Battle of Pydna

In 168 BC the Romans finally forced King Perseus of Macedon to a battle on the plain near Pydna. The Macedonian phalanx, a block of long pikes, advanced across level ground and pushed the Romans back. As the line crossed rougher ground it opened gaps, and the more flexible Roman legionaries entered them. The phalanx collapsed and Perseus fled. Macedonia was soon dissolved into four republics, ending the kingdom of Alexander's successors.

Polybius, who wrote an account of the war, said the Roman victory was the clearest proof of the legion's superiority over the phalanx, and the point has been repeated ever since. Modern scholars have noticed that Livy, who drew on Polybius, may have exaggerated both the enormity of the fight and the lopsided casualty figures. The exact battlefield is not securely identified, and proposals have been made at several spots on the plain near Katerini. The captive Perseus was paraded in the triumph of Paullus and died in Roman custody, and the consul's own two sons, on Plutarch's account, died within days of the triumph.