Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus

189 BCE – 116 BCE(lived 73 years)

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (c. 189–116 BCE) closed the Macedonian story. As praetor, he defeated the pretender Andriscus at Pydna in 148 BCE, ending the brief revival of Antigonid resistance. His pacification and reorganization laid the groundwork for the province formally established in 146 BCE, the same year Corinth fell. Awarded the agnomen “Macedonicus,” Metellus embodied Rome’s transition from liberator to ruler, smoothing the administrative edges of conquest and binding Macedonia to the structures of Roman power.

Biography

Born around 189 BCE into the powerful Caecilii Metelli, Quintus Caecilius Metellus rose within a family that excelled at converting victories into institutions. Trained in the hard school of mid–second-century warfare and Roman electoral politics, he represented a new generation: less concerned with proving Rome’s might than with embedding it. His career would take shape not in the grand set-piece battles of the Punic era but in the aftershocks—mopping up revolts and shaping provinces to match senatorial expectations.

Key figure in Macedonian Wars

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus's Timeline

Key events involving Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus in chronological order

-150

Andriscus Claims the Throne and Revives Macedonian Resistance

Around 150 BCE, Andriscus, a pretender claiming royal blood, seized Macedon and revived resistance to Rome [15]. The merides settlement met its first hard test.

crisis

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-148

Metellus Crushes Andriscus at Pydna

In 148 BCE, Q. Caecilius Metellus defeated the pretender Andriscus near Pydna, ending the Fourth Macedonian War [15]. The same ground that ruined Perseus mocked a would-be king.

military

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-146

Macedonia Becomes a Roman Province

By 146 BCE, Rome organized Macedonia as a province, formalizing direct control after Andriscus’s revolt [14][15]. The map lost its meride hyphens and gained a Roman governor.

administrative

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-146

Sack of Corinth and Consolidation in Greece

In 146 BCE, Rome crushed the Achaean League and sacked Corinth, as Macedonia became a province [14]. The Isthmus, once a stage for ‘freedom,’ now witnessed fire and the thud of collapsing colonnades.

military

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Total Events

-150

First Event

-146

Last Event

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