ORDER OF BATTLE // -147 BCE
Battle of Pydna
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
1 sides catalogued · combined 20,000 estimated
Rome
20,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Pydna, fought in 148 BC between Rome and the forces of Andriscus, was the decisive engagement of the Fourth Macedonian War. The Roman force under Quintus Caecilius Metellus achieved victory and, according to the ancient record, annihilated the last military-political force of Macedon. Andriscus, who had led the Macedonian resistance under the name Phillip VI, was effectively finished as a military and political actor following the battle. The engagement settled the outcome of the war and terminated the final organized armed challenge to Roman dominance over Macedon, the former kingdom whose earlier defeat at the first Battle of Pydna in 168 BC had already stripped it of its monarchy. The result of this later battle consolidated Roman control over the region and removed any remaining basis for Macedonian independence.
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