Amelius Paullus

By Andrew Neilson

Amelius Paullus was a two time consul of the Roman Republic who lived from 229 – 160 BC. He
is known as one of the most prominent Roman Generals in the time of the Republic

Paullus’s greatest public achievement was his military actions in Macedonia and his defeat of
Macedon in the battle of Pydna. In 171 war between Rome and Macedon broke out when King Perseus
of Macedon defeated the Roman army lead by consul Publius Licinius Crassus at the battle of Callicinus.
Amelius Paullus was elected by the senate three years later to deal with the Macedonian problem. This
achievement saw one of Rome’s most prosperous times. The battle of Pydna shows Paullus’s greatest
personality trait, his military genius. Despite being madly outnumbered by the Macedonians he was able
to pull a victory out of the mess. This was also seen in his early life when he conquered the Lusitanians.

Paullus’s worst public achievement has to be split in two. His two worst public achievements
were his keeping of many possessions of the conquered Macedonians and his sacking of the kingdom of
Epirus. Paullus’s keeping of the Macedonian possessions not only was a terrible achievement but also
shows his worst personality trait, his greed. Paullus’s greed got the better of him and he felt that he
disserved more plunder than his troops. To cover for his greed his army sacked and utterly destroyed
the kingdom of Epirus. According to Plutarch, 150,000 peoples were enslaved the kingdom was left
bankrupt.