Agepolis

Who is Agepolis?

Agepolis of Rhodes was sent by his countrymen as ambassador to the consul Quintus Marcius Philippus in 169 BC, in the war with Perseus of Macedon, and had an interview with him near Herakleion in Macedon, in which Agepolis was notably charmed by the consul. He shortly thereafter visited Gaius Marcus Figulus and was received even more favorably. The Rhodians considered the warm receptions received by their envoy to be indicative of Rome's anxiety over the war, a conviction that was confirmed in their eyes when Agepolis related how Philippus had taken him aside to ask privately why Rhodes did not intercede to help end the conflict.

In the following year, 168 BC, Agepolis went as ambassador to Rome to communicate to the Senate how Rome's war against Perseus was a great burden for Greece, and ultimately unprofitable for Rome itself. The war however had already concluded with Rome's victory, and the Senate accused Agepolis of serving neither Greece nor Rome's interests, but those of the now-defeated Perseus.