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Philip V and Perseus: The Twilight of Antigonid Macedonia
Philip V of Macedonia was a shrewd and effective leader. He proved even more
adept than his predecessors at dealing with the Greek city-states, Illyrian invasions, and
the other traditional concerns of his kingdom. Unfortunately for him, he was forced to
deal with a completely new threat, for which he was unprepared—the rising power of
Rome. Philip V and his son and successor Perseus failed in their conflicts with Rome,
and ultimately allowed Macedonia to be conquered by the Romans. Since the wars
they fought against Rome were recorded by Roman historians, they are known as the
Macedonian Wars.
Early Life and Reign of Philip V
Philip V was the son of Demetrius II, who died in battle when Philip was nine
years old. Since the army and nobility were hesitant to trust the kingdom to a child, they
made Antigonas Doson regent, and then king. Antigonas honored Philip’s position, and
when Antigonas died in 221 BC, Philip ascended smoothly to the throne at the age of
seventeen.
As the young king of Macedonia, Philip V was eager to prove his abilities. He
defeated the Dardians in battle. When hostilities broke out between the two major
leagues of Greek cities—the Achaean League and Aetolian League—he sided with
Aratus and the Achaean League. Thanks to Philip’s intervention, the Achaeans
achieved major victories against the Aetolians, and Aratus became one of Philip’s
advisors.
First Macedonian War (214–205 BC)
In 219 BC, Demetrius of Pharos, the king of Illyria, fled to Philip’s court after
being expelled by the Romans. He became another close advisor of Philip and
suggested he take Illyria from the Romans. With Hannibal’s invasion of Italy and defeat
of several Roman armies, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Philip made an
alliance with Hannibal, and plotted not only to take Illyria from Rome, but also to
eventually invade Italy and annex it for Macedonia. Philip made peace with the
Aetolians and readied for war against Rome. The Romans panicked when they learned
of the alliance between Philip and Hannibal. But Philip failed to take Illyria after two
attacks by sea. He was eventually able to capture Illyria by a land invasion. In the
meantime, however, the Romans established an alliance against Philip with the Aetolian
League and with the city of Pergamon (on the Aegean coast in Asia Minor). At first, with
the help of Roman and Pergamese troops, the Aetolians achieved some successes, but
when these allies had to depart Philip defeated the Aetolians and forced them to make a
peace favorable to him. Still, this war kept him occupied at home and prevented any
attempts to support Hannibal in Italy. In the end, the Romans made peace with Philip,
granting him Illyria in order to keep him out of the way during their counteroffensive in
Africa against Hannibal. It was one of the very few times the Romans made territorial
concessions to an enemy.
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With peace concluded with Rome, Philip turned to strengthening his position in
the Aegean. He attacked Ptolemaic domains in Asia Minor. Pergamon and Rhodes
feared that Philip was consolidating a position to attack them, so they sent continual
complaints to Rome about Philip’s aggression and growing power. When Philip made
ready to attack Athens, which had also declared war on him, Rome sent him an
ultimatum that if he attacked any Greek city Rome would respond. Rome had recently
emerged victorious from the Second Punic War and was now in a position to fight. It
styled itself as the protector of the liberty of the Greek city-states, though it seems to
have really wanted to get revenge on Philip.
Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC)
The Roman commander sent against Philip was Titus Quinctius Flamininus, a
lover of Greek culture. He demanded that Philip not only refrain from attacking Greek
cities, but that he remove all Macedonian garrisons from Greece, thus removing
Macedonian political control from the region. Philip refused and the war continued. At
the decisive Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, Flaminius’s Roman veterans,
experienced from fighting the tough troops of Hannibal, outmaneuvered Philip’s
Macedonian phalanx, attacking it from the flank and demonstrating the advantage of
Roman tactics. Philip sued for peace, and the Romans required him to remove all his
garrisons from Greece, disband his navy, pay a huge war indemnity, and send his
youngest son Demetrius to Rome as a hostage. At the Isthmian Games in Greece that
year, Flaminius declared the liberation of the Greeks by the Romans.
