Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus

Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (c. 229 – 160 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic, as well as a general, who conquered the kingdom of Macedonia during the Third Macedonian War.

Paullus was elected consul for the first time in 182, with Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus as junior partner.

The Third Macedonian War broke out in 171, when King Perseus of Macedon defeated a Roman army led by the consul Publius Licinius Crassus in the Battle of Callinicus.

After two years of indecisive results for either side, Paullus was elected consul again in 168 (with Gaius Licinius Crassus as his colleague).

In 167, Paullus received the Senate's instruction to return to Rome after first pillaging Epirus, a kingdom suspected of sympathizing with the Macedonian cause.

After loading the treasures in the Macedonian royal palace onto Rome-bound ships, he marched his army to Epirus, where contrary to his inclination, he ordered the plunder of seventy towns, resulting in the enslavement of 150,000 people.

The Aemilii Paulli were connected by marriage and political interests to the Scipios, but their role in his subsequent upbringing is not clear.

With the eldest sons safely adopted by two of the most powerful patrician houses, Paullus counted on the two younger ones to continue his own name.

At Paullus' death, his sons Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus and Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus received his property by his will, even though they were legally no longer Aemilii Paulli; Scipio gave his share to his older brother who was less wealthy.

Paullus' first and former wife Papiria Masonia survived her ex-husband and lived to enjoy her former sister-in-law's property presented to her by her younger son (per Polybius).