a hostage to Rome following the Second Macedonian War and now led a pro-Roman faction within the Macedonian court. In 180 BC Perseus forged a letter supposedly from the Roman general [[Titus Quinctius Flamininus]], which suggested that Demetrius was planning to overthrow Philip V. This successfully convinced Philip V to execute Demetrius.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=S. Gruen|first=Erich|title=Last Years of Philip V|url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/download/8941/4641|journal=Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies}}</ref> Philip died the next year and was succeeded by Perseus on 22 June 168 BC.

==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>

== Legacy ==
{{Main|Fourth Macedonian War}}
[[File:Споменик - Персеј.JPG|thumb|Statue of Perseus in [[Skopje]], [[North Macedonia]].]]
In 149 BC, [[Andriscus]], claiming to be Perseus' son, announced his intention to retake Macedonia from the Romans. Over the course of about a year, he made an effort to challenge Roman rule, but was defeated by the Romans in 148 BC, thereby ending the reign of the last Macedonian king. In 146 BC, the four republics were dissolved, and Macedon officially became the [[Roman province of Macedonia]].

==See also==
* [[History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)]]
* [[Macedonian Wars]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* Oliver D. Hoover, ''Handbook of Coins of Macedon and Its Neighbors. Part I: Macedon, Illyria, and Epeiros, Sixth to First Centuries BC'' [The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 3], Lancaster/London, Classical Numismatic Group, 2016.

==External links==
{{EB1911 Poster|Perseus of Macedonia}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Antigonid dynasty]]||c. 212 BC||166 BC}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Macedon|King of Macedon]]|years=179&ndash;168 BC}}
{{s-aft|after=Vacant <br/> Four Roman client republics in Macedon <br/> <small> [[Andriscus]] claimed in 149 BC </small>}}
{{s-end}}

{{MacedonKings}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2nd-century BC Macedonian monarchs]]
[[Category:Antigonid dynasty]]