Rome's Mediterranean Empire: Books 41-45 and the Periochae (Oxford World's Classics)

'I will do as the Senate decrees.'

These words from one of Rome's opponents encapsulate the authority Rome achieved by its subjugation of the Mediterranean. The Third Macedonian War, recounted in this volume, ended the kingdom created by Philip II and Alexander the Great and was a crucial step in Rome's eventual dominance. For Livy, the story is also a fascinating moral study of the vices and virtues that hampered and promoted Rome's efforts in the conflict. He presents the war not so much as a battle against Perseus, Alexander's last and unworthy successor, than as a struggle within the Roman national character. Only traditional moral strength, embodied in Lucius Aemilius Paullus, the general who ultimately defeats Perseus, ensures the Roman victory.

This edition also includes the Periochae, later summaries of Livy's entire original 142-book history of Rome from its founding to the age of Augustus (of which only 35 books survive).