Fourth Macedonian War In 148 BC, as a
praetor, he led
Roman troops into victory over
Andriscus twice. Andriscus was a self-proclaimed pretender to the
Macedonian throne who claimed to be son of
Perseus, last king of the
Antigonid dynasty. Andriscus had risen against Rome intending to liberate Macedonia with an army recruited from
Thrace. Under Metellus' authority
Macedonia was reduced and made a
Roman province. For that he was awarded the
agnomen Macedonicus, and since then introduced the
Clypeus Macedoniccus in his family's medals.
Achaean War In 146 BC, he defeated
Critolaos of Megalopolis at the
Battle of Scarpheia and the
Arcadians at
Chaeronea but Metellus was then sent to fight in the
Achaean War to avenge an insult offered to a Roman
Embassy at
Corinth. He fought under the command of
consul Lucius Mummius Achaicus whose ultimate victory in the war against the
Achaean League delayed Macedonicus from celebrating immediately the honours of the
Triumph which his success at the battle of Scarpheia merited. On his return to
Italy he received the honour of a
triumph and the
title . At some point after this, he built the
Portico of Metellus () beside the
Circus Flaminius in the southern
Campus Martius, which contained two temples:
one dedicated to Jupiter Stator and one dedicated to Juno. Metellus is generally agreed to have been responsible for the building of the temple to Jupiter; it is disputed whether he also constructed the temple to Juno. These were the first
marble temples in
Rome, and Metellus ornamented them with
Lysippus's
equestrian statues of
Alexander the Great's generals.
Numantine War In 143-142 BC, when
consul, he campaigned against the
Celtiberians in central Hispania during the Numantine War, defeating the
Arevaci,
Lusones,
Belli,
Titii and the
Vaccaei. He did not confront the city of
Numantia, which then became the focus of the war and which resisted for ten years.
Politics In 133 BC, he gave a speech attacking
Tiberius Gracchus regarding that tribune's plan to bypass the traditional prerogative of the senate and keep the vast fortune of the recently deceased
Attalus III of
Pergamon under the control of the Plebeian Assembly. Attalus had bequeathed his kingdom to the people of Rome. Metellus was elected
censor in 131 BC, boldly pledging to halt the growing degradation of Roman custom. In a speech which he delivered at his appointment, he proposed that
matrimony was to be mandatory for all
citizens, in order to put an end to the
libertine behaviour then already widespread. A century later
Augustus caused this speech to be read at the
Senate and published as an
edict for the knowledge and regeneration of the Roman People. His moralizing efforts awakened strong popular opposition, led by the
tribune Gaius Atinius Labeo Macerio whom he had previously expelled from the Senate. He was almost killed by the mob on the
Tarpeian Rock. Later there were some disagreements between him and
Scipio Aemilianus, but he never lost sight of the merits of this adversary, whose death he mourned, ordering his sons to transport Aemilianus' body to the
crematory pyre. Celebrated for his eloquence and his taste for the
Arts, he died in 116/115 BC. He was generally respected as the paradigm of the fortunate Roman, for from an illustrious birth he united all manner of civil and military honours and left a large family of four sons, of whom one was then
consul, two had already been and one would be soon. His two sons-in-law,
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica and
Gaius Servilius Vatia would also attain the consulship. ==Family==