ootnote 56: See p. 127.(Second paragraph of Chapter
XVIII.--Transcriber)]

[Illustration: Island in the Tiber, with the Fabrician and Cestian
Bridges.]

CHAPTER XIX.

THE THIRD MACEDONIAN, ACHAEAN, AND THIRD PUNIC WARS. B.C. 179-146.

In B.C. 179 Philip died, and was succeeded by his son Perseus, the last
monarch of Macedonia. The latter years of the reign of Philip had been
spent in preparations for a renewal of the war, which he foresaw to be
inevitable; and when Perseus ascended the throne, he found himself amply
provided with men and money for the impending contest. But, whether from
a sincere desire of peace, or from irresolution of character, he sought
to avert an open rupture as long as possible, and one of the first acts
of his reign was to obtain from the Romans a renewal of the treaty which
they had concluded with his father. It is probable that neither party
was sincere in the conclusion of this peace, at least neither could
entertain any hope of its duration; yet a period of seven years elapsed
before the mutual enmity of the two powers broke out into open
hostilities. Meanwhile, Perseus was not idle; he secured the attachment
of his subjects by equitable and popular measures, and formed alliances
not only with the Greeks and the Asiatic princes, but also with the
Thracian, Illyrian, and Celtic tribes which surrounded his dominions.
The Romans naturally viewed these proceedings with jealousy and
suspicion; and at length, in 172, Perseus was formally accused before
the Roman Senate by Eumenes, king of Pergamus, in person, of
entertaining hostile designs against the Roman power. The murder of
Eumenes near Delphi, on his return homeward, of which Perseus was
suspected, aggravated the feeling against him at Rome, and in the
following year war was declared.

Perseus was at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army, but of
all his allies, only Cotys, king of the Odrysians, ventured to support
him against so formidable a foe. Yet the war was protracted three years
without any decisive result; nay, the balance of success seemed on the
whole to incline in favor of Perseus, and many states, which before were
wavering, now showed a disposition to join his cause. But his ill-timed
parsimony restrained him from taking advantage of their offers, and in
B.C. 168 the arrival of the Consul L. AEmilius Paullus completely changed
the aspect of affairs. Perseus was driven from a strong position which
he had t