Aemilius Paullus

Paullus, Lucius Aemilius (c.230–160 BC), Roman general and statesman, given the cognomen Macedonicus because of his victory at Pydna in 168, which brought the Third Macedonian War (see MACEDON) to an end. When Epirus was sacked on instructions from the senate the enormous proceeds of the booty were scrupulously paid into the Roman treasury. Paullus kept for himself only the books which had belonged to the Macedonian king Perseus, thereby forming the first private library at Rome. The triumph that he celebrated at the end of 167 BC was the most spectacular that Rome had until then seen. Paullus combined the traditional Roman virtues of integrity and devotion to duty with admiration for the culture of ancient Greece, and was a strong influence on his circle of friends as well as on Roman public life (See also PACUVIUS.)