Valerius Antias states that all the gold and silver coinage carried in the procession amounted to 120,000,000 sesterces, but from his own account of the number of wagons and the weight carried in each, the amount must undoubtedly have exceeded this. [2] It is also asserted that a second sum equal to this had been either expended in the war or dispersed by the king during his flight to Samothrace, and this was all the more surprising, since all that money had been accumulated during the thirty years from the close of the war with Philip either as profits from the mines or from other sources of revenue, so that while Philip [3??] was very short of money, Perseus was able to commence his war with Rome with an overflowing exchequer. [4] Last of all came Paulus himself, majestic alike in the dignity of his personal presence and the added dignity of years. Following his chariot were many distinguished men, amongst them his two sons, Quintus Maximus and Publius Nasica. Then came the cavalry, troop after troop, and the legionaries, cohort after cohort. The legionaries were given 100 denarii each, the centurions twice as much, and the cavalry three times that amount. [5] It is believed that he would have doubled these grants had they not tried to deprive him of the honour, or even if they had been grateful for the actual amount which he did give them. Perseus, however, was not the only instance during those days of triumph of sudden changes in the fortunes of men. [6] He, it is true, was led in chains through the city of his foes in front of his conqueror's chariot, but Paulus, resplendent in gold and purple, was suffering too. [7] Of the two sons whom he kept with him as the heirs to his name and his house and to the sacred rites of his yens-he had parted with two who had been adopted-the younger one, a boy of about twelve, died five days before his triumph, and the elder, a boy of fourteen, died three days after it. [8] They ought to have been riding with their father, wearing the praetexta and anticipating triumphs similar to his. A few days later M. Antonius, a tribune of the plebs, summoned a meeting of the Assembly that Aemilius might address it. [9] Following the practice of other commanders, he gave an account of what he had done. It was a memorable speech worthy of a Roman leader.
Livy. History of Rome. English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 1. Livy. History of Rome. English Translation. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 2.
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