PERSEUS ,LAST KING OF ALEXANDER ANTIGONID DYNASTY 179-167 B.C

PERSEUS ,LAST KING OF ALEXANDER ANTIGONID DYNASTY 179-167 B.C

Perseus (Greek: Περσεύς, Perseus; c. 212 – 166 BC) was the last king (Basileus) of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great. He also has the distinction of being the last of the line, after losing the Battle of Pydna on 22 June 168 BC; subsequently Macedon came under Roman rule.

Perseus was the son of king Philip V of Macedon and a concubine, probably Polycratia of Argos.[1] He therefore feared that the throne might pass on his legitimate younger brother Demetrius, not least due to interference from the Romans, who considered their former hostage Demetrius a true friend. Perseus thus staged a plot to make their father believe that his brother was a traitor, and as a result Philip had Demetrius executed.

In 178 BC, he had married Laodice V, the daughter of Seleucus IV from Syria.
Soon Rome and Perseus went to war in the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC). Although Perseus had some initial success, the war ended with the King's surrender to the Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paullus after his decisive defeat at the Battle of Pydna, and his eventual imprisonment in Rome with his half-brother Philippus and son Alexander.