Battle of Pydna

Overview

The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to Alexander the Great's Diadochi Antigonus Monophthalmus. The battle is also considered to be a victory of the Roman legion's manipular system's flexibility over the Antigonid Macedonian phalanx's rigidity.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Pydna, fought in 168 BC between Roman Republic forces under Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Scipio Nasica and the Macedonian army of Perseus, decided the outcome of the Third Macedonian War and terminated the Antigonid dynasty. Macedonian casualties of some 31,000 against a Roman force of between 28,600 and 37,000 indicate the scale of the defeat suffered by Perseus. The Antigonid line, whose royal authority traced back to Antigonus Monophthalmus, one of Alexander the Great's Diadochi successors, ceased to exist as a political institution following the battle. The result accelerated Roman ascendancy in the Hellenistic world, removing the last major Macedonian power capable of contesting Roman influence in the eastern Mediterranean.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)