v29_0021 - MACEDONIAN KINGDON - PERSEUS Tétradrachme

MACEDONIA - MACEDONIAN KINGDON - PERSEUS

(179-168 BC)

Perseus, the eldest son of Philip V (221-179 AC.), succeeded his father and was the last king of Macedonia. The conflict with the Macedonians was brief, but violent. The Romans invaded Macedonia and crushed Perseus at the double battle of Pydna in 168 BC. Defeated by Paul-Émile, Perseus was taken to Rome with his two sons, participated in the Triumph of his conqueror and died two years later captive in Italy (see the denarius of the gens Aemilia 10, minted in 62 BC and which commemorates this event). The change of standard from the Light Attic to the Rhodian can be explained by the presence of numerous Carian and Rhodian mercenaries in the army and the Macedonian fleet (see the pseudo-drachms of the Perea of Rhodes, buried in Sitichoro, not very far from Pydna).