Philip’s Later Life and the Accession of Perseus
Philip now changed tactics. He decided to take a friendly stance toward Rome.
He helped the Romans fight the recalcitrant Spartans and the Seleucid Empire. In
exchange, the Romans cancelled his war indemnity and returned his son to him. He
attempted to consolidate his kingdom by building infrastructure, issuing new currency,
and exploiting wealth from mines.
Pergamon and other states continued to complain to Rome about Philip, and
Philip soon decided that the Romans would not cease their interventions until the
Macedonian kingdom was destroyed. His son Demetrius had adopted pro-Roman
views from his time as a hostage there, and now Flaminius encouraged Demetrius to try
to succeed his father over his older brother Perseus, who was hostile toward the
Romans. In response, Perseus convinced Philip that Demetrius was plotting on behalf
of Rome, and Philip executed Demetrius for treason. Just one year later, in 179 BC,
Philip died.
Perseus, the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), and the Fall of Macedonia
With Demetrius and Philip dead, Perseus easily ascended the throne of
Macedonia. The Romans knew Perseus was opposed to them, and when Pergamon
again asked for Roman assistance against Macedonia, Rome declared war. Perseus
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was initially successful. He defeated the Romans in the first battle and blocked further
Roman attempts at invading Macedonia. In 168 BC, however, the Roman consul
Lucius Aemilius Paullus crossed into Macedonia and engaged Perseus at the Battle of
Pydna. While the Roman army was initially dominated by the heavy Macedonian
phalanx, they eventually lured them onto uneven terrain and cut them to pieces. The
victory was decisive. Perseus was captured and taken back to Rome, where he was
paraded in chains at Paullus’s triumph. Around 300,000 Macedonians were enslaved,
and Macedonian lands were taken and distributed to the Roman troops. Several of the
most prominent anti-Roman Macedonians were executed. Macedonia itself was divided
into four client republics with governments based on that of Rome. The Antigonid
Dynasty was overthrown and Rome asserted control of Macedonia. To ensure the
Achaean League’s submission the Romans forced them to send hostages to Rome (the
future great historian Polybius was one of these hostages).
Still, Roman rule was widely unpopular. In 148 BC, a man named Andriscus
claimed to be Perseus’s son and led the Macedonians in rebellion. The Romans
crushed this rebellion in the Fourth Macedonian War. The Macedonian republics were
dissolved, and Rome turned Macedonia into a Roman province. Two years later, in 146
BC, the Achaean League rebelled. The Romans crushed this rebellion and razed
Corinth to the ground in revenge. The Macedonian era was over, and now Rome was
the ruler of the Greek peninsula.
Summary
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Philip V became king of Macedonia in 221 BC at the age of seventeen. He
immediately proved himself against the kingdom’s main opponents.
Philip decided to try to take Illyria from the Romans and allied with Hannibal the
Carthaginian against Rome. Though the Romans allied with his Aetolian
enemies, Philip still succeeded in occupying Illyria.
After the end of the Second Punic War, the Romans entered into a new war
against Philip, purportedly at the behest of Pergamon and Rhodes. In 197 BC,
Titus Quinctius Flamininus inflicted a decisive defeat on Philip at the Battle of
Cynoscephalae. Philip was forced to make a humiliating peace, which included
removing all Macedonian garrisons in Greece.
Philip became a reluctant ally of Rome, but eventually executed his pro-Roman
son and allowed his anti-Roman son Perseus to succeed him.
Perseus sought to throw off Roman control and won some initial victories in his
war against the Romans, but he was crushed at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC.
He was brought to Rome as a prisoner, and the Antigonid kingdom was
destroyed.
Macedonia was divided into four republics under the control of Rome, but after a
Macedonian rebellion in 148 BC, Macedonia was annexed by Rome as a
province.
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