Aemilius Paullus ─ Conqueror of Greece

Lucius Aemilius Paullus was largely responsible for the inclusion of Greece in the growing empire of the Republic. He is most often presented as a man of pristine virtue and philhellenic persuasion, but this image has clouded his personality as well as the events in which he was involved.

Aemilius Paullus: Conqueror of Greece, first published in 1988, aims to construct an accurate picture of the soldier and politician by scrutiny of the main sources – Livy, Plutarch and Polybius (the last of whom worked under the direct patronage of Paullus). The Polybian concepts of the statesman and the conqueror, Livy’s portrayal of a man schooled in themos maiorum and Plutarch’s moralistic use of the image of Paullus for didactic purposes are each investigated. The author shows how each writer moulds a Paullus according to his own preconceptions, and suggests that he may have been little more than a competent general and politician.