Monument of Aemilius Paullus

The Monument of Aemilius Paullus was erected in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi shortly after 167 BCE in order to commemorate the Roman victory over King Perseus of Macedon at the Battle of Pydna.

It incorporated an incomplete pillar originally intended as a base for a portrait of King Perseus, which would have established the Macedonian presence in Delphi and reminded the Delphians of the tradition of friendship between them and the royal family.

[1] Aemilius Paullus repurposed the king's monument to celebrate himself and Rome's victory, noting that "it was only proper that the conquered should give way to the victors.

[4] Although the bronze statue that originally sat atop the pillar no longer remains, the cuttings in the plinth show that the horse would have been in a rearing position.

The monument and its message of Roman superiority were guaranteed a large audience, since Delphi was a center of trade and cultural exchange and its Temple of Apollo was a major spiritual hub.

[8] For this reason, the riderless horse indicates that the relief specifically depicts the Battle of Pydna, opposed to some generic scene of combat between the Romans and Macedonians.

Taylor argues that the four reliefs together were intended to depict a single scene of Roman victory, and that the prominence of cavalry throughout alludes to the successful mounted pursuit of fleeing Macedonians after the phalanx had broken.